Comic Title: Phantom Stranger #5
Publisher: DC (National Comics Publications, Inc.)
Address: 480 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
Cover Date: Apr/May 1953
On Sale Date: February 20, 1953 Copyright Date February 18, 1953
Source: Library of Congress, Periodicals 1953
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 February 20, 1953
Source: Newsdealer Magazine, V7 #12

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

Title: "The Unseen Familiar"
Pages: 6

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

Writer: John Broome
Penciller: Murphy Anderson
Inker: Joe Giella

Reprinted In:
Phantom Stranger Omnibus HC (2023)

Feature Character(s)

• Phantom Stranger (last appearance in Phantom Stranger #5; next appearance in Phantom Stranger #5)

Villain(s)

• Pritchett and his hireling (no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• Rufus Wilde (a rich man; dies in this story; no further appearances)
• Carl (his nephew; no further appearances)

Synopsis:
Rufus Wilde quarrels with his nephew Carl because Carl studies the supernatural. When Rufus dies suddenly a familiar takes credit for killing him. The familiar tells Carl that he did it, so that Carl could get the inheritance. Carl refuses to accept the inheritance because he feels responsible for Rufus’s death. The Phantom Stranger prevents Carl from signing the money over to the familiar and exposes the spook as Wilde’s secretary Pritchett. The man is then arrested for killing Wilde and hoaxing Carl.