He Walked Through Walls

History: In a village in 19th Century England, a bolt of lightning struck a tree one dark and stormy night. Out of the smoke and fire stepped a mysterious stranger. The stranger went into the village and demonstrated incredible, supernatural powers. He offered the villagers good health, prosperity, and whatever else they desired most in return for signing a contract. The stranger's offer was taken by the greedy Silas Birch. The stranger helped Birch steal his employer's money, promising Birch he would not be captured and would be in possession of the money for the rest of his life. The stranger helped Birch escape by providing him with a ticket for passage aboard a sailing ship. The ship sank during a storm, leaving Birch shipwrecked (with all of the money) on a deserted isle, where he would spend the rest of his life, thus fulfilling the stranger's promise.

Height: 6 ft.
Demonstrated Powers: The nameless stranger had seemingly unlimited supernatural powers, and was shown levitating a building, turning invisible, and walking through a solid wall.

Comment: It is possible that the nameless stranger was actually Mephisto (introduced in The Silver Surfer (vol. 1) # 3), or some other demonic entity in human form.

Comment: A modern-day version of this story was done in Journey Into Mystery # 70 “A Thousand Years” (art by Paul Reinman) wherein a convict named Jordan signs a contract with a “devilish” stranger; possibly this stranger was the same demonic entity?

I recently re-read this story. Thankyou for posting the refrence to it, leading to my desire to read it again. If you have an impure heart and unclean hands as the clerk did, and then make a deal to benefit yourself, get rich quick, do not be suprised if you get burned after dealing with the devil.
Here a greedy man seeks to advance himself, at the expense of others, without honest hard work. He does get his money. He will never use it as he intended. The devil kept his end of the bargain. The man got the cash. He was never promised how if ever he would use it, just that he would get it. Now he can not spend it. His end of the bargain will be up, and without the
opportunity to enjoy his ill gotten gains.

WORLD OF FANTASY#7 has a similar story ''the man in grey''also,satan appeared in MARVEL TALES #96(which also had a stupid but wonderfully enjoyable frankenstein story in it,the monster had claws and fangs.)and was the killer/mentor/benefactor/boss of the golden age BLACK WIDOW,i like to think it was mephisto,and that the widow was meant to be a host for zarathos(GHOST RIDER)before blaze came along,the devil was also supposed to appear in this ditko story in STRANGE TALES#85 but it was (VERY obviously,and poorly)censored,i suspect all these entities were mephisto,still……….GHOST RIDER the movie looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

............. TURRRRRRRRRD THE THING THAT COULD NOT DIE!!!!!!! :: 26 November 2006

SPELLBOUND#14,MARVEL TALES#105,MYSTIC#16,MARVEL TALES#114,UNCANNY TALES#3,ADVENTURES INTO TERROR#21,all have stories with demons/Satan.

............. TURRRRRRRRRRRRRRD THE THING THAT COULD NOT DIE!!!!! :: 09 January 2007

Strange Tales vol.1#62(4/58) has a story called “The Who Walked Thru Stone” and she is seen on the cover.

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