vintage splash pages from strange tales

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Dick Ayers, Don Heck, Jack Kirby, Marvel Comics, monsters, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

We hope you enjoyed our recent romp through the archives of Marvel’s Strange Tales series this week. To close it out, we present a selection of splash pages that appeared between 1960 and 1962, approximately. You will see artwork from Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Paul Reinman, Don Heck, and Dick Ayers. You won’t find many copies of the originals around any more, but you might get a kick out of Marvel’s high-quality hardcover reprints: Marvel Masterworks – Atlas Era Strange Tales. Enjoy!

Behind the Dreadful Door!

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Gene Colan, Marvel Comics, Strange Tales

 
Collector’s Guide:
– From Strange Tales #97; Marvel, 1962.
Art by Gene Colan.

 

I Made the Hulk Live!

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Don Heck, Hulk, Marvel Comics, robot, Strange Tales

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #75; Marvel, 1960. Art by Don Heck?

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby would recycle the name of this robot when they created The Incredible Hulk. This issue also contained a Jack Kirby monster story: Taboo! The Thing from the Murky Swamp!

Mister Morgan’s Monster!

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Dick Ayers, Jack Kirby, Marvel Comics, monsters, robot, Strange Tales

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #99; Marvel Comics, 1962. Pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers.
Explore our archives of Jack Kirby’s Monsters from vintage Marvel titles!

I Found the Mad Universe!

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Marvel Comics, microscope, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales # 76; Marvel Comics, 1960. Art by Steve Ditko. This issue also contained I am Dragoom with art by Jack Kirby.

Do Not Panic!

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alien, Fantastic Four, Mars, Martian, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

This great Steve Ditko short story comes from Strange Tales #95. Steve’s splash pages for these stories just rock our world. What great posters they would make!

I Saw the End of the World!

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Don Heck, end of the world, giant ants, grottu, Jack Kirby, mole men, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

What a great page from Steve Ditko! The rest of this issue of Strange Tales is pretty awesome, too — a personal favorite of ours. Jack Kirby and giant ants to lead off!

Collectors’s Guide: From Strange Tales #73; Marvel, 1960.

Prototype issue (Ant-Man). “Grottu, King of the Insects!” with pencils by Jack Kirby; “I Saw the End of the World!” with art by Steve Ditko; “I Was Captured By the Mole Men!” with art by Don Heck; “I Am a Walking Time Bomb” with art by Paul Reinman; plus a two-page text story, “The Tree.” Kirby cover pencils. Cover price $0.10.

I Was Trapped in the Nightmare World!

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dreams, Jack Kirby, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

 
Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #74; Marvel, 1960.

“Gorgolla! The Living Gargoyle!” with pencils by Jack Kirby; “Beware the Hands of Hundu” (art by Don Heck?); “I Was Trapped in the Nightmare World” with art by Paul Reinman; “When the Totem Walks!” with art by Steve Ditko; and a two-page text story, “The Whirlpool of Gairloch.” Kirby cover pencils. Cover price $0.10.

With My Own Eyes I Saw the Two-Headed Thing!

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Jack Kirby, Jack Kirby Monsters, Strange Tales

…And I don’t mind telling you it freaked me out more than a little bit! Here is an off-beat monster story pencilled by Jack Kirby and printed in Strange Tales #95.

 

What is X-35?!

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Don Heck, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Dig these two short stories from Strange Tales #101. The issue also had two Human Torch stories that guest-star the Thing, marking the debut of the Torch’s popular run in this title. We like these sci-fi/occult backups by Steve Ditko and Don Heck. The splash pages are super fun, and the stories aren’t bad either!

Collector’s Guide: from Strange Tales #101; Marvel, 1962.

If you like What is X-35, you may also enjoy a similar but wordless treatment by Thomas Ott in the even-creepier The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8. (It’s sold out at Fantagraphics currently but is scheduled for reprinting in a soft cover edition in 2014.

More about Strange Tales #101: Human Torch solo series begins in “The Human Torch!” Plot by Stan Lee, script by Larry Lieber, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers. Fantastic Four origin retold. Also in this issue: “The Impossible Spaceship” with art by Don Heck and “What Is X-35?” with art by Steve Ditko. (Lee and Lieber may have written these last two stories.) There is also a two-page text story, “Sdrawkcab.” Kirby/Ayers cover. Cover price $0.12.

The Garden of Death!

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atomic bomb, golden age, Hiroshima, occult, Strange Tales, Vernon Henkel

The April 1954 issue of Strange Tales contains four illustrated shorts and one text piece. Early work by Joe Sinnot appears in The Cask in the Cave. Vernon Henkel provides the eerie artwork for the brief but dramatic Garden of Death! This tale, narrated by Death, scanned a bit better than the other tales. Let’s take a look!

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #27; Marvel, 1954.

Fear Walks on Four Feet!

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bernard krigstein, dinosaur, dinosaur comics, golden age, hunting dinosaurs, Strange Tales

So many things work against this piece of golden-age nonsense: disastrous dinosaur depictions, colors fading into putridity, and lots of development to squeeze into four pages. Somehow, they pull it off. This is Bernard Krigstein, isn’t it?

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #61; Marvel, 1958.

Strange Tales 26

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Carmine Infantino, Jack Katz, Strange Tales, Sy Barry

This issue of Strange Tales stands out from others we’ve shared with you for a couple reasons. First, Marvel published it much earlier, in 1954. While we do have scans of earlier issues than that, they are admittedly poor quality. Even this one had some pages we just couldn’t bear to post, so you are getting two of the stories today.

Second, the good news: you can get a high-quality reprint of this entire issue from Marvel in hardcover format now, along with issues #21-30 (see our Collector’s Guide below.).

Third, the earlier publishing date means that this cover does not bear the Comics Code Authority stamp of approval. We believe you will find, as a result, a closer resemblance to EC Comics material of the 1950s. It’s rendered less in the embryonic “house style” at Marvel you find just five years later in this title. And by “house style” we mean “copying Kirby’s style and layouts or just having him block out the pages for you.”

But, that is a discussion for another time! Now, crack open the vault and gaze at the wonder of Strange Tales #26!

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #26; Marvel . Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Strange Tales, Vol. 3

The Last Stop, art by Gene Colan; Guinea Pig, art by Jack Katz; A Grave Mistake, art by Tony DiPreta. To the Stars, pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Sy Barry; It Could Be You, art by Vic Carrabotta.

Strange Tales 71

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Joe Sinnot, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Let’s set the time machine for 1959! Take a look this week at a stack of Marvel’s Strange Tales. You’ll find fast-paced science fiction stories with an occasional occult theme thrown in for good measure. (Strange Tales ran more horror in the early 1950’s, before the Comics Code Authority nonsense began.) Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby feature prominently alongside other masters of these classic short-form comics.

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #71; Marvel, 1959.

“I Dared to Defy Merlin’s Black Magic!” with art by Steve Ditko; “I am the Man Who Will Destroy Your World!”; “When the Saucer Strikes!” with art by Paul Reinman; “I Fought the Man Who Couldn’t Be Killed!”; “I Am the Man Without a Face!” with art by Joe Sinnott.

Strange Tales 70

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Jack Kirby, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Let’s set the time machine for 1959! Take a look this week at a stack of Marvel’s Strange Tales. You’ll find fast-paced science fiction stories with an occasional occult theme thrown in for good measure. (Strange Tales ran more horror in the early 1950’s, before the Comics Code Authority nonsense began.) Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby feature prominently alongside other masters of these classic short-form comics.

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #70; Marvel, 1959.

“A Giant Walks the Earth!” with pencils by Jack Kirby; “Earth in Chains!” with art by Paul Reinman; “Ghost Ship!”; “Escape to Tomorrow” with art by Reinman; “When Wakes the Sphinx!” with art by Steve Ditko; Kirby cover pencils.

Strange Tales 69

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Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnot, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Let’s set the time machine for 1959! Take a look this week at a stack of Marvel’s Strange Tales. You’ll find fast-paced science fiction stories with an occasional occult theme thrown in for good measure. (Strange Tales ran more horror in the early 1950’s, before the Comics Code Authority nonsense began.) Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby feature prominently alongside other masters of these classic short-form comics.

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #69; Marvel, 1959.

“The Man in the Iron Box!”; “Rocket Ship X-200”; “Journey Into Nowhere!” with art by Joe Sinnott; “The World That Was Lost!” with pencils by Jack Kirby; “That Threat From the 5th Dimension!” with art by Steve Ditko; Kirby cover pencils.

Strange Tales 68

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Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnot, John Buscema, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Let’s set the time machine for 1959! Take a look this week at a stack of Marvel’s Strange Tales. You’ll find fast-paced science fiction stories with an occasional occult theme thrown in for good measure. (Strange Tales ran more horror in the early 1950’s, before the Comics Code Authority nonsense began.) Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby feature prominently alongside other masters of these classic short-form comics.

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #68; Marvel, 1959.

“Last Warning–Evacuate Earth!” with art by Joe Sinnott; “The Creatures From the Bottomless Pit!” with art by Steve Ditko; “Test Pilot!” with pencils by Jack Kirby; “Next Stop–Mars!”; “Trapped in Tomorrow!” with art by John Buscema; Kirby cover pencils.

Strange Tales 67

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Don Heck, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnot, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Let’s set the time machine for 1959! Take a look this week at a stack of Marvel’s Strange Tales. You’ll find fast-paced science fiction stories with an occasional occult theme thrown in for good measure. (Strange Tales ran more horror in the early 1950’s, before the Comics Code Authority nonsense began.) Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby feature prominently alongside other masters of these classic short-form comics.

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #67; Marvel, 1959.

“Trapped Between Two Worlds!” (art by Steve Ditko); “I Seek the Sea Serpent” (art by Don Heck); “I Was the Invisible Man!” (pencils by Jack Kirby); and “The Man Who Never Was!” Joe Sinnott cover.

Strange Tales: The Man Who Couldn’t Be Killed!

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Adventure into Mystery, Man Who Couldnt be Killed, Strange Tales, time travel

This senses-shattering backup story from Strange Tales #176 in the 1970s originally appeared in Adventure into Mystery #8 from 1957. That’s retro within retro, baby! That’s almost time traveling! You can tell from the cover scan (below) that our personal copy is getting worn out. But the Marvel Value Stamp is intact!

Man-Thing Meets Silver Surfer in Strange Tales!

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Christie Scheele, first issue, JM DeMatteis, Liam Sharp, Man-Thing, Silver Surfer, Strange Tales

Whatever knows fear, blogs at the touch of Man-Thing! Here he is, Marvel’s mucky monstrosity in some of our favorite swamp stories. We bet you never knew injecting yourself with chemical mutagens and fatally wrecking your car would be so much fun!

Today’s Man-Thing Memoir is so trippy we don’t even know what to say. Man-Thing and Silver Surfer team up to save the universe in a hail of really beautiful, twisted artwork by Liam Sharp and colorist supreme Christie Scheele.

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #1; Marvel, 1998.