Mystic (1951 Atlas) comic books 1953

Ghosts in the Night, script by Stan Lee, art by Carmine Infantino. Birth of a Vampire! Dream's End text story. The Most Miserable Man in the World; A man with terrible luck finally uses a book of black magic to summon the Devil, who informs him that he actually is in Hell. A Scream in the Dark!; When a couple arrive at the end of the tunnel of love, they find that they have aged rapidly and the fairground deserted. The Wooden Box, script by Stan Lee, art by George Roussos; When a pawn shop owner opens a wooden box that he has been warned against opening, he is transformed into a skeleton. 36 pgs. $0.10. Cover price $0.10.

Stories by Stan Lee, Carl Wessler and unknown. Art by Vic Carrabotta, Tony DiPreta, Ed Winiarski, Bill Everett and unknown. The most eerie stories ever told! "Behind Locked Doors" with art by Vic Carrabotta - Denby is an elitist psychiatrist who only offers his services to those of great breeding. He meets a fellow boarder at his hotel who is of noble birth and drinks an odd red liquid. The man is upset because he feels he cannot live up to his father's successes. Denby offers to help him through hypnosis, instilling within his friend all the capability his father possessed. It's only then he learns his friend's father was Dracula -- and his favoured beverage isn't wine. Plus: "The Silent Stranger" by Carl Wessler and Tony DiPreta - As a vampire preys upon the fattest men of Borgy, people fear Emil will be next. A silent stranger with a violin case is suspected of being the vampire and he stalks Emil, terrifying him. Emil narrowly avoids the stranger, but in both instances people who cross his path are killed by the vampire. Finally, the stranger catches Emil in his home and runs a stake through his heart -- the stranger is a vampire hunter and Emil was the real vampire. Also in this issue: "The Vampire" by Stan Lee and Ed Winiarski - Teddy finds the body of a man killed by vampires...when he tries to tell his parents about it they dismiss him to his room for lying...left alone, his parents reveal themselves as vampires, concerned Teddy might learn their secrets; "Hate!" by Stan Lee and Bill Everett - Crewe has a hairy, unkempt neighbour whom he hates on sight...he goes to Sleepy Junction to get away from him, only to find his roommate is the hairy man...he chokes him and then winds up in an insane asylum where the hairy man is his keeper; "Who Am I?" with story by Carl Wessler - Waller kills Higgins to take his money but fears the police are following him and has a doctor change his features...it turns out to be a detective come to tell Waller he inherited Higgins' estate, but now Waller cannot prove his identity to collect it; and 2-page text story "Double Death"! 32 pages, full color. Cover price $0.10.

Add to cart Coverless $110.00 View scan Interior is complete.

Mystic #18 features a memorable Bill Everett horror cover for "The Russian Devil!" The cover depicts skeletal communist party official literally dragging the corpse of an unfortunate citizen from his grave. "Get up, Ivan!" shouts the commie, "You can't escape us by dying! We're not through with you yet!" Fortunately, this story was written by a red-blooded American comic creator so the commie villain comes to a bad--and eternal--end. In Old Baghdad; A woman brought to the city as a slave schemes to become the wife of the Sultan but she is unaware of the the custom of that country to throw the Sultan's wife to the lions when he dies. The Drowning Man, art by Carrabotta; A thief cast overboard mistakes the back of a whale for a raft. The Perfect Mold text story. Tom-Tom!; Natives skin a cruel plantation owner and use him for their drums. Charley's Crime, art by Jack Abel; A thief comes back as a ghost to rob a bank but the ghost of the guard he killed stops him. The Russian Devil; The communist overseer of a labor camp is glad when he is told by his doctor that he has not long to live because he has spent his whole life killing and is weary; Death wants an assistant however and refuses to allow him to rest in peace. 36 pgs. $0.10. Cover price $0.10.

Add to cart CGC 5.5 $513.00 View scans Paper: Off white to white Label #0361580025 Consignment. 3% buyer's premium charged at checkout.

Help Wanted!, art by Mort Lawrence; A cheap department store owner's toy demonstrator quits after receiving a Christmas bonus of only one dime, and so the owner attempts to save money by shortening the help wanted ad to "Demon. Wanted." Curse of the Mummy text story. Swamp Girl!, art by Vic Carabotta; A deserter becomes a werecat when he drinks water from the bayou. They Dive by Night!, art by Al Luster; A native warns a pearl diver not to dive by night so as to have enough light to see where to avoid the man-eating clams, but he doesn't listen. Fast Freight; A man escapes from prison and manages to hop onto a passing train, not knowing that the train is carrying freight right back to the prison. Bong!, art by Tony DiPreta; A man resolves to murder his rival for the affections of a beautiful girl, but ends up killing himself by falling into the bell-maker's molten vat. 36 pages, full color. Cover price $0.10.

Add to cart CGC 5.0 $499.00 View scans Paper: Off white Label #0305709013 Consignment. 3% buyer's premium charged at checkout.

Add to cart CGC 3.0 $300.00 or Best Offer View scans Paper: Cream to off white Label #4108562005 Consignment. 3% buyer's premium charged at checkout.

Cover art by Russ Heath. The Witch and I; A Count has a witch for a mother and he forces her to use her black magic to gain advantage over the peasants; As she lays dying, she gives him a last doll and tells him that it is a figure of his greatest enemy; She dies before she can instruct him what to do with it. The Door that Never Opens; The constructor of the French Bastille tricks an abbot into serving as a prison guard, but the abbot gets back at him by locking him into the newly-opened Bastille and then setting the prisoners loose upon him. The Slaves!, art by art by Ed Win; This story is narrated by a strangler's hands who regret the actions their owner makes them do. Invitation to the Waltz text story. His Dead Wife!, art by art by Tony DiPreta; A Nazi spy marries a woman who hates them and he kills her and stashes a wireless set in the coffin which he leaves in the castle to warn the Nazi of raids. In the Wake of the Werewolf, art by Sam Kweskin; A man stumbles into a situation where two people accuse a girl of being a vampire and attack her. 36 pgs. $0.10. Cover price $0.10.

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Zombie in the Streets, art by John Buscema. Dorothy's Doll, art by Gene Colan; A man buys a lifelike doll for his ill child unintentionally fooling Death into taking the doll and leaving the girl. The Honeymooners, art by Tony Mortellaro; A man strangles his new bride, and when confronted by a neighbor, is told to mind his own business because that is what she wanted; He is a ghost and now his wife is a ghost, too. Isle of no Escape text story. Homicide; Jim Lane kills a bothersome tramp, then tries to frame his neighbor, an inadvertent witness, for the murder. The Ghost Comes Back!, pencils by Dick Ayers; A woman fools a criminal into thinking that her returning husband is a member of the undead. 36 pgs. $0.10. Cover price $0.10.

Cover by Russ Heath. Stories by Carl Wessler and unknown. Art by Joe Maneely, John Forte, Al Eadeh, Vern Henkel and Art Peddy. The most eerie stories ever told! In this issue: "Doom in the Tomb!" by Carl Wessler and Joe Maneely; "Boy Meets Ghoul!" with art by John Forte; "Man-Eater!" with art by Al Eadeh; "Nothing Else to Write" with art by Vern Henkel; "The Maiden in the Iron Mask" with art by Art Peddy; and 2-page text story "Ghost Ship," reprinted from Suspense (1950) #11 (original title: "Dog Watch Death"). 32 pages, full color. Cover price $0.10.

Add to cart CGC 4.5 $350.00 or Best Offer View scans Paper: White Label #2045585005 Consignment. 3% buyer's premium charged at checkout.

Cover art by Russ Heath. Don't Shrink Sam's Head; A man wants to go to Jivaro country so he can acquire a shrunken head for his collection of horror memorabilia but is afraid of having his head shrunk, so he hires a scientist to treat his head so that it is unshrinkable. Tribal Mask text story. The Perfect Planet, art by Ross Andru. Hugo, art by Pete Tumlinson. Mother Knows Best, art by Sol Brodsky; A mother tells her daughter that the man in the moon causes the tides but her daughter doesn't believe her. Afterward, the moon gets destroyed by a comet impact and the seas grow calm. Every Dog Has Its Day!; An old miser who is mean to the boys at a neighboring orphanage gets what's coming to him when he poisons one of the orphans' dogs. 36 pgs. $0.10. Cover price $0.10.

The Gargoyle!; When the only person who is nice to him is murdered by gargoyles, Quasimodo is blamed and hanged. The Stranger from Space; When a spacecraft lands and a creature emerges, two scientists are at odds with each other on what to do with the being; One thinks it is a threat and should be destroyed but the other stops his attack and helps the creature back to his ship where the two of them blast off. The Mysterious Painting text story. Another Man's Shoes; A janitor has a witch cast a spell which will exchange bodies with a man whom he thinks is well off, but the man's beautiful wife divorces him, he finds out he's bankrupt, and finally he gets shot. His Wife Throws Things. How Many Times Can You Die?; A man has dreams about killing his wife but he gets arrested and executed the same way in the dreams and so loses his nerve. 36 pgs. $0.10. Cover price $0.10.

Add to cart CGC 7.0 $680.00 View scans Paper: Cream to off white Label #0236060010

Add to cart CGC 4.5 $305.00 View scans Paper: Off white Label #4274001004

Add to cart GD 2.0 $229.95 or Best Offer View scans Puncture in front cover and first few pages, slightly affects one text bubble. Centerfold detached at one staple. Consignment. 3% buyer's premium charged at checkout. Graded by MCS, not consignor. Other items consigned by humble cow

Add to cart GD 2.0 $229.95 or Best Offer View scans 1" Cumulative spine split. Cover-to-cover puncture. Cover loose at one staple. Consignment. 3% buyer's premium charged at checkout. Graded by MCS, not consignor. Other items consigned by humble cow

Vampire; A police chief of a village is revealed to be a vampire. The Couple Next Door; A henpecked husband is demanded by his wife to provide something bigger and better than what the neighbors have; When he goes to tell her the latest thing the neighbor's wife got, his wife tells him to shut up and just give her one bigger and better, so he picks up a shotgun and blows her head off. The Toy Train; An orphan boy is visited by a stranger who leaves him a train set. When the boy shrinks to actually be able to board the train, he thinks that he is dreaming, but when his cruel uncle wakes him, he finds the train is still there. 36 pages, full color. Cover price $0.10.