Ronald Bousseau covers Bat Man 1

Original cover by Bernard Baily; Arédit/Artima 1960 (cover reprinted from House of Secrets 23, DC 1959) Ronald Bousseau's website is here.

DC Special #4

DC Special #4 (On Sale: May 22, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams for the 13 Shock-Ending Stories issue.

We begin with a framing sequence for 13 Shock-Ending Stories 13 by Mark Hanerfeld and Bill Draut. This is famous for being the first appearance of Abel, caretaker of the House of Secrets. Not only did Hanerfeld write Abel's first appearance he is the original model for Abel.

Next is "Ghost Writer" drawn by Leonard Starr and reprinted from House of Mystery #19. That is followed by "The Magic Hammer" drawn by Jack Kirby and reprinted from Tales of the Unexpected #16 where it was originally entitled "The Magic Stick."

We next have "A Piece of Rope" from House of Mystery #5. Jerry Grandenetti drew "Last Mile Martin" from House of Mystery #15 "The Dream Lamp " is drawn by John Prentice and is reprinted from Tales of the Unexpected #1.

Next is "Door of No Return" written by Murray Boltinoff and drawn by George Roussos and reprinted from House of Secrets #62. That is followed by "Beware after Dark" drawn by Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella and reprinted from Sensation Mystery #114.

"The Tree Man of Tanganyika" comes to us from House of Mystery #30 and is drawn by Ralph Mayo. Ralph Mayo was the art director of AC Comics in the 1940s. He drew 'Black Terror and Tim' for America's Best Comics, Black Terror and Exciting Comics. He also penciled some 'Miss Masque' splash pages. In the 1950s he drew Jann of the Jungle for Marvel, 'Camilla' for Fiction House and crime stories for Lev Gleason and St. John. He was penciller and/or inker on Dell titles like Dragoon Wells Massacre, Jungle Jim, Lassie, Quentin Durward and Roy Rogers. His first work for DC was in Mr. District Attorney #2 in 1948. He worked mainly on the Johnny Quick feature in Adventure Comics and drew 66 stories in all for DC before his death in 1956. Some of his last work was with Al Williamson on Jann of the Jungle.

Next is "Written in the Sands" drawn by George Papp and reprinted from House of Mystery #26. "The Secret of Salzo the Great" comes to us from artist John Prentice and House of Mystery #2. That is followed by "Secret Locked in the Ice" from House of Secrets #63 and the pen of artist Gene Colan.

Rounding out the issue is "The Bullet Man" drawn by Bernard Baily from Tales of the Unexpected #17 and "The Strange Faces of Death" drawn by Ruben Moreira and reprinted from House of Mystery #19.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

House of Mystery #174

House of Mystery #174 (On Sale: March 14, 1968) has a nice spooky cover by new editor Joe Orlando and George Roussos.

Gone is Dial H for HERO, The Martian Manhunter and editor George Kashdan. In their place is an idea that hasn't been attempted since the Comics Code was created in the 1950s: horror is returning to comics, though this first attempt is really just a compilation of old reprints with a new cover and a smidgen of humor from Sergio Aragones.

"The Wondrous Witch's Cauldron" is drawn by Lee Elias and reprinted from House of Secrets #58. "The Man Who Hated Good Luck" drawn by Johnny Quest creator Doug Wildey is from House of Secrets #17 and contains some really beautiful Wildey artwork. A man saves a stranger from a runaway horse and is granted four strokes of good luck, but is told he must turn the first three down to capture the fourth, which is the greatest of them all.

(You'd better hang on to your good luck amulets...) is written by Joe Orlando and drawn by Mad's Sergio Aragones. "Museum of Worthless Inventions" from House of Secrets #13 is drawn by Bernard Baily while "The Court of Creatures," featuring Mark Merlin, is by Jack Miller, Carmine Infantino and Mort Meskin and comes to us from House of Secrets #43.

The entire contents of this book was reprinted in Showcase Presents The House of Mystery #1.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Tales of the Unexpected #104

Tales of the Unexpected #104 (On Sale: October 10, 1967) has a very dramatic cover by Neal Adams. When the mystery/horror craze hits in full stride over the next few years, Adams will be the guy who does the majority of the covers. Here is his first "mystery" cover for DC.

Inside we have "Master of the Voo-Doo Machine" by Carl Wessler and Bernard Baily which would later be reprinted in Unexpected #162, "I Was King of Dagger Island" drawn by the amazing Leonard Starr (known mainly for his 22-year run on the syndicated "On Stage")and reprinted from My Greatest Adventure #1 and finally "The 24-Hour Nightmare" drawn by Jack Abel.

Edited by Murry Boltinoff