I'VE SPOTTED A MISTAKE, BUT - 'WHY WON'T THEY BELIEVE ME?'

In The SILVER SURFER #3, dated December 1968, the back-up strip was a TALES Of The WATCHER story called WHY WON'T THEY BELIEVE ME?, drawn by GENE COLAN and written by STAN LEE.  This was a redrawn strip that first appeared in AMAZING ADULT FANTASY #7, dated December 1961 (which was actually the first renamed issue of AMAZING ADVENTURES), and originally illustrated by STEVE DITKO.

The 2nd version of the strip was reprinted in ASTONISHING TALES #31, dated August 1975, and in interesting error was made when the original 'next issue' caption box was omitted and the panel 'drawn up' to fill the space it had inhabited.  Take a look at the above picture and you can see that although the Martian has increased his size, it's clear that Professor CRATER is standing off to the side but is still slightly in the foreground.  However, in the picture below, the prof looks as if he is standing slightly behind the alien, as a result of the 'touch-up' artist extending the Martian's leg in front of the prof's body.

Obviously, the prof's body should be in front of the Martian's leg, and I'm at a bit of a loss to understand why the reprint artist couldn't see this (or the editor, or the proofreader), as it now looks like the professor is ignoring the Martian and addressing the soldiers on the other side of the room.  A trivial oversight to be sure, but one that should have been caught before it saw print.

It's still a very imaginative story with a great 'twist' ending though.

Posted in: Cartoons