Data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license.

Issue Details

Issue #60
Published December 1957
Frequency bi-monthly
Cover Price 0.10 USD
Pages 36
Editing Stan Lee
Notes Distributed to newstands in August 1957. This issue includes 10 pages of paid advertisements. This is the first issue of Strange Tales published after a publication hiatus caused by the collapse of Atlas's distributor and the subsequent restructuring known as the "Atlas Implosion". This is the last issue with stories bearing the "One of the Strangest Tales Ever Told!" logo used since 1952 on their first page. This may indicate the use of inventory pre-implosion stories. Some information on this issue supplied by Tom Lammers and the Atlas/Timely discussion list. Distribution date from Joseph Marek's Marvel Comics Group history website.

Cover Details - "The Abyss!"

Genre occult
Pencils Bill Everett
Inks Bill Everett

4 page story "With Just One Stroke"

Characters John Durston
Synopsis A criminal discovers a magic pen, which makes anything that he writes come true. It runs dry when he is trying to steal jewels, leaving him trapped in a vault to die.
Genre occult
Pencils John Forte
Inks John Forte

4 page story "Rude Awakening!"

Characters Parks; Davis; Mason
Synopsis An embezzler dreams he will be caught, and kills the man he dreams responsible. The murder is another dream, as he is jailed pending sentence for embezzlement. He wakes to find himself being sentenced for murder, instead of embezzlement.
Genre horror; occult
Pencils George Woodbridge
Inks George Woodbridge

4 page story "The Final Shot!"

Characters Mike Dillon; Frank Rochelle; Dan Gavin; Eric Dixon; Louis Ruppert; Grogan
Synopsis A convict released from prison attempts to get revenge on those responsible for placing him there. He shoots them with a chemical compound that makes them susceptible to suggestion in order to force them to commit crimes. His plan fails when he misses the detective who arrested him and the man just plays along to find out what his scheme is.
Genre crime
Pencils Robert Q. Sale
Inks Robert Q. Sale

4 page story "Child's Play!"

Characters Rod Manning; Dr. Lang; Charlie Manning; Alice Manning
Synopsis A rich man gets forces a scientist to give him a robot as a toy for his son despite his warnings. It tries to burn the house down, and the man apologizes to the scientist for not listening.
Genre science fiction
Pencils Christopher Rule ?; Ed Winiarski
Inks Christopher Rule
Notes Inks and some or all pencils attributed to Christopher Rule identified by Dr. Michael Vassallo. According to From the Tomb Magazine #10, Ed Winiarski may have contributed pencils. Art originally incorrectly attributed to "J. Makowski" by Jim Vadaboncoeur, Jr. based on a comparison with a Makowski-pencilled story later found to be inked by Rule.

2 page text story "Crackpot Chemist"

Characters Jasper McReedy; Stella McReedy; Linda McReedy; Tom Logan; Bob Webster
Synopsis A dedicated chemist invents a formula to give people a healthy weight, and his daughter accidentally tests it on the neighbors.
Genre science fiction
Letters typeset
Notes Text story with illustration.
Reprinted from Marvel Tales (Marvel, 1949 series) #140 (November 1955) [originally titled "The Dreamer"]

3 page story "The Puppet Man"

Characters Mathews
Synopsis An amnesiac confesses to a murder he doesn't remember, but applause reminds him that he is only an actor lost in his role.
Genre horror
Pencils Dan Loprino
Inks Dan Loprino

4 page story "The Abyss!"

Characters Leos; Karol; Maria
Synopsis Political refugees seeking to flee tyranny are assisted by supernatural beings, and realize once they reach freedom that they crossed over Mt. Olympus.
Genre occult
Pencils Jim Mooney
Inks Jim Mooney
Notes The characters in this story could conceivably have been fleeing from Communist Yugoslavia or Bulgaria, but this would mean that their pursuers were able to follow quite far into Greece.