The Phantom Stranger #2

The cover of this 1952 DC mystery series poses the question right at the top — "Is He Man… or Ghost?" — and the art by Carmine Infantino and John Giunta delivers that unease beautifully, with the enigmatic Phantom Stranger lunging forward in his dark coat and fedora while a terrified red-haired woman recoils from the massive, clawed red shadow creature looming around them both. It's a wonderfully eerie composition that captures exactly the kind of supernatural suspense DC was bringing to readers that October-November. Inside, the story "The Strange Story of a Creeping Doom That Struck at Night… The Killer Shadow!" promises more of the same chilling atmosphere that makes this series such a compelling corner of early 1950s comics.