Forbidden Worlds, the bizarre fantasy anthology comic series that ran for 145 issues from July/August 1951 to August 1967, and corralled some of Comicdom’s most celebrated visualists of the strange and unusual, is returning in a mighty big way. Next month Dark Horse Comics will release Forbidden Worlds Archives Vol. 1, a hardcover collection of the first four pre-Comics Code issues of the series.
You can check out a 7-page story from the inaugural volume, “The Doom of the Moonlings” with artwork by George Wilhelms, here below.
Adventures Into The Unknown, Vol. 1 The Pre-Code Horror Anthology
Written by Edvard Moritz, King Ward, Mac Elkan
Art by Edvard Moritz, King Ward, Fred Guardineer, Al Feldstein, Leonard Starr, Al Ulmer, Paul Reinman Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 6, 2012
Cover Price: $49.99
Adventures Into The Unknown, which debuted in 1948, was the first ongoing horror comic. EC Comics may have been the comics horror icon in the 50s, but this is where the craze began. American Comics Group published the comic for nearly twenty years before the declining interest in the genre finally affected the series. This Dark Horse release reprints the first four issues which span from October 1948 through April 1949.
Each issue of Adventures Into The Unknown includes short tales such as The Werewolf Strikes, True Ghosts of History, The Cursed Pistol, and Giants of the Unknown. The stories feature classic monsters like vampires, werewolves, witches, and ghosts. Kind of sounds like an episode of True Blood — mercifully without the fairies. Many of the stories follow a similar pattern: some tragedy occurred in a location in the centuries preceding the story; a happy, post-war couple moves into the location and the green-tinted, trapped, long-suffering spirit attacks.
Dark Horse Comics does a great deal to show they love comics as much as many readers do. One of those ways is by collecting material like Creepy, Eerie, Crime Does Not Pay, Journey Into The Unknown, Silver Streak and Forbidden Worlds, which led to the massive censorship of the medium with the Comics Code. I’m a huge fan of the pre-Comics Code books, and Geeks Of Doom was lucky enough to get an exclusive look at several pages of the upcoming second volume of the Crime Does Not Pay Archives, which we’ve provided here below for your viewing pleasure.
The book looks really cool, and if you’re into crime comics like Stumptown, Gotham Central, Queen and Country, and the many other works from Greg Rucka, you should really check out where the genre started with books like Crime Does Not Pay. And speaking of Rucka, he actually has written the forward to this book. So, if you love crime comics, pre-Comics Code books, or just comics in general, make sure to get your hands on a copy of these archives.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press