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| Adventure into Fear | |
|---|---|
 Adventure into Fear #11 (December 1972), cover art byNeal Adams | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Publication date | November 1970 through December 1975 |
| No. of issues | 31 |
Adventure into Fear is an Americanhorrorcomic book series published byMarvel Comics from cover dates November 1970 through December 1975, for 31 issues. This is itstrademarked cover title for all but its first nine issues, though the series iscopyrighted in its postalindicia as simplyFear.
The first nine issues, cover-titledFear, reprintedscience fiction/fantasy and monster stories from the late 1950s and early 1960s "pre-superhero Marvel" comics, primarilyJourney into Mystery,Strange Tales,Tales to Astonish, andTales of Suspense. Most were written by Marvel editor-in-chiefStan Lee and/orLarry Lieber, and generallypenciled byJack Kirby,Steve Ditko, orDon Heck, though occasionally byPaul Reinman orJoe Sinnott. Most covers were reprints, thoughMarie Severin drew the new top half of issue #4,John Severin the cover of issue #8, and the team ofGil Kane (penciler) andFrank Giacoia (inker) the covers of issues #5, 6 and 9.
With issue #10 (Oct. 1972), the series was retitledAdventure into Fear (though it remained titledFear in theindicia) and began featuring new material. Issues #10-19 featured the swamp creature theMan-Thing, continuing from his introduction in the black-and-white comics-magazineSavage Tales #1 (May 1971). Following a story written by Man-Thing co-creatorGerry Conway, scripting was taken over bySteve Gerber, for whom the feature and eventual comic book seriesThe Man-Thing would prove a signature work. Through issue #14, a back-up reprint story would be featured, similar to those that appeared in the first nine issues.
The story in issue #19 (Dec. 1973) introducedHoward the Duck, a cynical, cigar-smoking,anthropomorphic waterfowl — aparody ofcartoon animals — intended as a throwaway character. That plan changed when the duck quickly proved popular, becoming one of Marvel's biggest 1970s characters and a pop-culture phenomenon that would later also get a solo series, as well as a notoriously poorly receivedfeature film produced byGeorge Lucas. Issue #20 was originally supposed to finish this story, but it was published asThe Man-Thing #1 (Jan. 1974) instead.
Morbius the Living Vampire, introduced inThe Amazing Spider-Man #101 (Oct. 1971), became the starring feature withAdventure into Fear #20 (Feb. 1974) and continued through the rest of the run, ending at #31. After a single issue by writerMike Friedrich and pencilerPaul Gulacy, Steve Gerber wrote several issues, in which Morbius went on apicaresque interdimensional journey and fought the Caretakers ofArcturus IV and was advised by the eyeball-headed character I.Doug Moench andBill Mantlo followed, successively, as the feature's writers. Its round robin of artists includedGil Kane,P. Craig Russell,Frank Robbins,George Evans andDon Heck. Back-up reprints shortly resumed in issue #20. Morbius would then receive his own short-lived comic book series in the 1990s.