House of Mystery #188

House of Mystery #188 (On Sale: July 9, 1970) has a cover by Neal Adams.

This issue introduced American comic fans to the amazing pencil and ink artwork of Tony DeZuniga in its first story, "Dark City of Doom" written by Gerry Conway.

Next is a Cain's Gargoyles one-pager written and drawn by Sergio Aragones, a Page 13 one-pager by Joe Orlando and Sergio Aragones and a Cain's Game Room one-pager by John Albano. In a few years John Albano and Tony DeZuniga would team up to create western anti-hero Jonah Hex.

This issue ends with "House of Madness" drawn by Bernie Wrightson.

The entire issue was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Phantom Stranger #6

Phantom Stranger #6 (On Sale: January 15, 1970) has another winning cover by Neal Adams. The Stranger appears as a background face for the first time.

This issue contains the book-length "No. 13 Thirteenth Street" written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by, well, everyone says Vinny Colletta, but that ain't the whole truth., For certain Colletta's unmistakable inks grace (disgrace?) pages 7-12, but the rest of the book, the majority of the book is inked by someone much better. Who I'm not certain, though some of it looks like editor Joe Orlando.

This is yet another story with the four teenagers (really, that is a stretch here) from the previous few issues, who when their car breaks down find two elderly women being haunted in a house on 13th Street. They enter and people and things are flying about. They make a quick call to Dr. Thirteen, just as the Phantom Stranger arrives. The Stranger says the problem is a poltergeist; when Dr. Thirteen arrives he says the whole thing is a fraud perpetrated by the Phantom Stranger. Thirteen says this is just like the case of the haunting of the Deggs house, which he exposed as a hoax.

We cut to Chapter 2, entitled "The Case of the Diabolical Deggs House" which is inked by Vinny Colletta. The Deggs' house is being terrorized by flying objects, moving chairs, ghostly apparitions, etc. Dr. Thirteen is called and finds the culprit is Creepy Conway, a spurned beau of the teenage daughter. He, along with the help of the younger son and his chemistry set, faked all of the strange doings.

The story over, better inking returns for a page as Dr. Thirteen is attacked by a flying vase and the Phantom Stranger tells him he is being foolish to discount the supernatural. He then tells his own story, "The Haunting of Drood Wood -- or -- Give Me Back My Head!" This chapter has a harsher inking style, and if I had to guess at the inker (and I do), I would say Frank Giacoia inked the next five pages. There are actually a couple of really nice, simple but effective panels in this section of the story.

A wife drives her sleeping husband down a lonely read at night. He awakens to find out they are driving through Drood Wood and freaks out, telling her to turn around or he is a dead man due to a family curse. His wife thinks he is being silly, but suddenly they are confronted by a headless horseman of old. This scene is of course depicted so beautifully on the cover. The horseman asks the man, David, if he has found his head yet. David says that his family has searched for centuries and cannot find the man's head.

We then learn how David's ancestor, the Baron of Cheltenham, had found the man in a passionate embrace with his daughter and after trumping up some charges of theft, had the man's head cut off and buried separately. The headless man only wants to be with his beloved, but cannot go to her in death without his head. The Phantom Stranger arrives and shows the man that his head was actually made into the likeness on his tombstone (I almost said "headstone!"). His body once again whole the horseman rides off to finally be with his beloved.

Back in the present and back to Joe Orlando's inking, the Stranger says the story proves that evil exists and then asks Tara to show herself. Tara reveals herself along with a creature thing, but says she is not the cause of the strange goings-on, that it is the work of one of the elderly women, Abigail. Abigail says that she found an old book their father had and used one of the spells in it to conjure up a thing to punish her sister for always eating the pistachio ice cream and leaving her only the chocolate.

When the Phantom Stranger tries to get the book, Tala orders the thing to keep it from him, but the Stranger gets to the book first and throws it into the fireplace. Tala and the thing then disappear. Dr. Thirteen says that the whole thing was a performance by the Stranger, as usual. Abigail's sister invites the teenagers to spend the night and offers them dinner, complete with pistachio ice cream for dessert, but sends Abigail to bed without dinner for causing all the fuss.

However, after dinner all that is left in the house is chocolate ice cream. Upstairs we find Abigail with a home copier and a copy of the book wondering what else she can do to her sister. This story was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The Phantom Stranger Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

House of Mystery #185

House of Mystery #185 (On Sale: January 8, 1970) has a cover by Neal Adams. For some reason this cover just doesn't work for me. I love the foreground figures, but something about the gaping-mouthed swamp in the background just doesn't register right with me.

Irregardless of my misgiving with this issue's cover, this is a wonderful issue of House of Mystery with good stories all around and more importantly, Joe Orlando brings a legend to DC for the first time and he performs like the legend he is. But that is later on.

We begin with "Boom!" written and drawn by Jerry Grandenetti. I liked this story and the way it utilized Cain. It begins with Cain running back to the House of Mystery being chased by something in the air following him. He makes it back inside when "Boom!," whatever it is lands on the roof of the house.

Deciding to meet his fate head on, Cain runs upstairs and sees something through the open window. It ends up being a man, wearing a parachute. He is an exhibition sky diver named Tony Saunders, who can't figure out how he landed at Cain's house in Kentucky when he jumped out a plane in California. Unable to catch a ride anywhere, Saunders settles down for the night in the house as Cain's guest, when a strange car pulls up to the house and two gentlemen in top hats and suits get out and ask for Tony Saunders.

Saunders goes freely with the two men, saying he "knew you'd come for me." The next morning, listening to the news on his radio Cain hears of the the death of sky diver Tony Saunders when his chute failed to open somewhere in California. Cain rushes to his front door and sees that Tony left him a gift: his parachute.

Next is a Cain's Game Room by Sergio Aragones and a Page 13 written by Joe Orlando and drawn by Sergio Aragones.

These are followed by a short three-pager, "Voice of the Dead" drawn by Wayne Howard and reminiscent to the "true" short stories around this time that were written by Marv Wolfman. A North Carolina farmer dies in 1921 and when his will is read he leaves everything to his third son, Marshall. This leaves his widow and her other children penniless. Four years later his second son begins having a reoccurring dream where the ghost of his father tells him to look inside his old coat for a sewn-up pocket. A note of the art here is that some attribute the inking of this story to Wally Wood, though DC does not. Wayne Howard was such a Wood devotee that it would be hard to say for sure, but I would tend to agree with those who say this is Wood's inks. It really, really looks like Wally Wood.

After nights of having the same dream the son goes to his mother's house finds the coat and a note inside saying to look in the family bible. There they find a later dated will which split his estate evenly.

This is followed by another Cain's Game Room, this one written and drawn by Joe Orlando, but none of these are the reason you should own this book. No, that is the final story in the issue, "The Beautiful Beast" by Joe Gil and the legendary Al Williamson. This is the only story that Al will both pencil and ink for DC and folks, it is just out and out, drop dead gorgeous! This is Williamson in his Secret Agent Corrigan prime. This is the story of Joe Carver, escaped killer who hides out in the swamp and the inescapable justice that lurks there. But the story is superfluous, the artwork is the real story. Handsome men, a beautiful woman, hulking dinosaur-like creatures, a fetid swamp, serpents, lost cities, gnarled moss-laden trees, cavemen-like warriors, exotic birds and flying reptiles; this is a story custom-made for the talents of Al Williamson and he delivers completely.

But there is more to the art in this story than meets the eye. In an interview in Comic Book Artist Michael Kaluta said this:

I never even thought about being an illustrator or comic book artist. I’d just finished my second year of college...I didn’t know what I was going to do, stay in school or join the army. After the next SCARP convention, Phil Seuling contacted me and said that Al Williamson had seen stuff that I did and was interested in talking to me about maybe helping with a story. That flipped me out. At the next New York Convention I went up to Al and he gave me a script that he was having trouble getting in to. He asked me to stretch it out. “Give me plenty of boots, girls, dinosaurs and stuff” he said. I made 7 pages into 12. Al still has my fumbling pencil originals and unless he gets mad at me we won’t tell anyone. They’re really awful, awful stuff. I was so uptight about doing the job that I just rendered and detailed it to death. Later Al did a fine job with the story and let me doodle a bit on a page or two. DC Comics published it under the title The Beautiful Beast.

Regardless of the pedigree of the artwork, it is some stunning stuff and certainly makes you wish Al Williamson could have done more work for DC. Al Williamson was born in New York City but spent his childhood in Bogotá, Colombia. Upon his return to New York, he took art courses from Burne Hogarth, whom he assisted on some 'Tarzan' Sunday pages.

He made his professional debut at the age of 17 with western and adventure series like 'Buster Crabbe' for Eastern Color, 'Billy the Kid' and 'John Wayne' for Toby and 'Outlaw Kid' for Marvel. He was the youngest member of the "EC family," joining when he was only 21 years old in 1952, He was considered "the kid brother," for most of his colleagues were family men. Williamson contributed to EC's Weird Fantasy, Weird Science and Tales of Valor, often in collaboration with the so-called "Fleagle Gang": Frank Frazetta, Roy Krenkel and Angelo Torres. Al especially loved doing pencil work, but was "deathly afraid" of inking, so often Frazetta undertook that task for him.

Al also did comics work for ACG, Charlton, Prize and Dell. In the 1960s, he assisted John Prentice on 'Rip Kirby' and did a 'Flash Gordon' comic book, which was a natural for Al as his fluid style is highly influenced by Alex Raymond's original Flash Gordon work. For King Features Syndicate, he took over the 'Secret Agent X-9' daily, which was retitled to 'Secret Agent Corrigan' which was written by the wonderful Archie Goodwin.

In the 1980s Al drew the Marvel adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back and eventually the syndicated Star Wars newspaper strip. When this strip folded, Al went back to comic books, working for Pacific Comics in Alien Worlds and Summerset Holmes. For Marvel he did the Blade Runner and Return of the Jedi adaptations and a couple of stories for Epic Illustrated. He then transitioned to becoming a full-time inker, working first at DC on Superman and then for Marvel where he inked a ton of stuff off and on through 2003.

Al has worked for Dark Horse and has done occasional inking for DC. His last work for DC was on Green Lantern #146 in 2002.

This entire book was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

House of Mystery #184

House of Mystery #184 (On Sale: November 6, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with "Turner's Treasure" by Jack Oleck and Alex Toth. That is followed by a Page 13 by Joe Orlando and Sergio Aragones. Next is "The Eyes of the Basilisk" by E. Nelson Bridwell, Gil Kane and Wally Wood. Lastly is a Cain's Game Room by Sergio Aragones.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

House of Mystery #183

House of Mystery #183 (On Sale: September 11, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with an intro page featuring Cain by Joe Orlando, which leads into "The Haunting" by Jack Oleck and Jerry Grandenetti. This is followed by an one-page Odds and Ends from Cain's Cellar a reprint by an unknown writer and artist.

Next from Cain's True Files we have "The Dead Can Kill!" by Marv Wolfman and Bernie Wrightson. That is followed by a Page 13 by Joe Orlando and Sergio Aragones and a Cain's Game Room by Sergio Aragones.

We end with "The Secret of the Whale's Vengence" by Robert Kanigher, Jerry Grandenetti and Wally Wood. The entire book was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

House of Mystery #182

House of Mystery #182 (On Sale: July 10, 1969) has another cool cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with "The Devil's Doorway" by Jack Oleck and Alex Toth. Wealthy student of the occult, Phillip Warren, buys a strange mirror from a New England auction. Phillip mentions his wife's misgivings about owning the piece and the auctioneer says that it is perfectly safe as the contents of the house were exorcised over a century ago and that the records of the exorcism are in the family records in City Hall.

Satisfied, the mirror is shipped home, but almost immediately strange things begin to happen. Phil's daughter Beth begins to disappear for hours at a time and when she does show up she says she has been in the mirror playing with Mr. Belial. Beth is told to stay away from the mirror, but just a few nights later she brings her father a gift, an ancient cult demon statuette used in black magic.

Beth once again claims that she has been in the mirror and the the gift is from Mr. Belial. Knowing the mirror has been exorcised, Phil tells his daughter to stop making up stories and sends he off to bed. But Phil can't sleep and that night while sitting in front of the mirror he sees inside it a strange world. He walks into the mirror and meets Mr. Belial, AKA Satan, who says that he has been expecting him to arrive. Satan explains that he finds students of the occult a challenge and since he could not leave the mirror he had to find a way to lure Phil into his world. He threatens to soon have Phil's wife as well.

Phil hurls the demon statuette at Satan and fights his way past demons to finally reach the mirror portal. Once outside he takes an axe to the mirror and then burns what remains. However, once the mirror is completely consumed Phil falls into a coma, yet a fitful coma of nightmare dreams. Days later the dreams end and Phil tells his wife that he was just sick and hallucinating. Now that Phil is better his wife tells him that their daughter Beth has vanished, that she has not been seen since the night Phil destroyed the mirror. But the mirror is harmless, the mirror had been exorcised. Phil heads to City Hall to look up the records of the house and finds that yes, everything in the house was exorcised, except a mirror that has been sent out to be gilded.

This story is a real winner and Alex Toth's artwork is an amazing workshop in minimalist line-work in the support of a story. This is wonderful work from Toth.

This is Jack Oleck's first credited work at DC, though he is known to have written both issues of Bother Power: The Geek. This only makes sense as Oleck was Joe Simon's brother-in-law and as Simon has said, "the number one scriptwriter for Simon and Kirby since the early days of Young Romance," though, it would seem, largely uncredited. According to the Jack Kirby Museum, Oleck also worked at Atlas in the 1950s when the company was publishing 85 titles a month, but exactly what work he did is not known as there are few records from this era. Jack also wrote for EC Comics doing war stories for Aces High and science-fiction for Incredible Science Fiction.

As a credited writer Jack Oleck would write more than 200 stories for DC, mostly in the horror/mystery books, but a few wars stories and humor stories for Plop! and the first three issues of Kong, the Untamed. Jack also wrote both of the paperback anthologies of adaptations of The House of Mystery stories and EC Comics The Vault of Horror paperback as well.

Oleck also wrote novels, including Messalina. As reviewer Joe Kenney says on Amazon, "Published in 1959 and continuously in print for the next several years, Jack Oleck's Messalina is now long out of print and barely remembered. Yet it is historical fiction of the best sort: trashy, exploitative, packed with violence and graphic sex. No "detectives in togas," no poorly-written military fiction, no thinly-veiled Christian glurge - this is a full-on romp in the salacious world of Imperial Rome, more Technicolor than Elizabeth Taylor's "Cleopatra."

Messalina recounts the tale of the real-life woman who married Claudius, the fourth emperor of Rome. She's known to history as a backstabbing schemer with an insatiable lust for sex, so don't go into this novel expecting a G-rated story of ancient Rome. Oleck takes us from her youth to her end, barring no details of her cold-blooded and predator-like ways: for Messalina, sex was a means to power, and boy did she know how to use it. "

Next is "Grave Results!" a "Cain's True Case File" by Marv Wolfman and Wayne Howard.
It tells the story of the Chase family of Barbados and how each time they go to bury a family member in the family crypt they find the caskets thrown about the crypt and overturned, even though the crypt is sealed each time with molten lead to keep anyone out. The two caskets belonging to the original owner of the crypt and her grand-daughter are never disturbed. Eventually the family has to leave the island to escape the cursed crypt. Reprinted in House of Mystery #229 and Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB.

This little piece of fluff was Wayne Howard's first work for DC and his first credited work anywhere. He contributed to comics fanzines in the mid-1960s before becoming an art assistant at the Long Island, New York studio of Wally Wood in 1969 and the Wood influence is evident in every panel Howard ever did. Wayne would only draw four stories for DC, though he would ink another 8 over the next 13 years. Howard also did work for the short-lived Web of Horror black and white book that also appeared in 1969.

Howard did work for a number of publishers. He penciled a story in Gold Key's TV-series tie-in The Twilight Zone and inked stories for Warren's Creepy and Eerie. At marvel he did inks for Worlds Unknown, Marvel Team-Up, Thongor! Warrior of Lost Lemuria in Creatures on the Loose and the Marvel black and white Haunt of Horror.

But none of this is what Wayne Howard is known for. Wayne Howard was the first American comics' cover-credited series creator, with the Charlton horror anthology book Midnight Tales which carried the blurb: "Created by Wayne Howard" on each issue. Howard did other work for Charlton, but it is with this book that he made his mark. Charlton writer/editor Nicola Cuti says that Howard's credit was granted since "it was his idea, his concept, his everything." Howard created the main characters, host Professor Coffin, The Midnight Philosopher, and his niece, Arachne, who in a twist on the horror-host convention would themselves star in a story each issue. Howard also developed the notion of having each issue be themed. He penciled and inked every cover, most of the stories and he even wrote a few of them.

In Comic Book Artist #12, Charlton editor George Wildman, described Howard as, "sort of shy. Easy come, easy go",and said Howard had married the sister of one of Wildman's early secretaries. In the same issue, Nicola Cuti said the heavy-smoker artist "always wore the same outfit: a white shirt, a kind of tan bush jacket, black hat, black pants and black tie. ...I was over at his apartment, and he opened up his closet, and there were 20 white shirts, 20 bush jackets, 20 black pants...."

Wayne Howard's last known comic work was for Warlord #64. Always a bit of a recluse, when Comic Book Artist attempted to contact him in 2001 they were told that "the artist/writer had no interest in delving into the past." Wayne Howard, one of the first African-American comic book artists of the Silver Age, died December 9, 2007 at the age of 58.

Next we have a one-page ad for the House of Secrets featuring Cain and written and drawn by Joe Orlando. That is followed by a Cain's Game Room by Sergio Aragones.

The last story in the book is "The Hound of the Night" by Robert Kanigher and Jerry Grandenetti. It was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

House of Mystery #180

House of Mystery #180 (On Sale: March 11, 1969) has another creepy cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with "Comes a Warrior" written and penciled by Gil Kane and inked by Wally Wood. This is the story of barbarian Rangarry and his search for an adventure that would immortalize his name. He finds an unnamed village haunted by demons and sets out on a quest to slay the dragon in a distant valley that is said to spawn the demons.

Next is "His Name is... Kane" by Mike Friedrich, Gil Kane and Wally Wood. Comic artist Gil Kane finds himself being sucked into the page he has just completed drawing, there to fight against demons. He remembers back to how it all began, how that cheapskate editor Joe Orlando wouldn't pay him until he finished his work. And what crap it all was, hack stories and even worse inkers.

Kane decides to go off to a quiet place to work on his own stories and takes a room from caretaker Cain at the House of Mystery, where he is soon interrupted by Joe Orlando again. In a fit of rage he kills the hapless editor only to find a small factory of creatures how drawing and inking and coloring his pages. Shrinking down into the pages he fights on against the demon editors and writers. Later Cain looks in on Kane only to find him gone, all that remains is his artwork...or is there something else there as well? Reprinted in Limited Collectors' Edition C-23 and Welcome Back to the House of Mystery #1.

This is followed by a Cain's Game Room page by Sergio Aragones and "Oscar Horns In!" as two-page text story by Cliff Rhodes illustrated by Joe Orlando.

Mext is "Scared to Life" by Marv Wolfman and Bernie Wirghtson. Lord Dufferin, the British Ambassador to Paris is vacationing in Ireland when a terrible moaning sound draws him out into the night and to his destiny. Reprinted in House of Mystery #226 and Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 3 TPB

The book ends with another Cain's Game Room page by Sergio Aragones. Along with the previously noted, the entire book was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Young Romance #159

Young Romance #159 (On Sale: February 13, 1969) has a cover, I'm thinking, is penciled by editor Joe Orlando.

"Love Put Out the Light" is by persons unknown, "Ring of Gold" is a reprint from Heart Throbs #55 drawn by John Forte and Bernard Sachs, and "Enter Marriage... Exit Romance" is by persons unknown but was reprinted in Young Romance #204.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Girls' Love Stories #142

Girls' Love Stories #142 (On Sale: February 13, 1969) has a cover penciled by editor Joe Orlando and sporting a new logo for the first time in three years.

"Thrill-Chick" is penciled by Joe Giella, "So Long in Love" is penciled by John Rosenberger, "Portrait of My Love" is a reprint from Falling In Love #28 and is drawn by Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs and "What Should I Do?" is penciled by John Rosenberger.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

House of Mystery #179

House of Mystery #179 (On Sale: January 7, 1969) has another wonderful cover by Neal Adams. This is just a classic issue as you will see.

We begin with an introduction page featuring Cain written and drawn by Joe Orlando. Next is "Sour Note" by E. Nelson Bridwell, Jerry Grandenetti and George Roussos. This is the story of Mark Eldon, who was given a note written in a strange language by a mysterious silent woman in a dark abandoned mansion. Everyone he gives the note to seems to be able to translate it and every time they do, the results are disastrous for Mark. What is the secret of the sour note? Reprinted in House of Mystery #229.

Next is "The Man Who Murdered Himself" by Marv Wolfman and introducing Bernie (Berni) Wrightson. This is Marv's first horror story sale and of course he would go on to write years worth of Tomb of Dracula for Marvel. Bernie will always be remembered for his classic run on his co-creation, Swamp Thing, and the numerous covers he will do over the years for the DC horror/mystery line. Bernie also pulled a long stint at Warren drawing some classic black and white horror stories. Reprinted in House of Mystery #228. This story is a pretty inauspicious start for Wolfman, a short tale of a maybe haunted house.

Next we have "Page 13" by Joe Orlando and Sergio Aragones and "Cain's game Room" by Sergio Aragones.

That brings up to "The Widow's Walk" by Howie Post, Neal Adams and Joe Orlando. This is the second of five horror stories that Anthro creator Howie Post would write for DC. Joe Orlando's inks are not a very good fit for Neal Adam's pencils and this is a team you would not see again. Post's story is terrific, beginning in 1897 where we meet Angus Beame, a young merchant seaman. This is the story of Angus's foiled marriage for money scheme and the curse of a scorned and devoted wife. Great stuff and obviously the reason it has been reprinted so much. Reprinted in Limited Collectors' Edition C-23, DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #17 and Saga of Ra's Al Ghul #3.

The entire issue was also reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.