TP Comics

This month we take a look at some of the classic Horror Comics Hosts and Hostesses from DC Comics, Charlton Comics, and other companies.  The House of Mystery comic book had a decades-long run before its host was introduced.  Cain, the "able caretaker" made his debut in issue #175, cover dated August 1968.  The preceding issue marked a return to the horror theme of the book, after the title had focused on science fiction stories for a time. Issue #175 also introduced Cain's pet gargoyle in part of that issue's second feature, "The House of Gargoyles."  Cain also had a cat named Oskar. In addition to introducing the stories, Cain lent his name to humor pages like "Cain's Game Room" and "true" horror stories in "Cain's True Case Files." Of Cain, Peter Sanderson writes, "It has been suggested that Cain suffers from severe mood swings.  In the past he has often appeared to be a jovial, strange, but ultimately harmless ...

This month we take a look at some of the classic Horror Comics Hosts and Hostesses from DC Comics, Charlton Comics, and other companies.   DC Comics' The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #1 was cover dated October 1971.  It featured a "full-length [graphic] novel of love and danger complete in this issue."  The story was titled "The Secret of the Missing Bride" (per the cover) or "The Mystery of the Missing Bride" (per the splash page).  The same format continued in issues #2 and #3.  Issue #4 featured a full-length novel of "mystery and suspense," with the new cover logo emphasizing the words "Dark Mansion" over "Forbidden Love."  Another shift came with issue #5, as the cover title was changed to Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion.   Issue #6 included two tales, rather than one novel-length tale.  By issue #7, the transformation was complete.  The book had become a horror anthology, complete with a "horror hostess,...

This month we take a look at some of the classic Horror Comics Hosts and Hostesses from DC Comics, Charlton Comics, and other companies.  With similar names and somewhat similar likenesses, it's easy to get the first two of The Three Witches confused, but there is no mistaking step-sister Cynthia, a "child of the late 1960s," who likes tales of E.S.P. and psychic phenomena... and hypnotism... of strange perversions of science (...SCIENCE!!!).  Cynthia, is hip, sexy, and blonde, often depicted with cat eyes.    Other hosts like Cain and Abel (see upcoming blog posts) sometimes crossed over into The Witching Hour title.  After The Witching Hour was cancelled, the Witches were folded into The Unexpected, appearing in Issues #203 and #205 (per wikipedia).  Years later, Neil Gaiman incorporated the characters into his Sandman universe as "The Kindly Ones," tapping into the long history of three witches in other tales and traditions.  As for the title the...

This month we take a look at some of the classic Horror Comics Hosts and Hostesses from DC Comics, Charlton Comics, and other companies.  The second tale in the first issue of The Witching Hour #1 is told by hostess Modred.  Modred is taller than Mildred and looks like a more traditional witch, wearing a pointed hat.   Mordred's tales are "filled with thunder and lightning... and strange twisting shapes and creatures... stories of ghosts that walk..."   And the word she speaks below is "flicker," not the other word... lol.   

This month we take a look at some of the classic Horror Comics Hosts and Hostesses from DC Comics, Charlton Comics, and other companies.  The "Three Witches" appeared in the very first issue of their book, The Witching Hour #1, cover dated March 1969.  The first pages set up the book's format.  Each of the three witches will tell a tale beginning at 12 o' clock midnight--the Witching Hour--and allow the reader to decide witch--I mean which--tale is the best.   In the first issue, Mildred tells her tale first.  She "prefers to tell 'inhabited object'-type stories... houses with souls, ships with minds of their own..."  Mildred is depicted as a short, round witch with a warty, hairy chin.  She wears a hooded cloak.   The first issue of The Witching Hour also introduces us to Egor, a mysterious  servant creature the Witches like to boss around, and The Castle, the Witches' home.  

The National Cartoonists Society's 80th Anniversary Reuben Awards and NCS Conference was held in Columbus this past week.  After the official events concluded, cartoonists were invited to stick around for an NCS Showcase at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum at The Ohio State University.  The showcase was free and open to the public.  Some of the cartoonists who were present were: Jeff Keane!  Created in 1960 by Bil Keane, The Family Circus has been written and drawn by his son Jeff Keane since Bil's death in 2011.  Jeff appears in the daily single panel cartoon and Sunday comic strip as young "Jeffy."  I purchased a calendar from Mr. Keane for my brother's birthday and he not only autographed it, but also drew a picture of Jeffy.  The calendar features all of the classic Family Circus devices, including the dotted line cartoons in which characters run around the house or neighborhood, the strips where young Billy fills in for his cartoonist dad, and tho...