Atlas (Seaboard); September 1975
Cover by Larry Lieber

Title: “Hell is Spelled … Hypnos!”
Synopsis: Tiger-Man’s investigation of a string of suspicious suicides brings him to blows with an insane psychiatrist named Dr. Hypnos.

Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciler: Steve Ditko
Inker: Al Milgrom

Review: This third and final issue of Tiger-Man is a bit of a dud. Too many coincidences undermine the story, which is also weighed down by clunky dialogue and a rushed, preachy ending. Gerry Conway has done better. The same is true, of course, of artist Steve Ditko, who turns in an adequate-if-uninspired job here. And Ditko’s pencils get little love from the unsympathetic inks of Al Milgrom. As with much of the Atlas (Seaboard) line, Tiger-Man feels like a C-list Marvel knockoff. It’s a shame: This series – and publisher – could have been so much more.

Grade: C

Cool factor: Two Spider-Man greats in one comic book.
Not-so-cool factor: This isn’t Spider-Man.

Character quotable: “Death … it’s the only answer … after all … I’m insane!” – Dr. Hypnos (yup, that about sums it up!)

Copyright ©2017 Off the Wahl Productions, all rights reserved. Each week, T. Andrew Wahl offers up a Bronze Age Minute. For more, check out Wahl’s website, SequentialReaction.com.

Note, this article originally appeared in April 2017.