Favourite Covers: The best mystery/horror covers from the 1970's - Part 2

Marvel Spotlight issue 13 featuring The Son of Satan. There were few comics that genuinely shocked me in the 1970s but when I first saw the cover of Marvel Spotlight issue 13 featuring a pitchfork wielding picture of the devils son by John Romita I have to admit I was taken aback. Even as a then 13 year old I knew that parts of the US were deeply (fanatically in some cases) religious and was amazed that a book featuring Satan’s son as the hero ever got published. Then again I thought this book was so cool. The reality was that while the cover was excellent the actual strip itself never really hit its true potential in the same way that the Zombie, Morbius or Dracula did at Marvel, but what a great cover.

Phantom Stranger issue 22. This is a genuinely menacing cover expertly executed by Jim Aparo. I am sometimes guilty of taking Jim Aparo’s art for granted as he never seemed to turn in anything other than an excellent art job which he did here when illustrating this Len Wien written tale the “Circle of Evil “

Teen Titans issue 34. As mentioned in part one of my list of my favourite mystery/horror covers this was one of the comics that was heavily advertised on the inside cover of many DC comics back in July 1971 along with the aforementioned Detective comics issue 413 and Action Comics issue 402. Like so many of DC’s best covers from this time this was illustrated by Nick Cardy with interior pencils being supplied by George Tuska who was ably inked by Cardy himself - a surprisingly good art team.

Uncanny Tales From The Grave issue 6. In the mid 1970’s Marvel were publishing numerous horror/mystery comics most of which were all reprint and most only lasting for around 10 or so issues before descending into comic book limbo . Uncanny Tales From The Grave (originally titled simply “Uncanny Tales” for the first 2 issues) only lasted 12 issues but are well worth collecting for their covers alone. This issue from October 1974 was drawn by Larry Lieber and Tom Palmer and is my favourite of the 12 issue run.

Detective Comics isuue 425. Another excellent cover from the great Bernie Wrightson from July 1972. The story itself "The stage is set for murder" by Denny O'Neill and ilustrated by Irv Novick and Dick Giordano is your standard Batman tale more akin to a Scooby Doo cartoon (Spoiler: the ghoulish horse and carrage driver was wearing a mask).

Phantom Stranger issue 12. This cover comes from April 1971 and is from the unmistakable hands of Neal Adams. Like Phantom Stranger issue 22 (above) no word balloon are required to portray the horror of the situation. Jim Aparo provides the art on the actual strip “Marry me, Marry death” written Robert Khanigher .

And my favourite horror/mystery cover of the 1970’s is Ghost Manor issue 23 by Tom Sutton from May 1975. Charlton comics produced some really nice comics over the years featuring the early work of artists like John Byrne, Joe Staton, Don Newton and Mike Zeck. But as far as horror strips were concerned the stand out artist for me at Charlton was always Tom Sutton. He of course also drew for DC, Warren and other companies and provided some stunning art on Planet of the Apes and Morbuis the living Vampire at Marvel. But his Charlton covers were always a treat to behold. A sadly missed and truly underrated artist.

Favourite Covers: The best mystery/horror covers from the 1970’s -Part 1

With Halloween only a few days away I thought I would amuse myself with a look back at some of my favourite bronze age horror and mystery covers from the 1970’s. I suppose that when anyone mentions comic books and horror in the same breath the first thing that comes to mind are comics featuring grotesque monsters, tortured souls , witches and Zombies. Of course that is true in many cases but the good old superhero comic has also produced some gory stories and shocking covers to get the pules racing over the years .One of my favourite covers from this time is “Detective Comics” issue 413 (above) by Neal Adams. This issue was heavily advertised on the inside cover of many DC comics back in 1971 along with a couple of other comics (one of which will be shown in part 2 of my favouritre horror/mystery covers) sadly, while I managed to pick up the other 2 comics I never managed to obtain this one. Despite that the memory of this amazing Adams cover has remained with me over the years and is still on my “want list”.

Next up is Marvel’s “Vault of Evil" issue 7 (1973) by Rich Buckler and Ernie Chan. Vault of Evil (from my limited 4 issue collection) was an all reprint title which I generally avoided but when I saw this cover I just had to buy it (it also reminds me of some dates I've had!)

DC’s “House of Secrets” along with its sister title “House of Mystery” produced some of the best mystery/horror comic book covers of the entire genre with contribution from artists including Bernie Wrightson, Mike Kaluta, Nick Cardy and of course Neal Adams. This cover comes from 1970 at a time when Adams was regularly producing some truly stunning covers for DC. Strangely the cover story itself was actually drawn by Don Heck (although Adams may have penciled the first page). On the plus side Adams inked Gil Kane's pencils on a beautifully illustrated tale “Second Choice”. One truely strange strip from this comic is a 2 page “funny animal” story called “Reggie Rabbit….” by Ralf Reese - just weird!

Speaking of the great Gil Kane my next selection is Marvel's “Supernatural Thrillers” issue 6 from November 1973 featuring the “Headless Horseman Rides Again”. Although Kane didn’t draw the actual story itself George Tuska and Jack Abel provided some nice artwork on a really entertaining (but pretty daft) tale.

House of Mystery 221 is probably one of the most iconic horror/mystery covers of the 1970's and no wonder it’s a classic from the macabre mind of the late great Bernie Wrightson. In addition to producing this amazing cover Bernie also drew (along with Michael Kaluta) the associated 8 page strip “He who laughs last..”

Probably my favourite horror/mystery title from the 1970’s was DC’s “The Witching Hour” . This comic regularly featured the work of the best artists of the time including Gray Morrow, Jim Aparo, Bill Draut, Neal Adams and Bernie Wrightson all wrapped up in an amazing 4- 8 page framing tale by the legendary Alex Toth. This cover is by Nick Cardy one of the best comic book cover artists of all time. Part 2 of my favourite horror/mystery covers will follow on Thursday featuring the cover I consider to be the best in the genre, and shock horror it’s not by Neal Adams or Bernie Wrightson.

Comic book Memories: John Byrne comic book(s) Nightmare and Psycho and the toothache from hell!

In 1970 a new series of comic magazines created by publishers Sol Brodsky and Herschel Waldam appeared in our spinner racks. These new comics from the company that took its name (Skywald) from BrodSKY and WALDam’s surnames produced the iconic horror magazine titles Nightmare, Scream, Psycho and Hell Rider until its demise in 1975. To be honest these magazine went pretty much unknown to myself until I started secondary school in mid-1971 where they seemed to be exceptionally popular with the “big kids” in 4th - 5th year (15 – 17 years old) who I would see reading them at break times. However it wasn’t until December 1972 when visiting my then favourite newsagents (“Johnny’s”) that I saw and purchased my fist Skywald magazine, the Psycho 1972 annual little knowing the pain and horror this comic mag would inflict on my memory.

The reason that the Psycho 1972 annual holds such “painful” memories to myself is that on 23 December 1972 (a few days after I purchased the book) I was eating the contents of a Cadburys selection box given to me as part of an early Christmas present by a friend when I bit into a chocolate bar and instantaneously experienced the worst toothache of my entire life. Now I have to admit I was scared (I mean really scared) of the dentist back then so I hid the fact I had toothache from my mum and dad and went to bed early. But the toothache didn’t subside so I was unable to sleep for the entire night as I was I such pain. All I had to hand was a couple of paracetamol and the Psycho 1972 annual which I tried to read in order to take my mind off the pain and that pain didn’t subside until around mid-afternoon on the 24 December. Fast forward to 2010 and on a visit to a Glasgow market stall that sold old comics I spied that Psycho annual. As soon as I saw that cover my hand subconsciously went to my mouth as if I was reliving that terrible toothache hell. I didn't purchase that Psycho annual as that magazine will forever be linked to that horrible time, yes for me it is a "cursed" comic book. Nostallgia has its place but some memories are best forgotten.

Skywald had a pretty impressive list of creators that worked on their various titles throughout its relatively short lifetime including Gerry Conway, Len Wein, Rich Buckler, Bill Everett, Pablo Marcos, Bruce Jones and Tom Sutton. It also featured the first professional work of future comic book superstar John Byrne who drew the 2 page tale below written by al Hewson from Nightmare issue 20.

Favourite toys: James Bond attaché case

It’s strange how some long forgotten memory can pop into your head by the simplest prompts. One such event happened to myself last week when visiting Glasgow to meet up with a few old pals for our 6 weekly guys night out. As is my normal practice I arrived a couple of hours before we were due to meet so that I could have a look around the shops. On this day as I entered the city streets from the rail station I was greeted by a large window display advertising the new James Bond film “ No Time to Die” then as I turned the corner I saw the sad vision of the now closed Glasgow Debenhams store. In the blink of an eye those 2 associated events transported me back to around April 1966 when my mum and dad took me to Glasgow to visits the large Lewis’s department store (pictured below from around 1970) which stood on the location of the now closed Debenhams store, so that I could choose my birthday present. Like many of the other Lewis’s stores throughout the UK it was a stunning looking store that sold everything from delicatessen food to records to the latest London fashions and of course it had a massive floor dedicated to children’s toys. My main memory of that day was the fact that I had so much money (I think it was about £10) to spend and with having so much I asked my parents if I could purchase the above James Bond 007 attaché case, a major purchase for a 6 year old kid at that time.

Released in 1965 by MPC and based on the attaché case seen in the 1963 Bond file “From Russia With Love” the toy case included a Luger pistol, complete with a shoulder stock, viewing scope and silencer which converted it into a rifle, a ’Code-o-Matic’ code machine, code book and pencil, wallet with paper money, James Bond 007 business cards, a passport, and twelve red plastic bullets. The case itself also had a few tricks such as a hidden black plastic dagger concealed in the side, a mechanism which would fire one of the plastic bullets from the case itself, and a lock which could be set to “explode” (by firing a cap) if the case is opened incorrectly. From memory I also spent some of my birthday money on a couple of Timpo Knights.

My interest in James Bond at this time was ignited by seeing “Thunderball “ at the movies with my parents and brother so I’m not sure if the attaché case was my first Bond related toy as like many other kids of my age I had the iconic Corgi Aston-Martin DB5 which was released in October 1965. As my version was the gold coloured car (as opposed to the silver one seen on screen in the previous year’s Goldfinger) this may well have been my first Bond purchase.

Despite being fortunate enough to have had the above 2 iconic Bond toys, my favourite from the franchise was the Thuderball scuba diver set that I bought in Woolworths around 1968. Although my interest in James Bond is only in the films (usually bought on DVD) it’s good to see that Bond, unlike Lewis’s and Debenhams, has remained a constant beacon of familiarity in an ever changing world.