Twenty-two years later, when that story was slated to appear in Crypt of Shadows<\/em> #16 (March 1975), there were two differences — its premise was no longer considered cover worthy — plus this time around, the Comics Code needed to approve each page before it was published.<\/p>\n “He Lurks in the Shadows” is about a killer who uses his ill-gotten gains to buy gifts for a wife who’s always giving him presents as well, only — surprise — that wife turns out be a killer, too, in a twist lifted from “The Gift of the Magi.” The Comics Code took issue with that.<\/p>\n Here’s the solution which was presented to Marvel to make the story publishable: “Wife is a crook and also kills her husband. She must be punished, according to the Code. Please put in caption to effect that she was caught and convicted.” So a caption was written and lettered …<\/p>\n The over-the-top caption, silly in its sudden change of tone, read: “The police found Claudia sobbing over his corpse. They booked her, tried her, convicted her, put her away. For life. She died in prison.” Whoever wrote that caption surely felt it as ridiculous as the request.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/UncannyTalesCover.jpg\")
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