The DC Mystery Line 1968-1976
by Peter Enfantino,
& Jack Seabrook
John Scoleri,
Nick Cardy |
"Never Kill a Witch!"
Story by Carl Wessler
Art by John Calnan and Bernie Case
"The Spell of Sinner Ella!"
Story by Bill Dennehy (Murray Boltinoff)
Art by Gray Morrow
"You Can't Hide From Death!"
Story by Al Case (Murray Boltinoff)
Art by Tony DeZuniga
"The Wondrous Witch's Cauldron"
Story uncredited
Art by Lee Elias
(reprinted from House of Secrets #58, February 1963)
"Last Meal"
Story by Charles King
Art by Joe Orlando
(reprinted from House of Mystery 177, December 1968)
"The Curse of the Cat"
Story by Howie Post
Art by Bill Draut
(also reprinted from House of Mystery #177)
"Never Kill a Witch!" |
Peter: I thought it hilarious that the doctors said nothing to Harry about the new tint on his face even though they'd done surgery on it. Seems like something you'd want to discuss with the patient. The GCD claims that inker Case is actually Bernie Wrightson. There's no trace of the BW we know and love here but then John Calnan has a way of showing through even the best inkers.
John: I liked the art in this one, though I had a hard time buying that a witch would have her fortune in nice crisp bundles of bills...
"The Spell of Sinner Ella!" |
Peter: I thought "Sinner Ella" was a surprisingly clever reworking of the fairy tale, with a very Grimm ending! Fabulous art by Gray Morrow, who seems to have been experimenting with his style constantly.
John: It's my bias, but thanks to Burnt Offerings, as soon as I see a chauffeur, I prepare for the worst. I thought it was perfectly appropriate when the limo became a hearse.
"You Can't Hide From Death!" |
Peter: Despite nice art from DeZuniga, this is nothing more than a fragment of a story with nothing resembling the supernatural whatsoever. Why it's in a title like The Witching Hour, I have no idea, but it would better fit in Unexpected.
John: I agree. This was bad enough to be right at home in the pages of Unexpected.
Jack: "Last Meal" is a text story with an illo by Joe Orlando. It is reprinted from HOM 177, the first "new look" issue. "The Curse of the Cat" is also a reprint that we just saw a couple of years ago. "The Wondrous Witch's Cauldron" also seems like we read it not so long ago. In fact, it was also reprinted in House of Mystery 177.
"The Wondrous Witch's Cauldron" |
Bernie Wrightson |
"Lonely in Death!"
Story by Steve Skeates
Art by Jim Aparo
"The Curse of the Cat's Cradle"
Story uncredited
Art by Alex Toth
(reprinted from My Greatest Adventure 85, February 1964)
"Nightmare"
Story uncredited
Art by Jack Abel
"The Beast from the Box"
Story uncredited
Art by Nick Cardy
(reprinted from House of Secrets #24, September 1959)
"Never Kill a Witch's Son!"
Story by John Albano
Art by Tony DeZuniga
"Lonely in Death!" |
Jack: I'm usually happy to see a story drawn by Jim Aparo, but this does not represent his best work. The script by Skeates did not impress me, either. Abel (or Able, as he is spelled in this story's introduction) can do better than this!
John: Hard to believe this is the same Jim Aparo who would work wonders with the Caped Crusader.
Peter: Dick Ellis is trapped in a "Nightmare" that never ends but we, luckily, are spared no more than three pages of this waste of paper.
John: Couldn't this have been done as effectively in a single page?
"Nightmare" |
Jack: Oh no! A story that ends at the beginning! It will just keep going in endless circles! Aiieee!
"Never Kill a Witch's Son!" |
John: Surely it can't just be a coincidence these two have similar names so close together?
Jack: The story is tired and the art is quite uneven. I have to wonder if the reproduction quality was not very good.
Peter: "The Beast From the Box" is a knock-off of all those 1950s big monster movies (done much better by Lee and Kirby at about the same time) with primitive Nick Cardy art its only asset. Much better is "The Curse of the Cat's Cradle." Dan Hearn is sent out to Guatemala to take charge of a plantation run by Mike Trammel, a man the head office has lost faith in. While there, Dan is led to a bog of quicksand punctuated with a giant pair of hands holding a "cat's cradle." Hearn soon deciphers the rope as a message from the giant, trapped under the quicksand, and he follows the clues to a cave located under the bog, where he hopes to find the rest of the big man. Once there, he discovers Trammel looting the giant's gem-filled cave. A fight ensues and the cave collapses, with the men barely escaping. Who was the giant and what happened to him after the cave-in? No one knows but, as Mike exclaims, "right now, there are a lot of people in the states who are waiting for bananas!" "The Curse of the Cat's Cradle" is one of the most bizarre and eccentric tales I've ever read, eight pages of sheer kookiness graced by yet another knockout art job by Alex Toth. Once more, a vintage reprint trumps all newcomers.
"The Curse of the Cat's Cradle" |
Jack: "The Curse of the Cat's Cradle" is a truly strange story with another good line: "I felt the rope in my hands--hung onto it tighter than the first dollar I'd earned mowing a neighbor's lawn . . ." From 1964, this is an example of a story that makes one wonder just what the DC writers were thinking. As for "The Beast in the Box," if I did not know the artist was Nick Cardy I would never have been able to identify it. This looks nothing like the great covers he was turning out by 1970 or so.
Bernie Wrightson |
"Born Loser"
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Alex Toth
"The Human Wave"
Story uncredited
Art by Russ Heath
(reprinted from House of Secrets #31, April 1960)
"The Negative Man"
Story uncredited
Art by Jack Kirby
(reprinted from House of Mystery #84, March 1959)
"The King is Dead"
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Nestor Redondo
Peter: "Born Loser" Homer has found a way to conjure demons and fake his own death. This little magic trick is nothing more than a hobby until Homer finds a way to put it to good use: the murder of his shrewish wife. Before he does the deed, he has his friend, Judith, promise that no matter what happens she'll claim his body. With that in place, Homer shoots his wife and surrenders to police. While in prison, he conjures his impish friends and falls into a death-like sleep. Judith comes to the prison to claim Homer but, unfortunately, the warden informs the girl that there is a policy to cremate all bodies. I saw the "twist" climax coming but the rest of the story moves along at a nice clip and Alex Toth's art, as usual, is a delight. Toth, in fact, seems to be finally moving into that style I know him best: lots of dark inks, simplistic (at times crude) facial features, bug-eyed creatures, and BIG BOLD CAPITAL LETTERING. There's no artist quite like Toth when he's bringing his "A game."
"Born Loser" |
Jack: It's interesting to compare Wrightson's take on the characters as depicted on the cover with Toth's version inside. Both are younger and more attractive on the cover. I like how Wrightson has Priscilla holding a book entitled "Revolting Revelations" by B. Wrightson! I was not a fan of Toth's before we started this project, but I have completely changed my opinion of his art and now I really enjoy it.
John: I wasn't really familiar with Toth's art when we started, and the more of it I see, the less I understand what it is people like about it.
"The King is Dead" |
Jack: I did not even notice that the king was a hunchback. Your idea is just plain sick! You have been reading too many horror comics. For my part, I could not get beyond thinking of Young Frankenstein when the king tells his men not to open the door, no matter how he may beg or plead. I had Gene Wilder's voice in my head at that point.
John: I liked the art, but I was more entertained by Jack's comments than the story itself.
Peter: The reprints this issue both draw from the same well that Kirby and Lee dipped their buckets in constantly for such titles as Tales of Suspense and Tales to Astonish in the early 1960s. Russ Heath's exquisite art elevates the average script of "The Human Wave," about an adventurer who lays claim to the fabled Latour sword, lost at sea for centuries and guarded by a monster made of sea water. Yep, the script is about as silly as they come but just give Heath some panels of underwater diving and there shall be light. "The Negative Man" serves up a boring smattering of scientists who really shouldn't dabble in... well, anything. This was one of Jack Kirby's last jobs for DC (until he returned in 1970) and by the beginning of 1960 he was pumping out tales just like "The Negative Man" for Atlas.
Heath! |
Nick Cardy |
"Follow the Piper to Your Grave!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by George Tuska
"The Cats Who Knew Too Much!"
Story and Art by Jack Kirby
(reprinted from House of Secrets #8, February 1958)
"The Ferry Was Waiting!"
Story uncredited
Art by John Giunta
(reprinted from Sensation Comics #109, June 1952)
"The $30,000 Corpse"
Story by Al Case (Murray Boltinoff)
Art by John Calnan and Vince Colletta
"Queen of the Snows!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Alex Toth and Sy Barry
(reprinted from Sensation Comics #107, February 1952)
"Frightened to Death!"
Story by Murray Boltinoff
Art by George Tuska
"Till Death Us Do Unite"
Story by George Kashdan
Art by Jim Aparo
"Follow the Piper to Your Grave!" |
Peter: "Follow the Piper" makes no sense whatsoever but I enjoyed it anyway. Why was the ghostly Mr. Lucey blowing a pipe? Did it have anything to do with the way he murdered his wife? I'm not sure that was made clear so it was out of left field. The ghostly lover warning of danger has been used countless times and yet it's pretty effective in this case. Mona seems pretty calm as she witnesses Vic's wrecked car (complete with a wrecked Vic half hanging out the car window!) being lifted from the lake. George Tuska seems a little more reined in here than over at Marvel. Beautiful Mona somehow manages to avoid the signature Tuska buckteeth.
John: It's no Carnival of Souls, that's for damn sure.
"The $30,000 Corpse" |
Peter: The title of "$30,000 Corpse" pretty much gives away the "surprise," doesn't it? I'm not sure a guy who committed cold blood murder for thirty grand would stand by while his dead father is buried in it. Not even a late night exhumation?
John: And this one's no Mr. Sardonicus.
Jack: A castaway is "Frightened to Death!" by his own haggard reflection in the water right before he reaches land.
Peter: Two stories by George Tuska in one issue has been determined by the surgeon general to be hazardous to my, and Jack's, health.
"Frightened to Death!" |
"Till Death Do Us Unite" |
Jack: Aparo's art here is quite nice, like the work he did on Batman.
Peter: "Till Death" is good, but the best story of the issue is the reprinted Johnny Peril tale, "Queen of the Snows!" wherein Johnny must climb Mt. Subara to get to the bottom of a legend that has claimed the life of a skilled climber. Beautifully illustrated by Alex Toth, "Queen" is a genuinely suspenseful story. We never find out exactly what Subara is, but I think that adds to the general eeriness of the piece. Definitely the best Johnny Peril story I've yet read and, all in all, a good month for reprints. This 52-page metamorphosis might not be a bad one after all.
"Queen of the Snows!" |
What, no Yoko? |
"John: It's my bias, but thanks to Burnt Offerings, as soon as I see a chauffeur, I prepare for the worst."
ReplyDeleteYou too, huh? This guy was creepy. I never could forget him.
Andy -
ReplyDeleteHe had that effect on everyone who saw Burnt Offerings...
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