Data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license.

Issue Details

Issue #30
Published March 1960
Cover Price 0.10 USD
Pages 36
Editing Jack Schiff (Editor); Murray Boltinoff (Associate Editor); George Kashdan (Associate Editor)

Cover Details - "Creature City!"

Characters Mark Merlin
Genre occult; science fiction
Pencils Dick Dillin
Inks Sheldon Moldoff

7 page story "The Duel of the Super-Powers"

Characters Detective Jim Pearce; Chuck Wingart; Storm People; Sun Tribe
Synopsis Detective Pearce is flying over stormy mountains with his prisoner Chuck Wingart when their plane goes down. Separated after the crash, Pearce is befriended by the People of the Storm, while Wingart connects with the Sun People. Both men are given powers from their respective sponsors to help them survive, but their goals remain the same, capture for one, escape for the other.
Genre occult; science fiction
Pencils George Roussos
Inks George Roussos

Half page promo (ad from the publisher) "Strange Adventures #114, House of Mystery #97, and Tales of the Unexpected #47 ad"

1 page promo (ad from the publisher) "Showcase #25 ad"

1 page Buzzy public service announcement Buzzy's "Famous Books" Quiz

Genre Teen
Script Jack Schiff
Pencils Ruben Moreira
Inks Ruben Moreira
Letters Ira Schnapp

1 page Peter Puptent, Explorer filler "I'll go into the tomb first, Puptent"

Genre Gags
Script Henry Boltinoff
Pencils Henry Boltinoff
Inks Henry Boltinoff
Letters Henry Boltinoff

7 page story "The Spirits in the Smoke"

Characters Martin Hawks (student of Indian life); Joe Red Feather (guide); Medicine Man Minoni; Chief Tihuaki; the chief's son; the Eagle Spirit; the Fire Spirit
Synopsis Guide Joe Red Feather helps Martin Hawks find a ancient Indian pipe told of in legend. According to the legend, Minoni, the medicine man, controlled the pipe and could call different spirits from it. After Minoni called the Eagle Spirit to kill Chief Tihuaki, the chief's son avenged his father by using a silver arrow. Rubbing it in the dirt he was able to kill the Eagle spirit, dipping it in water he was able to kill the Fire Spirit. Minoni took the pipe and buried it so that his son or his son's son could use it again someday. After putting the pipe on display, it is stolen, and the Spirits begin to appear again. Hawks pilots a plane he names the Silver Arrow and takes to the air to defeat the Spirits as the last descendent of Tihuaki.
Genre occult; science fiction
Pencils Bill Ely
Inks Bill Ely

Half page promo (ad from the publisher) "World's Finest Comics #108 ad"

1 page text story "The Fiery Falcon"

Letters Typeset

1 page filler "Demon Count"

9 page Mark Merlin story "The Creature City"

Characters Mark Merlin; Elsa; Jim; Willy; Jim's father (friend of Mark Merlin); W'Dor (other dimensional criminal)
Synopsis While Jim and Willy are talking on their ham radios, Willy yells that he's being attacked by some sort of creature. Jim tells his dad who contacts Mark and Elsa. Driving to investigate, Mark and Elsa find the road elevating, twisting, turning, and finally dumping them out of their car. They walk into town and find no people, but giant shadows who fire a shell at them. Trapped by beams of light, they're transformed into shadows and transported to another dimension, where they find the missing townspeople. But Mark starts acting strangely, arming himself with weapons at a local arsenal. Using a dimension ray, he and Elsa return to Earth, where he uses an atomic alteration lens to return to his actual form of W'Dor, a wanted criminal from the other dimension, having made the switch during the shelling. W'Dor's people were trying to protect the people of this town by transferring them to their dimension while they hunted for W'Dor. But now W'Dor has weapons and a hostage. His people show up to capture him, but suddenly an elephant, really Mark having also used the alteration lens, immobilizes him.
Genre occult; science fiction
Script Jack Miller ?
Pencils Joe Kubert
Inks Mort Meskin
Notes Writer identification from Bob Hughes.