ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN NO. 2

Ed Moritz continues his series of striking cover art, this time likely inspired by "Isle of the Dead" by Swiss painter, Arnold Böcklin, illustrating the interior story, "Out of the Unknown".

More known for his weird fiction and being a "member" of the legendary H.P. Lovecraft Circle, Frank Belknap Long made ends meet by writing comic book scripts. He wrote the lion's share of stories in the first two issues of this title, including creating The Living Ghost character who also appeared in the first two issues. These stories were probably the ones that could be considered straight up horror stories, the others focusing on the supernatural and ghostly hauntings. Long wrote one more script for ACG in UKNOWN's issue #3 then disappeared from the title along with his Living Ghost.

Edmond Good was a Canadian cartoonist and began his career drawing for Canadian Comics, then traveled south to work for, among other American imprints, DC, Pines, Eastern Color, Fox and Fiction House. Max Elkin drew for Quality, Fiction House, Fawcett and numerous others. Before the prolific Paul Reinman came onboard ACG, he worked for Archie, DC, Hillman and Marvel.

Readers got a real bargain with this comic; 52 pages for a dime and the only ad is on the inside front cover.

ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN

Vol. 1 No. 2

December 1948 - January 1949

B. & I. Publishing Co. Inc. (ACG Comics)

Editor: Richard Hughes

Cover: Ed Moritz

Pages: 52

Cover price: 10 cents

CONTENTS

"Kill, Puppets, Kill"

Script: Frank Belknap Long

Art: ? (Ed Moritz inks)

"Out of the Unknown"

Script: Frank Belknap Long

Art: Ed Moritz

"The Old Tower's Secret"

Script: Frank Belknap Long

Art: Edmond Good

"The Master's Hand"

Script: Frank Belknap Long

Art: Max Elkin

"Phantom of the Seas"

Script: Frank Belknap Long

Art: Paul Reinman

"True Ghosts of History: The Grim Lady of Raynham Hall"

Script: ?

Art: King Ward

ACG'S FORBIDDEN WORLDS NO. 1

In his editorial, Richard E. Hughes makes his case for a second series of supernatural-themed comics that was so successful with his first attempt, ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN. Like its companion, FORBIDDEN WORLDS proved to be a winner, lasting 145 issues from July/August 1951 until August 1967.

The highlight of this issue is the lead story, "Demon of Destruction" with art by the unbeatable team of Al Williamson and Frank Frazetta. It's a strange little tale, but so are the rest of the stories here featuring ghosts, vampires and werewolves. They aren't as potent as other Pre-Code horror stories from other publishers, but Hughes' even-handedness and restraint from the extreme allowed ACG to stay mainly under the radar during The Great Purge and ensure a longer life than virtually all the other titles.

FORBIDDEN WORLDS

Vol. 1 No. 1

July/August 1951

Preferred Publications Inc. (ACG Comics)

Editor: Richard E. Hughes

Cover: Ken Bald

Pages: 52

Cover price: 10 cents

"Demon of Destruction"

Script: ?

Art: Al Williamson; Frank Frazetta

"Love of a Vampire"

Script: ?

Art: Paul Reinman

"From Your Editor to You" (text article)

Script: Richard Hughes

"The Way of the Werewolf"

Script: ?

Art: Emil Gershwin

"True Ghosts of History: The Ghostly Army of Bethune"

Script: ?

Art: Henry Kiefer

"The Monster Doll"

Script: ?

Art: Ed Moritz

NOTE: All lettering is by Ed Hamilton. Third-party ads have been removed.