Published in November, 1948, Mysterious Traveler Comics #1 was the only issue of its series published and it was likewise evidently the only comic book published by Trans-World Publications! It's quite a little oddity in comics history, but also something of historical importance in comic book horror - after all, it predates the more famous horror comics published by EC Comics by one year.
The principal feature in this book is titled "Five Feet Down", drawn by Bob Powell. It's based on an episode of The Mysterious Traveler which had aired on February 9, 1947 and again on July 4, 1950. Unfortunately, both broadcasts are lost, but that just makes this comic an even greater collector's item for fans of the show. Powell depicts the Mysterious Traveler himself as a blank-faced figure (different from the later Ditko visualization, instead reminiscent of Ditko's Question!). The story concerns scientist Professor Dale, miner Tom and geologist Crane, who drill five miles deep into the Earth and discover a subterranean world inhabited by unseen creatures who apparently feed on humans! It's interesting that Powell never depicts the creatures beyond sets of eyes seen watching in the backgrounds. The text describes creatures with wings... it would have been neat to see Powell draw them, but leaving it to the reader's imagination seems appropriate, given the story's radio roots. It's also very interesting how much this story is reminiscent of the still-existing Mysterious Traveler episode "Behind the Locked Door" (first aired May 24, 1949), particularly the scene where the explorers find a pile of fish bones.
The second story is an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart", evidently drawn by Alan Mendel. This story is a reprint from a 1945 issue of Yellowjacket Comics. It's an extremely faithful adaptation with text taken directly from Poe, but the art is quite stiff - it's more like an illustrated story than a real work of comic book art. It's a pity that The Mysterious Traveler radio show didn't do adaptations of Poe the way other horror programs did.
The last full-length story is "Raw Deal", again by artist Bob Powell. This time, strangely, the story is an adaptation of the 1948 crime film. The story draws attention to its roots by listing the cast of the film and Powell does a great job rendering the likenesses of the actors to this comic. It does feel rather odd for The Mysterious Traveler, however - this comic is already a piece of licensing from a radio program, why is it also licensing a major motion picture? The best reason for a comic book to adapt a film is to draw the attention of the film's audience, but the cover doesn't promote the inclusion of "Raw Deal" at all. Also, The Mysterious Traveler was a New York radio show which featured only radio professionals in the lead roles - Hollywood movies aren't an obvious fit for the brand.
This comic also has three short featurse: a two-page story printed in black & white on the inside front & inside back covers called "The Grand Vizier's Reward" in which an Indian vizier invents the game of chess and tricks his patron into giving him a great reward; there's a two-page text story called "The Mystery of the Five Fingers" which is told by the Mysterious Traveler character; finally, there's an odd three-page feature called "Take a Trip to India" in which the Mysterious Traveler journeys around India, revealing various facts about the country to his readers. Comic books of the time had plenty of non-fiction features like this, but it's strange to see the horror host introducing these facts.
Although this proved to be the only issue of its series (and publisher), a few years later - once the Mysterious Traveler radio series was off the air - Charlton Comics started their own Tales of the Mysterious Traveler comic book series. That series has a following of its own because it featured some of the best 1950s work by the legendary Steve Ditko. Between OTR fandom and Ditko fandom, the Mysterious Traveler still has an audience; I'm lucky enough to belong to both fandoms. I've even blogged about Moonstone's attempt to create a new Mysterious Traveler series in the 2000s and in the more recent Tales of the Mysterious Traveler revival by Ditko, just prior to his death.
You can read this comic for yourself at The Digital Comics Museum.
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