Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Strange Adventures #214

Strange Adventures #214 (On Sale: July 23, 1968) has a very nice Deadman cover by Neal Adams.

"To Haunt a Killer" is by Robert Kanigher and Neal Adams. Deadman has run out of leads to track down the Hook. He regrets the loss of his life and takes over the body of Phil, a man attending the circus. Deadman enjoys an evening with Phil's fiance Ruth, but he eventually comes to realize that taking another man's life is wrong. He leaves Phil's body, only to discover too late that the man is a professional killer.

After Phil murders Fred Ames, Deadman follows Phil and meets the boss who hired him. Deadman then takes control of Phil again and forces him to break his engagement to Ruth. He must then act to save her life. However, Phil's boss double-crosses the killer and tries to have him killed too. Deadman saves Phil's life, but makes him a hero in the process.

Deadman wants to see justice served, so he takes control of Fred Ames's father and disguises himself as Fred. He then haunts the killer and forces him to confess. As Phil is taken into police custody, another killer disguised as a cop murders him and escapes. Reprinted in Deadman #6.

Take a look at Neal Adams' original cover for this issue. I have no idea why they would turn this one down. What too dynamic for ya (found this by the way on Robby Reed's excellent Dial B for BLOG site)?

Edited by Dick Giordano.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Barry, Just wanted to say thanks for posting these in this format. It is great fun.

Believe it or don't, when I see the date's shipment(s) I am able to actually remember buying some of these off the spinner rack at the Rexall - for instance, 40 yrs ago today I bought the Strange Adventures and Creeper, but not the Teen Titans. (Wish I also knew which Marvels went on sale "today" back then.) How neat to actually get a glimpse of that long ago time, when some of my biggest thrills were walking from school to the drug store to check out that beautiful spinner rack. Thanks!

Jim E

vinnie said...

Jim, I'm glad it's not just me. ;-) Just as many people hear songs that bring them back to a distinct place and time, certain comics do that for me. Matching the dates with my memory is one of the most fun things about Barry's site for me. In 1968, I had a limited budget; just like you passed up the Teen Titans, it's sometimes intriguing to contemplate why I bought "this" one when "that" one was on the stands at the same time and looked just as exciting!

-Keller said...

I bought the Titans and the Creeper but passed on the Strange Adventures. I think I got all of my Deadman Strange Adventures from the used store for a nickle each. I bought them off the spinner rack at Bean's Market, two blocks from my home.