*Marvel: Another listing from the Square Mile Collection for pre-hero Marvel. Before the advent of the Human Torch, Strange Tales was the home to myriad stories of space invasion and gargantuan menace in what we’ve come to describe as the ‘Big Panty Monster’ genre (the giant creatures, however fiendish, always being attired in stalwart bloomers to assuage the fears of the Comics Code.) Two such stories are featured this issue: “When the Thing Runs Amok!’ and ‘Earth Will Be Lost Tonight!’, both by Lee & Kirby, though neither graces the cover – perhaps it was thought that the ‘Thing’ might be confused with Bashful Ben Grimm, star of the then-new Fantastic Four? Instead, a Kirby/Ditko cover spotlights the Lee/Ditko twist-ender:  ‘The Wax People’, while the stylish Gene Colan-drawn ‘Mister Black’ rounds out the issue. This VG+ copy is marred only by a very small upper back cover tear, adjacent to the spine, which does not affect the content or structural integrity of the comic.
PICTURED: STRANGE TALES #93 VG+ p £57

More from the Square Mile Collection in two weeks!