Shroud of Mystery #1
Published and © by Whitman (Western), June 1982
Title: “What If …”
Synopsis: Aliens fleeing a lethal space virus make a new home on Earth – but will the virus ravage Earthlings, too?
Writer: Uncredited
Penciler: Uncredited
Inker: Uncredited
Review: This reviewer first encountered this late-era Whitman during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Needless to say, its lead story’s themes hit home: disease transmission, refugees, border walls. Despite fairly generic art (and silly alien design), this one was gunning for poignant. Sadly, it simply ends rather than bothering with a conclusion.
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Title: “Two Predictions”
Synopsis: Three men visit a gypsy. Two learn their fortunes. Bad things happen but it could have been worse. The end.
Writer: Uncredited
Penciler: Uncredited
Inker: Uncredited
Review: Why are there three men in this story? Why are their fortunes so lame? What is the point of this story?
•••
Title: “The Stone-Age Astronomers”
Synopsis: The Dongon people in Africa appear to have knowledge of an ancient visitation by the Nommos of Sirius-B.
Writer: Uncredited
Penciler: Uncredited
Inker: Uncredited
Review: Based on the real-world Dogon religion, this educational tale is mared by questionable racial caricature and poor alien design.
•••
Title: “Flight of Fancy”
Synopsis: A pilot crashlands on an uncharted island that appears lost in time, but all is not as it seems.
Writer: Uncredited
Penciler: Uncredited
Inker: Uncredited
Review: Probably the best story in this issue in terms of both story and art, but its conclusion still falls short.
•••
Title: “The Red Lady”
Synopsis: For roughly 400 years, the ghost of the red lady appears to warn of pending fires in a castle.
Writer: Uncredited
Penciler: Uncredited
Inker: Uncredited
Review: There’s not much going on in this by-the-numbers ghost story, which gets little help from its pedestrian art.
•••
Title: “The Isle of One-Eyed Giants”
Synopsis: Ulysses (aka Odysseus) escapes from a cyclops by getting it drunk and blinding it, then escaping disguised by a sheep.
Writer: Uncredited
Penciler: Uncredited
Inker: Uncredited
Review: Borrowed from the pages of The Odyssey, this issue’s cover feature offers nothing new to Homer’s classic tale.
Grade (for the entire issue): C
Cool factor: It’s a Bronze-Age comic this reviewer had never seen …
Not-so-cool factor: … without a single standout story.
Collector’s note: According to the Grand Comics Database, there is a white-Whitman-logo variant of this issue.
Character quotable: “Do you think he’s right about a wall being enough protection?” – An Earthling, considering the nuances of “build that wall”
Editor’s note: This review was written Sept. 4, 2021.
