Adventures into the Unknown #2
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAdventures into the Unknown #2 (Winter 1948) is the second installment of what the Grand Comics Database, Wikipedia, and multiple collector sources unanimously identify as the first ongoing horror-comics title in the medium's history — a distinction that makes even this early follow-up issue part of the foundational run that proved horror could sustain a continuing anthology series on American newsstands. The issue introduces the Dark Phantom, a Tibetan supernatural adversary who serves as the arch-nemesis of the Living Ghost, marking one of the earliest examples of serialized, multi-issue villain plotting in pre-Code horror comics. Its lead story 'Kill, Puppets, Kill' — written by pulp author Frank Belknap Long, who described it in correspondence with August Derleth as probably his best comic book work to that point — represents an early attempt to bring literary weird-fiction ambition into the comics format, drawing on A. Merritt's prose tradition. Together with issue #1, this issue helped establish the template of rotating supernatural anthology stories alongside continuing serial threads that EC Comics and others would later refine into the dominant horror-comics mode of the early 1950s.
"Kill, Puppets, Kill" is a chilling tale from Adventures into the Unknown #2 (1948), where art and terror collide. Written by Frank Belknap Long and illustrated by Max Elkan, the story follows Betty Saunders, a renowned expert on the eerie 15th-century painter Kees Van Ruyter, whose macabre works inspire a deadly new commission. When a ghoul from Belgium summons her to recreate Van Ruyter’s cursed style, the line between painting and possession blurs—until the final brushstroke reveals the truth. The cover, by Ed Moritz, captures the story’s haunting atmosphere in stark, shadowed detail.
In "Kill, Puppets, Kill," the vengeful spirit of Turgot, the Puppet Master, returns to haunt a house he once inhabited, now rebuilt in the U.S. by Ralph and Gloria. Once a master of deadly automatons, Turgot's ghost reanimates his murderous dolls, forcing Ralph to confront the past with a flame gun. The story unfolds with eerie precision, blending gothic dread and wartime echoes in a tale where the past refuses to stay buried.
In "Out of the Unknown," the Living Ghost returns to claim Gail Leslie as his queen, forcing Tony Brand to seek help from the reclusive Dr. VanDyke. With the aid of Professor Mavelli, Tony summons the Dark Phantom from his Tibetan sanctuary, unaware that the enemy of his enemy may be even more dangerous.
When Douglas Drew, ghost-breaker, is called to the Masters Estate to investigate a young man's mysterious death inside a locked tower, he discovers something far more complex than a simple haunting—a century-old tragedy rooted in misunderstanding and jealousy. Drew must pierce the veil between worlds to uncover what really happened to Jane Masters and Robert, and why Henry Masters's bitter ghost refuses to rest. What he finds will reshape everything the family thought they knew about that fateful night in 1848.
In "The Master's Hand," world-renowned art expert Betty Saunders is drawn into a chilling mystery when a human-looking ghoul commissions her to recreate the nightmarish works of 15th century painter Kees Van Ruyter—whose own hands were severed in a gruesome suicide. As she paints in his eerie Belgian mansion, the ghost of Van Ruyter himself seems to guide her brush, driving her to capture a final, fateful image. The story unfolds with eerie precision, blending art, obsession, and the supernatural in a tale where the brushstroke may hold the power of life and death.
In "Phantom of the Seas," a family’s curious gift—a ship in a bottle for their son—unearths a chilling presence: the tormented spirit of Captain Wolfson, a man once betrayed and executed by his own crew. As the miniature vessel begins to stir with unnatural life, the family finds themselves drawn into a haunting they can’t explain.
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The series was shepherded by editor Richard E. Hughes under the B&I Publishing imprint (an early ACG trade name), with ACG itself co-founded by Benjamin W. Sangor and joined in 1948 by co-owner Fred Iger, whose partnership gave the company the operational footing to launch the title. Frank Belknap Long — primarily known as a Lovecraft-circle pulp writer — scripted most of issue #2's stories, bringing genuine weird-fiction craft to a brand-new medium; his involvement was not incidental, as a later request from Long to his friend and Arkham House editor August Derleth produced a letter sanctioning horror comics that helped quiet early public criticism and allowed the series to continue publishing for 174 issues through 1967. The cover and key interior art for issue #2 were handled by Edvard Moritz, one of ACG's most reliable staff illustrators during the late 1940s, with additional story art by Edmond Good, Max Elkan, Paul Reinman, and King Ward.
Trivia · 7 facts
- First appearance of the Dark Phantom, a Tibetan supernatural villain introduced in the continuing 'Living Ghost' serial as the arch-enemy of Malevo (the Living Ghost), who had debuted in issue #1.
- The Living Ghost serial — featuring Tony Brand, Gail Leslie, and Dr. VanDyke — continued across issues #1 and #2 but was dropped after issue #2; despite a 'continued next issue' blurb, the storyline was not picked up again through at least issue #5.
- Lead story 'Kill, Puppets, Kill' was scripted by Frank Belknap Long with inks by Edvard Moritz; Long told correspondent August Derleth it was 'probably my best comic book story to date, in the weird genre.'
- All scripts in issue #2 are attributed to Frank Belknap Long, making it a near-complete showcase of his early comics writing; additional artists include Edmond Good ('The Old Tower's Secret'), Max Elkan ('The Master's Hand'), Paul Reinman ('Phantom of the Seas'), and King Ward ('The Grim Lady of Raynham Hall').
- The issue contains a 'True Ghosts of History' installment ('The Grim Lady of Raynham Hall'), an ongoing feature blending real-world folklore with comic-art illustration that ran throughout the series.
- The series, including this issue, was collected in the PS Artbooks hardcover 'ACG Collected Works: Adventures Into the Unknown Vol. 1' (2011, issues #1–5) and in the Dark Horse 'Adventures into the Unknown Archives Volume 1' (collecting issues #1–4); both include issue #2's contents.
- Adventures into the Unknown as a whole ran 174 issues (Fall 1948–August 1967), outlasting nearly every rival horror title and surviving the 1954 Comics Code Authority crackdown — issue #62 (April 1955) was the first to bear the CCA stamp.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Chilling Tales of Horror #2 (1971), Haunted Tales #9 (1974), Hideous Haunts #[nn] (1982), Crypt of Horror #9 (2010), Adventures into the Unknown Archives #1 (2012), Classic Pulp Horror #[nn] (2020), Classic Pulp #1 (2021), Schatten des Grauens #1 (2025), Schatten des Grauens #2 (2025), Schatten des Grauens #3 (2025)
Key issues in Adventures into the Unknown
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