Strange Tales (1951-1976 1st Series) comic books

Strange Tales (1951-1976 1st Series) 76 CBCS 2.0

Paper: Cream to off white

Label #22-1A209AC-018

Prototype issue (Human Torch). Cover pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers. "I Am Dragoom! The Flaming Invader!", pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers; A flaming alien monster terrorizes Earth; A movie director fools him by using special effects to fake the arrival of police from Vulcan in pursuit of the monster, frightening him away. "The Pact" text story. "Beware!! The Ghosts Surround Me!!", art by Don Heck; A fugitive hides in an abandoned house, but aliens from another dimension appear to him; They cannot hurt him, but instead they phase him into an immaterial state and leave him there forever. "The Dummy and Me!", art by Paul Reinman; Some gangsters come for a ventriloquist who has unpaid gambling debts; They corner him in the alley and shoot him. "I Found the Mad Universe!", art by Steve Ditko; A scientist uses a powerful new microscope to discover an entire world existing at the sub-atomic level; He is horrified to find that this world, Earth, is just as barbaric and violent as his own. 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.10.

Strange Tales (1951-1976 1st Series) 77 GD/VG 3.0

Cover pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers. "The Return of Taboo!", pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers; After his apparent destruction, Taboo reconstitutes himself and runs amok; He is eventually stopped by the arrival of others from his world. "Mystery Pupil" text story, art by Joe Maneely. "I Am the Beast-Man!", art by Don Heck; A criminal transforms himself into a dog in order to escape from burglaries unnoticed; He must return home quickly or be stuck as a dog, but is picked up by a dog catcher and trapped in the pound. "The Strange Magic of Master Khan!", art by Steve Ditko; A pirate steals the ship of an Asian sorcerer; The ship's owner curses the thieves, shrinking the ship and imprisoning them in a glass bottle. "Am I the...Unhuman?", art by Paul Reinman; A scientist in builds a robot identical to himself, and programs it with his own memories; When robots are banned, the robot believes that it is the real person, and its creator the duplicate. 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.10.

Strange Tales (1951-1976 1st Series) 98 CGC 1.0

Paper: White

Label #4398082009

Cover pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Steve Ditko. "No Human Can Beat Me!", pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Paul Reinman; An alien lands on Earth and issues a challenge to best any man at any contest or the Earth will be invaded; The alien defeats all comers until one man challenges it to sleep longer than him, claiming to have slept for one million years. "The Party" text story. "They Vanished Forever!", art by Dick Ayers; Sailors find the "Flying Dutchman" and take the ship's gold, despite the pleas of the ghost crew; They are turned into ghosts to replace that crew, leaving the man who refused the gold unharmed. "The TV Fan!", art by Don Heck; A lazy cad tricks a rich girl into marrying him so that he can watch TV all day. "A Fortune in Beans!", script by Stan Lee, art by Steve Ditko; A bean seller is chagrined to find that he has competition from the Giant, of Jack and Beanstalk fame, who has decided to go into business selling his giant beans. 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.12.

Strange Tales (1951-1976 1st Series) 115 CGC 5.5

Paper: Off white

Label #1362288007

Cover pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Steve Ditko. Dr. Strange's 4th appearance finally provides his origin in "The Origin of Dr. Strange," script by Stan Lee (co-plot, script) and Steve Ditko (co-plot, un-credited), art by Steve Ditko; Dr. Stephen Strange, a top neurosurgeon, damages his hands in an accident and seeks out a mystic for help; He saves the seer from his treacherous student, becoming his pupil and finding a new purpose; First mentions of Dormammu and the All-Seeing Agamotto (though no actual appearances). Baron Mordo appearance. Second appearance (and brief origin) of the Sandman in "The Sandman Strikes!", script by Stan Lee (co-plot, script) and Dick Ayers (co-plot, un-credited), art by Dick Ayers; The Human Torch fights and defeats Spider-Mans old enemy Sandman. "Zero of Time" text story. 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.12.

Strange Tales (1951-1976 1st Series) 138 CGC 8.5

Paper: Off white to white

Label #4064961007

Cover pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by John Severin. "Sometimes the Good Guys Lose!", script by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (co-plot), pencils by Jack Kirby (layouts) and John Severin, inks by John Severin; Aboard SHIELD's Intercontinental Ballistic Plane Fury uses the Televiewer Tube to locate the Betraton Bomb launch site; It is destroyed but the bomb was already launched; Agent G unsuccessfully implores her father, Imperial Hydra to come to his senses; He sends HYDRA's Fox Division to deliver his terms to every nation on Earth; Tony Stark prepares to show Fury the Braino-Saur,a new weapon when HYDRA agents capture him. "If Eternity Should Fail!", script by Steve Ditko (plot) and Stan Lee (dialogue), art by Steve Ditko; In another dimension that defies description, Dr. Strange comes face-to-face with Eternity, who learns that Strange is indeed worthy of The Ancient One's trust; He knows that if Mordo & Dormammu are not stopped, all mankind will be in jeopardy; But after all Strange has been through, Eternity tells him he already has the power he needs; First appearance of Eternity; Appearance by Clea. 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.12.

Strange Tales (1951-1976 1st Series) 157 CGC 8.0

Paper: Off white to white

Slab: Scuffing to inner well of case

Label #3774617005

Cover art by Jim Steranko. Nick Fury stars in "Crisis!", script and art by Jim Steranko; Strucker announces that the impregnable dome over Hydra Island will keep them safe from the "Death Spore" plague, and plans to use Fury's body as the basis for an army of HYDRA androids to "police" the world, once he's dead from the Alpha Ray beam; But Fury escapes!; As SHIELD searches the Heli-Carrier for the bomb with no result, Fury, "playing it by ear", takes on one group of HYDRA thugs after another, until Strucker faces him one-on-one. "The End of the Ancient One!", script by Stan Lee and Marie Severin (co-plot), pencils by Marie Severin, inks by Herb Trimpe; In order to pass his powers onto his disciple, The Ancient One allows Zom to defeat him; Before Strange's eyes, his mentor is fused with one of the giant rocks at Stonehenge, but not before he utters a warning; A battle ensues; First appearance of the Living Tribunal. Merry Marvel Marching Society info and coupon. 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.12.

Strange Tales (1951-1976 1st Series) 158 CGC 8.0

Paper: Off white

Label #3774617006

Cover pencils by Marie Severin. Nick Fury stars in "Final Encounter!", script and art by Jim Steranko; The battle between Fury & Strucker rages until Fury manages to remove his Satan glove; Minutes later, as HYDRA thugs enter the room, they discover 2 Strucker's! One of them is revealed to be wearing a mask, panics, and is incinerated in an Alpha-Particle Reactor Cube; The other orders Laura put aboard the Dyna-Soar and takes off from Hydra Island, despite the imminent detonation of The Death Spore bomb. "The Sands of Death," script by Roy Thomas and Marie Severin (co-plot), pencils by Marie Severin, inks by Herb Trimpe; The Living Tribunal decrees that because Doctor Strange has unleashed a menace to the cosmos Earth must be destroyed; Before he recites the Incantation of Oblivion he recounts events leading up to his decision, agreed upon by his 3 faces of Equity, Revenge & Necessity; Doctor Strange challenges the Tribunal to let him deal with the menace, having defeated the forces of darkness in the past. Strange is granted a reprieve for as long as it takes the Sands of Death to run out of a mystic Hourglass resting in the middle of Stonehenge; Cameos by Dormammu and Umar. Letter to the editor from comics writer Bill Mantlo. Merry Marvel Marching Society info and coupon. 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.12.

Strange Tales (1951-1976 1st Series) 163 CGC 7.5

Paper: Off white

Slab: Scuffing on front and back of case

Label #1573370003

Cover art by Jim Steranko. Nick Fury stars in "And the Dragon Cried... Death!", script and pencils by Jim Steranko, inks by Frank Giacoia; As Fury escapes the monster octopus, The Yellow Claw spies on A.I.M.; Torn by her conscience, Suwan contacts Jimmy Woo who tells Fury of the Claw's plans to steal The Ultimate Annihilator from A.I.M. Fury meets Clay Quartermain who joins him on his mission to tackle an A.I.M. squad; They retrieve a dragon statue which the Claw steals, unaware it was only a duplicate. "Three Faces of Doom!", script by Jim Lawrence and Dan Adkins (co-plot), art by Dan Adkins; The Living Tribunal learns that Nebulos' staff is a force of evil which he must destroy; As the Tribunal & Nebulos battle, Strange fears for the life of the missing Victoria; The Tribunal uses "Cosmic Lightning" to begin destroying Nebulos' home planet; As Nebulos refuses to hand over his staff to the Tribunal, Strange wrests it away as Nebulos is buried under an avalanche. Marvel Marching Society info and coupon. NOTE: 1st appearance of Clay Quartermain. 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.12.

Strange Tales (1951-1976 1st Series) 169 CGC 8.5

Paper: White

Label #4102698002

Cover art by John Romita. "Brother Voodoo," script by Len Wein, pencils by Gene Colan, inks by Dan Adkins; Part one of the origin of Brother Voodoo, who is the union of Daniel Drumm's spirit in twin brother Jericho Drumm's body; Drumm returns to Haiti to find his brother dying from the curse of Damballah This is the first Brother Voodoo story; The first appearance of the character occurred in an article in Tales of the Zombie 2. 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.20.

Strange Tales (1951-1976 1st Series) 178 CBCS 6.5 Signed Starlin

Paper: White

Witnessed Signature: Jim Starlin on 4/22/2022.

Label #22-1EB985B-019

Cover art by Jim Starlin. Warlock begins in this title in "Who Is Adam Warlock?", script and art by Jim Starlin; Sphinxor retells the Origin of Warlock, his encounters with Thor and the High Evolutionary, the Creation of Counter-Earth and Warlock's Battle against the Man-Beast; First appearance of the Magus; Cameo appearances by the Hulk. The story continues from Incredible Hulk 178. 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.25.

Strange Tales (1951-1976 1st Series) 179 CBCS 7.5 SS Starlin

Paper: Off white to white

Witnessed Signature: Jim Starlin in 4/22/2022.

Label #22-1EB985B-020

Cover art by Jim Starlin. "Death Ship!", script and art by Jim Starlin; Warlock is captured by Autolycus of the Black Knights an brought aboard Magus' Flagship; His fellow prisoners tell Warlock, that survivors of the Wars of the Church are taken as slave laborers, those who refuse will be terminated and their remains will be chemically broken down and valuable elements that can be retrieved will be used to further the cause of the Church; They also tell him, that Non-Humanoids are not considered fashioned in the Magus' image and thus must be disposed of, this also holds true for some Humanoid types—such as Trolls; First appearance of Pip the Troll. 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.25.

Strange Tales (1951-1976 1st Series) 180 GD+ 2.5

Cover art by Jim Starlin. "The Judgment!", script by Jim Starlin (as Sam Jiltirn), pencils by Jim Starlin, inks by Jim Starlin (as J.L. Minirats) and Alan Weiss; While battling a couple of the Black Knights the Soul Gem almost takes control again and Warlock decides, that he must destroy it, however as he takes it off Warlock collapses and realizes, that he can no longer exist without the Gem as it has been sucking out Warlock's Soul in the last three Years thus becoming his life force; The Matriarch wants to make a Slave out of Warlock now instead of killing him; After trying to remove the Gem Warlock is invited by the Matriarch to the Sacred Palace, an obvious trap, but since she claims, that she knew that the gem would become a danger even to Warlock himself, Warlock decides to accept the invitation and ditches; Pip First appearance of Gamora. Spider-Man stars in a one-page Hostess ad, "The Trap." 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.25.