Or: "When Worlds... er, Stories Collide!"
Two similar plots, playing out just nine months apart in the pages of Strange Tales and Tales Of Suspense, would have a single and similar catalyst: Our sun, the star which nurtures and sustains the planet Earth, was suddenly and inexplicably dying, leaving the planet's population to quickly devise a solution for the survival of all mankind. And it's the former title which produces a cover to give us a dramatic sense of this sort of premise.
While inside, each story offers a symbolic splash page which gives a hint of how their plots will play out:
While both stories will focus on the human race attempting to escape its fate, these opening pages already provide contrast as to what approach each story will take toward that end. "The Last Rocket!", from Tales Of Suspense, clearly indicates that Earth's population is leaving Earth, presumably to hopefully locate a suitable world orbiting a healthy star--while the page from the earlier "When A Planet Dies!" story in Strange Tales tells us that the human race either could not or would not leave, instead resigned to seemingly face certain death. (The cover caption goes further in conveying the impression that most of the population had left the Earth and abandoned the rest, though we would learn otherwise).
Continued »»»
