Every Thursdsy, I will spotlight strange but ultimately endearing comic stories (basically, we're talking lots and lots of Silver Age comic books). Here is the archive of all the installments of this feature.

Today we take a look at one of the worst "shock" endings that you'll ever see, from the creative team of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers!

Okay, first off, the cover of the book specifically brags about the book's "shock ending"...

This April 1962 has an odd opening, with a prison warden complaining about lightning...

But the story itself, though, really is quite interesting.

The escaped prisoner shows up and tells about a mysterious monster...

The monster can take on the properties of objects and creatures...

The warden and the guards think that he is just making things up, but the reveal is done well...

Nice situation, right?

So how could they possibly get out of this jam? HOW!?!?

Why a bolt of lightning hits the monster and kill him, of course...

So yes, the "shock" part was a pun. And boy was it a bad one.

I love how the story ends with the warden waxing poetic about lighting, for crissakes!

Thanks to reader Jeff R. for suggesting I feature this story. Good stuff.