Creepy Worlds #98

In "The Story of Hero [Part 1]," Jo recounts to Diana how Hero the Phantom first stepped into danger—intervening when King Surobi’s daughter was taken, marking the start of a perilous rescue deep in the jungle. The tale unfolds with a lone figure moving through the wild, driven by a promise and a purpose that will define him.

In "The Story of Hero, Part 2: The Long Trip Home," the Phantom, having fled the Sinku outlaw tribe with Melonie, begins the long journey to return her to her palace. The King, overjoyed to have his daughter back, offers the Phantom any reward—prompting a quiet moment when he notices the Phantom’s eye lingering on the famed 'Finest Horse of the Century,' which the King then gifts to him.

In "Verdict: Not Guilty," Chalmers stands trial for the murder of Sir Alfred Haines, the man whose will promised him a fortune—though the jury is certain of his guilt. When a shadowy figure steps in and hypnotizes the jurors into delivering a not guilty verdict, the courtroom erupts in shock, and the judge, forced to release Chalmers, is left furious. As the jurors slowly regain their senses and describe the mysterious man, the judge recognizes him as Sir Alfred himself—alive and watching from the shadows. The story unfolds with chilling precision, leaving the true nature of the verdict—and the man behind it—deeply unsettling.

In a hidden cellar beneath 1956 Budapest, a desperate resistance forms after Russian forces open fire on protesting workers. A mysterious figure named Franz emerges, guiding the rebels in daring raids and uncovering betrayal within their ranks—always moving, always one step ahead. As the uprising grows, the group begins to wonder: could this enigmatic leader be something far more than he seems?

When a scouting party lands on a supposedly empty Pacific island during World War II, PFC Roger Burns finds himself the sole survivor of a devastating Japanese ambush—and hunted relentlessly through the jungle with no way to warn the main American force about to walk into the same trap. Trapped in a crevasse opened by a sudden earthquake, Burns discovers something far stranger than enemy soldiers: the mummified remains of a giant human buried for centuries beneath the island, along with impossibly oversized artifacts. As American ships approach the shore and the Japanese close in, Burns faces an impossible choice with the fate of his fellow soldiers hanging in the balance.

In the year 2050, Tom Robertson—a perpetual business failure—sees his last chance at success when a smooth-talking promoter offers him an exclusive store on the distant planet Coriantus. But when Robertson and his wife Peggy arrive at their new retail location, they discover the promised population of customers doesn't exist, and worse, the planet is home to hostile mutants who have no interest in paying for goods. Now stranded without a way home, Robertson must find the courage to rally the other abandoned shopkeepers and fight for survival against waves of increasingly dangerous attacks.

Dr. Ainsley leads a photographic expedition into South American jungles to document the ruins of an ancient civilization and its massive idol to the ape god Mantiki, accompanied by the resourceful Pete Zemba. When Zemba's greed leads him to steal one of the sacred stone statues despite Ainsley's warnings, a chain of supernatural events unfolds—a violent storm, an army of apes, and a shocking discovery about the true nature of the idol's "worshippers." As the expedition races to stop Zemba from compounding his sacrilege, they uncover a mystery far more sinister than simple theft.

When gang leader Karl Rance stumbles upon an ancient wine bottle in a curio shop, he discovers it holds a tiger genie—a magical creature that grows to colossal, city-destroying size when released. With The Fly closing in on him and a dragnet tightening around Capital City, Rance uses the supernatural beast as a shield, forcing the hero into a desperate confrontation at dawn. The Fly must use all his scientific ingenuity to outwit an enemy that bullets and superpowers can't touch.