Strange Suspense Stories #72

Charlton's Strange Suspense Stories #72 from October 1964 leads with the unsettling feature story "What Was the Strange Power of… 'The Painting'?" — a question the cover poses across a sequence of panels showing a man compelled to paint against his will, only to have the sinister dark-haired figure he's rendered step off the canvas and confront him. Dick Giordano's cover art captures the mounting dread beautifully, from the painter's helpless confession ("I can't stop myself — I must paint!") to the desperate, knife-wielding struggle that erupts in the final panel. It's a tightly composed piece of early-'60s horror-suspense that makes the 12-cent price feel like quite a bargain.