Chapter 5. Steve, the Mystery Stories & Time Warp

Working at DC Comics in the ’70s and ’80s was a blast, especially if one was on the editorial staff. While we were not (usually) permitted to write stories for the books we edited, we were free to pitch ideas to the other editors whenever we wanted. This presented us with an abundance of freelancing opportunities. If an editor needed a story or a fill-in issue, it was easier to just ask someone down the hall rather than call a writer and have to schedule a plotting session. In the days before FedEx or the internet, artists were always dropping by to deliver work. We editors wanted to make sure these visiting artists would leave with another script in their hands to illustrate.

Many times I would hear, “Artist Soand-So is coming in tomorrow! Anyone have a script?” When this happened, one of two things would occur: we’d either grab a script we had in inventory, or we’d immediately volunteer to write one. If the artist in question was someone with whom we were anxious to work, the latter choice would prevail. This is exactly how I first got to write a story specifically for Steve Ditko.

House of Mystery had been a stalwart title for DC since its debut back with #1 [Dec./ Jan. 1951]. The book was first published right in the middle of a controversial time for comic books. Comics were under attack as a result of psychiatrist Fredric Wertham’s question- able book, Seduction of the Innocent, which laid the blame for juvenile delinquency solely on the reading of said comic books.

Horror comics, especially the EC Comics titles such as Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, had been the target of Wertham and his followers. For the most part, DC editor Jack Schiff played it safe in the pages of early issues House of Mystery, running “supernatural” stories which usually turned out to have logical, scientific explanations, and happened because criminals were perpetrating some kind of hoax. With the 46th issue [Jan. 1956], the title began sporting the seal of approval from the Comics Code Authority on its covers.

Schiff held reign over the title until issue #126 [Sept. 1962], when George Kashdan took over. During all that time, science-fiction stories had begun to sneak into the pages, as that had become the more popular trend at the time. In a couple of years, Kashdan turned over the cover feature of the Martian Manhunter [House of Mystery #143, June 1964]. During an editorial shift, the Martian Manhunter (written by Jack Miller and drawn by Joe Certa) had been disposed from his longtime home in Detective Comics in favor of

Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino’s Elongated Man [Detective #327, May 1964]. Later, by House of Mystery #156 [Jan. 1966], the whimsical Dial ‘H’ for Hero series, written by Dave Wood and drawn by Jim Mooney, was added. For the next 18 issues, these two features dominated the title.

The big change for House of Mystery came with #174 [May/June 1968], when editor Joe Orlando came on board. Bringing his experience on the EC Comics line of horror comics with him, he changed House of Mystery. Keeping the guidelines of the Comics Code Authority in the forefront, the anthology returned to the supernatural realm. When Paul Levitz took over editing the title with #255 [Nov./ Dec. 1977], this format was still in place.

This was where I came in. It was one of those times when an artist was coming into the office and needed to leave with a script in hand. The artist was Steve Ditko. I saw my opportunity and immediately pitched a story to Paul with the knowledge that Steve was going to draw it. While Steve had been drawing The Demon for Detective Comics, Stalker and Shade, he’d also been Illustrating short stories across many of DC’s anthology mystery books. Could DC capture some of the magic and awe of Ditko art that Steve produced for Marvel and Charlton? We didn’t know, but we were certainly going to try.

My story was “A Demon and His Boy” and it was slated for House of Mystery #258 [May/ June 1978]. The tale involved the demon