Wednesday World of Wolverton JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS "Planet of Terror!"

Our Final Basil Wolverton Tale is Illustrated by Him...

...but likely not scripted by him, from Atlas' Journey into Unknown Worlds #7 (1951)!

Even the Grand Comics Database, which normally attributes scripting of Basil's tales to him is uncertain what to make of this somewhat disorienting ending!

You'll note the inset art for the story on the cover, by an unknown artist, has none of the elements of the tale itself!

What's the truth?

We'll likely never know...

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Brain Bats of Venus

Life and Comics of Basil Wolverton

Volume Two

1942-1952
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Reading Room JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS "Lost...One World"

James Blane is in for a rough day...

...or is it a rough year...or decade...or...

"A chance to do your life over, with no memory of what you've done previously.

Would you repeat your mistakes, or take a different path...into The Twilight Zone?"

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

This odd tale of time and turnover was the lead (but not the cover feature) in Atlas' Journey into Unknown Worlds #53 (1957).

However, these scans are from Marvel's Worlds Unknown #4 (1974), which had better reproduction.

Art by Bob Powell, but the writer is unknown.

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Ten-Cent Plague

Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America
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Reading Room (JOURNEY INTO) UNKNOWN WORLDS "Prisoner of TIme!"

Here's a weird tale, even by the loose standards of 1950s comic book sci-fi...

...and, to top it off, thr tale is told by persons unknown!

Neither the writer nor artist(s) for this never-reprinted story from Atlas' Journey Into Unknown Worlds #36 (1950) have been conclusively identified, though some think longtime Atlas/Marvel production pro Sol Brodsky penciled it.
BTW, though it was numbered #36, it was actually #1 in the Journey into Unknown Worlds series!

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Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 

Holiday Reading Room JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS "Lady Who Believed"

If you liked this take on Kris Kringle...

....you'll enjoy this (somewhat) gentler tale of him as a Christmas crime-fighter and defender of the innocent!

This never-reprinted tale is from Atlas' Journey into Unknown Worlds #34 (1955), the first issue published under the restrictive auspices of the Comics Code Authority.

I wonder if it was originally-meant to be as gruesome as EC's legendary "...and All Through the House..."?

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Jingle Belle

The Whole Package

by Paul (Harley Quinn) Dini

and Friends

Holiday Reading Room JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS "They Wait in the Shadows!"

You saw a later version of this tale HERE...

...but this is the original story, behind a very misleading, but extremely-kool, cover by Bill Everett!

Illustrated by Bob Forgione and scripted by an unknown writer, this story from Atlas' Journey into Unknown Worlds #47 (1956) was more "hard" science-fiction and less "science-fantasy" than the later tale following the same basic plot!

But they're both equally-good at getting the Yuletide message across, eh?

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Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories

Monday Madness JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS "Devil's Day Off!"

Here's a never-reprinted tale that's really a product of its' time...

...the 1950s, when paranoia and fear ruled the USA!

You know you're evil when Satan admires to your skills at torture!

Written by Stan Lee and beautifully-illustrated by Joe Maneely, this story from Atlas' Journey into Unknown Worlds #22 (1953) is good clean fun for the entire family, not gory, like so much of the material at the time!

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Marvel Masterworks

Atlas-Era Journey into Mystery

Volume 1

Reading Room (JOURNEY INTO) UNKNOWN WORLDS "Strange Car!"

Did you know there are many 1950s Atlas/Marvel never-reprinted "lost" tales?

...here's one of them, a never-reprinted story of autos, aliens, and alternate universes!

If the police found the body of the alien, Earl would've been charged with murder as well.

Perhaps they found the body, saw it was alien in nature, and thought it was a mannikin?

This tale from Atlas' Unknown Worlds #36 (1950) has an odd artistic pedigree.

The inker has been positively-identified as Russ Heath, but the penciler and writer are both unknown.
BTW, you'll note our post's title says (Journey Into) Unknown Worlds.
The indicia says Unknown Worlds, and as of the next issue, until the end of the run, it would read Journey into Unknown Worlds.
Also, this is the first issue of the title!
The book had been Teen Comics, and before that, All-Teen Comics.
Comics publishers did this because they were notoriously cheap, and each new comic title (classified by law as a new periodical) required a new second-class mailing license for subscriptions.
So publishers tried to keep the numbering of already existing titles, modifying the name just slightly, to keep the already paid license!
But the postal authorities caught them, and Atlas had to pay for a new second-class license and restart the numbering!
So, technically, this was #1, and as of what would have been #39, the numbering restarted with #4!

As a result, the book has two different numbers 36, 37, and 38...which drives current collectors nuts!

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Taylor Illustrated History

Science Fiction Comics 

Monday Mars Madness (JOURNEY INTO) UNKNOWN WORLDS "End of the Earth"

There's a lot of never-reprinted Atlas/Marvel comics out there...

...including almost all of this anthology series!

By not accepting handouts from others, mankind is taught to, once more, be self-sufficient! 

Earth will not be a welfare state!
One other point: though the city containing all surviving humans is in Africa, there aren't any non-white people there!

Illustrated by Vernon Henkel, this never-reprinted cover and feature from Atlas' Unknown Worlds #36 (1950) is typical of sci-fi comics of the 1940s-early 1950s (pre-EC Comics' sci-fi line)

BTW, though the book is #36, it's really the first issue!

The previous issues were titled Teen Comics, before that, All-Teen Comics, and before that, All-Winners Comics!

Also note, I called it "Unknown Worlds", even though the cover says "Journey into Unknown Worlds"!

The indicia (which lists the actual title in official records) leaves out the "Journey into...", so that's what we, and indexers, go by.

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Mars in the Movies

A History