The Phantom Stranger #28

"The Counterfeit Madman!"

Willie Lemmick nervously boards his plane. His paranoia fueled by Joseph Ganz, Lemmick sees the other passengers as horrific creatures.The Phantom Stranger teases the tale about to unfold. Lemmick takes the passengers hostage, at gunpoint, and demands a one million dollar ransom. The Phantom Stranger appears to Lemmick, and tries to calm him down. The Phantom Stranger brings the ransom money to Lemmick, As he hands Lemmick the money, the Phantom Stranger's features blur, taking on a monstrous visage. Lemmick screams in terror. Lemmick feints, and is then taken into custody. At trial, eleven of the jurors in Lemmick's case agree that Lemmick suffers from multiple personality disorder. "Ganz" is Lemmick's second persona.

Only one juror, Trupin, believes that Lemmick is faking the disorder, to receive a lighter sentence. The Phantom Stranger confronts Lemmick. Using his cloak of memory, the Phantom Stranger probes Lemmick's mind. At the age of fifteen, Lemmick, driving a stolen car, robbed a service station. In the course of the robbery, Lemmick murdered the station attendant's dog. Under "Ganz's" influence, Lemmick hallucinated that the dog transformed into a monstrous beast. "Ganz" was easily arrested for the crime, after slipping back into his Lemmick persona. Lemmick was sentenced to serve his time in a psychiatric facility, instead of jail. Back on the streets, Lemmick, as "Ganz", stole a small passenger plane.

"Ganz" took the plane on a joyride, then purposely crashed the plane into a mountain. Again, "Ganz", as Lemmick, allowed himself to be arrested. Again, Lemmick served time in a psychiatric facility instead of jail. Back on the street, Lemmick, as "Ganz", robbed a bank. During the robbery, the Lemmick personality regained dominance. Lemmick turned himself in to the police. Finishing his memory probe, the Phantom Stranger still has lingering doubts regarding Lemmick's condition. The Phantom Stranger casts an illusion of "Ganz" as a nightmarish horror. Lemmick, in terror, confesses that "Ganz" was never real. In light of Lemmick's confession, the jury is prepared to send him to jail. All but Trupin, who now believes Lemmick must be insane. No sane man would go to the extremes Lemmick did to prove his insanity. Once more the jury is deadlocked.

Night Of The Snake God

Frankenstein's monster fights with a would-be rapist. Unbeknownst to Frankenstein's monster, the rapist's potential victim, Betty Anne, has fallen into the hands of a satanic cult. Tied to a tree, Betty Anne is to be sacrificed, in order to summon a demon. Frankenstein's monster breaks the rapist's wrist. Smelling smoke, and hearing Betty Anne's cries, Frankenstein's monster makes it's way to the sacrificial alter. Frankenstein's monster frees Betty Anne, and carries her away into the woods.

Carelessly, Frankenstein's monster accidentally smashes Betty Anne's head into a tree, killing her. Frankenstein's monster delivers Betty Anne's corpse to her family. The neighbors rally to their side, and attack Frankenstein's monster. Seeing Frankenstein's monster fighting with the townsfolk, the satanic cult mistakenly believe that Frankenstein's monster is the demon they summoned.