Free OSR Comic Book Resource - Forbidden Worlds Issue #2 For Your Old School Campaigns

Forbidden Worlds was a fifty two page comic book fantasy/horror anthology that had some fantastic artwork,imaginative stories, and is mostly forgotten today except by public domain and pre code horror comic geeks like me and a wide audience of folks. According to Wiki, Forbidden Worlds was a fantasy comic from the American Comics Group, which won the 1964 Alley Award for Best Regularly Published Fantasy Comic. It published 145 issues between July/Aug. 1951 to Aug. 1967.
 And this makes it perfect fodder for mining for old school gaming, and issue #2 from Sept - Aug. 1951 is a good solid issue to start. You can download this issue right over HERE

This issue starts out strong with the story the Mists of Midnight an tale of soul destroying horror in which a pack of spectral lords from the Ectosphere or the Beyond   decide to make life a living hell for Neil and Audrey when she witnesses a man being drawn back into the mists by these ghostly lords. These bastards scheme to drag down Audrey that she snaps and becomes a thrall and victim of these lords. But Audrey is fare more resilient to the machinations of these supernatural bastards. And through some fancy foot work manages to elude and ultimately escape these horrors clutches. Which brings up the point, if she finally escapes the Mists who else may run afoul of these horrors. That's where your adventurers are called in to make things right. 

Post Script to Death is another tale with a really neat little gimmick that the DM can exploit for his own plans with the PC's. 

The League of Vampires is played partially for comedy and part of the normal horror story. The progenitor of the story is simply a very nasty but very awkward vampire who might make an excellent NPC in your games. All in all its a pretty twisted little tale. But the Dead Man's Doom really has a nice brush with a creature that fits right into the background of a horror game. And there are some nasty elements in this one including a brand new monster from the depths to play around with your PC's. 

True Witches of History is the sort of character that might fit in perfectly with a Lamentions of the Flame Princess. 

Strange Staircase is a one line gag story with lots of potential if used in the proper setting. The Magic Coin is a mystic time travel tale with a weird love story, a bit of adventure, and magic item all in one. This is a great adventure for a party to get into the middle of. There's plenty of travel, some of this story would make a hell of an adventure into the past or an alternative world for your campaigns. 

Uncanny Mysteries is a tale of a real ship with all kinds of horror and weirdness lurking in the background. This tale concerns the fate of the good ship Fellowship and her horrid fate. There's plenty here to mine and the Fellowship might make an excellent addition into a Spelljammer style of game. 

The boy who talked with spirits is a low level story with NPC ghosts who make excellent adventure fodder.
All in all Forbidden Worlds issue two is one of those public domain comic titles that offers all kinds of possibilities for the DM to mine, use, and mutilate to their heart's content. 

Free Science Fiction Comic Book Resource - Chartlon Comics Space Adventures Issue #58 For Your Old School Science Fantasy Or Science Fiction Campaigns

A nice public domain source of old school science fiction goodness is the free goodness of the boys from Derby Connecticut's Charlton Comics title. 

You Can Read This Issue Right Over
HERE

 Space Adventures issue fifty eight features a great old school pulptastic cover. . Space Adventures was pure pulpy goodness with anthology flare to its title. According to Wiki: 

Space Adventures (sometimes cover-titled Science Fiction Space Adventures, Space Adventures Presents Rocky Jones and other variations for particular issues) was an American science-fiction anthology comic book series published sporadically by Charlton Comics from 1952 to 1979. Its initial iteration included some of the earliest work of industry notables Steve Ditko, Dick Giordano, and Tony Tallarico, and at least one story by EC Comics mainstay Bernard Krigstein.

In 1960, a second iteration introduced the superhero Captain Atom by writer Joe Gill and artist Ditko, shortly prior to Ditko's co-creation of Spider-Man for Marvel Comics. This issue is from August sixty four and features some high weirdness in the old school Charlton tradition.
We start off the proceedings with The Guise of Beauty is a slightly different alien society with a different take on the whole Doppelganger theme. Easily applied to any old school retroclone rpg system such as Hulks and Horrors or perhaps as a quick adventure encounter for Star Ships and Space Men second edition.
The Eye In Space is the six page cover story and has some nice space background elements that can easily  be applied to either X plorers or another Star Ships & Space Men Second edition game.  All is not at all as it seems with a race of mechanism using aliens. Not a bad little tale to use as quick mid game filler. 

'The Isotope Man' introduces yet another alien race with a gang of adventurers from Earth stumbling upon what they think is a weird race of beings only to discover that they can have the tables easily turned upon them by atomic warfare. A quick trade and perhaps the near Earthlings can be saved. This is a nice situation to use as a way to make some quick coin for your space going adventurers. I think that this story might work for Hulks and Horrors where mankind has lost touch with other colony worlds. 

'We are among you' is an interesting little tale that has elements of a race of terrifying aliens with the familiar Achilles heel of being able to be defeated by an ordinary substance. This might make an excellent piece for an X plorers game where the PC's have to do as much investigation as they have blasting with their ray guns. 

Black Omen is another tale with an over arching feel of an adventure that takes place at the edge of a Federation style interstellar empire. This comic book story looks like it might involve an Arduin  monster the  Thunderbird. And might make an excellent bridge gap with between a Star Ships and Space Men Second edition game and a bloody,bloody, Arduin campaign.

All in all this is a rather nice little issue that features a number of good mid point adventure encounters which could be added right into an existing retroclone science fantasy or fiction retroclone game. The stories are not connected to any particularity storyline or background giving the DM plenty of room for DYI improv when it comes to adding them into the backdrop of their campaigns. So in my estimation this isn't the best of the Charlton Space Adventures comic books but not the worst either. This issue can easily be added to your favorite retroclone science fiction campaign as a quick and dirty filler easily sewn into the backdrop of your campaign setting.