Thursday, October 16, 2008

2008 Halloween Countdown 16: Elvira's House of Mystery Special #1

DC Comics was not entirely finished with the Mistress of the Dark and put out Elvira's House of Mystery Special #1 (1987). The cover art of the horror hostess sitting on Santa's lap was done by the very talented Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Her ten page segment is titled "Elvira's Christmas Carol" written by Joey Cavelieri, colored by Shelley Eiber with Frank Springer doing the pencils and inks. The four tales of haunted holidays include "Oh, What Fun to Laugh and Sing a Slaying Song Tonight!", "O, Christmas Tree..." (a one pager), "'Twas the Night before X-Mas..." and "Anyone Ready for Roasted Chestnuts?" (the worst of the bunch).

As my final post about the Mistress of the Dark at DC Comics, I give you thirteen pages of goodies including a very sexy Christmas pinup.
Elvira's House of Mystery Special #1 cover
Elvira's House of Mystery Special #1 cover

Elvira's Christmas Carol page 1
Elvira's Christmas Carol page 1

Elvira's Christmas Carol page 2
Elvira's Christmas Carol page 2

Elvira's Christmas Carol page 3
Elvira's Christmas Carol page 3

Elvira's Christmas Carol page 4
Elvira's Christmas Carol page 4

Elvira's Christmas Carol page 5
Elvira's Christmas Carol page 5

Elvira's Christmas Carol page 6
Elvira's Christmas Carol page 6

Elvira's Christmas Carol page 7
Elvira's Christmas Carol page 7

Elvira's Christmas Carol page 8
Elvira's Christmas Carol page 8

Elvira's Christmas Carol page 9
Elvira's Christmas Carol page 9

Elvira's Christmas Carol page 10
Elvira's Christmas Carol page 10

Elvira's Christmas pinup
Evira's Christmas pinup

Elvira's House of Mystery Special #1 letters page
Elvira's House of Mystery Special #1 letters page

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Sad News: Neal Hefti Passes On

Big Band trumpeter, arranger and composer of Batman tv theme and The Odd Couple movie theme, Neal Hefti, died October 11, 2008 at the age of 85.

2008 Halloween Countdown 15 Bonus: Superman And Batman Vs Vampires And Werewolves

Superman and Batman Vs Vampires and Werewolves #1 hits the newstands today. This is a six issue mini-series that will please fans of horror and superheroes. Tom Mandrake drawn the cover and the story was written by Kevin VanHook.

"A man is killed by a mysterious creature - his body drained of blood. A woman is savagely attacked by a ferocious beast - her jugular ripped out. Bat wings flutter across the moon and the howl of a wolf echoes through the streets, for the creatures of the night have risen from the grave, and humanity's only salvation is the combined might of The Last Son of Krypton and The Dark Knight Detective. Blood will run red when Superman and Batman face off against vampires and werewolves for the fate of the entire DCU! On sale October 15 - 1 of 6 - 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US"

Superman and Batman Vs Vampires and Werewolves #2 will be released on October 29.
Superman and Batman Vs Vampires and Werewolves #1 cover art by Tom Mandrake
Superman and Batman Vs Vampires and Werewolves #1 cover art by Tom Mandrake

2008 Halloween Countdown 15: Elvira's House of Mystery #11

Elvira's House of Mystery #11 (January 1987) is the final issue of the series from DC Comics. The cover of her riding a broom is by Dave Stevens. The five page segment featuring the Mistress of the Dark is simply titled "Elvira's House of Mystery" pencilled by Gene Colan and inked by Dick Giordano (unfortunately, the writer is once again uncredited). The three horror stories in this issue are the following: "Bugs", "Deadly Affairs" and "Killer Turf". I have included all four pages of Elvira's Post-Mortems that features the winner of the "Find Cain" contest.
Elvira's House of Mystery #11 cover
Elvira's House of Mystery #11 cover

Elvira's House of Mystery page 1
Elvira's House of Mystery page 1

Elvira's House of Mystery page 2
Elvira's House of Mystery page 2

Elvira's House of Mystery page 3
Elvira's House of Mystery page 3

Elvira's House of Mystery page 4
Elvira's House of Mystery page 4

Elvira's House of Mystery page 5
Elvira's House of Mystery page 5

Elvira's Post-Mortems page 1
Elvira's Post-Mortems page 1

Elvira's Post-Mortems page 2
Elvira's Post-Mortems page 2

Elvira's Post-Mortems page 3
Elvira's Post-Mortems page 3

Elvira's Post-Mortems page 4
Elvira's Post-Mortems page 4

For larger images, check out Elvira's House of Mystery.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

2008 Halloween Countdown 14: Elvira's House of Mystery #10

I like the cover of Elvira's House of Mystery #10 (December 1986) drawn by the legendary Joe Orlando because of the writings on the chaulk board and the monster kids. My favorite writing is "Cthulhu's mother dresses him funny" and I like the wolfboy with glasses.

The five page segment featuring the Mistess of the Dark is titled "The Cain Mutiny" pencilled by Dwight Turner and inked by Dick Giordano. The two horror stories featured are "Death For Rent" (haunted house) and "Low Man on the Totem Pole" (Native American werewolf).

As an added bonus, Elvira's House of Mystery #10 features a word search puzzle titled "Weird Words".
Elvira's House of Mystery #10 cover
Elvira's House of Mystery #10 cover

The Cain Mutiny page 1
The Cain Mutiny page 1

The Cain Mutiny page 2
The Cain Mutiny page 2

The Cain Mutiny page 3
The Cain Mutiny page 3

The Cain Mutiny page 4
The Cain Mutiny page 4

The Cain Mutiny page 5
The Cain Mutiny page 5

Elvira's Weird Words puzzle
Elvira's Weird Words puzzle

Monday, October 13, 2008

2008 Halloween Countdown 13 Bonus - Blog Alert: Negative Pleasure

Negative Pleasure has made a few posts about DC Comics' horror titles including The Witching Hour, Unexpected and Secrets of Sinister House. He also has horror movie reviews that are very interesting to read.

2008 Halloween Countdown 13: Elvira's House of Mystery #9

The cover of Elvira's House of Mystery (November 1986) #9 is the first issue to feature a photo image of the Mistress of the Dark. Unfortunately, the photo image is black and white with a really crappy yellow background making this the worst cover of the series in my opinion. Her four page segment is titled "Film Festival" and I was surprised that they did not use this type of segment earlier in the series. The two twisted tales are "Lost Souls" and "Drink Like a Fish".
Elvira's House of Mystery #9 cover
Elvira's House of Mystery #9 cover

Film Festival page 1
Film Festival page 1

Film Festival page 2
Film Festival page 2

Film Festival page 3
Film Festival page 3

Film Festival page 3
Film Festival page 4

Sunday, October 12, 2008

2008 Halloween Countdown 12: Elvira's House of Mystery #8

The Mistress of the Dark is protraying the Statue of Liberty complete with torch, crown and book that adorns the cover of Elvira's House of Mystery #8 (October 1986) drawn by Dwight Turner. Yes, you read that right for this comic book from DC Comics actually hit the stands in July but is cover dated October. Comic and magazine publishers have long since dated their issues often weeks or months before their actual release date. This allows the publications to appear current even if they have been on the newstands for some time. The practice also informs them when an unsold comic book can be removed to either be returned to the publisher or be destroyed (yes, the latter is even horrible for me to read too).

Her one page segment is titled "The Library of Elvira's House of Mystery" pencilled by Dwight Turner and inked by the legendary Dick Giordano (unfortunately the writer is unknown). This issue has the following three tales of terror that has nothing to do with the Fourth of July: "Gruesome Gretchen", "Mummy Dearest" and "Out of Synch!".

This issue does feature an update about the "Find Cain" contest.
Elvira's House of Mystery #8 cover
Elvira's House of Mystery #8 cover

The Library of Elvira's House of Mystery
The Library of Elvira's House of Mystery

Contest update
Contest update

Saturday, October 11, 2008

2008 Halloween Countdown 11 Bonus - Blog Alert: Spectre At Dial B for Blog

Dial B For Blog is taking a special look at the Spectre who had his start in the Golden Age. He was created by Jerry Siegal (Superman's co-creator) and Bernard Baily.

2008 Halloween Countdown 11: Elvira's House of Mystery #7

The Mistress of the Dark heads into outer space in Elvira's House of Mystery #7 (September 1986) with a special sci-fi issue. Her four page segment does not even get a title this time around. The cover art is by the legendary Bill Sienkiewicz featuring Adam Strange, who is one of the many space heroes that DC Comics has. The two tales featured are "The Dollmaker" and "Star Born" but I found both rather boring. This issue does have details about the "Find Cain" contest that her fan club started.
Elvira's House of Mystery #7 cover
Elvira's House of Mystery #7 cover

Elvira in space page 1
Elvira in space page 1

Elvira in space page 2
Elvira in space page 2

Elvira in space page 3
Elvira in space page 3

Elvira in space page 4
Elvira in space page 4

Elvira fan club contest ad
Elvira fan club contest ad

Friday, October 10, 2008

2008 Halloween Countdown 10: Elvira's House of Mystery #6

One would think that a comic book turned sideways would be a good idea. Unfortunately, DC Comics gives us Elvira's House of Mystery #6 (August 1986), which crams two pages sideways on one page. Not only is the artwork much smaller than normal but the text is is extremely hard to read. I was thirty-one when I first bought this issue and I had to bring out my magnifying glass to read it. I am glad that the Elvira pinup and letters page was not turned sideways.

The cover of Elvira's House of Mystery #6 (August 1986) is by Mark Beachum. The Mistress of the Dark's segment is titled "Attic Attack" written by Tom and Mary Beirbum, penciled by Tom Grindberg and inked by James Bosch aka Jim Fern. Unlike previous issues that had two tales, this one has the following five fright-filled fantasies: "A New York Yankee in King Arthur's Court!", "Subject for Post-Mortem", "Two-Edged Sword", "You'll Beg to Die" and "Just Like Clockwork" (the latter one is written by Joey Cavelieri).
Elvira's House of Mystery #6 cover
Elvira's House of Mystery #6 cover

Attic Attack part 1
Attic Attack part 1

Attic Attack part 2
Attic Attack part 2

Attic Attack part 3
Attic Attack part 3

Attic Attack part 4
Attic Attack part 4

Elvira's House of Mystery #6 pinup
Elvira's House of Mystery #6 pinup

For larger images of this and previous issues, check out Elvira's House of Mystery