CAL FERRIS
Real Name: Cal Ferris
Identity/Class: Human (1950s era)
Occupation: Unrevealed (see comments)
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Unidentified real-estate agent (see comments); unidentified woman (see comments)
Enemies: "Things in the Window" (see comments)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: His house
First Appearance: World of Mystery#4/1 (December, 1956)
Powers/Abilities: Cal Ferris was an ordinary man with no paranormal abilities. He had suffered from an inferiority complex since childhood, when he was stigmatized for being a coward, and thus felt unworthy to associate with other people. Because of his low self-esteem, he socially isolated himself from the world, for fear that he would be scorned and reviled. He was eventually able to overcome his fears when he summoned up his courage and stepped through a window into another dimension to rescue a young woman.
Height: 6'2" (by
approximation)
Weight: 170 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unknown
Hair: Blond
History: (World of Mystery#4/1 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Cal Ferris is largely unknown, but because of unspecified traumatic childhood events, he was branded a coward; his self-perceptions of his cowardice continued into adulthood.
(World of Mystery#4/1) - One late afternoon, Ferris was with his real-estate agent, looking over a house. The agent told him that the house's former tenant, a young woman, had disappeared and was never heard from again--he supposed she had probably just gone on a trip somewhere and never bothered coming back. After looking over the inside of the home, Ferris agreed to purchase it--the house was isolated, as he had requested, so no one would bother him there. But it was getting late, and the agent insisted on filling out the paperwork to complete the transaction the next morning in his office, for he was eager to leave before it got dark. The agent reluctantly confessed that among the townsfolk, the house had the reputation of being evil, and people avoided it, especially after dark. Thinking the deal was spoiled, the agent was surprised to hear Ferris tell him he would still buy the house, for he thought the people's superstition would give him the privacy he desired.
That night in the house, Ferris sat alone in a chair, wallowing in self-pity. He lamented how his cowardice had ruined his life--he was afraid to make friends or fall in love, because he felt anyone who knew him would learn he was a coward and despise him. Then Ferris noticed the window by the chair--unlike the others in the house, this window was dark and hazy. The next morning, Ferris noticed the strange window was still dark--it didn't let any light in, and he could almost see a swirling movement in it. As the days passed, Ferris became fascinated with the odd window--he wondered if his irrational fear of it was only making him imagine seeing something menacing behind the glass, because his rational mind told him it was just a dirty window that needed cleaning.
Ferris avoided the window for a few days, then one sleepless night, he got out of bed to confront his phobia. As he stared at the window, he saw strange shapeless things moving within the glass. He was about to turn and flee, but then he saw the face of a woman pleading for help. Steeling his nerves, Ferris opened the weird window's sash and climbed over the sill, then stepped into the unearthly blackness of a world beyond. He heard a pleading call for help and saw the woman being menaced by wraith-like creatures. Ferris moved toward the woman, pushing through the ghostly shapes that swirled around and between him and her, then put his arm protectively around the woman. As he led her away from the ghostly creatures, she explained to Ferris that she had previously lived in the house, but she had gone through the window and had been trapped by the shapes there ever since. The woman begged for Ferris to help her, and with his cowardice leaving him, Ferris pushed through the swarming shapes and led the woman back to the window. Along the way, she explained that the window was a gateway to another dimension, and that the evil shapes wanted to capture humans to study. When they reached the window, Ferris shattered it with his elbow, which broke the dimensional gateway's link to the dark world, and the two returned to Earth.
Afterwards, as they stood looking into each others' eyes, the woman praised Ferris for his selfless bravery. Cal Ferris realized that he now had what he needed to overcome his fear--one person to believe in him--and he was a coward no longer.
Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Werner Roth (artist)
The romantic in me would like to think that Ferris and the woman fell in
love and lived happily ever after, but I have some suspicions about
her. She was knowledgeable about the window being a dimensional
gateway, and she knew about the ghostly creatures' true nature--was she
responsible for creating that dimensional gateway, perhaps by sorcery (since there was no sign of any advanced
technology in the house), which may account for the house's
evil reputation? Perhaps she went through that window on purpose,
and those creatures saw her as an invader and were only defending their
home. Maybe this is a case for Dr. Stephen Strange to check out.
Ferris didn't mention any type of employment and was never seen at work,
so maybe he was independently wealthy and living off of a family
inheritance or something.
Cal Ferris was the only character identified in this story, so I'm going
to suggest some names for the other characters:
This story reminded me of an old Twilight Zone episode--"Little
Girl Lost"--wherein a young girl named Tina Miller (portrayed by
actress Tracy Stratford) fell into another dimension, so I'll use those
names for my inspiration for the woman's name: Tracy Miller
The real-estate agent reminded me of actor Roger
C. Carmel, best remembered (by
me, at least) for his portrayal of the character Harcourt Fenton "Harry" Mudd on the
original Star Trek TV series, so I suggest we call him: Roger C.
Harcourt.
The creatures were never named, and were only referred to as "the
shapes" by Ferris and the woman, so I just used the story's title to
identify them.
Since it was a portal to another dimension, I wonder if the glass in
that window pane could have some connection to the "Glass
of Doom".
Profile by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Cal Ferris has no known connections to:
The "Things in the Window" have no known connections to:
He showed Cal Ferris an isolated house. Although he mentioned that the young woman who previously lived there had disappeared, and that the house had the reputation for being evil, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that Ferris would still buy the house.
--World of Mystery#4/1
She was the tenant who originally lived in the house that was later purchased by Cal Ferris. Under unknown circumstances, she stepped through a dark glass window and was trapped in another dimension, where she was menaced by the ghost-like beings who lived there. She was eventually rescued by Ferris and returned to Earth.
--World of Mystery#4/1
They were shapeless wraith-like beings who inhabited an unidentified dimension. They were said to be evil and cowardly, and they wanted to capture humans to study for weaknesses. Their dimension was connected to Earth via an unusual dark window that was installed in the house purchased by Cal Ferris. Earlier, they captured a young woman who previously lived in the house when she entered their world through the window. When Ferris later climbed through the window and rescued the woman, he shattered the window and broke the connection to the creatures' domain.
--World of Mystery#4/1
Located somewhere in the United States, it was an isolated and fully-furnished home purchased by Cal Ferris. Although it had a reputation among the townspeople for being evil, it seemed to be an ordinary house, with the exception of one downstairs window, which was actually a gateway to another dimension.
--World of Mystery#4/1
One of the downstairs windows in the house purchased by Cal Ferris. It differed from the other windows in that it was made of an unusual black glass and it was actually a gateway to another dimension. It was eventually shattered by Ferris.
--World of Mystery#4/1
images: (without ads)
World of Mystery#4/1, p1, pan2 (main image)
World of Mystery#4/1, p2, pan3 (Cal Ferris thinking over his past)
World of Mystery#4/1, p3, pan2 (Ferris frustrated over his fears)
World of Mystery#4/1, p4, pan1 (Ferris stepping out of window into other dimension, woman menaced by "Things" in background)
World of Mystery#4/1, p2, pan1 (unidentified real-estate agent)
World of Mystery#4/1, p3, pan6 (unidentified woman's face in window)
World of Mystery#4/1, p4, pan7 (unidentified woman and Ferris after returning to Earth)
World of Mystery#4/1, p4, pan2 ("Things" surrounding Ferris and woman)
World of Mystery#4/1, p4, pan4 ("Things" swarming Ferris and woman as she reveals their true nature)
World of Mystery#4/1, p1, pan1 (house being shown to Ferris by real-estate agent)
World of Mystery#4/1, p2, pan7 (Ferris notices unusual window)
World of Mystery#4/1, p4, pan6 (Ferris shattering window)
Appearances:
World of Mystery#4 (December, 1956) - unidentified writer, Werner Roth (artist)
Last updated: 12/13/15
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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