Weird Science (comics) - Influences and Adaptations

Influences and Adaptations

As with the other EC comics edited by Feldstein, the stories in this comic were primarily based on Gaines reading a large number of science fiction stories and using them to develop "springboards" from which he and Feldstein could launch new stories. Specific story influences that have been identified include the following:

• "Lost in the Microcosm" (issue 12 ) - Henry Hasse's "He Who Shrank"
• "The Micro Race" (issue 13 ) - Theodore Sturgeon's "Microcosmic God"
• "The Sounds from Another World" (issue 14 ) - Roald Dahl's "The Sound Machine"
• "Machine from Nowhere" (issue 14 ) - Maurice Hugi's "Mechanical Mouse"
• "Divide and Conquer" (issue 6) - Donald Wandrei's "A Scientist Divides"
• "Monster From the Fourth Dimension" (issue 7) - Donald Wandrei's "The Monster From Nowhere"
• "The Martian Monster" (issue 9) - Anthony Boucher's "Mr. Lupescu"
• "Why Papa Left Home" (issue 11) - Charles Harness's "Child by Chronos"
• "Chewed Out!" (issue 12) - Katherine MacLean's "Pictures Don't Lie!"
• "Say Your Prayers" (issue 13) - Anthony Boucher's "Expedition"
• "The Island Monster" (issue 17) - Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's King Kong
• "Keyed Up!" (issue 19) - Duncan Munro's "U-Turn"

After their unauthorized adaptation of one of Ray Bradbury's stories in another magazine, Bradbury contacted EC about their plagiarism of his work. They reached an agreement for EC to do authorized versions of Bradbury's short fiction. These official adaptations include:

• "The Long Years" (issue 17)
• "Mars is Heaven!" (issue 18)
• "The One Who Waits" (issue 19)
• "Surprise Package" (issue 20)
• "Punishment Without Crime" (issue 21)
• "Outcast of the Stars" (issue 22)