The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #12

In "Dark Side of the Moon," Edgar Walden returns to Earth with a tale that defies belief: he and the crew of the *Columbia* were the first men to reach the Moon—only to discover that what they thought was a barren landscape was, in fact, a place far stranger and more dangerous than anyone imagined.

In "A Trip to a Star!", Don and Jerry embark on a pioneering journey beyond the solar system, pushing the limits of human exploration. After passing through a mysterious space-warp, they land on a colossal, inhabited star—only to uncover a staggering truth about time, frozen in the void, and their return to Earth a million years in the future.

In "Return," a group of space travelers journey to a distant world their ancestors once called home—only to find that, after half a million years, the planet remains trapped in an unending cycle of atomic war. The story unfolds as they land on a world frozen in the same violent past, confronting the haunting echoes of a history they never knew.

In "Deadlock!", a lone Earth crew drifts through space, two years from home, when a mysterious craft appears on their sensors. As they attempt to communicate through a neural link, suspicion grows—each side convinced the other is a threat—until fear and miscommunication spiral into tragedy.

In "Sinking of the Titanic!", a grieving British physicist builds a time-travel machine to prevent the disaster that claimed his parents—only to find his desperate attempt to rewrite history inadvertently causes the very tragedy he sought to stop. As he races against time to save his younger self, the line between cause and effect begins to unravel in ways he never anticipated.

In "Rescued!", a year after a crew was sent to explore a distant planet in a neighboring star system, they land near the wreckage of an earlier expedition—only to uncover a chilling mystery that threatens their own mission. As they piece together what happened to those who came before, they realize the planet holds secrets that could change everything.

In "The Aliens!", two spaceship crews from different planets—unaware of each other's presence—accidentally converge on the third planet, only to misinterpret a simple communication glitch as an act of aggression. As panic sets in, each crew retreats to their home worlds, convinced that the inhabitants of the third planet are a dire threat to their own safety, and both begin planning a preemptive strike.

In "Breakdown!", a young woman named Mary and her husband journey to Washington to warn the FBI Chief about an alien invasion, only to find their desperate plea met with disbelief—just as the true danger begins to unfold. The story builds a tense, grounded dread as ordinary people confront the impossible, leaving readers on edge with a twist that redefines everything they’ve heard.

In "The Probers," Captain Scott leads a desperate mission to evaluate new colonies as Earth's population spirals out of control due to extended lifespans. When his crew is mysteriously brought down to an alien planet, they soon find themselves stranded—no ship, no guards, and crewmates vanishing one by one. As paranoia and isolation take hold, the last two survivors are captured by unseen beings, facing a terrifying fate that reveals the true nature of their mission.

In "The Enemies of the Colony," a group of colonists from the G.C.A. arrive on a distant planet after years of travel, believing they’ve found a new beginning. What they discover instead is a world where the native Mokos—once thought to be mere subjects of their breeding experiments—challenge everything they thought they knew, while the feared Hydro-Files prove to be more than the legends suggest.

In the silent void between worlds, Captain Larkin and the crew of the Venus-2 stumble upon the derelict Venus-1, its hull adrift and its crew vanished—leaving only stripped skeletons and lifeless, organic-free remnants behind. As they search the wreckage, they uncover a preserved corpse clutching a final, desperate warning, its message frozen in time and ink.

In "The Invaders," a desperate few flee Earth after the President’s surrender, launching rocketships toward a distant world to begin anew. But their hope quickly twists into dread as they confront the harsh reality of their new home—and the terrifying truth of what they’ve brought with them.

In "Spawn of Mars," Jean, the first woman to set foot on Mars, feels an unsettling presence as her crew explores the red planet. When one of the doctors is taken by slithery alien creatures and returns just before liftoff, Jean begins to suspect a secret buried beneath the surface—both on the planet and in her husband Ken’s past.

In "The Maidens Cried," Valent and his crew, weary from two years of interstellar scavenging, finally return to Earth—only to land on a planet where radiant women greet them, paired with grotesque male counterparts. Drawn in by their beauty, many crew members quickly marry, unaware of the unsettling truth beneath the surface.

In "Transformation Completed," Dr. Hinde’s obsessive control over his daughter Terry reaches a shocking extreme when he secretly alters her fiancé using his controversial sex gene experiments. When Terry discovers the truth, her response spirals into a wedding unlike any other—strange, unexpected, and utterly unforgettable.

In "The Secret of Saturn's Ring!", a scientific crew lands on a moonlet within Saturn’s rings, only to vanish without a trace. When their ship returns eight hours later, the two men are gone, prompting Commander Maxwell to bring one of the moonlets aboard—unaware that it’s not a rock, but a living spore with a secret buried in the icy rings.

In the shadow of nuclear fear, a group of survivors from the 1952 Eniwetok test find their lives upended when their children begin to emerge with startling intellects—far beyond those of ordinary adults. As the young mutants grow more capable, the adults grapple with a terrifying realization: these children may not just be different, but destined to surpass them in every way.

In "The Two-Century Journey!", a generation ship sets out from Earth on a long voyage to a distant planet, only to discover that time moves differently in space—its passengers age at a fraction of the normal rate. As centuries pass and the crew struggles with the consequences of extended lifespans, the journey becomes as much a test of survival as it is of human endurance.

In "The 10th At Noon," two scientists push the boundaries of time with a machine that sends a camera into the future, capturing a single, haunting image that reveals a world on the brink. The discovery sends shockwaves through their lab, forcing them to confront the terrifying implications of what they’ve seen—before it’s too late.

In the quiet hum of deep space aboard the Polaris-B, Captain Dexter grapples with more than zero gravity—his crew’s latest passenger, a relentlessly vocal dog brought by Hawkins, is testing everyone’s patience. As they near the second planet of Polaris, the crew remains unaware of the strange truth awaiting them: on this alien world, pets aren’t just common—they’re the norm.

In "The Android!", a married man named Ronald Martin finds himself captivated by his new secretary, Ellen, without knowing her true nature. When a friend proposes building an android replica of Ron to free him for a new life with Ellen, the idea seems perfect—until the plan begins to unravel in ways no one expected.

In "Project...Survival!", as civil war tears Earth apart, the President of the Amalgamated Rocket Corporation pushes forward with a bold plan to colonize the Moon—using science to secure humanity's future. But the real danger lies not in the mission, but in the President’s willingness to unleash the devastating Electron Bomb on the rebels, a weapon that could erase life on the planet.

Commander Stone’s official report details a mission gone utterly bizarre: a spaceship destroyed by colossal, rolling cubes on a planet that defies all logic. As he recounts the impossible, he reveals the truth—those cubes were dice, and the entire world was a vast, living craps table, its surface teeming with the movements of unseen, towering beings.

In "Gee, Dad... It's a Daisy!", a father and his young daughter land on a strange planet where the flora is anything but harmless—intelligent, predatory plants put on a chilling show of affection that turns deadly, leaving the explorers in a terrifying game of love and survival.

In "Only Time Will Tell," a determined scientist named Steve becomes entangled in a mysterious journey when a visitor from the far future pulls him into a world beyond his time. After returning to his own era, he dedicates years to reconstructing a complex machine based on fragments of a future blueprint—only to uncover a consequence he never anticipated.

In "The Meteor Monster," a sudden impact on a rural farm sets off a chain of eerie events when a strange creature emerges from the fallen meteor. Once it begins spreading its hypnotic influence, nearly everyone it touches falls under its control—except one, a blind man whose perception proves uniquely threatening to the alien's plans.

In "The Black Arts," timid Luther finds himself hopelessly smitten with the elusive Miss Dennis, until a fateful visit to the library uncovers a book of black magic. With a desperate heart and a reckless mind, he attempts to brew a love potion—first on a cat, then in Miss Dennis’ tea—only to realize too late that the recipe demands precision, not just passion. As he prepares a second try, a clawed arm reaches from the shadows, silencing his hopes in the most chilling way.

In "Machine From Nowhere," Professor Donalson is summoned to his friend Dave’s home to examine a mysterious device whose origins are as baffling as its purpose. Dave, a reclusive inventor, claims the machine emerged from his dreams about a molecular wave theory, leaving both men questioning where the device truly came from—and what it might be capable of.