Tales of Suspense #35
In "I Accepted the Deadly Challenge of Zarkorr!", a desperate, bald actor seeks fame through a magical potion from a mysterious witchman—only to find his ambition comes at a shocking cost. Written by Stan Lee and brought to life with Steve Ditko’s striking art and Stan Goldberg’s vivid colors, this 1962 tale of vanity and transformation unfolds with eerie precision. The cover, a dynamic collaboration by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers, captures the story’s surreal tension.
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An untalented bald actor wants to receive the leading parts in plays so he goes to a witchman for a potion that will help him. The witchman tells him that he does have such a potion but does not want to give it to him, because it is too dangerous. The actor is heedless and pulls a gun on him. The witchman relents and gives the actor the potion, but the actor finds that after drinking it he can only find work as a circus freak because his hair grows so quickly.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).