World of Suspense
Entry updated 13 July 2026. Tagged: Comics, Publication.
US Comic (1956-1957). Marvel Comics. 8 issues. Artists include Carl Burgos, John Forte and John Giunta; Steve Ditko also has one strip credit. Script writers include Jack Oleck and Carl Wessler. 36 pages, with 6 strips and a short text story each issue.
World of Suspense was a mixture of sf (see below) and fantasy, with the occasional non-genre tale. At only 3-4 pages most of the stories are slight and forgettable; even those with an interesting premise – such as "Forbidden" – are apt to peter out because of a lack of space. #5 is the strongest, with "By the Dark of the Moon" managing to fit quite a lot of story into 4 pages.
#1 opens with "A Stranger Among Us": when a Meteorite blocks a river two people shelter from the resulting flood in a laboratory, meeting another who they assume to be one of the Scientists, standing behind a giant glass screen. To pass the time he tells of exploring an unknown civilization where everything was enormous: when the pair are rescued it turns out the screen is magnifying glass – the other had been a minuscule Alien (see Great and Small). In "Bright New World" a passenger plane is caught in a storm: those aboard lose consciousness, but the pilot manages to turn on the automatic controls and the oxygen for the pressurized cabin – this is fortunate as the plane travels to an idyllic Uranus (see Outer Planets). "The Mechanical Man" is a Robot that does speedy calculations (see Computers, though it writes on a whiteboard): despite pressure from colleagues its inventor refuses to give it feelings – a subsequent dream where he does so confirms he made the right decision, as it takes his job. #2's "The Man Who Saw Too Much" is someone caught in the glare of an atomic explosion and so can see tomorrow's events (see Precognition); Scientists studying him believe if they cure his near-sightedness he will be able to see further into the future; they do so, but think they have destroyed his ability when he reports absurdities since he is seeing the Far Future. "Hiding Place" has aliens preparing to invade the Earth (see Invasion), believing humanity to be "small and timid"; it turns out we are relative giants and the invaders are hiding inside a camera, so there is a sub-plot of humanity thinking they are Invisible except in photographs.
In #3's "The Green Man" the first astronaut to reach the Moon returns to Earth, but is now green skinned, so the authorities suspect he is an Lunarian imposter (see Paranoia); rather anti-climactically, the effect (due to radiation) wears off after 24 hours. "The Spy" is an alien who reconnoitred Earth prior to Invasion by impersonating a human – so ingrained has this behaviour become that whilst waiting for debriefing he desires a cigarette, so strikes a match ... forgetting his home atmosphere is methane. "The Man Who Couldn't Be Touched" has a scientist hide behind a Force Field as atomic War rages outside, emerging many years later to discover a Utopia: the war only lasted a few months and a new serum cured the effects of radiation. In "Brainwash" (#40) a test run results in a crash: the pilot destroys his plane before being captured by a hostile nation; they cannot make him talk about the plane so return him to the USA; unbeknownst to them it was the pilot being tested – he is a robot. "By the Dark of the Moon" (#5) has an alien in a 1910 Balkan village who looks human except on the full moon, when his skin turns green and he causes destruction; however, in human form they are unaware of being the alien and are attempting to frame a rival's son by claiming to have invented a Time Viewer that will seem to expose him as the alien (by using filmed footage). "The Men in Glass" are alien invaders: an apparent collaborator, a newly arrived immigrant to the USA, is an opera singer who persuades them to allow him to sing (see Music): his high notes shatter their fish-bowl helmets and our atmosphere kills them. "The Lead Lined Box" has a scientist able to release the "memories of mankind's collective history" from a baby and show them on a "memory visualizer": he is thrown into despair by what he sees, as unbeknownst to him his assistant disapproves of experimenting on a child, so put a puppy in the titular box instead.
#6 is all fantasy. "The Face" (#7) has a scientist invent an "electronic photo duplicator" that can mould a face to match that in a photograph. In "When the Creature Escapes" a scientist discovers a captured sea-Monster is Intelligent, but believing it evil, kills it, before realizing that "the fear that man has for intelligence other than human, clouded my mentality!" In "The World's Strangest Crime" two scientists use their time viewer and Time Machine to steal gold from thieves who stole it a century ago, only to have a man from the future then steal it from them. Thieves steal a revolutionary new car in "Dead End" (#8) but discover why it is revolutionary when they need to refuel it in the desert: it runs on water (see Power Sources; Urban Legends). When a scientist populates a village with Androids in "Forbidden", that word is put over the entrance to his laboratory so they will not enter and discover their nature. World of Suspense's other tales include a Roman Time Travelling by magic to the present and bringing back modern weaponry to take over the Empire; the lack of water on Mars means a Martian spy cannot swim; the Fountain of Youth (see Rejuvenation) and a Matter Duplicator also appear. [SP]
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