ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS

Atlas had the market cornered when it came to horror comics during the Pre-Code period, cranking out nearly 400 issues with 18 titles. ACG came in a distant second printing 123 issues (see publisher's data HERE). Publisher Martin Goodman's strategy was to flood the newsstands with his comics, and when one sold poorly, another one was waiting at the printer to take its place. A total of five of these horror/sci-fi anthologies appeared in just one the six-month period during January-June 1952.

ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS ran for 30 monthly issues from January 1952 through June 1954. Like the other anthology titles, it contained a mix of horror, science-fiction and fantasy stories. While not on the hard-hitting and visceral level of EC Comics, they were still by and large fairly well-written and heads above a lot of its competition in this department. The quality of the art was a mixed bag, but mainly above average compared to a number of other Pre-Code horror comics.

You may notice that the cover bears the seal of approval from The Association of Comic Magazine Publishers. The ACMP was formed in 1947 and was a precursor to the Comics Code Authority. It's also interesting to note that it came out just a few months after Avon published the first-ever horror comic with all-original stories, EERIE COMICS (the industry had already been given a drubbing by a concerned public with its crime comics). See more about the ACMP HERE.

This issue starts off with a couple of cover vignettes by Carl Burgos, creator of The Human Torch. One of his last gigs was to edit the infamous Eerie Publications. The artist for the main cover illustration has yet to be identified. So too, the script-writers for these tales for this and many other Atlas titles are largely unknown. On a side note, a book has just been published that discredits Stan Lee for a large amount of content he signed his name to. Well, he had every opportunity to do so with the stories in these Atlas anthologies but didn't. The artists are from the bullpen that churned out page after page of this entertaining material. Be sure not to miss the fourth story, "Bok-Tok Makes a Boo Boo" for its humorous, but cautionary tale.

In the shadow of the impending CCA nearly half of the Atlas horror/sci-fi anthologies were cancelled in 1954 (including this title) and the rest were neutered to comply with the CCA's guidelines.

ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS

Vol. 1 No. 23

October 1953

Animirth Comics Inc. (Atlas/Marvel)

Editor: Stan Lee

Cover: Carl Burgos (side panels); main cover artist unknown

Pages: 36

Cover price: 10 cents

CONTENTS

"I Am Death!"

Script: ?

Art: Joe Maneely

"Call of the Wild Goose"

Script: ?

Art: Al Eadeh

"An Old Man's Fancy!"

Script: ?

Art: Dan Loprino

"Bok-Tok Makes a Boo-Boo"

Script: ?

Art: George Oleson

"The Kiss of Death!"

Script: ?

Art: Manny Stallman