Argosy (UK), January 1955 — page 13: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ot 7g iw = . =a — = ~~ — Zs -_ a —~ - - as. oo = Se : OSKAR’S WRONG NUMBER 1-4 their chests. Behind them came a cluster of subdued German Party officials who looked scrubbed, nervous, and arrogant. — Then, flanked by two aides, came the Admiral himself. — Vladimir Ilyitch Baranovsky, of the Soviet Navy, chess- master, dialectician, horseman, and sailor, looked just what he was—a ruthless, destructive, moody, lonely man. His large, Z well-shaped head was cropped in an ugly cut as though to ~ distract attention from its patrician lines. His big, compact body E seemed ready to burst from the tight uniform. His chest was so — ____ solidly ranged with medals there seemed no room for one more. iF Following the Admiral into the state box, came the Minister _ 7 responsible for the Censorship of Popular Entertainment. He — -__ pottered in diffidently, as though he expected to be asked at any = moment to go and sit in the cheaper seats. The Admiral spoke _ a to him only when the official photographers insisted. BS In a back corner of the box stood Wilhelm Meisner himself, _ ; his pale, restless eyes constantly ranging the audience. The ___ sight of that marble, ascetic face made Klaus Kleinmikkel so ~_ nervous that—unthinkable for a circus man—the smell of saw- dust began to nauseate him. | = The show went swimmingly. It was fast-paced, bright, and ~ smart. There were no long delays between turns, and Herr K. managed to spread his thin material out over a big-seeming area of splashy brightness. : Madame Vera and her partner brought gasps with the new 3 slack-wire adagio. High overhead, the trapeze artists flew about like crazy, clever birds. 4 3 The Admiral’s applause was steady and loud. He sent boxes — = of his own black Crimean cigarettes to each member of the troupe. _ The spectators, always following safely in his example, applauded -_-vociferously. g: The lion-tamers, husband and wife, made the lions sit up like kittens before the state box while the Admiral threw them special titbits that would not stain his white gloves. In the huge arena some of the haunted quality of daily life in the zone seemed for a few magical moments to be suspended. One could forget, partly anyway, the silent police, while one — watched the Cossacks whose riding tricks brought the Admiral to the edge of his seat with a hard, proud glitter in his eyes. Huge bears dressed up as Red sailors did a hornpipe-style dance, and the Admiral even went so far as to slap the Minister onthe back. All the Party functionaries smiled fatuously at one another. A crashing fanfare of drums and trumpets announced Oskar the Incomparable. ‘toh ‘ is) Pee 7 WV * "i 2s Jy o* \ . ys , i a comicbooks.cOmie ~—