We begin with the Phantom Stranger in "Death... Call Not My Name" by Gerry Conway and Jim Aparo. Though not his first writing for DC, this is the first non-horror anthology story Conway ever wrote, but his tenure on the book will be short (two issues). This same month he wrote a Ka-Zar story for Marvel and in two months he would move to Marvel almost exclusively, taking over the reigns of Daredevil, Iron Man, The Inhumans, Ka-Zar, the Black Widow, the Sub-Mariner, Doctor Doom, Spider-Man, Tomb of Dracula, The Fantastic Four and others. Except for inventory stories, he would not return to DC till 1975.
Three young girls are gathered in a night club, and one of them is invited to dance with a man called Tannarak. Shortly after, the girl drops dead, and her death brings both Dr. Thirteen and the Phantom Stranger to investigate the situation. When one of the girls is kidnapped by Tannarak later in the streets, the two men track them down to Tannarak's secret lair.
Michele, the girl who was kidnapped, is remarkably similar to Dianna, one of Tannarak's childhood friends from centuries ago, during his time in Egypt. He reveals that when he was abandoned by her when they got caught stealing from a market. Since then, Tannarak became obsessed with cheating death, and soon obtained the Blood Stone and the Elixir of Death and both items allowed him to lock away his own humanity inside a statue, preventing him from ever aging and dying. After centuries of search, he finally has found his lover and he intends to use it to remove the Michele's soul and bring back Dianna, with him he shall live forever.
When the Stranger arrives, he confronts and battles Tannarak. The battle ends when the statue of himself falls on Tannarak, and apparently kills him. When Dr. Thirteen arrives he once more subscribes to the notion that everything that happened that night could be explained scientifically, but the evidence provided by Stranger indicates that Tannarak was truly an alchemist. This was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger Vol. 1 TPB.
Next we have "The Bewitched Clock" drawn by Ruben Moreira and reprinted from House of Mystery #11.
We end with the Phantom Stranger in "Charlie's Crocodile," which is also by Gerry Conway and Jim Aparo. Charles Cuddy is married to a wife who always demands more, and he's had enough. He decides to seek out a business listed in the classified adds stating that it can get rid of any pest. Along the way he is confronted by the Phantom Stranger, who warns Charles not to take business from this establishment.
Ignoring him, Charles seeks the service of the proprietor, Mr. Scratch, who gives him an inflatable crocodile to deal with his wife for free, only asking for the man's name and work place. That night Charles inflates it and puts it into their pool. Later when his wife goes for a swim the crocodile comes to life and kills her.
Enjoying his newfound freedom, Charles has his home all to himself and he throws a party, but some of the guests decide to prank Charles and place the inflatable crocodile inside the pool, just as he goes for a swim and his life ends in the same gruesome way as that of his former wife. The Phantom Stranger watches ominously from afar while Mr. Scratch cross Charles' name from a large book he keeps with the rest of his "clients'" names. Other listed clients include Carmine Infantino, Joe Orlando and Neal Adams. This was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger Vol. 1 TPB.
Edited by Joe Orlando.
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