An Army of Walking Dead, aka The Zombie

My buddy Jason was wanting to see a Phantom Lady adventure where she takes on monsters or some kind of supernatural evil, and this tale of legs vs. the undead is probably the best choice in my collection. My scans are from the Great Action Comics #8 (1958) reprint-- a sexy 'n wild Matt Baker illustrated story that was originally featured over 10 years prior in the December 1947 issue of Phantom Lady #15... annnnd the story goes, that when I.W. Publishing got the print plates, they were missing the original splash page #1 which had been printed on the inside front cover of Phantom Lady #15 (see jpeg at the very end of this post.) So someone clever decided, "why not make the cover of Great Action Comics #8 the new page 1 of the reprint!" Off hand, I can't think of many other comics that ever did this with a cover, and with Carl Burgos doing the new cover art, who's gonna complain? Hope everyone enjoyed this month of posts!

(original page 1 splash)

The Witch's Victim (PART TWO)

For those of you perplexed about how the supernatural Ellery Queen mystery of our last post (HERE) was going to pan out-- well, here's the big finish! Plus, a brief re-cap, and a witchy one-page bonus from the inside back cover of Dell's Four Color #1243. One more request to fill to finish out July 2014 here at THOIA, with lots more coming up-- and a special salute to all my friends who had a blast at SDCC over the last few days-- sorry I couldn't attend this time around, but hope to see ya all there next year!

The Witch's Victim (PART ONE)

Another request, this time from "Mad Margaret" who is haunted by memories of an eerie Ellery Queen comic book mystery she read as a kid but she can't remember the name or anything else about it except "it had a spooky black cat in it!" Hopefully this is the one... and like our last post, it's a bit lengthy so I split it up into two posts. Sekowsky art fans take note! From the Nov. '61 - Jan. '62 issue of Dell's Four Color #1243, --part two coming up shortly (containing a few more spooky cat panels!) And man oh man, is that a gorgeous George Wilson cover painting, or what?

...to be continued!

60 Years Ago: Comics on Trial @ SDCC 2014

Our fearless friends of L.A.-based Captured Aural Phantasy Theater are bringing EC horror to screaming life this Saturday night from 6 - 7pm in Room 9 at SDCC 2014! Experience live excerpts from some of the most offending stories, as well as transcripts of the April 1954 Senate hearings attacking comics led by Frederic Wertham,--ahead of a discussion of the impact those hearings had on the industry and art form. Comic historian, Craig "Forelock the Warlock" Yoe will also be on hand!

Find out more by visiting the CAPT website HERE! and at the SDCC 2014 site HERE! 

A Kiss to Save Him From the Grave! (PART TWO)

And now the startling conclusion to Tom Sutton's epic gothic horror romance classic, from the April 1973 issue of Haunted Love #1. Catch the first half by clicking HERE!

...speaking of KISS

A Kiss to Save Him from the Grave! (PART ONE)

Pretty sure I've never posted anything from my gothic horror nurse story files (wait, do I have a file like that anyway? Apparently, yes!) And here's a good example, a supernatural terror tale dripping with ominous atmosphere, as well as wonderfully inconsistent art from Tom Sutton. Sutton seems a bit all over the place with this one (some panels look as if he's trying to ape Frank Robbins for example too), but it's still a cool and creepy, haunted mansion / ghost story-- it's also a sprawling 16 pages long so I split it into a two parter. From the April 1973 issue of Charlton's Haunted Love #1.

...to be continued!