Number 2252: Bernie Wrightson and the nightmare horror

In the early 1970s, when picking up comics with Bernie Wrightson’s artwork, it was with an eye toward Wrightson’s influences, including Graham “Ghastly” Ingels of EC Comics fame. At the time EC Comics were very chic among many of the comic book cognoscenti, imitated in both fanzines and underground comix. I liked Wrightson’s work, even when it was mainstream, for Marvel or DC. I was pleased when I picked up House of Mystery #204, attracted by the blob-monster cover, and the story’s artwork, both by Bernie.

The art is good, but the story is weak. The shrewish wife tells her beleaguered husband of her nightmare, which turns out to be a premonition. That is not a new idea, and even at that time seemed hackneyed. But, I loved Bernie’s artwork, so I don’t care if “All in the Family” does not live up to the drawings. That was a common failing in DC’s so-called “mystery” stories (can’t call them “horror” because of the Comics Code). Joe Orlando, a former artist at EC Comics, was the editor of House of Mystery. I consider the cover for this issue to be in the EC tradition.

This past Saturday, October 27, 2018, would have been Bernard Albert Wrightson’s 70th birthday. Bernie got taken by brain cancer last year, a real-life nightmare and horror story. It took away his ability to draw, then took his life. Read the Bernie Wrightson obituary by his widow, Liz.

 I mentioned Joe Orlando and EC Comics above. Here’s a Halloween bonus for you, the original art for “The Craving Grave” from Tales from the Crypt #39 (1954). The story is written by Bill Gaines and Albert Feldstein, and drawn by Orlando.

The tale has an added dimension to its dead body digging her way out of a grave to go after her killers: it is told from the point of view of the grave. If you can believe that a corpse can drag living people into the grave, then you can also believe a grave can think.

What we know is true about “The Craving Grave” is it was sold on Heritage Auctions (from whence came these scans; thank you, Heritage) for $7,760.50.

Number 1942: Monster in Clay

In the past when I have shown stories from early DC mystery comics (I hesitate to call them horror) I have gotten a note or two about the faux supernatural elements. It’s true that most of what seems out-of-this-world in the stories turns out to be fake, and unlike horror comics of the era, there are no real vampires, werewolves or ghosts. In the case of this story from House of Mystery #6 (1952), there is an apparent curse on a sculptor...or is it? DC even ran a house ad touting this type of story (“We all know there’s no such thing as the supernatural...”) from the same issue:

In “The Monster in Clay” though, there is a bit of a wobble at the very end. So the main supernatural element may not have been what it seemed, but what about the ending? I’ll just leave it at that.

Bob Brown, longtime journeyman artist at DC Comics, did the artwork, both cover and story. No credits for the writing.

Four vintage stories from House of Mystery by Curt Swan I showed in 2010. Just click on the thumbnail.

Number 1043


The monsters that weren't


Halloween is tomorrow, so I have a couple of Halloween-style stories today from DC; kind of a trick, or a treat, depending on your point of view. In House Of Mystery the stories, which start out looking supernatural, usually turn out to have a "logical" explanation. The monsters usually turned out to be not what they looked like.

A couple of examples are "The Mark of X," from HOM #2, 1952. "X" is the creation of a writer that appears to have come to life. "X" reminds me of the monster from a Bugs Bunny cartoon:



The story is drawn by Curt Swan* and George Klein. "The Weirdest Museum in the World," drawn by Bob Brown, is from HOM #10, 1953. It starts out looking like a werewolf story.

There's nothing wrong with these stories, but I wonder if readers of the time felt cheated by them being "fake" supernatural. House Of Mystery apparently sold well, so perhaps not.















*I showed four more of these tales by Swan in Pappy's #757.

Number 828

Wolves of Wednesday

Halloween is fast approaching. I suppose one of these first days I'll have to buy a bag of Mentholyptus cough drops, one cough drop each for the kiddies' trick or treat bags. Hey, nothing's too good for the kids in my neighborhood. All 600 of them, many of them with mustaches and tattoos. And those are the girls. Without costumes.

Anyway, speaking of the hirsute, how about a bit of werewolf action? First up, "Wanda Was A Werewolf" is from DC's House Of Mystery #1, 1952. "Wanda" is my mother's name, and, while not wishing to disparage her memory, there were times when she sprouted long pointy teeth and deadly sharp claws. I exaggerate, but "my" Wanda did sometimes let out her inner beast on me, especially when I was guilty of something (which was often). The Grand Comics Database says Win Mortimer ? (question mark means they're not sure) drew it.

Second, "Your Grave Is Ready," originally published in The Unseen #9, in 1953. This version is scanned from Eclipse Comics' Seduction Of The Innocent, #6 in a series of 6, from 1986. It's drawn by the team of Andru and Esposito.