The Unexpected #157: "Who Will Kill Gigantus?"

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When I saw this one in the drug store sporting that beautifully drawn Nick Cardy cover, I knew that I HAD TO HAVE THIS! I wish I could get that excited about a comic book again, but the exuberance of youth and all that. This one is by George Kashdan and Alfredo Alcala.


Credits

Cover: Nick Cardy
Script: George Kashdan
Pencils:Alfredo Alcala
Inks: Alfredo Alcala

House of Mystery #225: "The Man Who Died Twice"

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"The Man Who Died Twice" is one of House of Mystery's best stories—ever! I picked this one up in a trade back when I was in the fourth grade and I went on to enjoy Jack Oleck's writing in Weird War Tales, too. The very nice art is by Alfredo Alcala.

Journey Into Mystery v2 #11 "The Books That Were Alive" (Mort Meskin art)

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Eventually the birthplace of one of Marvel's enduring superheroes, Journey into Mystery was initially one of the many horror comics crowding the newsstands in the early 1950s. Each issue was an anthology of weird tales and the early covers, many of them by Bill Everett, were rich with walking skeletons, walking corpses, and brutal monsters. In 1955, after the Comics Code Authority was set up, the covers and contents became much tamer. Among the artists contributing to Journey were, besides Everett, Joe Maneely, Russ Heath, Steve Ditko, Jerry Robinson, George Tuska, and Bernard Krigstein.

Things changed with #83 vol. 1 (August 1961), when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced Thor, but that is another story.

While it is not known who wrote this story's script, Mort Meskin illustrated it. Meskin, much admired by such contemporaries as Alex Toth, Joe Kubert, and Gil Kane, was an artist's artist and seriously under-appreciated by the average reader during his years in comic books. Destined never to draw a major superhero, Meskin entered the field in the 1930s. He was the co-creator of Sheena and the Vigilante and drew such characters as Johnny Quick, Golden Lad, Starman, Wildcat, and the Black Terror. He was also a frequent contributor to such Simon and Kirby ventures as Young Romance, Boys Ranch, and Black Magic. Over the years Meskin worked as well for MLJ, Lev Gleason, and the Prize Group, drawing everything from The Wizard to Tom Corbett.

Born in Brooklyn, Meskin attended both the Pratt Institute and the Art Students League. He was influenced by newspaper comics, particularly the work of Milton Caniff and Alex Raymond.



Credits

Script: Unknown
Pencils: Mort Meskin
Inks: Mort Meskin

Reprinted:

• from WORLD OF FANTASY (Marvel, 1956 series) #10 (February 1958).

Ghostly Haunts #38: "The Weirdest Character I've Ever Known!"

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This story is one of those flawless gems from Charlton Comics that Tom Sutton drew back in the 1970s, which I fondly remember to this day. Aside from the very nice art, the story is damn clever and downright humorous for a horror anthology. This is also an example of how the prolific Joe Gill could turn out the well-written story when he knew he had a top-notch artist to draw it, but this title had a good reputation for telling memorable horror tales.

So how was it that Charlton managed to publish so many memorable stories in this one title? While some people have commented that while Charlton's very low page-rates would hardly inspire creators to perform their best work, others still have speculated that the reason for Ghostly Haunts' quality stories was that the Comics Code Authority considered the title to be so obscure that they gave the title Comics Code approval without even reading the material submitted. In any event, the title canceled shortly after Ghostly Haunts #58 (April 1978) was published.



Credits

Script: Joe Gill
Pencils: Tom Sutton
Inks: Tom Sutton

Reprinted:

• in Ghost Manor (Charlton, 1971 series) #76
• in Mammoth Book Of Best Horror Comics, The (Running Press Book Publishers, 2008 series) #[nn]
  

Twilight Zone #66: "Perchance to Dream"

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There are two good stories this time out and these are a couple of pretty good science fiction tales—the first one being downright trippy! The art is respectively done by Jose Delbo and Amador Garcia.


Credits

Cover: Amador Garcia
Script: Freff
Pencils: José Delbo
Inks: José Delbo

Twilight Zone #52: "The Seeing-Eye Man"

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I managed to obtain this issue of Gold Key's Twilight Zone from a cousin of mine in a trade, which had to have been more than fair as I recall loving this story and easily recall it to this day. Submitted for your approval and disposition: "The Seeing-Eye Man."


Credits

Script: unknown
Pencils: John Celardo
Inks: John Celardo

Reprinted:

• in Twilight Zone (Gold Key, 1962 series) #84 (June 1978)