Jack Oleck's Five-Way Revision

Jack Oleck didn't actually sell the same story to five different companies. He sold the same setup and twist ending, though, in these five scripts. A rocket captain is too old to continue in space when split-second decisions have to be made by those with the reflexes of the young. Irony ensues.

A comparison of the stories shows that Oleck wrote each one anew. Even in the final panel where he has to make the same point, he comes close on some but obviously is going from memory and is rephrasing. Although other writers at, for instance, Prize, plagiarized EC scripts, Oleck's style shows up in the newly written work on the Atlas, Prize, and Harvey versions just as well as in the recorded EC and credited DC versions.

The plots vary in places as they make their way to the twist. The Harvey story is only two pages long, so it has to rush right along. Some share a space war setting, and two present flashbacks to the protagonist's father.

The Harvey version kept the story alive in the Sixties too; it was reprinted in Double-Dare Adventures 1 (Dec/66).

Incredible Science Fiction (EC)

Sep-Oct/55

31

Has-Been

a: Wally Wood

Strange Tales (Atlas)

Aug/56

49

The Man Who Cried

a: John Forte

Black Magic (Prize)

Nov-Dec/57

v 6 2

The Old Man

a: Marvin Stein

Black Cat Mystic (Harvey)

Mar/58

62

The Has-Been

a: Doug Wildey

Weird War Tales (DC)

July/74	27	The Veteran	p: Paul Kirchner
			i: Tex Blaisdell