Cover: Jack Kirby & Christopher Rule

Strange Tales #69

Jun 1959 · Marvel · 0.10 USD

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

“The Man In The Iron Box!”

In "The Man In The Iron Box!", a mysterious stranger recounts a chilling encounter with entities from the fifth dimension—beings that exist only as dreams, yet threaten to breach our world if belief in them becomes too strong. Written by Stan Lee and illustrated with eerie precision by Steve Ditko, this haunting tale blends cosmic dread with a quiet, unsettling plea for faith. The cover, a striking collaboration by Jack Kirby and Christopher Rule, captures the story’s enigmatic tension.

Was this helpful and accurate?

writer Stan Lee · artist, inker Steve Ditko · colorist Stan Goldberg · letterer Ray Holloway · cover Jack Kirby, Christopher Rule

Find on ebay

Search eBay for Strange Tales #69 ▸

No confirmed live listings for this exact issue right now — this opens an eBay search.

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

Full credits

writer Stan Lee

artist, inker Steve Ditko

colorist Stan Goldberg

letterer Ray Holloway

cover pencils Jack Kirby

cover inks Christopher Rule

Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers

▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers

The 5th dimension is the dream dimension. The creatures there are trying to pass into this dimension, but belief in their existence as opposed to surmising a mere dream experience disrupts the structure of the dream dimension and forces the creatures to withdraw from our world. The narrator sells his story to Strange Tales to encourage readers to believe in the creatures and frustrate their invasion aspirations.

Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).