A SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY TWOFER, PART 2: THE HOAXTERS

"The Hoaxters" by Richard Wilson (from Galaxy Science Fiction, June 1952; reprinted in the collection Those Idiots from Earth, 1957)

Sam and Alex, lone researchers on a lone asteroid, are bored.  They have already spent three months of their hitch with absolutely no results for their work, which consisted of hand rolling pieces of the asteroid in search of something -- they have note been told what they are looking, or why they are looking for it, or even why they must do the searching by hand rather than by using the technology that is available.  They are bored and feel useless and are homesick.  The asteroid, for all intents and purposes, is devoid of life; the only living thing is a tiny one-celled organism that buries itself deep within the asteroid, presumably feeding on some element in the soil -- Sam and Alex called the organisms "vizzies," for "invisibles."

Every day for the past three months, they have been broadcasting their results to Earth, always with the dame four words:  "All well. Progress nil."  Then, because he was bored, Alex want to change the daily message to:  "All well.  Progress...Break for urgent.  S.O.S.  Research Station Nineteen.  Attack on station  by alien life form from coordinates zero four eight x two seven.  Request patrol craft blast spot as own armament ineffective."  Sometime boredom needs  some excitement to break things up.  Sam was reluctant, feeling that Alex's scenario (which postulated an attack by one of Jupiter's patrol ship) would blow up in their faces.  He suggested an attack by the vizzies, rising from the ground in some sort of migratory pattern and forming an unspecified multi-cellular threat.  That sounded even better to Alex.

Not only did the patrol come and leave an o-bomb crater a quarter of  mile wide, but they were followed by reporters covering the event.  

The two managed to pull off their hoax,  but soon they got bored again, and like the boy who cried wolf...

And now officials began to consider the "attacks" to be "problematical."  Although official reports backed up Sam and Alex's story, in private the patrol and the corporation just did not believe them.

And then Sam and Alex learned that they really did not known anything about the vizzies...

A cute story about man-made hysteria and its consequences, although this time with a redeeming ending.

Richard Wilson (1920-1987) was a journalist and long-time news director.  A founder of the legendary science fiction group The Futurians in the 1930s, He was the author of some 120 short stories and three well-regarded satirical science fiction novels.  Wilson was instrumental in having prominent science fiction authors donate their papers to the George Arents Research Library of Syracuse University, now acknowledged as "the most important collection of science fiction manuscripts and papers in the world."  Wilson received  Nebula Award in 1968 for his novellette "Mother to the World," and tow other of his stories have been nominated for Nebula Awards.  "In his later years, Wilson reportedly made it clear to colleagues that he remained too content in his professional life to continue seriously in a writing career."  [John Clute]  His writing was marked by a polished professionalism, often with a gentle satiric and humorous edge.   One can do far worse than seek out his writing.

A SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY TWOFER, PART 1 : THE SERPENT

 THE SERPENT

 THE SERPENT

Three boys were playing together in a field; and as they played, one passing by called to them:  "Beware!  in the corner of that field is a poisonous serpent, whose bite is death."

"Alas!" said one child.  "How terrible, to think that anything evil should be in a place so lovely.  Let me flee from it!" and he wept, and ran from the place.

"Why," said the second child, "should such a thing be here?  what is the reason of it?"  and he found himself a safe place, and sat down to ponder on the matter.

The third child picked up a stone.  "Show it to me!" he said.

-- Laura E. Richards, The Silver Crown:  Another Book of Fables, 1906

Laura Elizabeth (Howe) Richards (1850-1943) was the daughter of Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, an abolitionist and the founder of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, and of Julia Ward Hlowe, who wrote the lyrics for "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."  She was a pre-kindergarten- to-second-grade elementary schoolteacher in Gardiner, Maine.  She published some ninety books during her lifetime, including biographies, poetry, and children's books.  Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910, a biography she co-wrote with her sisters, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1917.  Her children's book, Tirra Lirra:  Rhymes New and Old, won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1959.  Among her best-known books was Captain January, 1891, which was made into a Shirley Temple movie in 1936.  One lof her most popular poems for children was "Elephony," 1932 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJVSDAdxpNc).

OVERLOOKED FILM: THE STRANGE CASE Of DR. Rx (1942)

From IMDb:  "A mysterious vigilante known as 'Dr. X' strikes again.  Assigned to the case is private detective Jerry Church but the crimes are baffling and involve strangulation and a possible attempt to implant a gorilla's brain into a human body."  Don't you just hate when they try that?

Featuring Patric Knowles (The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man) as the detective and Lionel Atwood (who ended his career by frequently playing criminal doctors or mad scientists in low budget B-movies).  The two are abetted by Anne Gwynne (House of Frankenstein, Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome, Arson, Inc.), Samuel S. Hinds (It's a Wonderful Life, You Can't Take It with You, Scarlet Street), and Mona Barrie (Something to Sing About, Skylark, Cairo).  Throw in appearance from Shemp Howard, Mantan Morland, and an uncredited Ray "Crash" Corrigan (in one of his early gorilla suits as Nbongo the gorilla) and you have a campy low-budget wonder.

Directed by William Nigh (Rose of the Rio Grande, Mr. Wong in Chinatown, Lady from Chungking) and scripted by Clarence Upson Young (Madame Spy, Night Monster, The Ghost That Walks Alone), from a story by Alex Gottlieb (Mystery of the White Room, Susan Slept Here, and the creator of the television shows Dear Phoebe and Love That Jill).  It should be noted that, although the film was scripted, most of the characters ad-libbed their lines.

The film got poor reviews on release ("[an] incredulous and wearisome tale"), although the Leonard Maltin Classic Movie Guide later called it a "fast-paced whodunit...but not particularly puzzling."

What do you think?

https://archive.org/details/the-strange-case-of-doctor-rx-1942

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOR JOHNSON!

Karl Erik Tore Johansson (1903-1971) was a Swedish wrestler and B-movie star, perhaps best known for his appearances in films of Ed Wood, Jr.  He stood 6' 3", weighed up to 440 pounds, and shaved off his full blond hair to give him a more threatening appearance.  In person, he was quite different from his stage persona -- one co-worker described him a "a big sugar bun" -- a friendly, likable guy with a big heart.

Johnson had already been working in films for twenty years (mostly in uncredited roles) when Ed wood gave him second billing to Bela Lugosi in 1953's Bride of the Monster.  Johnson never had many lines in his films -- just being Tor Johnson was enough for his fans, but his screen presence always added something special to whatever film he was in.

Here's the MST3K presentation of  Bride of the Monster.

Enjoy.  And Happy Birthday, Tor!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1G8FvQyfnI

HYMN TIME

From 1977, The Million Dollar Quartet -- Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYYmNgHVuFg

THOROUGHLY RACIST CARTOON: STEVE OF THE RIVER (1937)

I recently came across this cartoon on YouTube.  Steve the Horse was a hugely popular carthorse featured in Roland Davies' British newspaper comic strip in the Sunday Express, Come On Steve! from 1932 to 1947, and spawning several children's annuals and six animated features.  The name of the strip came from a popular cheer given to the legendary jockey Steve Donaghue.  Steve was a wordless but genial horse whose stemmed from his light-hearted adventures and sight gags.

Steve of the River was the fourth of the six cartoons and a parody of Edgar Wallace's popular character Sanders of the River, a British commissioner in darkest Africa.  The Wallace stories (twelve collections from 1911 to 1928, with at least two additional collections written by Francis Gerard following Wallace's death) were also stereotypically racist.  (But, hey, this was England still in its the colonial era, so I guess the blatant racism was okay, maybe.)  Wallace's Sanders of the River reigned over his fictional portion of Africa (modeled, in part, on Nigeria) with a firm, but fair, hand, dealing with tribal hatreds, ju-ju, and various uprisings.  I enjoy the Sanders stories for what they are -- a snapshot of a time, place, and attitude that I hope I never have to see.

In Steve of the River, Steve and his human companion Sam are in Africa, "where they must escape local cannibals.  Lord Sandy, the Commissioner, leaves his African district for the weekend, and is waved off on his plane by Steve, a white horse, and his rider, Sam.  The Africans beat their drums to announce Lord Sandy is gone, while the local King laughs.  Now ignoring a sign saying 'Cannibal stew pot not to be used again by order - Lord Sandy', the locals throw spears, capture Sam and fling him in their pot.  The locals perform magic, as the King rides off on Steve.  Steve throws the King over a cliff and outwits the locals by pretending to be dead.  He beats his own message announcing that Lord Sandy has returned and the locals flee.  Steve is now able to rescue Sam and they escape in a chase sequence after they pretend to be a zebra and a tortoise."  [YouTube description]

The description is bad enough, but the execution is execrable.  The artwork is crude and does not have even the distinction of rising to a Windsor McKay level of racism.  Stereotype done with a wink and a nod can be fun, but stereotypes which exist merely to promote the idea of white superiority are off-putting.

It is important to preserve items such as this so that we know we know where we came from and can judge how far -- if at all -- we have come from that point.  To do otherwise lies the path to MAGA-dom.

So, warts and all, here's Steve:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIcXgzJTMH4&t=3s

BING BANG COMICS #30 (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1946)

Bing Bang Comics was a Canadian title from Maple Leaf Publishing Company in Vancouver and ran from late 1941 to at least mid-1946.  As you can tell from this cover, editions were also published in the British Isles.

Pinky Poe. a young boy, is one of the main characters in many issues of Bing Bang.  in this issue he is upset because all of his friends are going elsewhere for summer vacation and he has to stay home in his boring town with nothing to do.  It turns out he's not the only one staying home.  Roger, a poor kid in ragged clothes, is also staying home; his family cannot afford a vacation.  The pair bond and vow to spend their days playing together.  but when Pinky got home, his mother had news -- his father has to go to San Francisco for business and he's taking the family with him.  Pinky got so excited he forgot his promise to Roger.  Feeling guilty, Pinky concocted a scheme to have Roger go with him on the trip.  It was a pretty feeble scheme and Pinky's father caught on right away,  but everything turns out fine in the end.  Evidently in these stories, Pinky tries his hardest to be good.

Peter and Peggy, brother and sister, continue their adventures in London in "The Mystery of Grimstead Grange."  Previously, Peter has been robbed of the Kawlpore Ruby by Anuk, a Majoram.  We join him as he vows to recover the gem, but is being warned by another Majoram armed with a sword that the "Jewel of Gizah" must remain in the sect's temple; to try to recover it is to court death.  Just as the sword-bearing villain is about to slay peter, he is stopped by the Blessed Akabar. Peter is taken to the temple where his fate will be determined by the god Gizah.  The idol decrees that Peter must die.  Meanwhile, Peggy wakes in a viaduct beneath Waterloos Street feeling that something has happened to Peter.  Peggy and her Londoner friend go looking for Peter.  Their search takes them to the Athenaeum Club.  They enter the club just as Akabar swings the sword to execute Peter.  the girls hear a scream and a "thud," as Peggy faints in shock and horror.  "Is this the end of Peter? Can Peggy do anything to save him?  Or will her own life be endangered?  You can't afford to miss the next episode of 'GRIMSTEAD GRANGE' "

The nest story features Sergeant Canuck and his chubby assistant, Constable Clancy.  "Who ;placed the body of the former Humber butler in a culvert -- not far from the home of old Neil Humber, recently deceased?  ..We now know it was Percy, son of the wealthy recluse, who had disposed of the servant in order to claim his father's estate by means of a forged will!"   Now all Sergeant Canuck has to do is prove it, which he does, following an escape attempt in which Clancy is wounded.

Tur Hozak and Zar swing their timeship from  the age of Lomar to the Pleistocene Era, about 1,000,000 BC.  There they first face a sabretooth tiger, which is disintegrated by a blast from Zor's atom gun just as the beast was leaping at Tur.  Then they rescue a cave man from an attacking mastodon.  They follow the cave man to his tribe, which they found huddling from the cold.  A wild boar attacks and they shoot it with the atom gun, but the gun also sets off an explosion of natural gas, which starts a fire.  the cave men huddle around the fire for warmth, never before realizing that fire could  bring warmth.  So Tur and Zor head off in their time ship for the far future and another adventure.

Eve is showing her friend Hilda some of Adam's old baby pictures.  Adam meanwhile has come out of the shower and realized that the dry towels and his clothes are in the bedroom.  Eve is laughing so hard at the old pictures that she cannot hear Adam trying to get her attention.  finally dressed, Adam joins the girls bit they are too busy laughing at his baby pictures.  Upset, Adam tries to get the album from them but fails.  He inwardly promises his revenge.  Later, when Eve is giving herself a pedicure, Adam sneaks a photograph, and still later, while she is in the bath.  He soon finds he can make a bundle selling the photos as pin-up pictures.  What I assume passes for hilarity ensues.  A tawdry example of sexism and exploitation from a time long before the Me-Too Era.  Sad, and frankly disgusting.  A complete 180 from the feel-good nature of the first story.

An all black and white issue with stylized minimal art ranging from very crude to quite effective.  The scattershot approach to stories diminishes the effect of the comic book.

What do you think?

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=102630

BTW:  TODAY IS NO KINGS DAY!  HOPE YOU ARE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE!