Back Issue #155 by TwoMorrows Publishing

November 202

No10.1.9555

™

This issue is HAUNTED!

House of Mystery • House of Secrets • The Unexpected • Haunted Tank • Marvel’s mystery anthologies • Eerie Publications • Elvira’s House of Mystery & more!

Satiate Your Sinister Side!

“Greetings, creep culturists! For my debut

All characters and properties TM & © their respective owners.

issue, I, the CRYPTOLOGIST (with the help of FROM THE TOMB editor PETER NORMANTON), have exhumed the worst Horror Comics excesses of the 1950s, Killer “B” movies to die for, and the creepiest, kookiest toys that crossed your boney little fingers as a child! But wait... do you dare enter the House of Usher, or choose sides in the skirmish between the Addams Family and The Munsters?! Can you stand to gaze at Warren magazine frontispieces by this issue’s cover artist BERNIE WRIGHTSON, or spend some Hammer Time with that studio’s most frightening films? And if Atlas pre-Code covers or terrifying science-fiction are more than you can take, stay away! All this, and more, is lurching toward you in TwoMorrows Publishing’s latest, and most decrepit, magazine—just for retro horror fans, and featuring my henchmen WILL MURRAY, MARK VOGER, BARRY FORSHAW, TIM LEESE, PETE VON SHOLLY, and STEVE and MICHAEL KRONENBERG!” (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

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CRYPTOLOGY #2

CRYPTOLOGY #3

CRYPTOLOGY #4

The Cryptologist and his ghastly little band have cooked up more grisly morsels, including: ROGER HILL’s conversation with our diabolical cover artist DON HECK, severed hand films, pre-Code comic book terrors, the otherworldly horrors of Hammer’s Quatermass, another Killer “B” movie classic, plus spooky old radio shows, and the horror-inspired covers of the Shadow’s own comic book. Start the ghoul-year with retro-horror done right by FORSHAW, the KRONENBERGS, LEESE, RICHARD HAND, VON SHOLLY, and editor PETER NORMANTON.

This third wretched issue inflicts the dread of MARS ATTACKS upon you—the banned cards, the model kits, the despicable comics, and a few words from the film’s deranged storyboard artist PETE VON SHOLLY! The chilling poster art of REYNOLD BROWN gets brought up from the Cryptologist’s vault, along with a host of terrifying puppets from film, and more comic books they’d prefer you forget! Plus, more Hammer Time, JUSTIN MARRIOT on obscure ’70s fear-filled paperbacks, another Killer “B” film, and more to satiate your sinister side!

Our fourth putrid tome treats you to ALEX ROSS’ gory lowdown on his Universal Monsters paintings! Hammer Time brings you face-to-face with the “Brides of Dracula”, and the Cryptologist resurrects 3-D horror movies and comics of the 1950s! Learn the origins of slasher films, and chill to the pre-Code artwork of Atlas’ BILL EVERETT and ACG’s 3-D maestro HARRY LAZARUS. Plus, another Killer “B” movie and more awaits retro horror fans, by NORMANTON, the KRONENBERGS, LEESE, VOGER, and VON SHOLLY!

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78 International 19 Digital Only

Volume 1, Number 155 October 2024 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Roger Ash PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich J. Fowlks COVER ARTISTS José Luis García-López and Bernie Wrightson (Alternate, unused cover for DC Comics’ The House of Mystery #251. Original art scan courtesy of Heritage Auctions.) COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Kevin Sharp SPECIAL THANKS Mike Baron James Heath Lantz Mike W. Barr Paul Levitz Jonathan Brown Ed Lute Gary Cohn Ralph Macchio DC Comics Dave Manak Tom DeFalco Alissa MarmolJ. M. DeMatteis Cernat Jim Fern Dan Mishkin Jack C. Harris Stuart Moore Heritage Auctions Eddie Muller Dan Johnson Bob Rozakis Tom King John K. Snyder III Michael Robin Snyder Kronenberg Jim Steranko Steve Kronenberg Trevor Von Eeden Paul Kupperberg John Wells Rod Labbe

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BACKSEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 FLASHBACK: The House of Mystery and the House of Secrets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The haunted houses built by Joe Orlando and other DC editors and creators BEYOND CAPES: DC’s Other Houses of Mystery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Gothic-inspired line expansions opened the door for the mysterious Mister E OFF MY CHEST: The Haunted Tank: Being At War with Our Past. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 A pastor/comic fan considers the problematic Confederate heritage behind DC’s enduring war feature WHAT THE—?!: My Brief Love Affair with Eerie Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 A personal discovery of Eerie Publications’ gore-drenched comic mags FLASHBACK: Do You Dare Enter… The Tower of Shadows? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Marvel’s ill-fated attempts at Bronze Age horror anthologies BEYOND CAPES: The Unexpected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Steady your nerves for a sizzling survey of one of DC’s most sinister anthologies FLASHBACK: Elvira’s House of Mystery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Move over, Cain—the Mistress of the Dark is moving in! BACKSTAGE PASS: House II: The Second Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Tom DeFalco and Ralph Macchio were surprised to be asked about this little-known adaptation BACK TALK: Reader Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

BACK ISSUE™ issue 155, October 2024 (ISSN 1932-6904) is published monthly (except Jan., March, May, and Nov.) by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Periodicals postage paid at Raleigh, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Back Issue, c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. Roger Ash, Associate Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Roger Ash, Associate Editor, 2715 Birchwood Pass, Apt. 7, Cross Plains, WI 53528. Email: rogerash@hotmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $97 Economy US, $147 International, $39 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover artwork by José Luis García-López and Bernie Wrightson, originally produced as the cover of House of Mystery #251 but unpublished. All characters depicted are TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All editorial matter © 2024 TwoMorrows and Michael Eury. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING

Haunted Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

by M

Beware! This issue is haunted! In the pages that follow, you will find stories about haunted houses, haunted hearts, haunted creative personnel, and a haunted weapon of war. What you may not realize is that these pages are also haunted by an editor… …now retired. I’m writing these words in mid-May 2024, but by the time they appear in print I will no longer be the editor-in-chief of BACK ISSUE magazine, having retired on Friday, August 30, 2024. There was a time in the not too distant past that I dismissed the idea of retirement. I love my job curating this Eisner Award–winning museum of Bronze Age comic book treasures, and on the side I’m offered opportunities to research and write about my passions in books, magazine articles, and special projects. I have long worked from the comfort of my home office, and have editorially helmed this fine magazine since co-developing and launching it in 2003. Like so many of you, I’ve spent a lifetime with my nose burrowed into old comic books—but I’m the lucky guy with the job of producing a magazine that celebrates them. Retire…? No way! But nothing’s been quite the same for any of us since the pandemic, has it? During the past few years, I’ve battled a number of medical abnormalities that have dramatically altered my life. The demands of managing myriad details for two periodicals (our sister mag RetroFan being the other) are no longer manageable for me, and as such I have now officially retired. What does that mean for BACK ISSUE? Well, our “haunted house” of Bronze Age antiquities is getting a new “curator”! After considering a number of possible replacement candidates with publisher John Morrow, I’m pleased to announce that Roger Ash (rogerash@hotmail.com) has become the new editor of BACK ISSUE, effective September 1, 2024! A longtime contributor to this magazine, Roger also has industry connections through his previous work with Westfield Comics and the Baltimore Comic-Con— and he is bustling with enthusiasm about picking up the editorial reins of this publication. I will be haunting the next few issues, however, since multiple editions of BACK ISSUE are in production simultaneously, in various stages. The credits in our next few editions will reflect our transition as the editorial reins are passed. Despite the change in editors, BI will continue to entertain and enlighten you just as we have done since November 2003! I’ve been in the comic book business off and on since 1986, but at heart I’m still a kid from a small town who dreamed of working in comics. I was fortunate enough to achieve that goal. I’ve learned from some of the industry’s most talented creators and am honored, through my TwoMorrows publications, to have played a small role in the preservation of comic book and pop culture history. BACK ISSUE may have been my editorial “baby,” but I haven’t done it alone. Each of our many contributors has played a role in making this magazine an Eisner Award winner, including you readers and retailers who support it. Thank you. But I must offer my deepest gratitude to my boss and friend John Morrow for letting me play funnybook mad scientist for over two decades. Thank you, John! Now… enough of this mushy stuff. It’s time for you to be haunted not by editorial nostalgia but by creepy comic books. Onward! 2 • BACK ISSUE • Haunted Issue

ichael Eury

(Eury)Man of 1,000 faces Our editor-in-chief’s mug has appeared in these pages a number of times over the years, and we will miss it sorely! Happy retirement, Michael!!

by J o

hn Wells

It wasn’t the oldest house on the block, but it had seen better days. Touring the property, Joe Orlando saw a real fixer-upper and he was already envisioning candidates who could bring it back to life. In the right hands, the House of Mystery could be a trendsetter. The “House of Mystery” name had been employed for years in such projects as a 1930 newspaper serial by Austin J. Small, a 1934 movie starring Ed Lowry and Verna Hillie, and a kid-friendly, award-winning radio series from 1945 to 1950 where Roger Elliot (played by John Briggs) told spooky stories to youngsters. With the radio show out of the picture, DC launched a House of Mystery comic book in October 1951 (inset). Edited by Jack Schiff, it was a vehicle for DC to establish a foothold in the horror genre without actually getting those feet dirty. Unlike the often-graphic excesses of other publishers, DC took its younger audience into account and kept things clean, often explaining away seemingly supernatural situations with rational explanations. By the time a companion House of Secrets title debuted in September 1956, the winds were shifting, and both residences found fantasy and science fiction sweeping away the last vestiges of horror-lite. The new approach stuck around into the 1960s, with superheroes and costumed characters moving in. “Eclipso” and “Prince Ra-Man” were on a double-bill when The House of Secrets was shuttered in July 1966. House of Mystery fared better, its own dual features—“Dial H For Hero” and “Manhunter From Mars”—carrying on through 1967.

Do You Dare Enter…? The Comics Code Authority grants you permission! DC’s Bronze Age horror craze actually started in the late Silver Age with this, the first retooled issue of The House of Mystery, #174 (May–June 1968). Cover by either Joe Orlando and George Roussos, or Mort Meskin, from a Carmine Infantino layout. (Unless otherwise noted, all art scans accompanying this article are courtesy of John Wells.) TM & © DC Comics

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JOE ORLANDO TAKES UP RESIDENCE

Ghosts of Dr. Graves and Strange Suspense Stories in 1967. It was time for DC to get a piece of the action, and Besieged by Marvel Comics’ rising popularity and Executive Vice President Irwin Donenfeld asked watching sales slip as the buzz from the Batman TV Infantino to make it happen. show wore off, to shake things up DC promoted “We did that,” Infantino noted in Comic Book artist Carmine Infantino to head its editorial Artist #1 (1998), “but we also did other things department. Those changes included the because we were also doing other things because recruitment of new editors and the exploration we didn’t want to tip our hand to Marvel that of genres unconnected to superheroes. were going to jump into the [genre].” In the Although the horror genre had been drastically pages of the On the Drawing Board (OTDB) curtailed by the mid-1950s’ institution of the fanzine, rumors flew. Dick Giordano would Comics Code, it hadn’t gone away. be editing a revival of ACG’s Adventures into the Indeed, Warren’s black-and-white horror Unknown title, OTDB #65 declared, with a Steve mags as well as four-color ghost books from Ditko–created “Dr. Strange–type” as its lead. Dell and Gold Key—all published without Never mind, reported the next issue. “There Code oversight—were thriving in the 1960s. carmine infantino is also talk from DC of reviving the Phantom Even with full Code approval, Charlton was © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. Stranger as a possible co-feature in House of doing a booming business with Ghostly Tales, whose successful 1966 launch led to companion titles Many Mystery,” OTDB #64 mentioned in January 1968. This, too, did

COVER OF MYSTERY House of Mystery #174’s cover—which opens our article—has become iconic, as well as replicated. Preceding its production was the alternate version shown here, attributed to longtime artist Mort Meskin. Meskin made a name for himself on DC Golden Age features including “Johnny Quick” and “Wildcat” and in the Silver Age on House of Secrets’ “Mark Merlin” series. He left comics for commercial art in 1965, but three years later purportedly inquired about new DC assignments. “There was a reference in a 1968 Murray Boltinoff lettercol (probably Unexpected) to Meskin having returned to DC after at least three years of not being there, and of course, he seemingly never showed up anywhere,” according to Mike Tiefenbacher, former editor of The Comic Reader. “I even asked Carmine specifically in 1971 when I interviewed him, and naturally, he had no answer for me. Jim Aparo included Meskin in his sneaks in that Aquaman story where he listed all of his DC contemporaries [during the Sea King’s visit to the trippy “City on the Edge of Nowhere” in Aquaman #50, artist Aparo drew DC creators’ surnames within the watery background of page 11, panel 1— ed.], as I recall the only guy who wasn’t obviously doing new work. [The unpublished HOM #174 cover art] looks to me like the proof that he had returned, and likely dropped in to see Murray while delivering his art, prompting the mention.” Tiefenbacher adds that while he suspects Meskin worked from an Infantino layout—as Orlando also recalled regarding his version of the same cover— Meskin’s art “seems to have been refined, something that was likely to happen if he’d gone to an ad agency following his final Mark Merlin stories, and especially since he could finally take his time. But the inking looks like his to me, as do the poses, and those kids’ faces look like his style as well. “Looking at the actual published cover, I would say it too is an Infantino/Meskin collaboration! Those kids’ faces are Meskin faces, and the inking is too sophisticated for Roussos—look at that lovely brickwork!—who’d collaborated with Meskin for years.” 4 • BACK ISSUE • Haunted Issue

not come to pass, although the Stranger eventually returned in that December’s Showcase #80. Meanwhile, DC editor Murray Boltinoff was foiled in his plans to revamp Tales of the Unexpected when his intended “Secret Six” feature was handed off to Giordano for its own title. Instead, Boltinoff went the supernatural route, adding paranormal investigator “Johnny Peril” as the new headline feature with

episodic Code-approved horror stories in the back. The title was abbreviated to The Unexpected as of issue #105 in December 1967 [expect an Unexpected article later this ish—ed.]. Then it was Joe Orlando’s turn. The 40-year-old editor had first come to prominence as an artist on EC’s legendary horror comics line from 1951 to 1955. Despite a prolific post-EC career, Orlando never got the genre out of his blood and

The Adams Family Editor Joe Orlando wisely tapped superstar artist Neal Adams to illustrate some of the retooled House of Mystery’s earliest covers. Here’s a creepy quartet exhumed from the vaults of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com): (top) HOM #175 and 176, and (bottom) #178 and 182. TM & © DC Comics.

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We Dig These Brothers The House of Mystery was gone but not forgotten by Cain and Abel in this delightful 2000 Michael Wm. Kaluta illustration commemorating the DC horror series. Original art courtesy of Heritage. (inset) Kaluta had earlier laid the House to rest by drawing the cover for its final issue, #321. TM & © DC Comics.

vampires during the Vietnam War and eventually becoming a presidential advisor. Written by J. M. DeMatteis, it was the same story that the Comics Code had previously rejected for Karen Berger’s first issue of House of Mystery. This time, she laughed in her 2017 interview with Paul Levitz, “it went through with flying colors.” In the wake of House of Mystery’s demise, much attention was focused on the fact that the mystery books had served as a training ground for newcomers. To that end, a title called New Talent Showcase [see BI #71—ed.] was launched in October 1983, affording opportunities for young writers and artists to flex their muscles in genres other than horror. That same month, however, a British writer named Alan Moore took over the Saga of Swamp Thing comic book with issue #20 and quickly made it apparent that there was nothing wrong with the horror genre, per se. That is very much another story, but it’s important to note that Moore reintroduced Cain and Abel in Swamp Thing #33’s “Abandoned Houses” in 1984. Their appearance was essentially a framing sequence to justify a reprint of House of Secrets #92’s first Swamp Thing story. Set within a dream of Abigail Cable, it re-contextualized the nature of the Houses of Mystery and Secrets, enriching the mythology of the mystery hosts. Those observations weren’t immediately acted upon. Instead, House of Mystery alumni Mishkin and Cohn revived Cain for their Blue Devil title in issue #20 in October 1985. Now the caretaker of the House of Weirdness, he served as BD’s landlord in a property whose doorways could take one from the west coast to the east in the blink of an eye. That same month, Cain’s old home was claimed by a real-life TV horror hostess in Elvira’s House of Mystery #1. A continuation of New Talent Showcase, it attempted to preserve the old mystery mix of newer creators and less-in-demand older ones. By licensing Cassandra Peterson’s film persona, DC hoped to 22 • BACK ISSUE • Haunted Issue

draw in readers who might have ignored the House of Mystery name on its own. The series ultimately ran 11 issues and one Christmas special, revealing near the end that Cain, Abel, Destiny, and the Three Witches were all still in the House of Mystery and haunting Elvira [as you’ll read later in this issue in our Elvira’s House of Mystery article—ed.]. Ultimately, it was Neil Gaiman who finally solidified the hosts’ place in DC mythology, incorporating them all into his 1989 Sandman series, beginning with issue #2. Building on the earlier Alan Moore story, he situated many of them within the Dreaming, reconceiving some of them—notably the Three Witches—and making one—Tales of Ghost Castle’s obscure Lucien—a major supporting character. Editing Moore’s Swamp Thing and Gaiman’s Sandman was none other than former HOM editor Karen Berger, who would editorially steer DC’s “Mature Readers”–labeled new wave of horror titles into the prestigious Vertigo imprint. The evergreen popularity of Gaiman’s Sandman—readily available in trades and hardbacks, and recently explored in these pages in BACK ISSUE #151—ensured that the Houses of Mystery and Secrets would remain a familiar part of DC lore. Cain and Abel not only continue to emerge in periodic DC titles, but the first several years of both House of Mystery and House of Secrets have been collected in both black-andwhite trade paperbacks and handsome color hardback Omnibus editions. Those old houses may have been drafty and in need of new paint jobs, but they were built to last. JOHN WELLS is a comics historian specializing in DC Comics. He is the author of the TwoMorrows books American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960–1964 and 1965–1969, and co-author (with Keith Dallas) of the book Comic Book Explosion.

by A l i s s a

Marmol-Cernat

Haunted Hearts Gothic romance cast its dark shadows upon these early Bronze Age DC titles: (left) Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #1 (Sept.–Oct. 1971). Cover painting by George Ziel. (right) Sinister House of Secret Love #1 (Oct.–Nov. 1971). Cover painting by Victor Kalin. TM & © DC Comics.

DC Comics’ long-standing tradition of horror anthologies is well known among comic book enthusiasts of all ages, the genre having seen a sudden surge in popularity at the dawn of the Bronze Age, after surviving the troubled 1950s and the limitations imposed by the Comics Code Authority. Even now, yearly Halloween specials call back to the classics. However, either through a multitude of adaptations featuring their hosts or mere longevity, it’s really only House of Mystery and House of Secrets that have breached the mainstream and may be considered—if you’ll excuse the pun—household names. But what about all those other sinister houses and forbidden mansions counted among DC’s menagerie of horrors? It’s high time you, dear reader, joined BACK ISSUE in an exploration of these twisting hallways of the obscure.

BAD ROMANCE

Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love and Sinister House of Secret Love were DC’s proverbial other houses. Sister titles and effectively companion pieces to one another, they both initially showcased full-length tales of gothic romance before an abrupt rebranding to Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion and Secrets of Sinister House with their respective fifth issues in the summer of 1972. According to American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s, the 1966 soap opera Dark Shadows served as the original inspiration for the books. While the similarities to the hit TV show are undeniable, the stories published within those first five issues most certainly hail from the gothic literary tradition made famous by the likes of Mary Shelley and Charlotte Brontë. In fact, virtually every staple of the Haunted Issue • BACK ISSUE • 23

genre is present and the tales within invariably seen outside of general romance comics, the one follow the same structure: an innocent heroine other ostensibly “feminine” genre. falls for a handsome stranger with a mysterious Every issue featured a painted cover by artists past, and must contend with supposedly supersuch as Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Victor Kalin, natural, ultimately mundane forces that wish and Jerome Podwil, among others—all darkly to do her harm before she can earn her atmospheric covers, more reminiscent of happy ending. pulps than anything else, and undoubtedly If seemingly repetitive at a glance, these visually striking on the stands. As the late Joe gothic romances were compelling, mature, Orlando—later the editor on both titles—put often genuinely eerie, and altogether different it in an interview published in Comic Book from their more famous contemporaries. It Artist #1 (Spring 1998), “That’s because at that comes as no surprise then that Dorothy time, the Gothics in the paperback market Woolfolk, one of the first women in the were doing so well. I studied the covers on dorothy woolfolk industry, was the editor behind Dark Mansion the paperbacks and they always had the of Forbidden Love, as well as the first issue of woman in the foreground, a sinister guy Sinister House of Secret Love, and both series showcased an pursuing them, and a house or castle in the background with astounding number of female protagonists never before always one window lit. So that was a formula I used.”

Forbidden Tales Although the series’ title changed to (left) Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion with issue #5 (May–June 1972), its hypnotic Nick Cardy cover art still suggested the book’s gothic content. Before long, with a new logo, Dark Mansion was delivering standard DC horror fare—often buoyed by extraordinary artwork such as (right) Michael Wm. Kaluta’s macabre melting man on the cover of #13 (Oct.–Nov. 1973). TM & © DC Comics.

24 • BACK ISSUE • Haunted Issue

THE REALM OF THE DARK MANSION

Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #1 (Sept.–Oct. 1971), the first of the gothic line to hit the shelves, told the tale of Laura Chandler, an orphan set on investigating the death of her best friend after accepting the offer to work and live in the imposing Langfrey House—the site of her friend’s mysterious death, and her husband’s ancestral home. One of the most memorable sequences involves Laura’s late-night wanderings around the manor and her bizarre encounter with a ghostly looking young girl confined to a disused floor of the house; as the girl frightens Laura away with a sing-song chant of “Mommy locked me up… Mommy locked me u-up…,” it becomes immediately apparent that this is to be one of the most chilling stories of the bunch. It was a fitting start for a new variety of horror comics, and this first issue even came with a real life mystery of its own. While the story is magnificently rendered by Tony DeZuniga, the unknown writer is only mentioned in the letters column of the second issue as “an Englishwoman who, for reasons of her own, wished to remain anonymous.” The rest of the series follows the tone set by its debut, with Tony DeZuniga and Don Heck alternating as regular interior artists, and Jack Oleck and Dorothy Manning penning an issue each amongst a gaggle of uncredited writers. Most stories were period pieces, best exemplified by the Dracula-esque “Kiss of Death” in #3 and its strange tale of the enigmatic Baron Dravko and the beautiful nurse he’d summoned to his castle. By issue #5 (May–June 1972), the book would become Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion but it would take another issue for its contents to fall in line with the more familiar—and no doubt commercially successful—type of horror anthologies DC was publishing at the time. This final issue centered around romance, entitled “They All Came to Die” and attributed to the creative team of Jack Oleck and Don Heck, evidently took its cues from Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and saw six people trapped on an island with a killer intent on making each of them pay for their greatest secrets. The following issue, which also marked the end of Dorothy Woolfolk’s tenure as editor, ushered in the classic anthology format with a double feature consisting of a high-stakes Jack Kirby tale about a crime-solving psychic and an unsettling story of one woman’s pursuit of riches by Mike Friedrich and Jose Delbo. It wasn’t just the theme and format that would change for the former gothic romance title, though; issue #7 (Sept.–Oct. 1972)— the first published under Joe Orlando’s editorship—completed the transformation into something of a House of Mystery/Secrets replica by introducing a host for the first time in the book’s history. Unlike Cain and Abel’s humorous hijinks, the Witch of the Dark Mansion left a much more tonally appropriate impression—first seen in an eye-catching Michael Kaluta splash page, the Witch was a thin, purple-clad woman with a wild mane of dark hair raising a toast to “dark mansions!” against the sinister silhouette of one such house with a chained man kneeling at her feet. The Witch would continue appearing in every issue of the anthology, even once Denny O’Neil assumed editorial reins with #13 (Oct.–Nov. 1973), and right up until an untimely cancellation with issue #15 (Feb.–Mar. 1974). Interestingly enough, if Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion occupies the annals of the obscure, then at the very least it certainly hasn’t been forgotten altogether—its host would later resurface as a supporting

Urban Renewal With its fourth and final issue (Apr.–May 1972) under its original Sinister House of Secret Love title (top), a change in logo occurred. Cover by Tony DeZuniga. The title was renamed Secrets of Sinister House with #5 and soon eschewed its gothic roots, featuring traditional DC horror material like (bottom) this eye-catching Nick Cardy cover on issue #16 (Jan.–Feb. 1974). TM & © DC Comics.

Haunted Issue • BACK ISSUE • 25

The South shall rise... from the dead. The ghost of the Confederate States of America has figuratively hung over the United States of America for generations. In the work we discuss in this essay, the ghost becomes literal. As a Southerner, the phantom of a bygone area has hung over my head and taunted me from the past. How do we relate to the time when an economic system built on the atrocities of slavery ripped our country apart, and teach that shameful history? Do we confront it head-on? Do we put our heads 32 • BACK ISSUE • Haunted Issue

under the sheets to hide from it and pretend it is not there? Our country and culture have failed to answer these questions and to make any real amends for this ghoulish history. The complexities of this tortured relationship can be found in the pages of DC Comics’ war feature “The Haunted Tank,” which appeared in the series G.I. Combat. This series weaves the complexity of the USA’s Civil War into battle action while peering into a multi-generational family dynamic that reflects the painful intricacies of the dynamic above.

Haunted by History

by J o

nathan R. Brown

(top left) The imposing figure of General J.E.B. Stuart, from the dust jacket painting of John W. Thomason, Jr.’s biography of the Confederate officer, New York: Scribner’s first edition, 1930. (main) In DC Comics’ long-running “Haunted Tank” feature in G.I. Combat, the ghost of General Stuart guided his descendent ad his tank mates through the perils of World War II. Undated specialty illo by longtime Haunted Tank artist Sam Glanzman. Both, courtesy of Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com). (bottom left) In recent years, opposition to the glorification of the Confederacy has led to some communities’ removals of statues of Confederate heroes, like this monument to General Robert E. Lee, losing its berth at Lee Circle in New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 19, 2017. Photo courtesy of Infrogmation of New Orleans/Wikimedia Commons. The Haunted Tank TM & © DC Comics.

‘INTRODUCING THE HAUNTED TANK’

In this article, we will examine how creators engaged the concept of war as an evolving concept through the eyes of the Stuart family that connected through war even after death. We will provide a character synopsis of General J.E.B. Stuart and how he related to the crew of a tank that bore his name. By doing these things we will hopefully gain an understanding of how “The Haunted Tank” was able to outlast other DC war features. Finally, we will conclude by looking at the 2008 Vertigo miniseries that confronted the racist and vile nature of the Confederacy head-on and how it forever tied these sins into the fabric of the Haunted Tank forever.

The Haunted Tank, the creation of writer Robert Kanigher and artist Russ Heath, was introduced in G.I. Combat #87 (Apr.–May 1961). Kanigher, the series’ mainstay, would be joined on the Haunted Tank by several legendary artists in addition to Heath including Joe Kubert, Sam Glanzman, and Dick Ayers. The serialized story would have one of the longest runs of any DC Comics war feature, ending in 1987 when G.I. Combat was canceled with issue #288 (Mar. 1987), the final story penned by series creator Kanigher and illustrated by Glanzman. Murray Boltinoff would serve as the series’ long-running editor starting with G.I. Combat #74 and staying with the crew until the demise of the book. At the heart of the story is the crew of an M3 Stuart tank, a nimble, light machine that saw extensive use in the North African and European theaters during World War II. The series meticulously details the tank’s engagements in these harrowing battlegrounds, providing a visceral depiction of warfare. However, it’d the Haunted Tank’s unique supernatural twist that sets it apart. The tank is haunted by the ghost of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart, an audacious cavalry commander known for his daring maneuvers during the US Civil War. This spectral presence is not just any haunting; General Stuart is a distant relative of the tank’s commander, Lt. Jeb Stuart, creating a profound personal connection between the past and present. The ghost of General Stuart, visible exclusively to Jeb, assumes the role of a guardian angel to the Haunted Issue • BACK ISSUE • 33

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Mind-Blowing Mayhem John Romita, Sr.’s covers to Marvel’s entries in the (burgeoning) Bronze Age horror anthology trend: (left) Tower of Shadows #1 (Sept. 1969), with its host Digger seen in the corner box; and Chamber of Darkness #1 (Oct. 1969), unveiling host Headstone P. Gravely in the corner box. TM & © Marvel.

Inspired by EC Comics’ acclaimed horror titles and their Tower of Shadows would last only nine issues and Chamber of “Ghoulunatic” hosts the Old Witch, the Crypt Keeper, and the Darkness would only survive for eight issues. Nearly forgotten Vault Keeper, Warren Publications launched the blacknow, both titles featured work by some of comics’ best and-white magazine Creepy in 1964, hosted by Uncle writers and artists: Denny O’Neil, Roy Thomas, Archie Creepy. Two years later, after the success of Creepy, Goodwin, Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, John Buscema, Warren launched the companion magazine Eerie, Johnny Craig, Wally Wood, and Bernie Wrightson. hosted by Cousin Eerie. In 1968, National TOS and COD were also fertile ground for new Periodicals (DC Comics) shifted House of talent like Barry Smith, Gerry Conway, Len Wein, Mystery back to a horror anthology, hosted by Gary Friedrich, and Marv Wolfman. But both Cain. In 1969, DC followed with the revival of series could not overcome poor sales, extremely House of Secrets as a horror anthology, hosted uneven stories, and a lack of editorial identity. by Cain’s brother Abel. Both titles saw a jump DC had Joe Orlando editing their horror titles, in sales, thanks to former EC artist Joe Orlando bringing his EC experience, but Stan Lee’s direction taking the helm as editor. With superhero for TOS and COD was disjointed and distracted. sales beginning to wane, Marvel Comics’ As each series moved along during their brief stan lee Stan Lee wanted to create his own horror tenure, they became more populated by titles that could compete with DC’s recent reprints from Marvel’s stock of horror tales from TM & © Marvel. successes. In 1969, Marvel launched Tower of the late ’50s/early ’60s. However, there were Shadows (TOS), followed the next month by Chamber of several excellent stories, two of which would help change Darkness (COD). TOS was hosted by the ghoulish Digger and comics history, and one story that would help push a legend COD hosted by Headstone P. Gravely. away from Marvel and to DC. Haunted Issue • BACK ISSUE • 41

In 1968, horror comics were poised to make a comeback at DC Comics. This move would open up a new market for the publisher and create a hit line for DC in the Bronze Age. The success of these books was due to a man who knew a thing or two about the genre, Joe Orlando. Orlando had been a part of the legendary EC Comics bullpen of the early 1950s, a pool of talent that included one of the greatest lineups of artists any publisher ever had. When it came to the company’s output, their crowning achievements were their horror comics: Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, and Haunt of Fear, featuring the work of a who’s who of artist greats that included Jack Davis, Johnny Craig, and Graham Ingels, as well as Orlando. Orlando had also had recent success helping to launch Warren’s black-and-white magazine, Creepy, in 1964. DC’s decision to take a chance on horror comics was a bold venture at the time. After all, “horror” was still a dirty word in the business. It had been less than 15 years since the entire comic book industry came under intense scrutiny by parents, teachers, and other concerned citizens outraged at the violence and sex in comics. The pressure back then was so great to clean up the industry, the US Senate even held an inquiry to investigate the perceived harm comics were causing America’s youth. And it had been horror comics (as well as crime comics), just like the ones EC put out, that helped put the entire medium in the crosshairs. DC hedged its bet on horror by rolling Orlando’s new line out under the preferred term, “mystery books.” But a monster hit by any other name is still a monster hit. As detailed in this issue’s opening article, Orlando took two old standbys, House of Mystery and House of Secrets, and led DC into scary new territory, with more mystery titles following from both Orlando and other editors. What you are about to read, however, is the history of a book in DC’s mystery line, one Orlando didn’t edit himself, even though he would have an impact on it in several ways. This is a story we think you will find most… Unexpected.

HISTORY FROM THE CRYPT

Before we dive into the comic book that Unexpected was destined to become, we must look at the comic book that it used to be and the events that helped reshape it. Originally titled Tales of the Unexpected, the first issue of this series was cover-dated February– March 1956. Tales of the Unexpected launched less

Cheating Death After a few years of format and logo changes, DC’s The Unexpected settled into its Bronze Age logo with issue #115 (Oct.–Nov. 1969). Cover by Neal Adams. TM & © DC Comics.

50 • BACK ISSUE • Haunted Issue

by D a n

Johnson

than two years after the aforementioned US Senate Subcommittee hearings that investigated juvenile delinquency and the effect comic books had on this social problem. There had been concerns over comic book content by the general public for years before this investigation took place. The main concern was over acts of sex, crime, and violence depicted in comic books and how they shaped the impressionable minds of children who read them. Slowly but surely, the heat was turned up on everyone associated with comics until it reached a boiling point in 1954. In that year, every publisher, including National Periodicals, later known as DC Comics, was in the soup. Eventually, after the Comics Code Authority was launched to help show the public that comics were cleaning up their act, the controversy subsided.

PLAYING IT SAFE

Part of the effort to rebuild trust between publishers and the parents of young readers was axing horror comics altogether. Even though the genre was off the table, anthologies were still popular, especially ones that focused on science fiction and fantasy. And by fantasy, that meant ghost stories and other tales with supernatural elements that skirted the line of horror without fear of parental outrage. Initially, these were the kind of stories featured in Tales of the Unexpected. As time went on, the focus shifted more and more to science fiction stories. The book began life under editor Jack Schiff, a man who really had a fondness for aliens of all shapes and sizes. After all, he was the editor who had turned Batman into a science fiction hero in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was also the first editor on House of Mystery and House of Secrets. When he was removed from the Batman titles in favor of the “New Look” under Julius Schwartz, Schiff took over Mystery in Space and Strange Adventures from Schwartz. By the late 1950s, covers featuring aliens and other worlds became the norm for this title. Its fate as a science fiction comic book was sealed for certain when it got its own anchor feature. With issue #40 (Aug. 1959), the book became home for Space Ranger, a character that had tryouts in Showcase #15 (Aug. 1958) and 16 (Sept. 1958). Dubbed “Guardian of the Solar System,” Space Ranger was like a futuristic Batman, hiding his true identity to better fight the threats that loomed in outer space. Space Ranger took over the covers for Tales of the Unexpected starting with issue #43 (Nov. 1959) and remained the book’s cover feature until #82 (May 1964). Beginning with issue #83 (June–July 1964), the Green Glob, a creation of the Guardians of the Universe, was introduced, and it would be featured in stories where it interacted with various humans as it worked to better their lives in amazing ways. Overall, Tales of the Unexpected was a fun read with some inventive stories and solid artwork across the board. But aliens and science fiction were becoming played out by the end of the 1960s. This book needed new life and a new direction. It was time for a new day, one that could only be found in the dead of night.

Beware of the Glob Weird science fiction propelled the earliest issues of Tales of the Unexpected, starting with (top left) this trippy Bill Ely–drawn bird-man cover for issue #1 (Feb.–Mar. 1956). (top right) Space Ranger rocketed into the title beginning with #43 (Nov. 1959)—and check out the washtones on that snazzy Bob Brown cover! (bottom) It’s “The Green Glob,” a short-lived attempt at a recurring feature in Tales of the Unexpected. Excerpt from the “Green Glob” story in issue #83 (June–July 1964). Art by George Roussos. TM & © DC Comics.

Haunted Issue • BACK ISSUE • 51

AN UNEXPECTED TV TWIST On a lazy Sunday afternoon a few months before press time, my wife and I were binge-watching reruns of the 1980s spooky anthology Tales from the Darkside. The episode “My Ghostwriter—The Vampire” caught me eye, and it wasn’t because it starred one-time Taxi driver Jeff Conaway (whose “a hickey from Kenickie is like a Hallmark card: when you care enough to send the very best” line from Grease pops into my head whenever I think of the actor). The opening credits cited it as being adapted from a DC Comics story. News to me! An Internet search turned up this terrific trivia… “My Ghostwriter—The Vampire,” about a struggling horror novelist making a deal not with the Devil but with a vampire to write about the bloodsucker’s nocturnal activities, was Tales from the Darkside Season Three/ Episode 14, originally airing on February 1, 1987; cast alongside Conaway as the writer was Roy Dotrice as the vampire. This was an adaptation of the DC story “My Ghost-Writer—The Vampire,” written by Scott Edelman and illustrated by Tenny Henson, originally published in The Unexpected #197 (Apr. 1980), under a cover by Luis Dominguez. Edelman, along with Peter O’Keefe, adapted the story into the Darkside teleplay. — Michael Eury, editor-in-chief

Unexpected Treat The Unexpected #195 (Feb. 1980) included this Denny O’Neil story drawn by veteran EC Comics artist Johnny Craig, one of Craig’s last published works. TM & © DC Comics.

well as during the second wave of Batmania generated by the 1989 Batman movie. Something truly amazing was lost with DC shutting down books like Unexpected. “Yes, is a pity that no one in charge was interested in continuing,” says Robin Snyder, a frequent contributor to Unexpected in its final days. “Manak did what he could to breathe life, originality and possibility into those old titles, but management had thrown in the towel. As you observe, rookies might have been given space to learn and grow. Old-timers who would not be welcome in Batman and Superman might have had something original to say in Unexpected. And, God knows, there were oh, so many covers, scripts, and finished stories by [talents like] E. Nelson Bridwell, Fred Carrillo, Sid Cheek, Steve Ditko, Joe Gill, Don Heck, Robert Kanigher, Sheldon Mayer, Nestor Redondo, Mike Sekowsky, Bernie Wrightson, and dozens of others in inventory. The title might have continued full steam ahead using pages from that inventory plus new material.” Considering what Snyder says about the inventory that was left unused, perhaps that represents the scariest story of all: the thought of what could have been but will never be. A longtime contributor to BACK ISSUE, comics writer DAN JOHNSON is a co-founder, editor, and writer for Empire Comics Lab (empirecomicslab.com) and Old School Comics. Dan has written for Antarctic Press, Campfire Graphic Novels, Golden Kid Comics. InDELLible Comics, and ACP Comics, and is a gag writer for the Dennis the Menace comic strip.

66 • BACK ISSUE • Haunted Issue

The decade of the 1980s gave those who grew up during the BACK ISSUE era numerous icons of every genre in every medium. The Terminator, Yoda, Freddy Krueger, and Charles Lee “Chucky” Ray are just a few examples of such characters. Yet, few have crossed over in those genres and mediums like the Queen of Halloween herself, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. BACK ISSUE will continue to tour the macabre haunted houses in comics with Elvira’s time in DC Comics’ House of Mystery. Think of it as Trick or Treat with Elvira providing the treats... of scary comic book stories.

THE HOUSE‘S NEW OCCUPANT

by J a

mes Heath Lantz

Cassandra Peterson was born in Manhattan, Kansas, on September 17, 1951. She spent her formative years fascinated by the horror genre while other girls her age were into dolls. Peterson began her show business career as a dancer in Las Vegas when she was a teenager, eventually acting in such movies as Diamonds Are Forever and Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie and in television shows like Happy Days and Fantasy Island. Six years after the death of horror host Larry “Seymour” Vincent, producers wanted to bring the horror anthology Fright Night back to television in some form. Cassandra Peterson had created a character inspired by Kabuki makeup, the Ronettes, and a Valley Girl character she played in the improvisational troupe the Groundlings. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark debuted with the premiere of Movie Macabre on September 26, 1981. Elvira served as the host who introduced horror and science fiction films with her unique brand of humor during the show’s five-year run. [Editor’s note: To learn more, check out the profile of Elvira in issue #2 of our sister magazine, RetroFan; it’s still available in digital form at www.twomorrows.com.] Elvira proved to be so popular she was in film and television roles and appeared as a frequent Tonight Show guest. One such appearance even featured Tonight’s guesthost Joan Rivers briefly showing the audience the first issue of the Elvira’s House of Mystery (EHOM) comic book. House of Mystery, as detailed in this issue’s opening article, began during the heyday of Golden Age pre-Code horror comics with its first issue released on October 5, 1951. The terrifying abode closed its doors in 1983 with the caretaker Cain evicted and the house condemned in issue #321.

The Cain Scrutiny Who’s that in the House (of Mystery)? Could it be… Satan? Naw… it’s the Mistress of the Dark, horror schlock queen Elvira! Cover to Elvira’s House of Mystery #1 (Jan. 1986) by Brian Bolland. TM & © DC Comics.

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