Adventures into Terror was Marvel/Timely/Atlas' fifth fantasy title, and certainly the most overtly named. While Marvel Tales could (and did) run the gamut from science fiction to horror to mystery to adult fairy tales, Adventures Into Terror - though it featured the same eclectic mix - heavy doses of shock and "twisted" endings to yarns driven by gut-wrenching horror. Two of Marvel's early titles in the genre briefly varied from their formula "mix": Journey Into Unknown Worlds started with a science fiction emphasis and Suspense celebrated the kinship between it and the radio show that provided inspiration. But by the time Atlas really got rolling, Adventures Into Terror was one of a dozen to offer that remarkable Atlas blend - now honed to perfection.

     The only other distinction the title "enjoyed" was being one of the two expressly forbidden by the Comics Code Authority, which came into power in late 1954 after the Senate demanded an industry clean up. The words "Terror" and "Horror" were deemed too intense for the youth audience that was all that was left after the Code's restrictions helped decimate the adult readership. Adventures Into Weird Worlds also perished; Atlas may have stopped publishing Menace just to show that they embraced the new spirit...

     Another charming note about the "genesis" of Adventures Into Terror is that it inherited its numbering from an old Timely title (this saved money at the post office) that purveyed a 180 degree opposite mood: Joker. The first Terror issue was #43, November 1949, and the final one (it went #43, #44, #3...) was #31, July 1954. Let's take a look at three prime examples of this classic pre-Code fantasy-horror title.

     Adventures into Terror #8 (February 1952) contains five satisfying stories. Four-color fantasy needed some time to develop, and by early 1952 Atlas, with Stan Lee as editor and a host of fabulous freelance artists working in a wide variety of styles had forged the distinctive approach - fast-moving and full of irony - that produced a wealth of memorable material. "Enter... the Lizard" takes us to darkest Africa with a mad scientist, his fiancee, and their guide on safari searching for giant lizards. When the scientist sees that his betrothed has fallen for the guide he psychos out and uses the lizard's venom to turn his rival into a giant reptile... It's not much of a story but still makes amusing reading.

     "The Parasite" is a chilling weirdie wherein a jailed crook discovers that his cell mate is possessed by a parasite - a second head that comes out of his chest when he's asleep and tries to talk the other man into murdering his host...

     "You Can Only Die Once" is a slightly moralistic morsel about the supernatural sufferings of some suicides, but it doesn't take itself too seriously and thus still yields enjoyment. "The Miracle," drawn with gusto by Dick Ayers, packs a lot of fun into a two-page quickie about a murderer on the lam who makes a magician give him the power of sorcery; power he will soon pay dearly for...

     The last story, "The Ones Who Laugh," is a masterpiece, with awesome sci-fi art by Joe Sinnott. A pompous university professor wakes up one morning to find that everyone is laughing at him. The paranoia builds nicely and is raised to another level when it's revealed that he is the last human among shape-changing aliens who have been eating people then assuming their forms. Wow!

     Adventures Into Terror #14 (Winter 1952) definitely shows Atlas hitting their stride. (In fact the Winter issue was packed between #13 December and #15 January. Inside, "The Little People" starts things off with a troupe of midgets abused by a circus owner who keeps them in virtual slavery, finally rebelling when one of them dies from his violent discipline. The revenge they exact for this crime is nicely realized: Stan Lee and Tony Di Preta produced a solid six-pager.

     "The Hands" is, as the cover shows, a story about a man whose arms end in crab claws. Made suicidal by society's rejection of him as a freak he commits robbery and murder to get money for an operation - a desperate and dangerous surgical remedy - only to have the tables turn on him yet again. It's harsh, but hey... Great scratchy Gene Colan art maintains the somber mood that this Kafkaesque fable demands.

     "Hex" takes place on a coffee plantation in Brazil where a vicious yankee overseer works the natives beyond endurance, whipping any who falter, until the native foreman is finally forced to cast a "hex" upon his boss. But even after he falls ill the bully thinks he has one last chance to outwit the "witch doctor"...

     "They're Driving Me Crazy" is another effective exercise in paranoia. A chemist reveals to his colleagues that he has created artificial life. The next morning - the day the discovery is to be announced - he bids his family goodbye and heads towards "the Institute" only to find an apartment building where it should be. He asks a beat cop who tells him the Institute exploded four years ago; further research shows that it is believed that he died in the blast. But the capper comes when his colleagues and family don't recognize him. He sees another man's face in the picture frame where his photo was that morning... A mysterious figure appears and greets him by name, talking of trans-dimensional others, and this is the weakest part of the yarn. But the buildup is a superb sequence, enhanced by the Ayers art that combines a fantastical style with visual drive.

     Adventures into Terror #25 (Nov 1953) starts off with a bang: "A Very Grave Matter" is the amazing tale of a coffin maker who sells shoddy wares at top dollar. Business gets so good he decides to have a house built and finds a supplier who says he'll provide quality material at cut-rate prices... It leads to some fine poetic justice, Atlas style, and the Bill Benulis art is hard-edged modern with a sure grasp of graphic narration.

     "The Terrible Trophy" is at least as good, with lurid art by Matt Fox that's a joy to behold. The Collectors' Club is tired of hearing Rocky Martin brag about his big game hunting, spouting a string of lies about how he assembled his collection of heads and showing off the gorilla head tattoo on his chest. But the boasting bore brutalizes them into submission until a new member joins, a mild little man who has a bizarre hobby that holds a grisly solution to the problem of Rocky Martin...

     Of the three other yarns only "The Speed-Up" deserves mention, and only because it gets bonus points for being set in the world of comic book creating and publishing. But even with a couple of stinkers thrown in this is an exciting issue on the strength of those first two terrific stories.

     Although it died a martyr's death, Adventures Into Terror endures as a testament to the tremendous contribution Atlas made to pre-Code four-color fantasy and horror.

Pat Calhoun has been collecting, researching and appreciating comic books since the early 1960s, and is a nationally recognized comic book historian. Pat resides in Santa Rosa, California.