Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Alfredo Alcala - "Who Dares Cheat The Dead?"

This cleanly done, Gothic story comes from Ghosts No. 15, June 1973. The appropriately clean, Gothic artwork comes from Alfredo Alcala - frequent contributor to 1970s DC horror anthology titles. I love Alcala's beautiful cross hatching.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Bernie Wrightson at home in House of Mystery - 1972

No artist did horror comics better in the 1970s than all-time terror great, Bernie Wrightson. Mr. Wrightson would have fit in nicely with the great EC comics bullpen of the 1950s - among fellows like Graham Ingels, Jack Davis, Reed Crandall, and many more masters. He just had that slimy touch.

Wrightson did the cool cover on this issue as well. This comes from House of Mystery No. 204, July 1972.

Friday, August 1, 2014

"Last Tango in Hell" - art by Ramona Fradon

“The Last Tango in Hell” features the work of my favorite DC artist of the 1970s, Ramona Fradon. In an interview with Katherine Keller of Sequential Tart in 2000, Fradon said the she loved doing stories for House of Mystery in the 1970s because she got to work with Joe Orlando, editor of the series. Here’s what she said about Mr. Orlando:

“He was a wonderful editor because he really cared about drawing and the way the books looked. He gave me a lot of tips about inking and design. He really was interested, whereas other editors– I never had another editor who ever corrected the work or who expected me to do better than I was doing. They're mostly interested in the writing, I think, but Joe was a graphics man. It was really a wonderful thing to work for him.”

This story comes from House of Mystery No. 232, June 1975.