Hemlock Shomes and Dr. Potsam in "The Morgue Moider Mystery", and "The Case of Tintype's Will", and finally (whew!) Spookington Castle!

After the mention of "comedy gold" in our previous post comments, I thought that it was finally time to maybe put together a "Funny Friday Frolic of Frights" here at THOIA. But then I ran out of time yesterday, and decided that "Spoofy Slapstick Silly Saturdays" had a better ring to it (but does it?) So here we go with 3 highly hysterical Hemlock Shomes and Dr. Potsum Golden Age filler stories from Fox Publications-- because who of course is better to spoof and slap silly than everyone's favorite detective duo-- Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson! The stories (in scrollin' order below) originate from: The Green Mask #2, Mystery Men Comics #1 and #2, and are all funtastically written and illustrated by Fred Schwab.

Marry Me in My Grave

Almost forgot that I had a weekly weird wedding theme planned for June! So here's another one then finally, from the April 1973 issue of DC's The Unexpected #146, highlighted by one of Ernie Chan's coolest 70's title treatments ever! I'd also like to make a challenge to everyone here today to see how many of you can actually leave a comment without mentioning anything about the maid's name from this story. Good luck to all you Captain's of the obvious!

The Witch of Wailing Woods

Let's get June 2024 a'rockin' and a'rollin' with a hero vs. horror leftover that I had scheduled to post a few months back-- it's Plastic Man and his pudgy pal Woozy vs. a deadly voodoo doll dabblin, va-va-va-voom vvitch in a haunted house of fist pummelin' hilarity! Plus: bats, cats, a brutal goon duo, and even a couple of werewolves (which I guarantee you are not pronouncing correctly!) Great writing and wonderful, wild art, --I mean, it's not Jack Cole but it's pretty dang close thanks to the superb team-up of Alex Kotzky and Chuck Cuidera on pencils and inks! Guaranteed action-packed plasticity and fright-filled fun from the July 1953 issue of Plastic Man #42.

The Cobras

We've been looking at some deadly serious crime horror tales for a few posts now, and it's time for one more! But let's throw a little bit more fun on the fire and make it a Mr. and Mrs. Chase mystery in an old haunted mansion! Adding to the recipe: a gang of Bowery Boy wannabes who call themselves "The Cobras", sprinkled with some eye poppin' leggy / bondage good girl art, plus a few mad cap monsters mixed into the maniacal Lou Morales mayhem, and you have yourself one heckuva crazy wild ride from the Jan. '53 issue of Crime and Justice #11. This should've been turned into an old B-movie!

Scene of the Crime

Here's an incredibly creepy crime caper from the February 1952 issue of Lawbreakers #5, containing two gory reminders that not only are both old and young unsafe when a Jason Vorhees-esque madman is on the loose, but also to point out (in case you didn't already know) that rotten corpses don't smell so good. Art team greats, Al Tyler and Bob Forgione pull out all of the slasher stops in this one, even signing their names in all of that splishity-splashity blood in the splash. So hold on to your hats, and don't forget to pinch your nostrils closed too, you're headed for the--

The House!

If the penthouse a few posts ago wasn't haunted enough for ya, then try this place on for shiverin' size! I'm sure you'll definitely find it to be much more in the spirit of things from the great, ghostly beyond! And from the July 1953 issue of Chamber of Chills #18, with an atmospherically attractive art team-up by John Giunta and Manny Stallman too!