As a kid, before I became engrossed with reading superhero comics, I had an uncle who had given me some of these Golden Age comics. If I had been smart, I would have held onto them for their present-day value, but to a 7-year old at the time, they were just plain fun reading.  

I remember reading titles like "Fear",  "Journey to Unknown Worlds," "Strange Adventures" or "Journey into Mystery."

The stories, which were usually 2 or 3 per book in an anthology format, were so well written with ironic twists that they were an early influence on me to become a writer. In my personal opinion and in their day, some of these comic book tales were as well conceived and was well written as anything Rod Serling or Ray Bradbury could have put out.

For example: Although I can't recall the title or writer, I remember one tale, which was similar to Arthur C. Clarke's "Sentinel" book but which came out years before Stanley Kubrik's and Clarke's "2001: A Space Oddyssey ."

It was about an astronaut obsessed with reaching the end of the universe. The man anticipated fame and fortune with his return to Earth and by telling people of what he would discover.

Long story short, the astronaut reached the end of the Universe. The rocket came back to Earth via automatic pilot. As the people on the ground opened up the rocket, they found the astronaut, still alive. But they discovered (you guessed it) that at the end of the universe life begins, because the astronaut did return, but he came back home as an infant.

The story still gives me chills.