Weird Wonder Tales Vol 1 4

Captain Kane navigates his fishing vessel through the sea. His crew's fishing nets manage to ensnare a lobster nearly twelve-feet in length. Kane reports the phenomenon to one of his guests, Professor Briggs. This is the second of such bizarre creatures that the crew has discovered. As Kane goes into Briggs' cabin, he finds the Professor studying the remains of a four-foot starfish. Briggs is convinced that this strange mutated sea life is related to his old colleague Doctor Parker - a scientist who disappeared over a decade ago. Briggs has a copy of a map that Parker charted before he disappeared.

At the professor's request, Captain Kane sets a course for this mysterious hidden area of the sea. As they follow Parker's map, the ship collides with a giant green mountain that wasn't indicated on the chart. Kane and Briggs manage to rope together two oil barrels and use them as a flotation device, but the rest of the crew is lost.

The two men come to an island. They discover a tribe of natives surrounding a massive wooden barricade. In front of the barricade is Doctor Parker tied to a post. The natives capture Kane and Briggs and secure them as well. Parker tells them that he has been experimenting with a hormone regulator serum. He tested the serum on several specimens, but could not control the animals' growth. The product of Parker's work makes its presence known as a giant snapping turtle bursts through the outer side of the barricade. This is Experiment 247. As natives flee in terror, the three men manage to free themselves and make for an inlet where Doctor Parker has a motor launch secured. Parker tells them that Experiment 247 is actually the second of such trials he has conducted. The original project, Experiment XYZ, was conducted years earlier. Kane and Briggs soon realize that Experiment XYZ is actually an even larger turtle, and was also the "mountain" responsible for scuttling Kane's ship. The massive creature is too large to even notice the three men, who safely race away.

Appearing in "I Was the First Man to Set Foot on... the Mystery Planet!"

Reprint of the 4th story from
Tales to Astonish #1

Featured Characters:

Tom Jonson (First appearance)

Supporting Characters:

Hank Jordan (First appearance)
Azka (First appearance)

Antagonists:

Staff of Life (Living Oil)

Other Characters:

Numerous unnamed robotic miners
Numerous unnamed alien robots

Races and Species:

Humans
Robots
Unidentified Alien Robots
Unidentified alien species

Locations:

Earth-59011
- Earth
  - Project X-36 (Underground City) (First appearance)
- Mystery Planet (First appearance)

Synopsis for "I Was the First Man to Set Foot on... the Mystery Planet!"

Reprint of the 4th story from
Tales to Astonish #1

A man named Tom Jonson and his partner Hank Jordan are overseeing robots they are using to create an underground city called Project X-36. Halfway through construction, the robots all break down. Tom curses the robots, saying he hates all robots and wants to destroy them. The partners are convinced their firm will become broke because of the failure, when suddenly atomic oil begins to rain from the sky. The source of the oil rain is a strange electrically charged planet passing above Earth.

Tom decides to take a ship up to the planet to investigate and see if they can obtain a source of the oil that can be used as a source of profit for his firm. As he approaches it, he notes that the planet is green and littered with exploding pools of oil. On his descent, his ship flips over and he hits his head, rendering him unconscious. He drifts in and out of delirium for awhile as he is saved by the planet's inhabitants, who study him with telepathy and nurse him back to health.

Once he is healthy, he tries to strike a bargain with them so that they can all profit from the oil pools on the planet. The aliens say that can't waste the oil because it is their "staff of life". After Tom insists, the aliens suggest that he go see a pool for himself before deciding anything. Seeing the logic in the suggestion, Tom sets off with two guides to investigate an oil pool. When they arrive at one, Tom gets too close to the edge even though one of his guides, Azka, warns him not to. The oil forms into arms and begins to pull him into the oil pool, which is dangerous because the oil is radioactive. The other guide jumps in the oil and saves him at the cost of the guide's own life. Azka then reveals that their entire race are robots. Tom realizes that's why they need the oil to survive.

Once they return to the other inhabitants, Tom again tries to strike a deal on the oil. The alien robots realize that he only cares about profits, and exile him back to Earth. The story ends with Tom falling back to Earth empty handed.

Appearing in "Beyond Belief!"

Reprint of the 4th story from
Uncanny Tales #44

Featured Characters:

Jonathan Black (First appearance)

Antagonists:

Unnamed Dog

Other Characters:

Numerous unnamed citizens of Cape Cod
Numerous unnamed citizens of Lakeville
United States Government (Mentioned in narration)

Races and Species:

Humans
Dogs

Locations:

Earth-616
- Earthspace
  - Earth
    - United States of America
      - Massachusetts
        Cape Cod
        
        Lakeville
- Heaven (Invoked)

Items:

Gas X

Synopsis for "Beyond Belief!"

Reprint of the 4th story from
Uncanny Tales #44

Jonathan Black, a scientist, develops a gas that suspends gravity and tests it out on a various houses before announcing his demands to the government. A stray dog jumps through an open window looking for a handout but the man shouts at it to get out. When it jumps back out the window it knocks over the entire canister of the gas sending the man's house into orbit.

Notes

Publication Notes[]

Cover art is reprinted from Tales to Astonish #1 with the monster redrawn by Romita.

Links and References

References

Weird Wonder Tales Vol 1 4

Appearing in "The Secret of the Black Planet"

Synopsis for "The Secret of the Black Planet"

Appearing in "We Found the Ninth Wonder of the World!"

Synopsis for "We Found the Ninth Wonder of the World!"