| Issue | #71 |
| Published | October 1959 |
| Frequency | bi-monthly |
| Cover Price | 0.10 USD |
| Pages | 36 |
| Editing | Stan Lee |
| Notes | Distributed to newstands in June 1959. This issue includes 10 pages of paid advertisements. From this issue to issue #79 (December 1960) almost all new stories in Strange Tales are narrated in the first person. Some information on this issue supplied by Tom Lammers and the Timely/Atlas discussion list. Distribution date from Joseph Marek's Marvel Comics Group history website. |
| Characters | Merlin |
| Genre | occult |
| Pencils | Jack Davis |
| Inks | Jack Davis |
| Characters | Merlin |
| Synopsis | An American businessman scoffs at a shopowner's claim that one of his books was Merlin's diary, until a terrifying vision of Merlin turns his hair white. As he runs from the shop, the shopkeeper thinks that he must remember not to leave his diary out. |
| Genre | occult |
| Pencils | Steve Ditko |
| Inks | Steve Ditko |
| Notes | This story could conceivably be in Marvel continuity, in which case this might be any of the three Merlins. Job number unknown according to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo via the Atlas/Timely discussion group. |
| Reprinted | in Chamber of Darkness (Marvel, 1969 series) #6 (August 1970) |
| Characters | Jasper Milty; Tom Milty |
| Synopsis | An old man disgruntled with society becomes rich by discovering uranium. |
| Genre | family |
| Letters | typeset |
| Notes | Text story with illustration. |
| Reprinted | from Uncanny Tales (Marvel, 1951 series) #41 (March 1956) |
| Characters | Mool [Ralph Masters]; John; Anne |
| Synopsis | An alien emperor of an immortal race comes to Earth disguised as a human to decide whether or not to order an invasion. He is impressed with the humans' decency and falls in love with a human girl, calling off the invasion and giving up immortality to stay with her. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Pencils | Don Heck |
| Inks | Don Heck |
| Notes | Job number from Dr. Michael J. Vassallo via the Atlas/Timely discussion group. |
| Reprinted | in Fear (Marvel 1970 series) #1 (November 1970) |
| Characters | Joe; Charlie |
| Synopsis | A airline pilot is nearly hit by a flying saucer and must bank suddenly to avoid it. The passengers where mostly asleep, and the one who was awake says that he saw nothing...because he's really a Martian tourist and the saucer came to pick him up. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Pencils | Paul Reinman |
| Inks | Paul Reinman |
| Notes | Narrated. Job number from Dr. Michael J. Vassallo via the Atlas/Timely discussion group. |
| Reprinted | in Where Monsters Dwell (Marvel, 1970 series) #6 (November 1970) |
| Characters | Duke Jordan |
| Synopsis | A criminal escapes from prison after 10 years and robs a warehouse. He is found by a police officer with superhuman powers, and is surprised to learn that the police now only recruit robots. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Pencils | Sol Brodsky |
| Inks | Sol Brodsky |
| Notes | Set in 1969. Pencil credit, ink credit, and job number from Dr. Michael J. Vassallo via the Atlas/Timely discussion group. |
| Reprinted | in Fear (Marvel, 1970 series) #1 (November 1970) |
| Characters | Rufus Watkins |
| Synopsis | A bigot rounds up some thugs to don black hoods and drive some harmless gypsies out of town. One of the gypsies curses him, and he is never able to remove his hood for the rest of his life. |
| Genre | occult |
| Script | Stan Lee |
| Pencils | Joe Sinnott |
| Inks | Joe Sinnott |
| Notes | This story is a retelling of "Men in Black" by Stan Lee and John Romita, Sr. from Menace (Marvel, 1953 series) #3 (May 1953). The hoods are more clearly a reference to the Ku Klux Klan than in the original (they are not randomly chosen disguises, but something the bigot's "pappy left me when he died"). Job number from Dr. Michael J. Vassallo via the Atlas/Timely discussion group. Lee is credited as writer on the basis of his authorship of the original and later retelling. |
| Reprinted | in Where Creatures Roam (Marvel, 1970 series) #2 (September 1970) |