Atlas Comics of the late 1950s are known for a couple of things. One, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko drew an awful lot of monster stories that were fun to read. Two, Atlas was the precursor to Marvel Comics and Fantastic Four No. 1.
And I’ll add to that the work of illustrator Don Heck. Not quite the stylistic powerhouse that Kirby and Ditko were, but he was great at thrillers and action drawn in a more realistic manner. Heck was always best when he inked himself as this fine example from Tales to Astonish No. 11 shows, cover dated September 1960. It is hands down my favourite Atlas story, and I would love to see a couple of Don Heck-focussed collections like we’ve seen for Kirby and Ditko.
New colour by me.
Page 4 as published
Scan of the original art for page 4, the only one I’ve come across for this story.
Page 1.
Page 2.
Page 3.
Page 4.
Page 5.
Page 6.
Related
Witches Tales No. 10 Cover by Lee Elias
January 21, 2023
Witches Tales No. 10 Cover by Lee EliasJanuary 21, 2023|In Comics, General It was pretty ballsy of Lee Elias in 1952 to draw the devil figure with…
Black Cat Mystery No. 49 Cover by Lee Elias
January 16, 2023
Black Cat Mystery No. 49 Cover by Lee EliasJanuary 16, 2023|In Comics, General When I look back at the few examples I've seen of what was…
Star Hunters No. 8 Unpublished Cover by Buckler & Giordano
January 6, 2023
Star Hunters No. 8 Unpublished Cover by Buckler & GiordanoJanuary 6, 2023|In Comics, DC Star Hunters had been cancelled as part of the DC…
Mythelinies – The Connected DC Universe of David Michelinie
December 31, 2022
Mythelinies – The Connected DC Universe of David MichelinieDecember 31, 2022|In Comics, DC Back in the mid 1970s, David Michelinie had the idea to…