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Deadman Tells the Spooky Tales


By Franco and a few of his Fiendish Friends! – Sara Richard, Andy Price, Derek Charm, Mike Hartigan, Christopher Uminga, Abigail Larson, Morgan Beem, Justin Castaneda, Tressina Bowling, Boatwright Artwork, Scoot McMahon, Isaac Goodhart, and Agnes Garbowska with Silvana Brys – & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-0384-8 (TPB/Digital edition)

Here’s a little post-Halloween treat for youngsters of every vintage to ease our communal dark awaiting us at the end of all things. Never to soon early to start traumatising preschoolers, right?

As the 1960s ended, the massive superhero boom resolved into a slow but certain bust, with formerly major successes unable to find enough readers to keep them alive. The taste for superheroes was diminishing in favour of traditional genres, and one rational editorial response reshaping costumed characters to fit evolving contemporary tastes.

Publishers swiftly changed gears and even staid, cautious DC reacted rapidly: redesigning masked mystery men to fit the new landscape. Newly revised and revived costumed features included roving mystic troubleshooter The Phantom Stranger and golden age colossus The Spectre, whilst resurgent genres spawned atrocity-faced WWII spy Unknown Soldier and cowboy bounty hunter Jonah Hex, spectral westerner El Diablo and game-changing monster hero Swamp Thing, spearheading a torrent of new formats, anthologies and concepts.

The earliest of that dark bunch was assassinated trapeze artist Boston Brand who began his career by dying in Strange Adventures #205 (cover-dated October/November 1967). An ordinary man in a brutal, cynical world, Brand was a soul in balance until killed as part of a pointless initiation for a trainee assassin.

When the unlucky aerialist died, instead of going to whatever reward awaited him, he was given the chance to solve his own murder by conniving spirit of the universe Rama Kushna. That opportunity evolved into an unending mission to balance the scales between good and evil in the world. The ghost is intangible and invisible to all mortals, but has the ability to “walk into” living beings, possessing and briefly piloting them.

You should read all his stories because they are really good; all the previous has no real bearing on what follows. I just love showing off my wasted youth.

Here he holds the hallowed position of quirky narrator and curator to a collection of terror tales entirely scripted by Franco (Aureliani) and lettered by Wes Abbott, and drawn by a host of artists…

The eerie soirée and each following vignette are preceded by our supernatural star offering ‘A Die-er Warning’ (all limned by Sara Richard). Commencing in ‘The House of Madame Pyka’ – rendered by Andy Price in tones of blue – wilful Brooke moves into an expired spiritualist’s house…

Deadman interjects between tales to test our resolve but undaunted, we see Derek Charm illuminate in living colour the shocking result of Mr. Smith’s visit to the optician in ‘Eyes’, before Mike Hartigan exposes the spook in the ‘Litter Box’ and Christopher Uminga & Silvana Brys silently show the downside of too many ‘Neighborhood Cats’…

Abigail Larson provides the art for an exceptionally effective argument for why kids should stay out of ‘The Cemetery’ and Morgan Beem captures the mordant gloom and imminent immolation of ‘Fall’ before Justin Castaneda homes in on little kids and playground bullies to expose ‘A Boy and His Skull’…

Tressina Bowling renders tall tales painfully real in ‘The Fisherman’ whilst Boatwright Artwork take a long last look at ‘Mannequins’, before Scoot McMahon peeks ‘On the Inside’ of Batman’s most tragic foe.

Franco gets artistic with ‘The Fly’ prior to Isaac Goodhart exploiting DC’s monstrous back-catalogue for fearful film show ‘Inattentive Blindness’ before Agnes Garbowska & Silvana Brys confirm that the end is near and that bright shiny colours have no bearing on safety and security in ‘The Box’.

Silly and chilling, this splendidly glitzy grimoire shows that our love of scaring ourselves and each other starts early and never stops. Fearful fun for all: get some now!
© 2022 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Hellboy in Mexico


By Mike Mignola, Richard Corben, Mick McMahon, Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá, Dave Stewart & Clem Robins (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-61655-897-0 (TPB) eISBN: 978-1-63008-217-8

Happy Dia de los Muertos!

Let’s wind down our own Halloween celebrations and enjoy the more life-affirming Day of the Dead with a fabulously appropriate tome, formatted for your edification in both trade paperback and digital editions…

Towards the end of World War II an uncanny otherworldly baby was confiscated from Nazi cultists by American superhero The Torch of Liberty and a squad of US Rangers moments after his eldritch nativity on Earth. The good guys had interrupted a satanic ritual predicted by British parapsychologist Professor Trevor Bruttenholm and his associates who were waiting for Hell to literally come to Earth.

The heroic assemblage was stationed at a ruined church in East Bromwich, England when the abominable infant with a huge stone right hand materialised in an infernal fireball. “Hellboy” was subsequently raised by Bruttenholm, and grew into a mighty warrior fighting a never-ending secret war against the uncanny and supernaturally hostile. The Prof assiduously schooled and trained his happy-go-lucky foundling whilst forming and consolidating an organisation to destroy arcane and occult threats: the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.

After years of such devoted intervention, education and warm human interactions, in 1952 the neophyte hero began hunting down agents of the malign unknown, from phantoms to monsters as lead field operative for the BPRD. Hellboy rapidly became its top operative; the world’s most successful paranormal investigator.

As decades passed, Hellboy uncovered snatches of his origins and antecedents, learning he was a supposedly corrupted beast of dark portent: a demonic messiah destined to destroy the world and bring back ancient powers of evil.

It is a fate he despised and utterly rejected…

This eerily esoteric collection of tales concocted by Mike Mignola and friends re-presents a selection of short stories as originally published Hellboy In Mexico, Dark Horse Presents volume 2 #7, 31-32, Hellboy 20th Anniversary Sampler, Dark Horse Presents volume 3 #7, and Hellboy: House of the Living Dead, which collectively span 2010 to 2015. The premise is that in 1956 Hellboy was working south of the border and, thanks to booze and an unspecified crisis, went way, way, wa-aay off the reservation…

With each piece preceded by informative commentary from Mignola, the arcane action opens with ‘Hellboy in Mexico or, A Drunken Blur’ (May 2010). illustrated by Richard Corben with colourist Dave Stewart & letterer Clem Robins adding their own seamlessly fitting talents.

In 1982 Hellboy and amphibious ally Abe Sapien are winding down after a strenuous mission in Mexico. Looking for a quiet drink they amble into a ramshackle cantina and discover a sort of shrine comprising a Holy Virgin statue and hundreds of faded photos, posters and tickets for luchadors (masked wrestlers). One of them features Hellboy and three grinning, hooded grapplers…

Shocked and stunned, Hellboy’s mind drifts back to a barely-recalled drunken binge three decades ago…

Thus is revealed an untold tale of sterling comradeship and collaborative chaos-crushing, as the Demon Detective joins a trio of fun-loving masked brothers who combine their travels on the wrestling circuit with a spot of monster-hunting and devil-destroying. Sadly, Hellboy also remembers how it all fell apart after young Esteban succumbed to the deadly embrace of vampiric bat-god Camazotz…

When the golden times ended, Hellboy indulged in an epic, memory-eradicating booze-bender until – months later – BPRD agents found, dried out and brought home their errant top gun. Of course, since he was missing for months, there might be other exploits still unrecalled…

Fully crafted by Mignola, in Dark Horse Presents volume 2 #7 (December 2011) ‘Hellboy versus the Aztec Mummy’ returns to that lost time and place as the powerfully pixilated paranormal paragon hunts down a devil-bat, only to find himself overmatched in a clash with godly Quetzalcoatl, after which marvellous Mick McMahon picks up the illustrator’s brushes to render Mignola’s outrageous drunken tall tale ‘Hellboy Gets Married’ (DHP #31-32, December 2013 to January 2014).

This time, demon drink led to the infernal gladiator falling into an unlikely matrimonial match with a ghostly shapeshifter. Their wedding night was the stuff of nightmares…

Relentlessly following, ‘The Coffin Man’ (by Mignola and Fábio Moon from March 2014’s Hellboy 20th Anniversary Sampler) revisits another cantina night which was interrupted by a little girl whose recently interred uncle was being pilfered by a sinister Brujo (witchman). Hellboy’s best attempts to take back the beloved cadaver were insultingly inadequate…

The sequel ‘The Coffin Man 2: The Rematch’ was illustrated by Moon’s twin brother Gabriel Bá, having first appeared in Dark Horse Presents volume 3 #7 (February 2015). It happened a fortnight after that initial encounter, when the still smarting AWOL B.P.R.D. agent went looking for the corpse-stealer and yet again came off embarrassingly second-best.

‘House of the Living Dead’ originally emerged as an eponymous original graphic novel crafted by Mignola, Corben, Stewart & Robins. It was devised as loving tribute to the golden age of Universal monster movies, their Hammer Films descendants and legendary actors Boris Karloff, Glenn Strange, John Carradine & Lon Chaney Jr.

The saga starts during that hazy sun-drenched fugue season as Hellboy still revels in the heady thrills of the travelling wrestling ring. That only makes him a target for a cunning plan that starts with the offer of a lucrative private bout. Despite refusing, our soused champion is convinced to comply when the stranger shows him a photo of the girl who will be killed if he doesn’t fight…

Soon he’s reluctantly entering a dilapidated hacienda and climbing into a ring to clash with a mad doctor’s recently animated corpse-monster. And then vampires show up and the rising full moon bathes the deranged genius’ manservant…

A light-hearted romp with a potent twist and dark underpinnings, it’s no wonder Hellboy carried on drinking after all the grave dust settled…

Moderated and annotated by editor Scott Allie, a ‘Hellboy Sketchbook’ closes this festive fear fiesta, sharing story-layouts, doodles, roughs, character designs and pencilled pages, all accompanied by creator comments and garnished with a full cover gallery.

Delivered as short, sharp shockers of beguiling wit and intensity, this potent piñata of horror history is a perfect example of comics storytelling at its very best: offering astounding supernatural spectacle, amazing arcane action and momentous mystical suspense and horror-hued hilarity – something every fear fan and adventure aficionado can enjoy.
™ & © 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 Mike Mignola. Hellboy is ™ Mike Mignola. All rights reserved.

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Showcase Presents The House of Mystery volume 3


By Joe Orlando, Michael Fleischer, Maxine Fabe, Jack Oleck, John Albano, Sergio Aragonés, Steve Skeates, Mark Evanier, Robert Kanigher, George Kashdan, Doug Moench, Sheldon Mayer, E. Nelson Bridwell, John Jacobson, David Micheline, Gerard Conway, David Izzo, Dennis O’Neil, Marv Wolfman, John Broome, Paul Levitz, Bob Rozakis, Mark Hanerfeld, David Kasakove, Michael J. Pellowski, Martin Pasko, Bernie Wrightson, Michael William Kaluta, John Calnan, Murphy Anderson, Ruben Yandoc, Alex N. Niño, Romy Gamboa, Adolfo Buylla, Sonny Trinidad, Nestor Redondo, Rico Rival, Gerry Talaoc, Fred Carrillo, Tony DeZuñiga, Bernard Baily, Abe Ocampo, Alfredo Alcala, Frank Thorne, Frank “Quico” Redondo, Eufronio Reyes (E.R.) Cruz, Ralph Reese, Ramona Fradon, Frank Robbins, Bill Draut, Howard Purcell, Dick Dillin, Neal Adams, Mort Meskin, George Roussos, Frank Giacoia, Mike Sekowsky, Jack Kirby, Don Heck, Joe Giella, Jack Sparling, Pat Broderick, Leonard Starr, Carmine Infantino, Bernard Sachs, Bill Ely, Jess M. Jodloman, Curt Swan & George Klein, & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2183-6 (TPB)

American comicbooks started slowly until the creation of Superman unleashed a torrent of creative imitation and invented a new genre: superheroes. Implacably vested in the Second World War, they swept all before them until the troops came home whereupon older genres supplanted the Fights ‘n’ Tights crowd.

Although new kids kept up the buying, much of the previous generation also retained their four-colour habit but increasingly sought older themes in the reading matter. The war years altered the psychology of humanity, and as a more world-weary, cynical young public came to see that all the fighting and dying hadn’t really changed anything their chosen forms of entertainment (film and prose as well as comics) reflected this. As well as Western, War and Crime comics, madcap escapist comedy and anthropomorphic funny animal features were immediately resurgent, but gradually another periodic revival of spiritualism and interest in the supernatural led to increasingly impressive, evocative and even shocking horror comics.

There had been grisly, gory and supernatural stars before, including a pantheon of ghosts, monsters and wizards draped in mystery-man garb and trappings (the Spectre, Mr. Justice, Sgt. Spook, Frankenstein, The Heap, Zatara, Dr. Fate and dozens more), but these had been victims of circumstance: the unknown as a power source for super-heroics. Now the focus shifted to ordinary mortals thrown into a world beyond their ken with the intention of unsettling, not vicariously empowering, the reader.

Almost every publisher jumped on the increasingly popular bandwagon, with B & I (which became the magical one-man-band Richard E. Hughes’ American Comics Group) launching the first regularly published horror comic in the Autumn of 1948, although Adventures Into the Unknown was technically pipped by Avon who had released an impressive single issue entitled Eerie in January 1947 before launching a regular series in 1951, by which time Classics Illustrated had already long milked the literary end of the medium with adaptations of The Headless Horseman, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (both 1943), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1944) and Frankenstein (1945) among others.

If we’re keeping score this was also the period in which Joe Simon & Jack Kirby identified another “mature market” gap and invented Romance comics with Young Romance #1, (September 1947) but they too saw the sales potential for spooky material, resulting in the seminal Black Magic (launched in 1950) and boldly obscure psychological drama anthology Strange World of Your Dreams (1952).

The company that would become DC Comics bowed to the inevitable and launched a comparatively straight-laced anthology that nevertheless became one of their longest-running and most influential titles with the December 1951/January 1952 launch of The House of Mystery. When the hysterical censorship scandal which led to witch-hunting hearings of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, April- June 1954 was curtailed by the industry adopting a castrating straitjacket of self-regulatory rules HoM and its sister title House of Secrets were dialled back into rationalistic, fantasy adventure vehicles. They even briefly became super-hero split-books (with Martian Manhunter and Dial H for Hero in HoM and Eclipso subletting with veteran mystic adventurer Mark Merlin – who latterly became Prince Ra-Man – in HoS).

However nothing combats censorship better than falling profits and as the 1960s waned the Silver Age superhero boom stalled and crashed, leading to surviving publishers agreeing to loosen their self-imposed restraints against crime and horror comics. Nobody much cared about gangster titles but as the liberalisation coincided with another bump in global interest in all aspects of the Worlds Beyond, resurrection of scary stories was a foregone conclusion and obvious “no-brainer”. Even ultra-wholesome Archie Comics re-entered the field with their Red Circle Thrillers…

Thus, with absolutely no fanfare at all issue #174, cover dated May-June 1968 presented a bold banner asking Do You Dare Enter The House of Mystery? whilst reprinting a bunch of admittedly excellent short fantastic thrillers originally seen in House of Secrets from those heady days when it was okay to scare kids.

With covers by Michael William Kaluta, Bernie Wrightson, Luis Dominguez, George Evans, Nick Cardy, Bill Draut, Alfredo Alcala & Gerry Talaoc, this second compilation reprints in moody monochrome the contents of The House of Mystery #212 to 226. The contents span cover-dates March 1973 to August/September 1974 and begin with ‘Ever After’ by unknown scribe and illustrators John Calnan & Murphy Anderson, wherein a ruthless chancer picks the wrong recently bereaved heiress to marry. Michael Fleischer, Maxine Fabe & Alex N. Niño’s ‘Oh Mom! Oh Dad! You’ve Sent Me Away to Summer Camp… and I’m So Sad!’ reveals a strange logic to why the kid in a wheelchair is being picked on by his supposed chums before the issue ends with Jack Oleck & Ruben Yandoc sharing a grim ride with a guilty passenger heading ‘Halfway to Hell!’

John Albano & Niño’s ‘Back from the Realm of the Damned’ opens #213 as a greedy son murders his stepfather and learns an eternally damning lesson. Although fear was key, fun was always the goal and the tales were interspersed with blackly comedic gag pages. Here, Sergio Aragonés delivers a bunch of sidesplitters in a ‘Cain’s Game Room’ segment. The pages – alternated with Page 13 and ‘Cain’s Gargoyles’ – provided painfully punny pranks (originally just by Aragonés but eventually supplemented by other cartoonists like John Albano, Lore Shoberg and John Costanza). The feature was popular enough to be spun off into bizarrely outrageous comic book Plop! – but that’s a subject for another day…

Here the terror is turned up after a married couple’s pleasant drive deposits them on ‘The Other Side!’ (Steve Skeates & Romy Gamboa), before Oleck & Adolfo Buylla reveal the fate of a modern day wizard who creates a slave ‘In His Own Image!’

HoM #214 leads with Oleck & Yandoc’s ‘Curse of the Werewolf’, as a trickster’s scheme founders when he picks the wrong target. Another visit with ‘Cain’s Gargoyles’ courtesy of Aragonés, brings us to Mark Evanier, Robert Kanigher & Sonny Trinidad’s tale of a daredevil and a thief who know exactly when they’re going to die thanks to ‘The Death Clock!’ A double dose of ‘Cain’s Game Room’ leads to the tale of pet-hater and her just fate in Skeates & Nestor Redondo’s ‘The Shaggy Dog.’

In #215, Fleischer, Fabe & Rico Rival’s ‘The Man Who Wanted Power over Women’ details how a lonely homely guy consults the wrong witch in his desire to be loved, and George Kashdan & Talaoc see an arrogant sculptor swear ‘Your Corpse Shall I Carve!’ in his ruthless search for the perfect muse. A fresh Aragonés ‘Cain’s Game Room’ page refreshes the palate for some ‘Brain Food’ as Fabe & Fred Carrillo detail how the dumbest kid in school becomes a supergenius…

Albano & Tony DeZuñiga’s ‘Look into My Eyes… and Kill!’ opens #216 in the saga of a paroled convict with new powers and old grudges before an anonymous writer joins veteran chill-crafter Bernard Baily visiting the ‘Graveyard Shift’ of a mean cab driver getting paid off in kind. A double bill of ‘Cain’s Game Room’ & ‘Cain’s Gargoyles’ takes us back to unhappy spouses as a weary wife makes herself a widow to run the family business herself: a very bad deal from Doug Moench & Abe Ocampo, as proven in ‘Special Sale: Canned Death ½ Off’…

HoM #217 has Sheldon Mayer & Nestor Redondo reveal the fate of an impressionable young thing who inherit a parcel of desert and learns ‘This Ghost Town is Haunted!’, and E. Nelson Bridwell & Talaoc ask carnival freaks/murders suspects ‘Hoodoo You Trust?’ before John Jacobson, Skeates & Alcala detail how wildlife in a swamp unite against encroaching humans in defence of their ‘Swamp God!’

Fleischer, Russel Carley & Talaoc open #218 with a small midwestern city and its avaricious murderous trash-handling subcontractor getting a well-deserved dose of ‘The Abominable Ivy!’ ‘Cain’s Game Room’ then ushers us into ‘An Ice Place to Visit!’ as Fleischer, Carley & Frank Thorne expose a contaminated cold store/ice-plant and what happens to the boss who hushed up the contagion’s source…

Bridwell & Bernie Wrightson launch #219 with pun-ishing intro ‘Welcome to The House of Mystery’, after which Fleischer & Alcala take us to Nazi-occupied Tunisia where the invaders systematically succumb to ‘The Curse of the Crocodile!’, whilst a ‘Pledge to Satan’ (Mayer & Nestor Redondo) sees a medieval witch-hunter romance and cheat the wrong woman…

Another ‘Welcome to The House of Mystery’ page – by Bridwell & Alcala – kicks off #220 followed by ‘They Hunt Butterflies, Don’t They?’ Fleischer & Alcala’s tale sees a greedy guide regret betraying his lepidopterist client before an Aragonés-curated visit to ‘Cain’s Game Room’ takes us to the end with exposure of ‘The Hunter!’ who stalks the infernal realms in a macabre safari by Albano & Niño…

Fleischer & Thorne reunite in #221 (January 1974) as killer clown ‘Pingo!’ fails to have the last laugh whilst – after a Cain’s Game Room’ interlude – Len Wein, Wrightson & Michael William Kaluta magnificently cap off the dread jollity with another motley yarn as ‘He Who Laughs Last…’ shows murdering conmen how close a family circus folk are…

Oleck & Frank (AKA Quico) Redondo open #222 with ‘Vengeance is Mine!’, as a resurrected vampire hunts the family of the man who staked him, making the greatest mistake of his renewed life. It’s counterbalanced by a surreal serial killer yarn as Fleischer & Alcala see justice done and foggy Victorian London relieved on ‘The Night of the Teddy Bear!’

Issue #223 (March and the last monthly issue for some time) launches with a whaling yarn by Wein & Eufronio Reyes Cruz. ‘Demon from the Deep!’ details the mutual hatred of a seaman and the kraken he hunts, and Oleck & Ralph Reese’s ‘Message From Beyond’ shows why fake spiritualists never prosper. Teamed with wonderful Ramona Fradon, Oleck then riffs on The Picture of Dorian Gray in ‘Upon Reflection’ with a tragic twist for today’s readers…

In an effort to combat rising costs The House of Mystery #224 (April/May 1974) began an experiment with format and page count. Reduced to a bi-monthly schedule but offering 100-pages (albeit many of them reprints) it started with a ‘Welcome to The House of Mystery’ by Joe Orlando, before David Micheline & Frank Robbins followed a criminal conspiracy and deadly killer in ‘Night Stalker in Sun City’. ‘Cain’s Game Room’ segued into the first reprint with a gothic chiller of forbidden knowledge. ‘The House of Endless Years’ by Gerard Conway & Bill Draut originated in House of Secrets #83 (1970).

All-new ‘The Deadman’s Lucky Scarf’ by David Izzo, Fleischer & Alcala is a weird western vignette of cheatin’ and bitin’, followed by ‘The Reluctant Sorcerer’: a Silver Age creature feature of wonderous transformations by Howard Purcell for HoS #49 (1961).

As superheroes retreated at the end of the sixties those that could retooled as horror titles. The Spectre became a narrator of anthological tales and from #9 (March/April 1969), Dennis O’Neil & Wrightson’s ‘Abraca-Doom!’ sees the Ghostly Guardian attempts to stop a greedy carnival conjurer signing a contract with the Devil. Close behind comes Marv Wolfman, Dick Dillin & Neal Adams’ ‘The One and Only, Fully Guaranteed, Super-Permanent, 100%?’ from HoS #82 (November 1969): a darkly comedic tale of domestic bliss and how to get it…

Originating in HoM #120 (March 1962), ‘The Gift That Wiped Out Time’ – illustrated by Mort Meskin & George Roussos sees a thief encounter time-bending beasts before ‘Sheer Fear!’ (Mayer & Talaoc) finds a ruthless woman go too far in ferreting out a rival’s secrets…

An Aragonés ‘Cain’s Game Room’ precedes Kashdan & Niño’s ‘The Claws of Death!’ with a career soldier paying the ultimate price for telling the truth before a classic mystery hero gets another chance to shine.

The Phantom Stranger was one of the earliest transitional heroes of the Golden Age of comics, created at the very end of the first superhero boom as readers moved from costumed crimefighters to other genres. A trench-coated, mysterious know-it-all, with shadowed eyes and hat pulled down low, he would appear, debunk a legend or foil a supernatural-seeming plot, and then vanish again.

He was coolly ambiguous, never revealing whether he was man, mystic or personally paranormal; probably created by John Broome & Carmine Infantino, who produced the first story in Phantom Stranger #1 (August/September 1952) and most of the others. The 6-issue run also boasted contributions from Jack Miller, Manny Stallman and John Giunta. The last issue was cover-dated June/July, 1953, after which the character vanished until rebooted at the dusk of the Silver Age.

Broome & Frank Giacoia’s ‘Mystery in Miniature!’ hails from that last issue as the living enigma repels invaders from time, before Skeates & Mike Sekowsky develop a fourth-wall busting ‘Photo-Finish!’ for a blackmailer in advance of a closing ‘Cain’s Game Room’.

Cover-dated June/July, HoM #225’s ‘Welcome to The House of Mystery’ is by Paul Levitz & Wrightson, heralding Oleck & Alcala taking us to Paris in 1789 for a ghostly wizard/zombie yarn about ‘The Man Who Died Twice’. Bob Rozakis drafts a ‘Mystery Maze!’ (bring your own pencil!) and ‘Cain’s Game Room’ brings us to a treat from House of Secrets #4 (May/June 1957). The ‘Master of the Unknown’ seems destined to take the big cash prize on a TV quiz show… until the producer deduces his uncanny secret…

Fleischer & Frank Thorne again expose human depravity in ‘Fireman, Burn My Child!’: a timeless attack on medicine for profit and Aragonés’ ‘Room 13’ and ‘Cain’s Game Room’ set up a classic comics novelette.

Illustrated by Don Heck in The Sinister House of Secret Love #1 (October/November 1971) ‘The Curse of the McIntyres’ was the first of a series of book-length graphic epics in the manner of gothic romances like Jane Eyre, before transforming into a more traditional anthology package as Secrets of Sinister House with #5 (June/July 1972): reducing to the traditional 36-page format with the next issue. The format remained until its cancellation with #18 in June/July 1974.

The dark love stories were extra-long affairs like this 25-page period chiller ‘The Curse of the MacIntyres’ (possibly written by Mary Skrenes?) recounting how recently-bereaved Rachel lost her scientist father and fell under the guardianship of her cousin Blair. Moving to his remote Scottish castle she befriends Blair’s son Jamie but can’t warm to physically stunted cousin Alfie.

As days and weeks pass, she becomes increasingly disturbed by the odd household and the family’s obsessive interest in “mutations”…

‘See No Evil’ by Oleck & Niño depicts the fate of a death row inmate who sells his soul before the 1950s Man in Black pops back to expose the incredible secret of ‘The Hairy Shadows’ (by Broome, Anderson & Joe Giella from Phantom Stranger #4) whilst The Spectre #9 repeats a sinister ‘Shadow Show’ by Mark Hanerfeld & Jack Sparling.

David Kasakove, Kashdan & (ER) Cruz then finish up with a tale of two very different brothers in Halloween set shocker ‘This One’ll Scare You to Death!’…

Concluding this classic chiller compendium are the cracking contents of The House of Mystery #226 (August/September) with Levitz & Pat Broderick’s ‘Welcome to The House of Mystery’ escorting us into Oleck & Alcala’s ‘Garden of Evil’, as mismatched Mace and Myra find far more welcoming worlds – and mates – inside a painting…

After a pause in ‘Room 13’ Martin Pasko & Robbins reveal why – on a teenager’s wedding day – ‘Teddy Doesn’t Seem to Smile Anymore!’ A writer unknown & Leonard Starr meddle with ‘The Devil’s Chessboard’ as logic faces magic from HoM #12 (March 1953). Phantom Stranger #5 then offers ‘The Living Nightmare!’ (Broome Infantino & Bernard Sachs).

Oleck & Nestor Redondo detail a period tale of monster children and body-swapping in ‘Monster in the House’, and Wolfman & Wrightson return with prophetic vignette ‘Scared to Life’ from HoM #180, whilst from HoM #74 we visit ‘The School for Sorcerers’ (illustrated by Bill Ely). Michael J. Pellowski, Kanigher & Jess M. Jodloman, reveal ‘The Perfect Mate’ (for Balkan nobility!) in anticipation of a factual(ish) ‘Cain’s Gargoyles’ by Levitz & Boderick and another vintage thriller. Limned by Curt Swan & George Klein from HoM #10, ‘The Wishes of Doom!’ treads in Monkey’s Paw territory whilst Ely’s ‘The Haunted Melody’ (HoM #58, January 1957) sees a street musician squander an incredible gift…

Levitz & Broderick provide plans and diagrams when asking ‘Do You Dare Enter The House of Mystery?’ and one last Aragonés ‘Cain’s Game Room’ leads to final terror tale ‘Out of This World’ as Oleck & Talaoc reaffirm the link between Devil and Rock & Roll. Finally you can regain some sedate equilibrium with Rozakis word-search ‘Hidden in the House!’.

These fright-fables captivated the reading public and comics critics alike when they first appeared and it’s no exaggeration to posit that they probably saved the company during the dire downward sales spiral of the 1970s. Now their blend of sinister mirth and classical suspense situations can most usually be seen in such series as Goosebumps, and other kid-centred fare, but if you crave beautifully realised, largely splatter-free sagas of tension and imagination, not to mention a huge supply of bad-taste, kid-friendly creepy cartooning, book into The House of Mystery…
© 1973-1974, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Scary Godmother


By Jill Thompson (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-59582-589-6 (HB/Digital edition)

The Eisner-Award winning Scary Godmother started life in 1997 as a full-colour, strip-format children’s book before evolving into a comic book series, hit stage show and brace of Cartoon Network animated specials. The original fully-painted picture book spawned three equally captivating annual sequels from Indie publisher Sirius Entertainment and all four of those astoundingly enthralling, wickedly hilarious books were resurrected in 2010 by Dark Horse as a stunning all-ages trade paperback collection just in time for Halloween.

And now it’s that time again…

Created by the terrifyingly multi-talented Jill Thompson (Morrison Hotel, Beasts of Burden, The Sandman, The Invisibles, Swamp Thing, Wonder Woman, The Little Endless Storybook), these tales offer comfortably spooky chills frosted with cracking comedy whilst proudly defending the inalienable right to be different…

Debut volume ‘The Scary Godmother’ introduced little Hannah Marie who’s frantic to start her first ever Trick or Treat night, and only the teensiest bit disappointed that she has to go with her older, rather mean cousin Jimmy and his friends. Naturally the big kids aren’t keen on taking a baby along as they frantically seek to score vast amounts of candy and cake, so as the evening progresses they try all they can think of to ditch the wide-eyed waif. It’s Jimmy who has the idea to scare Hannah by taking her to the old Spook House…

As they nervously enter the ramshackle, abandoned old mansion, Jimmy tells Hannah Marie that the new kid has to give the monsters in the house some candy or they will eat all the children in the world. He has severely underestimated his cousin’s grit. Although scared, she enters the dilapidated pile and the gang have no choice but to follow her inside…

As she looks for horrible creatures Hannah Marie starts to cry and her sobs cause a strange thing to happen: someone joins in with sobs even louder than hers. And that’s how she meets the twisted fairy called Scary Godmother and befriends all the actual magic monsters who live in the weird midnight realm known as the Fright Side…

Scary Godmother is the Ambassador of Spooky and pretty much runs Halloween. After being introduced to bats and beasts and boggles, Hannah Marie is no longer afraid and her new friend even has some ideas on how to teach Jimmy and his pals how to be less mean…

One year later ‘The Revenge of Jimmy’ finds the nasty boy deeply traumatised by his most memorable encounter with actual monsters last year. Now fixed on the notion that if he scuppers Halloween, the horrors, haunts and horrible things won’t be able to come back to the real world for a second chance at him, Jimmy sets out on a mission of sabotage…

Across the dark divide all the inhabitants are gearing up for their night of fun in the real world and perplexed that something is gumming the works. The magic bridge that forms to carry them over is only half-formed, strange webs bar their path and other peculiar events temporarily hamper their preparations for the special night.

It’s all Jimmy’s fault, but every time one of his cunning schemes looks like scuttling the town’s forthcoming festivities, some busybody or other finds a way to turn his sneaky dirty work into an exercise in ingenuity. With nothing apparently stopping Halloween coming and the Fright Siders crossing over, Jimmy steps up his campaign, unaware that all that meanness and loose magic is causing a rather strange transformation in him…

Nevertheless, his most appalling act of sabotage almost succeeds – until Hannah Marie sees an upside to his horrible acts. Halloween is saved but Jimmy almost isn’t… until one bold monster steps up to set things right…

Another year rolls by and Hannah Marie is preparing for a Halloween block party. As Mum and other parents toil to make all the seasonal treats, the little girl is writing invitations to all the monsters in Fright Side. She’s learned how to cross over to the nether realm, but when she gets there Scary Godmother is also busy, ensuring the night will be suitably spooky and wonderful.

As Hannah Marie distributes her invitations, a strange thing occurs: Scary Godmother gets a different invitation. It’s unsigned but from a Secret Admirer begging her attendance on ‘The Mystery Date’…

Captivated by the notion, Hannah Marie and little vampire Orson start canvassing all the likely candidates on the Fright Side – causing no end of trouble and embarrassment for Halloween’s startled and bemused Ambassador – before they all shamefully cross over to the real world where a real romantic surprise awaits the Scary Godmother…

The final book of the quartet was ‘The Boo Flu’, wherein our magical mystery madame succumbs to the worst of all eldritch aliments at the least best time, compelling Hannah Marie to step up, put on the big magic hat and ride the broomstick to marshal monsters and take charge of all the necessary preparations if All Hallows Eve is to happen at all this year. That’s a big ask for a little human girl, but help comes from all sorts of unexpected directions…

Almost as soon as the first book was released, Scary Godmother started popping up in comics too. Most of those tales are collected in a companion volume to this gleeful grimoire but there’s room here for one cheeky treat as ‘Tea for Orson’ (from Trilogy Tour Book) focuses on the vampire boy’s attempts to crash a girls-only soiree at Scary Godmother’s house. Harry the Werewolf also wants in – but more for the food than the company – and the banned boys’ combined – increasingly outrageous – efforts to gatecrash make for a captivating lesson in being careful what you wish for…

Wrapping up the tricks and treats is a liberal dose of ‘More Art’ in a huge and comprehensive ‘Scary Mother Sketch Book’ section; roughs, designs, character development drawings, working paintings, promotional art and comic ads, design, background and model sheets. There’s also – for the animated specials – original book covers and rejected pages and scenes.

Still readily available, Scary Godmother is a magical treat for youngsters of any vintage and would make a perfect alternative treat to candy and cakes…
Text and illustrations of Scary Godmother © 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2010 Jill Thompson. All rights reserved.

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Showcase Presents Superman Family volume 4


By Otto Binder, Robert Bernstein, Jerry Siegel, Edmond Hamilton, Leo Dorfman, Curt Swan, Kurt Schaffenberger, Al Plastino & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3837-7 (TPB)

When the Man of Steel debuted in Action Comics #1 (cover-dated June 1938) he was instantly the centre of attention, but even then the need for a solid supporting cast was apparent and cleverly catered for. Glamorous daredevil reporter Lois Lane premiered right beside Clark Kent and was a constant companion and foil from the outset, and – although unnamed – a plucky red-headed, befreckled kid started working alongside Lois & Clark from issue #6 (November 1938) onwards.

His first name was disclosed in Superman #13 (November-December 1941) having already been revealed as Jimmy Olsen to radio listeners when he became a major player in The Adventures of Superman show from its debut on April 15th 1940. As somebody the same age as the target audience, on hand for the hero to explain stuff to (all for the listener’s benefit) Jimmy was the closest thing to a sidekick the Action Ace ever needed. He’s remained a sporadic and amazingly popular one ever since.

When the similarly titled television show launched in the autumn of 1952 it was again an overnight sensation and National Periodical Publications began cautiously expanding their revitalised franchise with new characters and titles.

First to get a promotion to solo-star status was the Daily Planet’s impetuously capable if naive “cub reporter”. His addictively charming, light-hearted, semi-solo escapades began in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #1 (September-October 1954); the first spin-off star in the Caped Kryptonian’s ever-expanding entourage.

It took three years for the cautious Editors to tentatively extend the franchise again. In 1957, just as the Silver Age of Comics was getting underway, try-out title Showcase – which had already launched The Flash in #4 and Challengers of the Unknown in #6 – followed up with a brace of issues entitled Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane (#9-10). The “plucky News-hen” was rapidly awarded a series of her own. Technically it was her second, since for a period in the 1940s she had held a regular solo-spot in Superman.

In previous reviews I’ve banged on about the strangely patronising, parochial – and to at least some of us – potentially offensive portrayals of kids and most especially women during this period, and although at least fairer and more affirmative instances were beginning to appear, the warnings still bear repeating.

At that time Lois Lane was one of precious few titles with a female lead, and, in the context of today, one that causes many 21st century fans a few understandable qualms of conscience. Within the confines of her series the valiant, capable working woman careered crazily from man-hungry, unscrupulous bitch through ditzy simpleton to indomitable and brilliant heroine – often all in the same issue. The title was clearly intended to appeal to the family demographic that made I Love Lucy a national phenomenon, and many stories were played for laughs in the same patriarchal, parochial manner: a “gosh, aren’t ladies funny?” tone that appals me today – but not as much as the fact that I still love them to bits. That they’re mostly sublimely illustrated by the wonderfully whimsical Kurt Schaffenberger softens the repeated blows, but really, I should know better…

For the Superman Family and extended cast the tone of the times dictated a highly strictured code of conduct and parameters: Daily Planet Editor Perry White was a stern, shouty elder statesman with a heart of gold, Cub Reporter Jimmy was a brave and impulsive unseasoned fool – with a heart of gold – and Lois was brash, nosy, impetuous and unscrupulous in her obsession to marry Superman, although she too was – deep down – another possessor of an Auric aorta. There were also more people with blue or green skin than brown or other human shades, but as I’m trying to plug this book’s virtues I’m just shutting up now.

Somehow, even with these mandates in place the talented writers and artists assigned to detail their wholesomely uncanny exploits managed to craft tales both beguiling and breathtakingly memorable… and usually as funny as they were thrilling.

By today’s standards, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen wasn’t quite as contentious, but still far too often stories meant to amuse portrayed the bright, bold boy in socially demeaning – if not downright cruel – situations and humiliating physical transformations. Even so, a winning blend of slapstick adventure, action, fantasy and science fiction (in the gentle but insidiously charming manner scripter Otto Binder had perfected 15 years previously at Fawcett Comics on the magnificent Captain Marvel) made the series one of the most popular of the era.

Again, originally most yarns were played for laughs in a father-knows-best manner and tone which can again appal me today, even though I still count them amongst some of my very favourite comics.

Confusing, ain’t it?

This fourth intriguingly intermingled, chronologically complete compendium collects the affable, all-ages tales from Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane #17-26, (spanning May 1960-July 1961) and Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #45-53 (ditto for June 1960-June 1961): a period of infinite wackiness and outrageous absurdity, which also saw the inevitable dawning of a far more serious milieu for the Man of Tomorrow and his human family.

This particular monochrome ethical conundrum commences with the Action Ace’s perpetual lady-in-waiting as SGLL #17 as Robert Bernstein & Schaffenberger introduce ‘The Girl that Almost Married Clark Kent!’, revealing how Lois covertly helps heiress Doris Drake win her reporter partner’s affections, unaware that the conniving rich girl has proof of the Caped Kryptonian’s secret identity…

‘Lana Lang, Superwoman!’ (Jerry Siegel, Curt Swan & Stan Kaye) then sees jealousy run wild as Superman gives first one then the other lady in his life superpowers: a secret scheme to foil Brainiac with no thought as to how either woman will feel once the crisis is over.

The issue ends with Binder & Schaffenberger’s ‘How Lois Lane Got Her Job’, disclosing how, even before she first met him, Superman was inadvertently helping the neophyte journalist score scoops…

SPJ #45, (illustrated throughout by Swan & John Forte) kicked off with Binder-scripted ‘Tom Baker, Power Lad!’: a sharp yarn wherein an apparently ordinary boy temporarily gains super powers. The shocking truth involves then-top-secret weapon Supergirl and the Bottle City of Kandor. Meddling with resident crackpot genius Professor Phineas Potter’s untested time machine hurls Jimmy back to the Wild West where he becomes accidental outlaw ‘The Gunsmoke Kid!’ (by a sadly anonymous scripter) whilst Bernstein’s ‘The Animal Master of Metropolis!’ portrays Jimmy as a local hero and target of crooked gamblers after he starts playing with a magic wand bestowing absolute mastery of the world’s fauna.

Lois Lane #18 opened with ‘The Star Reporter of Metropolis!’ (possibly Binder or Bernstein, but definitely limned by Schaffenberger) wherein a mousy protégé steals Lois’ thunder for the best possible reasons, whilst ‘The Sleeping Doom’ (Bernstein & Schaffenberger) is a superb thriller of aliens invading Earth by taking over people as they fall asleep. Valiant Lois staves off slumber for days until Superman returns to send the invaders packing, before ‘Lois Lane Weds Astounding Man!’ (Binder & Al Plastino), finds the flabbergasted journalist wooed by an alien wonder warrior with a very strange secret…

Another all-Swan & Forte art-extravaganza, Jimmy Olsen #46 opens with Siegel’s ‘Jimmy Olsen, Orphan!’ as an accident gives the cub reporter amnesia and he ends up in the same institution where Linda Lee is hiding whilst learning how to be a Supergirl. Bernstein then hilariously lampoons Hollywood as a succession of starlets romance the baffled but willing lad in ‘The Irresistible Jimmy Olsen!’. Of course, these eager actresses are all operating on the mistaken assumption that our boy is Tinseltown’s latest genius Movie Producer…

The issue concludes with another outing for Jimmy’s occasional alter ego in ‘Elastic Lad’s Greatest Feats!’ with scripter Binder perfectly blending drama and comedy to deliver a punishing moral to the over-impulsive kid.

LL #19 (August 1960 and fully illustrated by Schaffenberger) opens with Bernstein’s ‘The Day Lois Lane Forgot Superman!’ as devoted sister Lucy convinces her perennially heartbroken elder sibling to try hypnosis and get over her destructive obsession. Of course, when it works, Lois finds time to pester Clark so much he has no time to save the world…

When an accident seemingly catapults Lois into the past she quickly becomes enamoured of Samson, a hero with a secret identity as ‘The Superman of the Past!’: a quirky yarn by Binder, before Jerry Siegel debuts a new occasional series.

‘Mr. and Mrs. Clark (Superman) Kent!’ was the first tale of a poignant comedy feature depicting the laughter and tears that might result if Lois secretly married the Man of Steel. Although seemingly having achieved her heart’s desire, she is officially only married to dull, safe Clark and must keep her relationship with the Man of Tomorrow quiet. She can’t brag or show pride and has to swallow the rage she feels whenever another woman throws herself at the still eligible bachelor Superman…

For an artefact of an era uncomfortably dismissive of women, there’s actually a lot of genuine heart and understanding in this tale and a minimum of snide sniping about “silly, empty-headed girls”. Perhaps it was the influence of the tailored-for-adults Superman newspaper strip leaking into the funnybook line….

SPJO #47 sees Jimmy in over his head impersonating an escaped convict Winky McCoy and trapped as ‘The King of Crime! in a cracking suspense tale by Bernstein, Swan & Forte, and the impatiently under-age lad transforms into a husky 30-something thanks to another Prof. Potter potion in ‘Jimmy Grows Up!’ Binder sagely proves that maturity isn’t everything, before Siegel wraps up the issue with a thrilling romp as alien producers of horror movies starring Superman and Jimmy return seeking sequels. Their robot reporter doesn’t like the prospect of being junked at shooting’s end, however, and tries to replace the original in ‘The Monsters from Earth!’…

SGLL #20 (October 1960) opens whimsically with ‘Superman’s Flight from Lois Lane’ (Siegel & Schaffenberger), with the Man of Steel escaping into his own past to see if a different life-path might result in a civilian existence unencumbered by a nosy snooping female. “Disc jockey” Clark soon realises his inquisitive assistant Liza Landis makes Miss Lane look positively disinterested and gladly ends the experiment, after which ‘The Luckiest Girl in Metropolis!’ (Bernstein & Plastino) sees Lois targeted by a Machiavellian mobster seeking to destroy her credibility as a witness, before ‘Lois Lane’s Super-Daughter!’ by Siegel & Schaffenberger revisits the Imaginary Mr. & Mrs. scenario wherein their attempts to adopt Linda (Supergirl) Lee lead to heartbreak and disaster…

That month in all-Swan & Forte Jimmy Olsen #48, anonymously scripted ‘The Story of Camp Superman!’ presents a heart-warming mystery as the cub works as counsellor to a bunch of youngsters – one of whom knows entirely too much about Superman – before ‘The Disguises of Danger!’ reprises undercover Jimmy’s acting abilities to get close to a cunning crook. Binder’s ‘The Mystery of the Tiny Supermen!’ then has Kandor’s miniscule Superman Emergency Squad repeatedly harass Jimmy: a clandestine scheme to stop him accidentally exposing the Man of Steel’s civilian identity…

The all-Schaffenberger November 1960 Lois Lane (#21) offers a double-length epic by author unknown wherein the Anti-Superman Gang utilise explosive toys to endanger the reporter in ‘The Lois Lane Doll!’ forcing the Action Ace to hide her in his Fortress of Solitude. When even that proves insufficient she finds refuge – and unlikely romance – ‘Trapped in Kandor!’ Siegel then scripts a classic comic yarn as bitter rivals gain incredible abilities from a magic lake and duke it out like men in ‘The Battle Between Super-Lois and Super-Lana!’

Cover dated December 1960, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #49 begins with ‘Jimmy’s Gorilla Identity!’ as the luckless lad meets DC stalwart Congo Bill and gets his personality trapped in the hunter’s occasional alter ego, giant golden ape Congorilla. Next, Professor Potter is blamed for, but entirely innocent of, turning the cub reporter into ‘The Fat Boy of Metropolis!’ in a daft but clever crime caper prior to Siegel playing with contemporary trends as Jimmy impersonates a rock ‘n’ roll star to impress Lucy Lane in ‘Alias, Chip O’Doole!’…

Another all-Schaffenberger affair, LL #22 (January 1961), starts with a Red Kryptonite experiment afflicting the Man of Steel with a compulsion to repeatedly pop the question to an increasingly dubious and suspicious Lois on ‘The Day When Superman Proposed!’ (Binder), after which Bernstein’s ‘Lois Lane’s X-Ray Vision!’ sees irradiated sunglasses create a tidal wave of problems for the Metropolis Marvel, whilst in ‘Sweetheart of Robin Hood!’ another time-shift dream sees Lois courted by a very familiar-seeming Defender of Truth, Justice and the Nottinghamshire Way…

In SPJO #50, Siegel, Swan & Sheldon Moldoff’s ‘The Lord of Olsen Castle’ sees Jimmy as potential heir of a Swedish castle and title. All he has to do is accomplish a slew of fantastic feats and defeat an ogre, utterly unaware Superman and a host of Kryptonians are secretly pitching in. ‘The Weirdest Asteroid in Space’ (Binder, Swan & Moldoff) then offers a bold monster mystery before another Potter experiment shifts all Superman’s might into his teen pal in ‘The Super-Life of Jimmy Olsen!’ by an unknown author illustrated by Al Plastino.

Lois Lane #23 (February 1961) opens with Binder & Schaffenberger’s riotous romp ‘The 10 Feats of Elastic Lass!’ as our impetuous reporter borrows Jimmy’s stretching serum to track down mad bomber The Wrecker, whilst ‘The Curse of Lena Thorul!’ (Siegel) exposes a bewitching beauty’s incredible connection to Lex Luthor before another Seigel Imaginary visit to a possible future sees ‘The Wife of Superman!’ worn to a frazzle by twin super-toddlers and yearning for her old job at the Daily Planet…

March 1961’s Jimmy Olsen #51 reveals ‘Jimmy Olsen’s 1000th Scoop!’ (Bernstein, Swan & Forte), with the prospective milestone repeatedly delayed by Superman for the best possible reasons, after which a sultry alien takes an unlikely shine to the lad. Sadly, ‘The Girl with Green Hair’ (Binder, Swan & Forte) was the result of a scheme by a well-meaning third party to get Lucy to be nicer to Jimmy and it all goes painfully, horribly wrong…

The issue ends with ‘The Dream Detective!’ (Swan & Kaye) as the cub reporter inexplicably develops psychometric abilities and unravels mysteries in his sleep, whilst in Lois Lane #24 (April 1961) anonymously scripted ‘The Super-Surprise!’ sees Lois undercover as a platinum blonde, scuppering a deadly plot against the Superman, superbly linmed by Schaffenberger, as is Bernstein’s ‘The Perfect Husband!’, wherein a TV dating show led Lois into a doomed affair with a he-man hunk who was almost the spitting image of Clark Kent… almost…

The issue closes on Bernstein & Forte’s ‘Lois Lane… Traitor!’ with Lois in the frame for murdering the King of Pahla until the incredible, unbelievable true culprit comes forward…

Also available that April, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #52 featured Leo Dorfman, Swan & Kaye’s ‘The Specter of the Haunted House!’ as a gang of cunning thieves use supernatural sceptic Olsen as a patsy for a bold robbery scheme, before ‘The Perils of Jimmy Olsen!’ -illustrated by Swan & Forte – sees the laid-up apprentice journo employ a robot double to perform feats of escalating daring and stupidity. ‘Jimmy Olsen, Wolfman!’ (Siegel, Swan & Kaye) then delivers a welcome sequel to the original hit tale wherein Superman’s Pal is again afflicted by lycanthropy thanks to the pranks of other-dimensional imp Mr. Mxyzptlk…

In Lois Lane #25 (May 1961) Siegel & Schaffenberger’s Imaginary series reaches an impressively bittersweet high point in ‘Lois Lane and Superman, Newlyweds!’ as she convinces hubby to announce their relationship to the world and must live with the shocking consequences…

The brilliant reporter side was then highlighted in Bernstein’s diabolical thriller ‘Lois Lane’s Darkest Secret!’ with the daring reporter risking her life to draw out and capture a mesmeric master criminal before ‘The Three Lives of Lois Lane!’ (uncredited with Forte illustrating) sees the journalist surviving a car crash, only to be subsumed into the personalities of dead historical figures Florence Nightingale, Betsy Ross and Queen Isabella of Spain. Here, Superman can only stay near and try to limit the damage…

SPJO #53 opens with ‘The Boy in the Bottle!’ (Siegel, Swan & Kaye) as the cub suffers future shock whilst trapped in Kandor, after which sheer medical mischance results in Siegel, Swan & Forte’s now-legendary saga of ‘The Giant Turtle Man!’ and an oddly casualty-free monster rampage before ‘The Black Magician!’ (unknown writer, Swan & Forte) reveals Jimmy banished to the court of King Arthur by spiteful Mr. Mxyzptlk.

Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane #26 (July 1961) closes this titanic tome, with three more Schaffenberger classics, starting with Siegel’s ‘The Day Superman Married Lana Lang!’ In this imaginary tragedy, the Action Ace finally settles down with his childhood sweetheart, but lives to regret it, whilst ‘Lois Lane’s Childhood!’ (Siegel) reveals how the lives of Kal-El on doomed Krypton and baby Lois on Earth were intertwined by fate and providence, before Bernstein’s ‘The Mad Woman of Metropolis’ concludes the comics cavalcade on a stunning high. Here, Lois foils a diabolical plot by criminals to murder Clark and drive her insane…

As well as containing some of the most delightful episodes of the pre-angsty, cosmically catastrophic DC, these fun, thrilling, deeply peculiar and, yes, occasionally offensive tales perfectly capture the changing tone and tastes reshaping comics moving from the smug, safe 1950s to the seditious, rebellious 1960s, all the while keeping to the prime directive of the industry – “keep them entertained and keep them wanting more.”

Despite all the well-intentioned quibbles from my high horse here in the 21st century, I think these stories still have a huge amount to offer funnybook fun-seekers and strongly urge you to check them out for yourselves. You won’t be sorry…
© 1960, 1961, 2013 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Hellboy Junior


By Mike Mignola, Bill Wray, Stephen DeStefano, Dave Cooper, Hilary Barta, Pat McEown, Glenn Barr, Kevin Nowlan, Dave Stewart, John Costanza & various (Dark Horse)
ISBN: 978-1-56971-988-6 (TPB)

Although probably best known for revitalising the sub-genre of horror-heroes via his superb Hellboy and B.P.R.D. tales, creator Mike Mignola (Batman, The Witcher, Rocket Raccoon) conceals a dark and largely unsuspected secret: he has a very dry, outlandish and wicked sense of humour…

Since 1997, whenever nobody was looking, he and co-conspirator Bill Wray (Big Blown Baby, Ren and Stimpy) have concocted outrageous, uproarious and vulgarly hilarious spoof tales which might – but probably weren’t – untold yarns of the scarlet scallywag’s formative days in hell before being drawn to earth and reared as a champion of humanity against the Things of the Outer Darkness…

Moreover, they convinced the gullible fools at Dark Horse Comics to publish them, first in the Hellboy Junior Halloween Special and again in an eponymous 2-issue miniseries in 1999 which also included many scurrilous and hilarious spoofs, pastiches and pokes at a host of family-friendly favourites from parental favourite Harvey Comics: beloved icons such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Wendy the Good Little Witch, Stumbo the Giant, Baby Huey and Hot Stuff, the Little Devil…

With most of the material scripted by Wray, this appallingly rude, crude, compelling compilation bolts all the material together and even springs for an all-new feature, beginning with Bill & Mike’s painfully cruel ‘The Creation of Hellboy Jr.: a Short Origin Story’, before tucking into ‘Maggots, Maggots, Everywhere!’ An all-Wray buffet of gastric ghastliness, here the stone-fisted imp, fed up with his meagre ration of icky bug-babies, goes looking for something better to eat. Perhaps, however, he shouldn’t have taken restaurant advice from that sneaky Adolf Hitler, whose rancid soul Junior should have been feindishly tormenting anyway…

After that monster-infested odyssey, Mignola illustrates a mordant, wry adaptation of a German folk tale in ‘The Devil Don’t Smoke’ before Stephen DeStefano (Ren and Stimpy) outrageously illuminates agonisingly hilarious ‘Huge Retarded Duck’ and Hilary Barta (Starslayer, American Flagg!, Plastic Man) lends his stylish faux-Wally Wood pastichery to ‘The Ginger Beef Boy’, wherein a frustrated crossdresser (sorry folks: it’s an old book and no other term will do here!) creates the son he always yearned for from the ingredients of a Chinese meal…

Following a stunning Kevin Nowlan (Doctor Strange, Plastic Man) pin-up (by him not of him – that would be silly), Dave Cooper (Futurama) draws ‘Hellboy Jr.’s Magical Mushroom Trip’, wherein our ever-starving imp and his pet ant disastrously attempt to grow their own edible fungus. They end up in deep shiitake when their psychotropic crop brings them into conflict with the big boss. Fans of evil dictators might appreciate and welcome a guest appearance by Idi Amin…

Implausibly based on a true story, Wray & Mignolas’s ‘Squid of Man’ details the Grim Reaper’s wager with a mad scientist endeavouring to birth a new Atlantean race from the freshly dead remnants of cephalopods, arthropods, crustaceans, fine twine and lightning, whilst ‘The Wolvertons’ details the life and loves of an Alaskan lumberjack, his multi-tentacular alien wife and their extraordinarily hybrid kids Brad and Tiffany. Wray & Pat McEown (Grendel) spared no effort in their passionate tribute to Basil Wolverton, cartoon king of the Grotesque, so read this one before eating.

Back in Hell, Jr. regretfully experiences ‘The House of Candy Pain’ – by Wray, Barta, John Costanza & Dave Stewart (Daytripper, Michael Chabon Presents The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist) – when he and fellow imp Donnie flee to Storyland and the Forbidden Forest of Festible Dwellings. They should have stuck with the shack made from steaks or Tofu Terrace, but no, they have to enter the Gingerbread House…

Following a Barta bonus pin-up, Wray does it all for the tragic tale of ‘Sparky Bear’: a cub torn from his natural environment and raised by humans as a fire-prevention posterbeast and safety spokesperson, whilst Cooper-limned parable ‘Somnambo the Sleeping Giant’ proves that even if your village is overrun with demons, sometimes the cure is worse than the affliction….

That idea is echoed in ‘Wheezy, the Sick Little Witch’ (DeStefano): a poorly tyke whose cute li’l animal friends can neither cure nor survive contact with.

After surviving a nasty fast-food experience in ‘Hitler’ and a mock ad for your very own Spear of Destiny, the all-new ‘Hellboy Jr. vs Hitler’ (Wray & Stewart) depicts how the little devil can’t even escort the Fallen Fuhrer to the depths of Lower Hell without screwing up and giving the mono-testicular reprobate another chance to resurrect his Reich…

After a painted Wray Halloween scene and saucy Hell’s hot-tub pin-up from Glenn Barr (Seekers into the Mystery, Brooklyn Dreams), the mirthful madness concludes with Mignola & Stewart’s ‘Hellboy Jr. Gets a Car’ wherein the Hadean Half-pint takes an illicit test drive in a roadster meant for a Duke of Hell. It does not end well…

This Chymeric chronicle also includes a ‘Hellboy Junior Sketchbook’ with working drawings, colour roughs and layouts by Wray, McEown & DeStefano, topping off a wildly exuberant burst of tongue-in-cheek, sardonic and surreal adult fun: a jovially jocund, gut-bustingly gross gas for every lover of off-the-wall, near-the-knuckle fun.
Hellboy Jr. ™ & © Mike Mignola. All individual strips, art & stories © 1997, 1999, 2003 their individual creator or holder. All rights reserved.

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Bizarro


By Heath Corson, Gustavo Duarte, Pete Pantazis, Lee Loughridge & Tom Napolitano, with Bill Sienkiewicz, Kelley Jones, Michelle Madsen, Francis Manapul, Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá, Darwyn Cooke, Raphael Albuquerque, Tim Sale, Dave Stewart & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-5971-6 (TPB/Digital edition)

One of the most consistent motifs in fiction is the “Dark Opposite” or “player on the other side”: a complete antithesis of the protagonist. Rock yourself to sleep at night if you wish, listing deadly doppelgangers from Professor Moriarty to Sabretooth to Gladstone Gander…

The Caped Kryptonian’s “imperfect duplicate” Bizarro either debuted as a misunderstood freak and unwilling monster in Otto Binder & George Papp’s captivatingly tragic 3-part novel ‘The Battle with Bizarro’ (Superboy #68, cover-dated October 1958) or in the similarly titled Superman newspaper strip sequence written by Alvin Schwartz (episode 105/#6147-6242 spanning August 25th – December 13th 1958) with the latter scribe claiming that he thought up the idea months earlier. The newsprint version was certainly first to employ those eccentric reversed-logic thought-patterns and idiomatic speech impediment…

Although later played primarily for laughs, such as in his short tenure in Tales of The Bizarro World (June 1961 to Aug 1962 in Adventure Comics #285-299), most earlier comic book appearances – 40 by my count – of the dippy double were generally moving, child-appropriate tragedies, unlike here where we commemorate his 65th anniversary with possibly the funniest book of the last twenty years… at least if you’re a superhero fan.

Post Crisis on Infinite Earths, he was a darker, rarer beast, but this tale by screenwriter and comics scripter Heath Corson (Justice League: War, Nightwing/Magilla Gorilla, Super Pets: The Great Mxy-Up) & Gustavo Duarte (Monsters! & Other Stories, Guardians of the Galaxy, Dear Justice League) stems from DC’s brief New 52 continuity sidestep and refers almost exclusively to his earlier exploits and character.

Collecting 6-issue miniseries Bizarro and material from DC Sneak Peek: Bizarro #1, the saga starts as another misunderstood and deeply unappreciated visit to Metropolis – augmented by a new origin – sees the lonely, bored, eternally well-intentioned living facsimile teamed up with boy reporter Jimmy Olsen on a road-trip to “Bizarro-America” (we call it Canada)…

It’s ostensibly to prevent a disastrous super-battle but more importantly, someone suggested that the journey could provide enough candid material for a best-selling coffee table book that could liberate the eternally cash-strapped kid from his financial woes…

Jim’s certain he can handle the big super-doofus, but not so sure that applies to a pocket alien Bizarro picked up somewhere. After ‘The Secret Origin of Colin the Chupacabra’, the story truly starts with ‘Bizarro-America: Part 6’ and a weary ‘Welcome to Smallville’ where the need to fix the car leads to a clash with a dynasty of very familiar villains at King Tut’s Slightly Used Car Oasis. It all goes without incident until some other ETs give papa Tut a reality-altering staff and he seeks to achieve his great dream – selling everyone a used car…

Having navigated their way out of that bad deal, the Road Worriers further embarrass themselves in ‘Bizarro-America: Part 5’ with stopovers and pertinent guest stars in Gotham, Central, Starling and Gorilla City, before doing more of the same in Louisiana, Chicago and all points lost. Somewhere along the way they pick up a tail and in seeking to ditch their pursuers drive into Ol’ Gold Gulch: a ghost town with real spooks and a distant descendant of a legendary gunfighter. Chastity Hex is a bounty hunter too, which comes in handy when Bizarro is possessed by an evil spirit in ‘Unwanted: Unliving or Undeaded’ and a destructive rampage triggers the spectral return of great grandpa Hex as well as Cinnamon, Nighthawk, Scalphunter and El Diablo…

Another issue (‘Bizarro-America: Part 3’ if you’re still counting) and another city sees the automotive idiots catching mystic marvel Zatanna’s act in ‘Do You Believe in Cigam?’ and fresh disaster as Bizarro’s backwards brain allows him to accidentally access the sorceress’ backwards spells, prompting diversions to many, many alternate DC realities and Jimmy and Bizarro trading bodies (sort of) before order – if not sanity – is restored…

As they near their final destination, the covert shadows finally move in. A.R.G.U.S. agents Stuart “chicken Stew” Paillard and Meadows Mahalo get their X-Files on: compelling the travellers to infiltrate Area 51, but aren’t happy with the outcome once the idiots unleash every alien interned or interred there…

Ultimately the voyage concludes with ‘Bizarro-America: Part 1’ and long-deferred meeting with Superman (drawn by Tim Sale & Dave Stewart) in ‘Who Am on Last?’ The last of the Tuts returns for another stab at vengeance and high-volume marketing and as chaos reigns Colin comes up trumps, before assorted former guests coagulate as the never to be reformed Bizarro League to save the world in a way it has never been saved before.

All that’s left is to get Bizarro into Canada but there’s one last surprise in store…

This outrageous romp is punctuated with a round-robin of guest illustrators (Bill Sienkiewicz, Kelley Jones, Michelle Madsen, Francis Manapul, Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá, Darwyn Cooke, Raphael Albuquerque and more) adding to the manic madness via their signature characters, and a variant cover gallery provides more boffo yoks courtesy of Kyle Baker and Kevin Wada. Topping off the fun is an unmissable sketch section by Duarte, packed with many scenes and moments somebody was too nervous to publish…

Fast, funny, fantastic and far too long forgotten, Bizarro is a superb romp that would make a magnificent movie. Do not miss it.
© 2015, 2016 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Blankets – 20th Anniversary Edition


By Craig Thompson (faber)
ISBN: 978-0-571-38784-7 (TPB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Perfect Story of Imperfect Humanity… 10/10

This is one of those reviews where I try not to say too much about the story, because it’s a sin and a form of theft to deprive readers of the joy of it unfolding just for them.

When first released in July 2003, Blankets started slowly but soon achieved monumental fame and almost unanimous critical approval from comics’ Great and Good and Fabled. If you have a favourite author or artist they probably loved this book – and rightly so.

After taking 3½ years to create, in 2004 Blankets scooped 3 Harvey Awards, 2 Eisners, 2 Ignatz Awards and – a year later – France’s Prix de la Critique. Translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Greek, German, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Czech, Polish, Korean, Hungarian, Slovenian, Estonian, Serbian and Greek, it was latterly published in 17 foreign editions (so far). It’s also winner of a YALSA Popular Paperback for Young Adult prize and is listed as one of Entertainment Weekly’s Top Ten Graphic Novels of All Time. Portland band Tracker were so impressed that they recorded an entire soundtrack to accompany your inevitable reading and re-readings of the modern masterpiece.

Divided into 8 chapters – ‘Cubby Hole’, ‘Stirring Furnace’, ‘Blank Sheet’, ‘Static’, ‘I Don’t Wanna Grow Up’, ‘Teen Spirit’, ‘Just Like Heaven’, ‘Vanishing Cave’, and ‘Foot Notes’, Blankets tells of the formative experiences, hopes and dreams of Craig and younger brother Phil, growing up in a devout, proudly intolerant Evangelical Baptist family in Wisconsin, primarily in the winters where snow whitewashes and transforms everything.

A harsh life changes forever when Craig attends Christian Church Camp and meets Raina. Her faith is being increasingly tested by the shock and shame of a parental divorce and being left to look after her two cognitively impaired adopted siblings Laura and Ben and an infant niece.

Although devout and truly devoted to Jesus and Ministry, Craig’s life shifts, altering forever when he’s allowed to visit Raina’s family in (relatively) faraway Michigan. There, friendship blossoms in the cold and dark, becoming irresistible first love…

Inspirationally and movingly addressing eternal issues of spirituality and control, child/adult sexuality, sibling relationships and Becoming Independent, this celebratory edition also includes ‘XX Years: Dreaming & Drawing’: a copious and revelatory look at the story’s development, liberally supported by candid treats from Thompson’s 100+ sketchbooks, used in mapping out his magnum opus. There’s even a plug for his debut tome Good-bye Chunky Rice, and subsequent books Carnet de voyage, Habibi, Space Dumplins and Ginseng Roots. You should sample them too.

For such a weighty tome, Blankets is a remarkably quick and easy read, with Thompson’s imaginative and ingenious marriage of text and images carrying one along in the way only comics can. One of the most powerful and lovely tales of first love and faith lost, this book has lost none of its charm and seductive power over the decades. If you aren’t slavishly addicted to skimpily-clad incel-fodder or punch-in-the-face comics and have held on to the slightest shreds of your innate humanity, this is that rarest of beasts – a perfect story in pictures.
Entire contents © 2023 Craig Thompson. All rights reserved.

Blankets 20th Anniversary Edition will be published on November 2nd 2023 and is available for pre-order now.

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Commando Presents #2: The Fear Files volume 1


By Du Feu & Francisco Cueto, Alan Hebden & Patrick Wright, Kek W. & Jaume Forns, Georgia Standen Battle &Vicente Alcazar, & various (Heritage Comics/DC Thomson & Co.)
No ISBN: Digital only publication

DC Thomson is probably the most influential comics publisher in British history. In the 1930s The Dandy and The Beano revolutionised children’s comedy comics, whilst newspaper strips Oor Wullie and The Broons (both created by writer/Editor R. D. Low and legendary artist Dudley D. Watkins) have become a genetic marker for Scottishness. The company uniquely portrayed the occasional toff, decent British blokes and working class heroes who grew from the prose-packed pages of Adventure, Rover, Wizard, Skipper, Hotspur and latterly “strip picture papers” like Victor and Warlord.

Their comics for girls also shaped generations and still evoke passionate memories. Don’t take my word for it either; just ask your mum or grandmother about Judy, Bunty, Diana, Mandy and the rest…

After decades of savvy consumer-led publication for youngsters, in 1961 the company launched a digest-sized comics title dubbed Commando. Broadly the dimensions of a paperback book, it boasted 68 pages per issue – at an average of two panels a page – for single, stand-alone adventure tales, as well as venerable British extras like themed-fact pages.

Not to belabour the point, but each issue told a complete combat story (usually of WWI or II – although all theatres of conflict have featured since), a true rarity for British comics which usually ran material in one or two-page instalments over many weeks. The sagas were tasteful yet gripping yarns of valour and heroism: stark monochrome dramas charged with grit and authenticity. Full-painted covers made them look more like novels than comics and they were a huge and instant success. They’re still being published today.

The company is always looking for ways to reach fresh audiences and has recently moved into digital publishing of old and new stories in a big way and this timely compilation of supernaturally themed battle tales is an ideal way to announce their Heritage Comics imprint (expect more reviews in coming months).

Under the umbrella designation Commando Presents (#2) this blockbuster tome collects a quartet of macabre military missions as The Fear Files volume 1, opening with a letter to the readers from “The Commando Team.” Each episode in this selection is accompanied by its original wraparound cover and prefaced with a background page on the contributors. What more do you need in terms of briefing?

The weird war tales begin with prolific and well-travelled Chaco’s cover for ‘Ghost with a Gun’, scripted by the pseudonymous Du Feu, and limned by veteran Spanish artist Francisco Cueto (Young Marvelman, Annie Oakley and countless strips for Fleetway, DCT and European publishers). The tale was first seen in Commando #104 (1964): a classic yarn of repentance and salvation as wounded corporal Ben Walker is visited by ghosts as he bleeds out on a Belgian battlefield in 1944. The former Hussar from 1815 and a private from the Great War need an intermediary to help right the wrongs they died committing; perhaps they can help Walker in return and finally win eternal rest?

Packed with action and beautifully rendered, this private war is everything you need from a spooky saga. It’s followed by an Ian Kennedy cover accompanying another winning tale from the wonderful Alan Hebden (2000 AD, Meltdown Man, Rat Pack, El Mestizo, Major Eazy). Illustrated by Patrick Wright (Eagle, Battle Picture weekly, 2000 AD, Modesty Blaise), ‘Night of Fear’ comes from #984 (1984), detailing how vampire-obsessed British flying officer John Knowles sees his dream come true in 1943 after his Mosquito is brought down by bats and he lands in German-controlled Transylvania. Encountering two very different examples of Romanian nobility in the castle of Count Rempavi (work it out chums!), Knowles and his co-pilot Howard Garforth must complete their mission and get back to Blighty even if it means uniting with the strangest of allies…

Tom Foster’s cover for ‘Operation Silver Bullets’ (Commando #5381, 2020) leads into a frantic special ops mission as detailed by Kek W – AKA Nigel Long (2000 AD, Monster Fun Halloween Spectacular, Judge Dredd Megazine) – & Jaume Forns Bargeno (Wendy, Three Musketeers, Ben-Hur). Surviving a wolf attack as a boy, Adam Hanley became an expert on the beasts and in WWII was seconded to a special unit of Army Intelligence. The civilian professor was expected to brief and equip a combat team to counter an horrific Nazi terror weapon: man-made werewolves!

Sadly, monsters were not the only threat and a traitor in the commando unit almost ended the blood-soaked mission before it began – until a shocking transformation tipped the scales in Hanley’s favour…

Closing the account for now, Mark Harris’ cover leads into the eerie exploits of one the notorious “nachthexen”: Soviet women/bomber pilots who terrorised the Germans invading Russia. Written by Georgia Standen Battle (Beano, The Dandy, The Broons, Oor Wullie, Commandos vs Zombies) & legendary artist Vicente Alcazar (dozens of strips for DC, Marvel, Archie, Red Circle, Warren, Charlton Comics, War Picture Library, Space: 1999, UK Star Trek), ‘Night Witch’ comes from #5519 (2022) and details the short lethal lives of Women Flyers and Navigators of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment. Despised by their male colleagues and equipped with outdated biplanes and rudimentary armament, they harass and harry the enemy with astounding efficacy, but things change for former aviation teacher Irina Popova after a crucial encounter.

Already plagued by dreams of burning, when Irina loses her best friend Katya in a blast of anti-aircraft fire, it triggers a strange change in her. When her plane is attacked by a far superior German night-fighter, her hate and rage seem to cause the enemy to explode in a fireball. Her navigator Vera thinks it coincidence, but Irina fears it means she has become a true witch…

Moody and menacing, the story of how her gifts grow and what happens when she faces the enemy ace dubbed “the Witch Hunter” make this the most potent saga of the collection.

Bolstered by ‘The Fear Files Art Galley’ of 11 additional horror-themed Commando covers by Joaquin Chacopino Fabre, Kennedy, Foster, Harris, Neil Roberts and Graham Manley, this is a tremendous catalogue of magical military exploits: one you’d be wise to and well rewarded for tracking down.
© DC Thomson & Co. Ltd. 2022.

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The Simon & Kirby Library: Horror!


By Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Mort Meskin and various (Titan Books)
ISBN13: 978-1-84856-959-1 (HB)

After too many years left languishing, there’s now a majority of magnificent Jack Kirby material available like this splendidly sumptuous Simon & Kirby Library gathering the iconic team’s groundbreaking contributions to the genre of mystery, suspense and the supernatural.

Kirby’s collaborations with fellow industry pioneer Joe Simon always produced dynamite concepts, unforgettable characters, astounding stories and huge sales no matter what genre avenues they pursued (they actually invented the Romance comic book), blazing trails for so many others to follow and always reshaping the very nature of American comics with their innovations and sheer quality.

Comic books started slowly and tenuously in 1933, until Superman’s debut unleashed a torrent of creative imitation and invented a new genre: Superheroes. Implacably vested in the Second World War, the masked mystery man swept all before him (very occasionally her or it) until the troops came home and older genres supplanted the Fights ‘n’ Tights crowd.

Although new kids kept up the buying, much of the previous generation also retained their four-colour habit but increasingly sought more mature themes in the reading matter. The war years altered the psychology of society and a more world-weary, cynical reading public came to see that all the fighting and dying hadn’t really changed anything. Their chosen forms of entertainment – film and prose as well as comics – increasingly reflected this.

Western, War and Crime comics, madcap teen comedy and anthropomorphic funny animal features were immediately resurgent, the aforementioned Romance comics appeared in 1947 and pulp-style Science Fiction began to spread, but gradually another global revival of spiritualism and interest in the supernatural (possibly provoked by the monstrous losses of the recent conflict, just as had happened in the 1920s following WWI) led to a wave of increasingly impressive, evocative and even shocking horror comics.

There were grisly, gory and supernatural stars before, including a pantheon of ghosts, monsters and wizards draped in costumed hero trappings (The Spectre, Mr. Justice, The Heap, Frankenstein, Zatara, Dr. Fate and dozens of others), but these had been victims of circumstance: the Unknown as power source for super-heroics. Now focus shifted to ordinary mortals thrown into a world beyond their ken with the intention of unsettling, not vicariously empowering, the reader.

Almost every publisher jumped onto the monumentally popular juggernaut, but B & I (which became magical one-man-band Richard E. Hughes’ American Comics Group) released the first regularly published horror comic with Adventures Into the Unknown in the autumn of 1948. Technically it was pipped by Avon whose one-shot Eerie debuted and closed in January 1947. They wised up later, and launched a regular series in 1951. By this time Classics Illustrated had already long milked the literary end of the medium: adapting The Headless Horseman, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (both 1943), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1944) and Frankenstein (1945) among others.

At this time Joe & Jack identified another “mature market” gap for the line of magazines they autonomously packaged for publishers Crestwood-Prize-Essenkay: Headline Comics, Justice Traps the Guilty, Police Trap, Young Romance and other anthologies. They too saw the sales potential for spooky material, resulting in the superb and eerily seminal Black Magic (launched with an October-November 1950 cover-date) and the boldly obscure psychological drama anthology Strange World of Your Dreams in1952.

Marvel had jumped on the bloody bandwagon early but National/DC Comics only reluctantly bowed to the inevitable, launching a comparatively straight-laced short story title that nevertheless became one of their longest-running and most influential titles with the launch of The House of Mystery (December 1951/January 1952). Soon after, however, a hysterical censorship scandal led to witch-hunt Hearings (just type Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, April-June 1954 into your search engine at any time) which panicked most comics publishers into adopting a castrating straitjacket of self-regulatory rules…

Just like today, America back then cast about wildly looking for external contaminants rather than internal causes for a perceived shift in social attitudes and youthful rebellion, happily settling on bloodthirsty comics about crime or horror, drenched in unwholesome salacious sex, as the reason their children were talking back, acting up and staying out.

S&K didn’t do those kinds of comic books but they got tarred – and metaphorically feathered too – in the media-fuelled frenzy…

This striking full-colour hardback begins with essay ‘That Old Black Magic’ by series editor Steve Saffel, delineating the title’s history and tone of the times whilst ‘Simon and Kirby’s Little Shop of Horror’ describes the working of the small but prolific studio of rotating artists who augmented the output of the named stars: creators such as Mort Meskin, Bill Draut, Martin Stein, Ben Oda, George Roussos, Vic Donahue, Bill Walton, Jim Infantino, Bruno Premiani, John Prentice, Jerry Grandenetti and more. With a vast output across many titles, S&K simply couldn’t produce every story and many yarns here are ghosted by other hands, although each and every one does begin with a stunning Kirby splash panel.

As with all their titles, Simon & Kirby offered genre material tweaked by their own special sensibilities. Black Magic – and the Mort Meskin-inspired The Strange World of Your Dreams – eschewed cheap shocks, mindless gore and goofy pun-inspired twist-ending yarns in favour of dark, oppressive suspense soaked in psychological unease and inexplicable unease: tension over teasing…

The stories presented fantastic situations and too frequently for comfort there were no happy endings, pat cosmic justice or calming explanations: sometimes the Unknown just blew up in your face and you survived or didn’t… and never whole or unchanged.

The compendium of black cartoon cavortings commences with ‘Last Second of Life!’ (from volume 1 #1, October-November 1950) wherein a rich man obsessed over what the dying see at the final breath, but learned to regret the unsavoury lengths he went to finding out, after which ‘The Scorn of the Faceless People!’ (#2 December 1950-January 1951) relates the meaning behind a chilling nightmare. It’s not hard to believe this one must have prompted the creation of the spin-off Strange World of Your Dreams. Issue #2 also provided a chilling report on a satanic vestment dubbed ‘The Cloak!’ whilst an impossible love in the icy wastes of Canada ended with ‘A Silver Bullet for Your Heart!’ in #3 (February-March 1951).

Issue #4 provided ‘Voodoo on Tenth Avenue’ as a disgruntled wife went too far in her quest to get rid of her man, whilst in #5 ‘The World of Spirits’ recounted the uncanny predictions of Emanuel Swedenborg in a brief fact-feature before #6 described psychic connection and a ‘Union with the Dead!’ and a ravaged mariner survived meeting ‘The Thing in the Fog!’ (#7) – an encounter with the legendary Flying Dutchman…

Black Magic #8 (December 1951-January 1952) detailed the sacrifice a woman made to save her man from ‘Donovan’s Demon!’ (mostly illustrated by Bob McCarty) whilst ‘Dead Man’s Lode!’ (#10 March 1952 – the series now being monthly) related a ghostly experience in an old mine and ‘The Girl Who Walked on Water!’ in #11 showed the immense but fragile power of self-belief…

Meskin & Roussos illustrated #12’s ‘A Giant Walks the Earth!’ as a downed pilot lost his best friend to a roving colossus in India, after which the utterly chilling and unforgettable ‘Up There!’ kicks off three stories from the landmark 13th issue…

That saga of a beguiling siren of the upper stratosphere is followed by ‘A Rag – a Bone and a Hank of Hair!’ (Meskin) and a pile of trash that learned to love, whilst ‘Visions of Nostradamus!’ (by Al Eadeh) tracked and interpreted the prognosticator’s predictions.

‘The Angel of Death!’ in #15 detailed a horrific medical mystery and ‘Freak!’ (#17, possibly by Bill Draut) exposed a country doctor’s deepest shame.

Black Magic #18 (November 1952) is another multi-threat issue. ‘Nasty Little Man!’ gets my vote for scariest horror art job of all time and saw three hobos discover to their everlasting regret why you shouldn’t pick on short old men with Irish accents.

Then ‘Come Claim My Corpse’ (Martin Stein?) offers a short, sharp, shocker wherein a convict discovers too late the flaw in his infallible escape plan, before an investigator tracing truck-wreckers learns of ‘Detour Lorelei on Highway 52’ (McCarty)…

‘Sammy’s Wonderful Glass!’ in #19 (December 1952) outlined the tragic outcome of a retarded lummox whose favourite toy could expose men’s souls, after which two shorts from #20 (January 1953) follow. ‘Birth After Death’ retold the reputedly true story of how Sir Walter Scott‘s mother survived premature burial, whilst ‘Oddities in Miniature: The Strangest Stories Ever Told!’ offered half a dozen uncanny tales on one page.

Issue #21 provided ‘The Feathered Serpent’ in which an American archaeologist uncovers the truth about an ancient god, #22 (March 1953) slipped into sci-fi morality play mode with the UFO yarn ‘The Monsters on the Lake!’, and ‘Those Who Are About to Die!’ from #23 sketched out the tale of a painter who could predict imminent doom…

A brace of tales from #24 – May 1953 – begin with a scholar who attempts to contact the living ‘After I’m Gone!’, complemented by the half page fact feature ‘Strange Predictions’ (Harry Lazarus) after which ‘Strange Old Bird!’ is the first of three stories from the (again bimonthly) Black Magic #25 (June-July 1953).

In this gently eerie thriller a little old lady gets the gift of life from her tatty old feathered friend, whilst ‘The Human Cork!’ precis’ the life of the literally unsinkable Angelo Faticoni , before a man without a soul escapes the morgue to become ‘A Beast in the Streets!’
There’s a similar surfeit of sinister riches from #26, beginning with ‘Fool’s Paradise!’ wherein a cheap bag-snatcher makes a deal with the devil, after which ‘The Sting of Scorpio!’ sees a rude sceptic wish she’d never taunted a fortune teller, whilst ‘The Strange Antics of the Mystic Mirror!’ terrified nurses in a major metropolitan hospital and ‘Demon Wind!’ (Kirby inked by Premiani) finds a brash Yankee learning not to mock the justice system of primitive native peoples…

‘The Cat People’ (#27) mesmerised and forever marked an unwary tourist in rural Spain, and the same issue exposed a seductive Scottish supernatural shindig hosted by ‘The Merry Ghosts of Campbell Castle’, whilst #28 saw an unwilling organ donor return to take back his property in ‘An Eye For an Eye!’ after which the same issue revealed with mordant wit how a mummy returned to make his truly beloved ‘Alive After Five Thousand Years!’…

From an issue actually cited during the anti-comic book Senate Hearings, ‘The Greatest Horror of Them All!’ (#29 March-April 1954) told a tragic tale of a freak hidden amongst freaks, before Black Magic #30 revealed the appalling secret of ‘The Head of the Family!’ (Kirby & Premiani) whilst #31 provided both alien invasion horror ‘Slaughter-House!’ and the cautionary tale of a child raised by beasts in ‘Hungry as a Wolf!’ (Ernie Schroeder).

‘Maniac!’ from #32 is another artistic tour de force and a tale much “homaged” in later years, detailing how a loving brother stops villagers taking his simple-minded sibling away, and the Black Magic section concludes with a terrifying fable of atomic radiation and mutated sea creatures in ‘Lone Shark’ from #33 November-December 1954.

With the sagacious, industry-hip, quality-conscious Simon & Kirby undoubtedly seeing the writing on the wall, their uniquely macabre title was wisely cancelled in 1954, not long before the Comics Code came into effect. A bowdlerised version was relaunched in 1957, long after they had dissolved their partnership and moved into different areas of the industry.

However the eerie treats don’t end as a short but sublime sampling from their other mystery title is appended here.

‘We Will Buy Your Dreams’ discusses features and stories from abortive and revolutionary title The Strange World of Your Dreams, inspired by studio-mate Mort Meskin’s vivid night terrors. The premise involved parapsychologist Richard Temple explaining and analysing storied nightmares and pictorially dramatizing dreams sent in by readers.

The too short comics section then begins with ‘Send Us Your Dreams’ from #1 (August 1952), a “typical” insecurity nightmare and the chilling ‘I Talked with my Dead Wife!’, whilst #2 (September-October) provided a trio of träumen tales: ‘The Girl in the Grave!’, a scary wedding scenario in ‘You Sent Us This Dream!’ and ‘Send Us Your Dreams’ in which Dr. Tempe describes the extent of self-preservation imagery…

‘The Woman in the Tower!’ came from #3 (November-December) and detailed typical symbolism whilst ‘You Sent Us this Dream’ from the same issue explains away a nightmare climb up an unending tower. Capping off everything is a spectacular Cover Gallery reprinting Black Magic #1 through #33 plus a stunning unpublished cover, performing the same service for The Strange World of Your Dreams #1-4, and including the unpublished #5 just to make our lives utterly complete.

The Simon & Kirby Library: Horror! is a gigantic compendium of classic dark delights that perfectly illustrates the depth and scope of their influence and innovation, and readily displays the sheer bombastic panache and artistic virtuosity they brought to everything they did. This tremendous hardcover is a worthy, welcome introduction to their unique comics contributions, but there’s loads left still to see so let’s have some more please…
© 2014 Joseph H. Simon and the Estate of Jack Kirby. All Rights Reserved.