Mysteries Weird and Strange
Entry updated 8 September 2025. Tagged: Comics, Publication.
Canadian Comic (1953-1955). Superior. 11 issues. Artists include Iger Shop. 36 pages, with four long strips and a short text story each issue. The statement-of-ownership sections name the comic as Mysteries, but the above title appears on the cover for #1-#10 (though it might also be argued it reads Uncanny Mysteries Weird and Strange); #11 is titled Mysteries (or Mystery Mysteries). #9-#11's strips were all reprints, from Journey into Fear #2 & #3 and Strange Mysteries #2 (all 1951), and are not discussed here.
Mysteries Weird and Strange was a Horror comic, some of whose tales had sf elements, usually those typical of such genre crossovers (see Clichés): evil or reckless Scientists, Mad Scientists and Monsters (cryptids rather than Supernatural Creatures). There were also several borderline stories with Zombies, Vampires and Werewolves, including combinations such as a horror actor who is a vampire, one of whose victims rises from the dead to kill him; other stories include a witch turning her lovers into dogs and a Shapeshifting Norn (see Mythology) Rejuvenating old men to become her lovers, only for them to age into monsters. The artwork and storytelling is often crude. On the whole, Mysteries Weird and Strange was one of the lower-tier horror comics of its era, though "Sea Goblins" is of interest and a few other tales are passable.
"The Stolen Brain" (#1) has Dr Claude Mannox killing immoral businessman Porter Humphrey, extracting his brain and keeping it alive with a preservative formula (see Brain in a Box). He connects it to a teletype machine so Humphrey can communicate his stock market expertise and make him rich – but Humphrey fools him. In "Monsters Three" (#2) four uranium prospectors in Africa discover giant footprints; then one is mysteriously killed and his bones are found to be radioactive (see Nuclear Energy). Later, miniature atomic clouds burst from the ground and coalesce into monsters made of uranium: a lightning strike hits one and there is a nuclear explosion. Two prospectors survive, but the woman realizes the radioactivity they were exposed to will kill them in a matter of days. "Shrinking Horror" (#3) has a Scientist demonstrating his temporary shrinking powder (see Great and Small) to a crooked friend, who promptly steps on him and takes the powder to rob a bank, only to discover there was an error in the formula – the effect is permanent. "Demons of the Swamp" has a man rescuing a women held prisoner in her castle by swamp monsters (despite the title they do not appear to be demons); it turns out that owing to a Magic locket she is over 200 years old. The titular creatures in "Sea Goblins" (#7) raid the coast of British Colombia every century to hunt for wives, though a more sensitive one tries to befriend a woman, entreating her to "show me how to be human", but she shoots him then faints (see Women in SF). The sea goblin is unharmed and takes her to the beach, where he kisses her: "We will meet again, soon, but not in this manner." Police are baffled as they watch him and other sea goblins, also carrying unconscious women, leave them on the beach and depart in their boat: one rushes to the bodies and exclaims "look at the eyes! Those fiends left the bodies – but stole the souls. These women are empty – mad!". "Corpse, Come Back!" (#8) has a scientist concocting a formula to revive the dead: it succeeds and, as they are obedient, he has them rob banks. He orders another to abduct an actress, but it accidentally kills her; using his formula on her, she recovers, but is strong willed enough to stab him. In "Happily Dead" a doctor informs a patient he is dead – no pulse, heartbeat or respiration – and insists he must therefore be taken to the morgue; the man runs off. After some travails he settles down and falls in love with a woman he discovers is dead too: they marry and she observes, "We have each other – and we'll die happily ever after." [SP]
further reading
- Mysteries Weird and Strange – Volume 1 (Hornsea, East Yorkshire: PS Publishing, 2019) [graph: collects issues #1-#5: in the publishers Pre-Code Classics series: illus/various: hb/uncredited]
- Mysteries Weird and Strange – Volume 2 (Hornsea, East Yorkshire: PS Publishing, 2020) [graph: collects issues #6-#11: in the publishers Pre-Code Classics series: illus/various: hb/uncredited]
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