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.  Better known than The Vault-Keeper is the Crypt-Keeper (or Cryptkeeper).  Like The Vault-Keeper, the Cryptkeeper hosted the EC titles, including  Tales from the Crypt.  There was also a well-known television version of Tales from the Crypt, though the Cryptkeeper host looked very different from the comic.    

This month we take a look at some of the classic Horror Comics Hosts and Hostesses from DC Comics, Charlton Comics, and other companies.  Up to this point, we've been focusing mostly on Horror Hosts from DC Comics, many of whom were introduced in the late 1960s and 1970s.  They were preceded by the Horror Hosts of EC Comics introduced in the 1950s.  We'll begin with The Vault-Keeper from the EC titles, including The Vault of Horror.  I know very little about these characters, so I cannot provide much more than a picture.  

This month we take a look at some of the classic Horror Comics Hosts and Hostesses from DC Comics, Charlton Comics, and other companies.  Another comic book horror host with a familiar face is Bela Lugosi of Dracula fame.  Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave is a more recent book (2010), but it follows the traditional horror anthology format.  Like Boris Karloff's book, the Bela book features painted covers.  Issue #1 includes a couple of tales hosted by Bela and a couple featuring Bela, including one presented as a "lost" movie.  In addition, there is a Bela gallery and nice text piece about Bela and Dracula.  

This month we take a look at some of the classic Horror Comics Hosts and Hostesses from DC Comics, Charlton Comics, and other companies.  Boris Karloff, perhaps best known for his portrayal of the monster in Frankenstein (1931), lent his talents to many other projects from narrating a record adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ( here ) to narrating the classic holiday special "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."   Karloff also hosted an anthology television show titled "Thriller," which aired from 1960 to 1962.  Gold Key Comics published a tie-in comic book of the same name, with Karloff serving as the host.  When the show was cancelled, the comic continued as Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery.  Every issue I have come across features a beautifully painted cover like the one below. Karloff died in 1969, but the comic remained undead and continued until 1980.           

This month we take a look at some of the classic Horror Comics Hosts and Hostesses from DC Comics, Charlton Comics, and other companies.  Of all the DC Comics horror hosts, the most mysterious may be Dr. E. Leopold Maas.  He only appeared in a few comic books and his first appearance is not in a comic, but rather in a Jack Kirby magazine titled Spirit World, which lasted only one issue (Fall 1971).  For the rest of the fascinating story of Spirit World, please visit TwoMorrows Publishing's Jack Kirby Collector #13.  You can read the article here. To do the research for this blog, I had to acquire a copy of Spirit World #1.  It was not cheap, but the hardcover collection which reprints the issue was even more expensive. In the first story in Spirit World, Dr. Maas introduces himself: "I'm Doctor E. Leopold Maas!  My area of interest is the young but fast-developing form of rational inquiry known as parapsychology!!!  Essentially, I try to separate 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.  Squire Shade was the host of Ghosts, beginning with issue #104, cover dated Sept. 1981.  He continued to host the book until its final issue #112, cover dated May 1982.   Squire Shade bears a strong resemblance to the villain Gentleman Ghost, who was created earlier and has achieved more notoriety, even appearing on the Super Friends cartoon.