Best Place to Sell Strange Tales #69

Publisher: Marvel, 1959

About Strange Tales #69

Jack Kirby cover and art. Steve Ditko and Carl Burgos art.

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COVER DETAILS

Title: The Man in the Iron Box!

Characters: Phineas Stokes

Pencils: Jack Kirby

Inks: Christopher Rule

Colors: Stan Goldberg

Letters: Artie Simek

STORY DETAILS

(6 Stories)

Title: The Man In The Iron Box!

Characters: Phineas Stokes

Synopsis: Certain that the world will soon descend into nuclear war, a brilliant scientist goes into cryogenic suspension for a million years, hoping to awaken in a more enlightened time. Instead the world quickly retreats from war and advances rapidly. By the time he awakens, most humans have left Earth, and the few remaining are being rounded up to serve as conscripted soldiers in an alien war.

Pages: 5.000

Script: Stan Lee (plot) ?; Larry Lieber (script) ?

Pencils: Carl Burgos

Inks: Carl Burgos

Notes: This story is retold in Tales of Suspense (Marvel, 1959 series) #13 (January 1961) as "I Lived a Million Years!" drawn by Paul Reinman, and in Journey Into Mystery (Marvel, 1952 series) #96 (September 1963) as "Frederick Fenton's Future!" by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Bob Forgione credit per Tom Lammers and the Atlas/Timely discussion list. Previous indexer credited Bob Forgione. Possible Lee plot; Lieber script per Nick Caputo. Previous indexer credited Lee as sole writer based of his authorship of a later retelling. Story is pages 3-7 of comic (pages of story numbered 1 to 5).

Title: The Talent

Characters: Harry; Bobby; Oswald

Synopsis: A tramp comes to a farmhouse asking for a hot meal in exchange for chopping wood and impresses the family with his talking dog.

Pages: 1.750

Letters: typeset

Notes: The first page of this story is printed between "The Man in the Iron Box!" and "Rocket Ship X-200", while the second page is printed between "The World That Was Lost!" and "The Threat from the 5th Dimension!". The last page is split with the statement of ownership.Text story is pages 8, 26 of comic (pages of story not numbered).

Title: Rocket Ship X-200

Characters: Charlie Brewster

Synopsis: An aging space pilot is mocked for his slow ship, but when an invading armada approaches Earth his ship is the first to see it. His warning allows Earth to beat back the invasion, making him a hero and the commander of a new space patrol.

Pages: 5.000

Script: Stan Lee (plot) ?; Larry Lieber (script) ?

Pencils: Don Heck

Inks: Don Heck

Letters: Artie Simek

Reprints: Fear (Marvel, 1970 series) #5 (November 1971)

Notes: Story is pages 10-14 of comic (pages of story numbered 1 to 5).

Title: Journey into Nowhere!

Characters: Walter Johnson; Thomas Blake

Synopsis: Two scientists try to travel to the future, but arrive in the stone age. They believe they have proved travel into the future impossible, not suspecting that they actually saw the world after the destruction of civilization by war.

Pages: 4.000

Script: Stan Lee (plot) ?; Larry Lieber (script) ?

Pencils: Joe Sinnott (signed)

Inks: Joe Sinnott (signed)

Letters: Artie Simek

Reprints: Fear (Marvel, 1970 series) #3 (March 1971)

Notes: Narrated in the second person. Retold in Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 1959 series) #11 (September 1960) as "I Dared to Look Beyond!" drawn by Steve Ditko. Story is pages 14-16, 18 of comic (pages of story numbered 1 to 3, last page not numbered).

Title: The World That Was Lost!

Characters: Captain Jordan; Linus Vermeer

Synopsis: An old eccentric in a wheelchair hires a sea captain to take him to a spot where he believes that the lost continent of Atlantis lies. When they reach their destination he reveals himself to be a merman and thanks the sailors for bringing him home before diving overboard.

Pages: 4.000

Script: Carl Wessler ?

Pencils: Jack Kirby

Inks: Christopher Rule

Letters: Ray Holloway ?

Reprints: Tower of Shadows (Marvel, 1969 series) #9 (January 1971)

Notes: Possible Wessler script per Nick Caputo from information in Robin Snyder's The Comics, Vol 26, No.4, April 2015. Wessler inventory included a story originally titled "Lost...One World." Narrated in the first person by Captain Jordan. Story is pages 21-24 of comic (pages of story numbered 1 to 4).

Title: The Threat from the 5th Dimension!

Characters: 'Dr. Allen Brown' [actually a 5th dimensional invader] (only appearance for both)

Synopsis: The 5th dimension is the dream dimension. The creatures there are trying to pass into this dimension, but belief in their existence as opposed to surmising a mere dream experience disrupts the structure of the dream dimension and forces the creatures to withdraw from our world. The narrator sells his story to Strange Tales to encourage readers to believe in the creatures and frustrate their invasion aspirations.

Pages: 5.000

Script: Stan Lee ?

Pencils: Steve Ditko (signed)

Inks: Steve Ditko (signed)

Letters: Ray Holloway ?

Reprints: Tower of Shadows (Marvel, 1969 series) #9 (January 1971)

Notes: This story is narrated in the first person. Story is pages 28-32 of comic (pages of story numbered 1 to 5).

Data Courtesy of Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license

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CGC Census Report* (Sign-in or Join (free & quick) to See Values)

Grade	NG	PG	CVR	0.5	1.0	1.5	1.8	2.0	2.5	3.0	3.5	4.0	4.5	5.0	5.5	6.0	6.5	7.0	7.5	8.0	8.5	9.0	9.2	9.4	9.6	9.8	9.9	10.0	Total
Universal	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Qualified	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Signature Series	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
CGCxJSA	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Restored	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Total	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X

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