Expert: Chris Brown - 4/17/2010

Question
QUESTION: I'm looking for a birthday present for a friend, he told me about a comic that has stuck in his mind since the late 50s-early 60s but can't remember what comic. Here is his description of the story:

An all powerful space alien comes to Earth and says that he will destroy the Earth unless some human can defeat him in a contest.  It can be any type of contest and he even let's the humans choose the contest.

But this guy is so powerful that it is obvious that he can pretty much beat all the best champions of any sport that the Earth has to offer.

But then some clever person comes up with a great challenge.  He tells the alien there is one on going contest that humans engage in every night and that is to see who can sleep the longest.  Most people can only go a ten hours or so. But, he tells the alien, that there are humans who take the sport very seriously and sleep in special chambers underground so as not be disturbed.  The alien is taken to a cemetery to see these places for himself.  He is told that some of the contestants have been asleep for thousands of years.  Then he is told that the record for human sleep is ten thousand years.

So the alien takes the challenge and vows to sleep for ten thousand plus years.  The humans make the alien a nice big "sleep chamber" and bury him six feet under to have a good snooze .  The earth people are happy because they have just postponed a great catastrophe and figure they will let the people ten thousand years in the future deal with the problem.

ANSWER: Hi Nancy

Sorry but the story you describe does not ring a bell for me.  There are many stories dealing with humans in contests with aliens, often with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.  However, I'm not familiar with one that had the resolution you describe.

Sadly, there is really not any kind of index of comic stories that could help you easily locate this.  If your friend could give more details, such as what company's comics he was buying, what years it is most likely he would have bought the comic, etc., it would be possible to narrow it down quite a bit.  Right now, though, it could have been any of a great number of science-fiction/fantasy comics that were popular from 1955 to around 1965.  It would also be possible for him to look at comic book covers online and see if one rings a bell, but of course that takes all the fun out of your surprise gift.

Sorry I can't offer anything further.  If you get any more details, feel free to follow up with me.

Chris

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Chris...
I figured this is going to be a challenge!!
But what a great birthday present if I can find it!
I asked him if he knew more trying to get him to narrow it down.
He did say he remembers it had to have been between 1960-1963.
The search goes on!
Nancy

ANSWER: Hi Nancy

Actually, there were less possibilities in the years you mention.  I suspect the most likely is a Marvel comic.  They had four main titles with fantasy stories:

Amazing Adult Fantasy
Journey into Mystery
Strange Tales
Strange Worlds
Tales of Suspense
Tales to Astonish

However, it is possible it might have been a DC comic.  Their main fantasy titles were

House of Secrets
House of Mystery
Strange Adventures


There was also another publisher of fantasy comics during that period.  However, their stories were generally not that sophisticated, so I'm thinking they are less likely.  The company was ACG and their titles were

Adventures into the Unknown
Forbidden Worlds
Unknown Worlds


You can view covers to comics from this period at www.comics.org
If you click on the "Gallery" view next to the title, you can see several covers in sequence at once.  If you look at individual issues, you can see a list of the stories.

Here's another site that lists the stories (but doesn't have pictures):

http://www.angelfire.com/comics/mcg-sac/



Good luck!

Chris

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Chris,
Thanks for your great and worthwhile advice!
After searching through many comics, though I must say it was
quite entertaining, I believe the comic I'm looking for may be,
Strange Tales #98
from July 1962.
Judging from my friend's very good description of the story it would make sense that the title would be,
"No Human can Beat Me."
Now I just need to get my hands on a copy to see if it's the right one...
what a great birthday present that would be!!
Thanks again....
you're awesome!!
Nancy

Answer
Hey Nancy,

Wow, I'm impressed!  Here's the good news.  I have a copy of Strange Tales #98, just pulled it out, and yes, the story is indeed the one you are looking for.

The bad news is, my copy is not for sale.  :(

However, I looked around online a little to see what might be found.  Here's a cheap copy ($15), but not in the best condition:

http://www.mycomicshop.com/viewavailablecopies?IVID=5173761#FR

There's a nicer and more expensive copy ($100) at this store:

http://www.metropoliscomics.com

It's been professionally graded, which means it is sealed in a plastic case.  The case would have to be broken open to read the comic.

There's an even nicer and more expensive copy on eBay if you want to go all out ($185).  The ebay link is very long, but if you go to

www.ebay.com and search for 110222920022 it will come right up.

Okay, last minute, here's one more site with two decent condition comics at reasonable prices ($35/$40)

http://www.fourcolorcomics.com

You will probably be charged around $5 extra for shipping for any of these comics.

Hope you're friend appreciates this great gift and all the work you put into it!

Chris