“Strange Footprints” is a Northern from Adventures Into Darkness #10 (June 1953), part of the Pines group. The author is not known but the artwork is by Rocco “Rocke” Mastroserio. Once again we have the gold miner who betrays his partners and suffers for it.
Pike Devlin and his friends pool their resources to get to the Klondike. They find the life in the North hard, with bad weather and lack of food. Bedding down for a cold, supperless night, Devlin realizes he is sleeping on a bed of nuggets. The men are rich!
The men are cheerful but Devlin has a different reaction. Since he found the gold, he feels he deserves all of it. He says nothing to his partners but when they come to a dangerous chasm, he cuts the rope, sending them to their deaths.
Now on his own, Pike hears screaming in the wind. It drives the dogs crazy. He kills some of the huskies but the sound continues.
He makes for a cabin in the distance. He sees strange footprints in the snow but there is no one there. They are made by his dead partners. Their avenging ghosts have come for him. PIke Devlin meets his end when he runs off a cliff.
Not exactly a new story but Rocco’s artwork is highly effective. Unlike most artists he makes the sky dark, as Arctic night would be, giving it a gloomy creepiness. This tale of deceit and supernatural revenge would appear again and again in the comics. From EC Comics, ACG Comics and Charlton Comics, all used this same trope in pretty much the same way. Sometimes the betrayer got his comeuppance once back in civilization, but usually it happened while still in the Arctic.
You can read this comic for free at DCM.
