STRANGE TALES #121: Clips and Quips and Sinking Ships

Published: June, 1964

In honor of our newly revamped Plantman, I’ve decided to approach this story in a “Clips and Quips” format. Imagine this story is a rose bush, and I’m clipping a few of the most beautiful flowers for a bouquet of outstanding moments. Some of these roses honor the artist, others the writer. Some are silly, others sublime, but it’s all working together in an exquisite arrangement of fun and fancy.

FOLIAGE MAKES THE MAN
In Strange Tales #113, Plantman was attacked by “vengeful plants,” and yet now he’s creating another ray-gun. My first thought is, “Will he never learn?” But this time, the plants do not turn on their master. No explanation is given, but I have a theory: Maybe the plants have developed a deeper respect for Plantman, due to his new costume?

LETTUCE ENTERTAIN YOU
In his second incarnation as Plantman, Sam Smithers devises a more dramatic, more organic, costume. Well, really, he has to, if he wants anyone to take him seriously. The green coat and hat simply weren’t screaming “Super-Villain!” Now he truly looks the part. However, the image of a giant head of lettuce cruising along in a blue convertible is also sort of hard to take seriously.

SO, WE MEET AGAIN!
When Plantman appears in Johnny’s room, in the grand Marvel tradition, Johnny announces him, with “PLANTMAN!!!” (three exclamation points) and then adds the ever-popular, “I should have guessed!!” I’m not sure why Johnny thinks he should have guessed. Last time they met, Plantman was shabbily dressed in a green coat and hat. But I guess when a giant head of lettuce flies through your bedroom window, Plantman is a good assumption.

THE FACE OF EVIL
Dick Ayers gives us a villain who, with a gleam in his eyes and a sneer on his lips, looks truly demented. As Johnny quips when the cops show up: “He looked better with the mask ON!” Agreed.

FROM TINY ACORNS…
We know Torch’s kryptonite is everyday H₂O, but see how easily Plantman is able to put him out of commission with MOIST ACORNS. Really? Not cool. I hope Doctor Doom and Paste-Pot Pete don’t discover this secret weapon.

HOW COULD YOU FORGET?
And now for some quips! This story was truly amusing in parts, especially when Torch and Plantman exchange boasts. First, we have a back and forth bit I like to call, “You forget…”

Johnny: Too bad you forgot I can FLY!

Plantman: I didn’t forget! I was PREPARED for that!

And later:

Plantman: You forget—I’m still master of plants—and I have many more powerful allies…such as the CACTUS!

Johnny: YOU forgot something, too! I can STILL generate enough body heat to MELT their quills!

At this point, I’ve totally forgotten that once upon a time, Strange Tales was my least favorite of the Marvel comics. I’m having a blast!

SURPIRSE, SURPRISE!
Next, we get this delightful exchange of one-upsmanship:

Plantman: I’m too clever not to have left myself an OUT!

Johnny: You’re bluffing and you know it!

Plantman: Think so?? (and goes on to explain how he’s keeping Doris Evans captive)

Johnny: Plantman, have I got a surprise for YOU! I expected something like this, so… (and goes on to explain how Thing is guarding Doris)

MORE, PLEASE
This is great stuff! Last time we visited Plantman, I remarked that a villain who controls all the foliage on the planet could be a formidable force. I’ve gained a lot more respect for Plantman in this outing. Even though he’s arrested in the end, the last time we see him, he’s uttering that classic super villain promise, “You haven’t heard the last of me! This is only the beginning for Plantman!”

Oh, let’s hope.

“Witchcraft in the Wax Museum!”
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
Letters: Art Simek

In our accompanying Doctor Strange story, there’s entirely too much ectoplasm flying around. It all begins when Strange gets a telephone call. I don’t know why, but the image of Dr. Strange, with his high collar, gloved hands, and severe widow’s peak, talking on a telephone strikes me as…dare I say it?…strange. People who regularly wear magical amulets should not be talking on telephones. I mean…whatever happened to good old-fashioned telepathy?

Strange decides to travel via his ectoplasmic self, so he can more quickly answer the telephoned summons for help. But arriving at the source of the call, he finds he’s been duped, lured into danger by a recording device.

So he returns home, only to find his old enemy Mordo has stolen his body! Seems if ectoplasmic and physical bodies remain separated for more than 24 hours, both will perish. Strange searches for his carefully hidden body, but Mordo slows him down with a series of ectoplasmic enemies, until only one hour remains. Talk about a sinking ship!

As the clock ticks down to disaster, Strange suddenly remembers that he can use his amulet to recreate the light waves of past events. I guess those ectoplasmic battles kept him so busy for so long, this vital piece of information escaped him…for 23 hours!!

But anyway…now that he’s got his wits about him, Strange aims the amulet, and follows the shadows of the past to the wax museum. With only ten minutes left to live, he finally finds his body. But Mordo has placed an impenetrable spell over it!

Now that Strange is thinking clearly (I guess he works best under pressure), he tricks Mordo into believing he has given up, and is going off to die quietly in a corner somewhere. But, as Strange leaves the premises…surprise! A wax figure warrior comes to life and captures Mordo. Physically bound and gagged, Mordo’s ectoplasmic self escapes.

Now here’s where it gets tricky.

The ectoplasmic rival forms of Strange and Mordo battle, and Mordo seems to win, but we quickly discover that was not REALLY ectoplasmic Strange fighting ectoplasmic Mordo. It was only “a figure image” of Strange’s ectoplasmic self. The REAL ectoplasmic Strange binds the ectoplasmic Mordo in what looks like a wad of foul chewing gum, so that he (ectoplasmic Strange) can return to his physical body.

Then Strange does that Noble Hero Thing. Though Mordo tried to kill him, and he now has his arch-rival in a position where he can put an end to all his dastardly deeds forever, he refuses, citing “for I have vowed never to take a life, no matter how deserving it may be of death!” Still, Strange makes another vow: he will keep ectoplasmic and physical Mordo separated for 23 hours, just to torment him.

That tormenting part is actually not so Noble. But I guess he’s trying to Teach Him a Lesson.

And, at last, as Strange disappears into the night with his cloak dramatically billowing around him, he boldly proclaims that “evil can never triumph over the force of good!”

What a show of bravado! But, I have to wonder: is it false bravado, or has Strange completely forgotten that he was within ten minutes of death? Does that mean nothing to him? Is Strange, like Daredevil, a man without fear? Or is he perhaps, only, a man without BRAINS?

If I were Strange, at this point I wouldn’t be walking away into the dead of night with my cape billowing dramatically around me, declaring that evil can never triumph over good. I would be taking a long, hard look at everything that just happened, just in case there might be a Lesson To Be Learned.

May I suggest: Do unto others before they do unto you?

When Strange had Mordo trapped in the chewing gum and allowed him to live, Mordo quickly predicted, “Your refusal to finish me will prove to be your undoing!” Well…it might. Or it might not. In the real world—yes, it would. But, being that we’re in a comic book world, and Strange is our hero, my money’s on “might not.”

Now, one of two things is going on here. Either, Strange is, in fact, a Noble Fool, correctly labeled by his arch-enemy Mordo, or…he’s keenly aware that he’s living in a comic book world, and so he decides to keep Mordo around, so he can toy with him, in further battles, which will be dramatically documented within the back pages of Strange Tales, allowing him further opportunities to walk off into the dead of night, spouting grandiose platitudes from behind his high collar and billowing cape.

Works for me.

But wait! Doctor Strange can’t head home and hang up his cape quite yet! One more adventure awaits him this month. So join me next time, when the good doctor’s mysticism mingles with the majesty of the sea and the finery of the four, in yet another star-studded adventure…right here in the Marvelous Zone!