Fear

This quarterly series from the 1970s featured tales of horror involving both science and the supernatural. These short stories specialized in horrifying monster tales with ironic endings. Whether it was the cruel butterfly collector who found himself stranded on a world of giant butterflies, or the brilliant scientist whose time travel experiments were, literally, all in his mind, the moral of the story was always the too-often-true saying “be careful what you wish for.” The characters here all learn the hard way that expectations are not always the same as reality.

Like so many of the 1970s Marvel monster comics, Fear had its origin in a loosening of the terms of the comics code. Formerly, it had banned depictions of “the walking dead, torture, vampires, cannibalism, and werewolfism.” When that stricture was loosened, Marvel was free to reprint stories from its huge collection of horror tales from 1950s and ’60s.

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#2

Jan 1971

Cover: $0.25

W: Stan Lee · A: Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Heck, Paul Reinman

1 copy for $24.00
#3

Mar 1971

Cover: $0.25

W: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber · A: Steve Ditko, Don Heck, Joe Sinnott

1 copy for $17.00
#4

Jul 1971

Cover: $0.25

A: Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, Don Heck, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko

2 copies from $22.00
#5

Nov 1971

Cover: $0.25

W: Stan Lee · A: Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Don Heck

2 copies from $21.25
#6

Feb 1972

Cover: $0.25

W: Stan Lee · A: Steve Ditko, Don Heck, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott

5 copies from $5.00
#7

May 1972

Cover: $0.20

W: Stan Lee · A: Jack Kirby, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko

I Dream of Doom! reprinted from Strange Tales #96; The Curse of M’Gumbu! reprinted from Journey into Mystery #61; The Martian Who Stole My Body! reprinted from Journey into Mystery #57; The Thing Behind the Wall! reprinted from Journey into Mystery #66

2 copies from $9.00
#8

Jun 1972

Cover: $0.20

W: Stan Lee · A: Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers, Don Heck, Steve Ditko

I Can’t Escape From the Creeping Things! reprinted from Journey into Mystery #62; It Crawls By Night! reprinted from Tales of Suspense #26; Never Trust a Martian! reprinted from Tales of Suspense #26; The Face! reprinted from Tales of Suspense #26

2 copies from $11.90
#9

Aug 1972

Cover: $0.20

W: Stan Lee, Mimi Gold · A: Jack Kirby, Bill Everett, Joe Maneely

Dead Man’s Escape! reprinted from Adventures into Terror #11; I Entered the Dimension of Doom! reprinted from Tales of Suspense #23

1 copy for $11.00
#10

Oct 1972

Cover: $0.20

W: Gerry Conway, Stan Lee, Allyn Brodsky · A: Howard Chaykin, Jack Katz, Don Heck

Reprints material from Tales of Suspense #17; Indicia remains Fear; Man-Thing stories begin (Adventures into Fear); Start of logo reading Adventures into Fear; Start of logo reading Adventures into Fear, indicia remains Fear; There Is Something Strange About Mister Jones! reprinted from Tales of Suspense #17

1 copy for $4.00
#11

Dec 1972

Cover: $0.20

W: Steve Gerber · A: Rich Buckler, Fred Kida

Man-Thing; Steve Gerber’s first comics story; The Spider Waits reprinted from Marvel Tales #105

1 copy for $13.50
#12

Feb 1973

Cover: $0.20

W: Steve Gerber, Stan Lee · A: Jim Starlin, Russ Heath

Man-Thing; The Face of Horror reprinted from Menace #8

5 copies from $7.95
#13

Apr 1973

Cover: $0.20

W: Steve Gerber · A: Val Mayerik

Man-Thing

5 copies from $10.00
#14

Jun 1973

Cover: $0.20

W: Steve Gerber · A: Val Mayerik, Paul Reinman

Listen, You Fool reprinted from Mystic #14; Man-Thing

6 copies from $4.50
#15

Aug 1973

Cover: $0.20

W: Steve Gerber · A: Val Mayerik

Man-Thing

6 copies from $2.25
#16

Sep 1973

Cover: $0.20

W: Steve Gerber · A: Val Mayerik

Man-Thing

4 copies from $4.25
#17

Oct 1973

Cover: $0.20

W: Steve Gerber · A: Val Mayerik

1st appearance and origin of Wundarr; Versus Wundarr; Man-Thing

7 copies from $6.00
#18

Nov 1973

Cover: $0.20

W: Steve Gerber · A: Val Mayerik

Man-Thing

3 copies from $6.50
#20

Feb 1974

Cover: $0.20

W: Mike Friedrich, Jack Oleck · A: Paul Gulacy, Steve Ditko

Midnight in the Wax Museum! reprinted from Astonishing #61; Morbius stories begin

1 copy for $49.00
#21

Apr 1974

Cover: $0.20

W: Steve Gerber · A: Gil Kane, Bill Everett

Marvel Value Stamp #77: Swordsman; Morbius; Sorry…Mr. Hopkins! reprinted from Mystic #8

4 copies from $6.98
#22

Jun 1974

Cover: $0.25

W: Steve Gerber, Stan Lee · A: Rich Buckler, Al Luster

Versus Balkatar; Versus Daemond; Marvel Value Stamp #49: Odin; Morbius; Willie Brown is Out to Get Me! reprinted from Journey Into Mystery #8

7 copies from $6.98
#23

Aug 1974

Cover: $0.25

W: Steve Gerber · A: P. Craig Russell, Gene Colan

1st Russell art; Marvel Value Stamp #86: Zemo; The Last Stop reprinted from World of Fantasy #10

2 copies from $9.00
#24

Oct 1974

Cover: $0.25

W: Steve Gerber · A: P. Craig Russell, Joe Maneely

Marvel Value Stamp #38: Red Sonja; The Two-Faced Man reprinted from Worlds of Suspense #1

1 copy for $49.00
#25

Dec 1974

Cover: $0.25

W: Steve Gerber, Doug Moench · A: Frank Robbins

Morbius; The Faceless Ones reprinted from Adventures into Terror #29

4 copies from $7.50
#26

Feb 1975

Cover: $0.25

W: Doug Moench · A: Frank Robbins, Jim Mooney

A World Gone Mad! reprinted from Adventures into Mystery #3; Marvel Value Stamp #75: Morbius

4 copies from $3.00
#27

Apr 1975

Cover: $0.25

W: Doug Moench · A: Frank Robbins, Leonard Starr

Versus Simon Stroud; Morbius

2 copies from $5.10
#29

Aug 1975

Cover: $0.25

W: Bill Mantlo · A: Don Heck

Ralph Macchio L.O.C.

1 copy for $4.00
#30

Oct 1975

Cover: $0.25

W: Bill Mantlo · A: George Evans

Morbius

2 copies from $6.98