Two other greats, JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY 1, that has a Robert E. Howard adaptation "Dig Me No Grave" by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane/Palmer, plus a haunted house story by Englehart and Reese, and a rare one-time collaboration "Show Me Your Dream" by Steve Skeates, pencils by Starlin, inks by Ploog.
Also the atmospheric 10-page origin story of Man-Thing in FEAR # 10 by Gerry Conway, with Howard Chaykin pencils and Morrow inks. The first issue of a regular series for Man-Thing.
In this same issue is one of my favorites, mixing ghosts and pirates, in "Spell of the Sea Witch", by Allyn Brodsky, "Jay Hawk"( a pseudonym for Jack Katz, just before he began FIRST KINGDOM) and "Black Bill" (a pirate-pseudonym for Bill Everett, one of the last stories he did before he died) who I initially confused with Bill Black, publisher of Americomics beginning in the 1980's.
"Spell of the Sea Witch" is a brief but memorable 6 page tale. A remarkably good story from two one-time collaborators.
Rounding out the issue is a Don Heck story, reprinted from TALES OF SUSPENSE 17 (August 1961).
Say what you will about Heck, but he did some great work in the pre-Marvel period of 1959-1963, and I enjoy his stories from this era as much as the ones by Kirby and Ditko. Work I love, especially in the recent Marvel Atlas-era collected hardcovers. All the pre-Marvel TALES OF SUSPENSE and TALES TO ASTONISH issues are available, in three volumes for each of these two titles. Also AMAZING FANTASY (all 15 issues in one hardcover omnibus).
