*DC: Tying in with DC’s late-sixties Horror/Mystery revival, the Phantom Stranger, a short-lived series from the 1950s, was revived in fine style in 1969. The Showcase tryout and the first few issues of the Stranger’s own series followed the pattern established in the ’50s: the nameless Stranger, a white-haired figure dressed in black, showed up at a situation and defused it by apparently magical means, while professional debunker Doctor Terence Thirteen decried the whole supernatural angle. After the first few issues, though, scripter Robert Kanigher got a little bit out there, delivering full-on spooky sagas such as #4, superbly illustrated by Neal Adams, which introduced the Stranger’s beloved nemesis, the enigmatic Tala. Soon after, Jim Aparo took over as regular artist and the Stranger became essentially DC’s Doctor Strange, with stylish layouts, a genuinely disturbing atmosphere, and some of the finest covers of the period. We have the first five of the Stranger’s series back in stock, plus several others from the first twenty, all in high grades, averaging VF.
PICTURED: PHANTOM STRANGER (1969) #1 FN+ £35 SOLD