Comic Title: Phantom Stranger #1
Publisher: DC (National Comics Publications, Inc.)
Address: 480 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
Cover Date: Aug/Sep 1952
On Sale Date: June 27, 1952 Copyright Date June 25, 1952
Source: Library of Congress, Periodicals 1952
Until 1958 DC did not report actual on sale dates to the copyright office
The publication dates listed in LoC records are NOT release dates.

Newsstand Date June 27, 1952
Source: Newsdealer Magazine, V7 #5

Newsstand Date June 20, 1952
Source: Newsdealer Magazine, V7 #4

Frequency: Bi-monthly
Cover Price: $0.10
Page Count: 32
Editor: Julius Schwartz

Title: "When Dead Men Walk"
Pages: 6

Feature(s):
Phantom Stranger (of Earth-1)

Writer: John Broome
Penciller: Carmine Infantino
Inker: Sy Barry

Reprinted In:
Phantom Stranger #1 (1969)
Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told HC (1990)
Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told TPB (1992)
Showcase Presents Phantom Stranger Vol. 1 TPB (2006)
Phantom Stranger Omnibus HC (2023)

Feature Character(s)

• Phantom Stranger (last appearance in Phantom Stranger #1; next appearance in Phantom Stranger #1)

Villain(s)

• Matt Wright (a night club employee; no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• John Martin, Bart Benson, and Carson Rand (victims of a plane crash; die in this story; no further appearances)
• Edgar Jones (no further appearances)
• Margo Phillips (Martin's fiancee; no further appearances)

Synopsis:
Three friends share a plane flight that ends in a fatal crash. Sometime after the crash, ghosts appear and carry out the plans of the dead men that they were unable to complete.

The ghost of Carson Rand attempts to take papers from Edgar Jones which were to be used to blackmail him. The ghost is stopped by the Phantom Stranger. Next the ghost of Bart Benson appears to break a unbreakable bronco. The Phantom Stranger appears to and reveals that it was a trick.

Finally, the apparent ghost of John Martin contacts his fiancee, Margo Phillips. The Phantom Stranger once again appears. The Stranger unmasks the ghost as Matt Wright, a night club employee which Margo caught stealing. Matt had used the ghosts to disguise his true goal of killing Margo. The Stranger's arrival saves Margo and exposes the ghostly hoax.