Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Fawcett Publications, pre-code horror

Norman Saunders' Strange Stories from Another World #4, at Auction

The creature on Norman Saunders' Stories from Another World #4 cover may look like a zombie, but it turns out to be something even worse.

Published Sun, 09 Jul 2023 02:55:10 -0500

by Mark Seifert

Last updated Sun, 09 Jul 2023 03:50:58 -0500

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We've talked recently about Norman Saunders' iconic eyeball cover for Fawcett's Worlds of Fear #10, and the cover of Strange Stories from Another World #4 from Fawcett is another Saunders classic. Saunders is best remembered for his pulp magazine covers for a variety of publishers, but he also painted over 100 comic book covers, primarily for publishers Fawcett and Ziff-Davis. Many of these are ridiculously underappreciated, but there's a noteworthy, atmospheric and foreboding Pre-Code Horror cover by Saunders on Strange Stories from Another World #4 (Fawcett Publications, 1952) Condition: FN up for auction in the 2023 July 13 – 14 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40227 at Heritage Auctions.

Strange Stories from Another World #4 (Fawcett Publications, 1952)

Saunders had gotten his start at Fawcett 1928-1934 working as a staff artist on Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, Modern Mechanix, and other titles. Saunders then became a prolific cover artist for pulps until the onset of WWII. After the war, Saunders adjusted to the shifting mass-market publishing scene with work for comics and paperback publishers among others. The cover of Strange Stories from Another World #4 is based on the interior story Monsters of the Mind written by William Woolfolk and drawn by Bob McCarty. While the interior story isn't about an undead creature as the cover suggests, one can see why Saunders might have made that choice based on a description of this tale. A man is relentlessly pursued by alien creatures of unknown origin that only he can see. When they finally catch up to him, he becomes one of them.

It's a spooky little tale transformed into something special on the cover by Saunders, and the rest of the issue is some very solid Pre-Code Horror material, including the lead story Pillar of Stone by Sheldon Moldoff. A PCH gem from a publisher not known for its horror output, there's a Strange Stories from Another World #4 (Fawcett Publications, 1952) Condition: FN up for auction in the 2023 July 13 – 14 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40227 at Heritage Auctions. If you've never bid at Heritage Auctions before, you can get further information, you can check out their FAQ on the bidding process and related matters.