John Broadley covers Witching Hour 29

Original cover by Nick Cardy; DC 1973. John Broadley's website is here.

Witching Hour #8

Witching Hour #8 (On Sale: February 17, 1970) has a nice cover by Neal Adams.

This month DC put out two excellent horror/mystery comics, House of Secrets #85 and this book. Not surprisingly, they are both the work of editor Dick Giordano. This issue's framing sequence, "The True Picture of the Servant Problem at the Witching Hour" is drawn by, well, my guess is Alex Toth and Neal Adams. It might be Adams by himself, but if so he is surely channeling the work of Toth; it is a beauty. It seems the girls have hired photographer Renay Phydeaux to create a family portrait. In order to set the mood for Renay, the girls each tell a tale...

The first real story is "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty" written by Sergio Aragones and Neal Adams and drawn, so they say, by Neal Adams. I say that because this is obviously Neal's inks, but the pencils have got to be by someone else. Neal doesn't draw entire pages with no backgrounds; it just doesn't happen. Stylistically this reminds me of "The Succubus" from Vampirella #10, which was penciled mostly my soon to be comic writer Steve Engelhart. I don't know if Steve was apprenticing with Neal here a year earlier, but it has that look of Neal working with a raw, young talent, rather than Neal blasting through a story.

Don't get me wrong, the artwork is extremely nice, just the lack of backgrounds makes you wonder. Also, the layout is very straightforward; most pages are in a three-tier, six-panel fixed format. Not very Adams-like, but his may have to do with Aragones, who was known for turning in his stories as quick-sketch layouts.

Regardless, old, rich Jonas Sentry spends his days contemplating the glories of his past. He wishes he had a young body again, like that of his butler, so that he could chase after beautiful young women, like his chambermaid Maria. His butler overhears him one day and says that for his soul, a deal can be struck, where Jonas could have the butler's young body. Over the next few days, Maria seems more attentive to Jonas than ever and finally he confronts her, will she be his?

She says that it is not possible due to the difference in their ages, but if he were young like her, she would marry him in an instant. And with that incentive the deal with the butler is done. As Jonas moves from his old body to that of the butler, the devil emerges from the butler's body. Jonas kicks his old useless body down the stairs and grabs Maria as the devil phones the police to report that Jonas Sentry has been murdered by his butler. Jonas tries to explain, but in the end he is sentenced to life in prison. This story has been reprinted in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #17 and Deadman #4.

Next is our cover-story, "Three Day Free Home Trial" drawn by Nick Cardy. A housekeeper named Winifred offers Emily Carson three days free of charge to test out her abilities. On Wednesday Emily finds her house to be the cleanest she has ever seen it, but she feels a bit faint and Winifred offers her some more of her wonderful tea, an old family recipe don't you know? For some reason Winifred shoos away Emily's cousin Elmer. By Thursday Emily's head feels like it is going to explode. but the doctor she has summoned is sent away by Winifred, who offers up more tea as her cure-all.

Later that evening Emily awakens to some horrible noises in her house but finds the door to her bedroom locked. Looking through the keyhole she sees Winifred dancing and cavorting with all manor of demon and creature. Winifred comes in to calm her, but so do her fiends. they leave poor Emily in her room going mad while outside the loud noises continue. Then, abruptly, they end. The silence is deafening, but it to eventually ends, replaced by the thumping of footsteps, getting closer and closer. The door slowly opens and in walks Cousin Elmer.

He finds his cousin in a state of shock and summons a doctor. They find a note to Emily from Winifred reading, "Dear Miss Emily, I thank you for the use of your lovely home!! It made our annual meeting a great success! You really must learn to relax more! Get Well! Love Winnie! P.S., Hope to see you again next year...that is if we don't find a better place!" It is the morning of Friday, the 13th.

Our last story is "ComputERR" written, drawn and lettered by Alex Toth. It's a cute little piece: Kipp meets Rod through computer dating and they get married. Rob moves Kipp to his house, a huge mansion all alone in the hills. It's a sweet place, just Kipp and Rod and, oh yeah, Ferencz, a trollish little bald fellow who takes care of Rod's every need. Days turn into weeks and Kipp and Rod are in bliss in their new life together, just the, eh, three of them; Ferencz is ever-present.

One day Rod is missing, gone on a business trip and it is just Kipp and Ferencz together for a bit. Rod's trips become more frequent, more lengthy. Ferencz tries to entertain Kipp, but she begins to resent the ugly little fellow. They have no phone, no car except the one Rod takes on trips, they get no mail, Kipp has no contact with the outside world; her house has become a prison and Ferencz is her jailer. Finally she can stand it no more and confronts Rod, either Ferencz goes or she goes.

Hearing this sentence of confinement Kipp hops into Rod's beautiful 1937 yellow Cord and attempts to drive off. Rod tries to stop her and she backs into him as she leaves. Ferencz runs to Rod's side. Later we see Ferencz working on Rod's insides, he is a robot. and Ferencz promises that he will make him better than before and they will once again use their computer-match service to find a more quiet, stay-at-home type of girl. Just then there is a knock at the door. The police want to know if Ferencz owns a yellow Cord and when he replies in the affirmative they want him to come with them to the site of the wreck. "Wreck?" he asks?

There is something they want him to explain to them. When they get there, he sees the body of Kipp, thrown from the car and lying on the road. She has been ripped apart and her mechanical insides are showing.

This brings us back to the wrapper story, which now looks to be totally Neal Adams art. The girls' stories have petrified Phydeaux, so Igor shows him out, dragging his chair behind him as he goes and then trudging off into the swamp. The girls are sure the readers will be upset with them as they promised the readers a picture of Igor. There is a pounding at the door and the girls worry that the readers are in revolt, but at the door they find waiting for them a cute little girl, holding a big envelope. She gives the witches the envelope then runs off. Inside they find a picture of the girl and Igor. Of course, you can't see much of Igor, but what did you expect?

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Witching Hour #7

Witching Hour #7 (On Sale: December 16, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams.

We have the usual wonderful framing sequence drawn by Alex Toth. We begin with "The Big Break" drawn by Bill Draut. It is our cover-story and a tale concerning an escaped convict and what may be a family curse or the fantastic imaginings of a dying man.

Next is "The Captive" and I won't hazard to guess who drew this one, but it is a tale of an unknown, but brilliant artist and a retired gangster who comes to him looking for a painting or a statue that will make him immortal. He just might get what he asked for.

That is followed by "Look Homeward, Angelo" inked by Jack Abel. In this tale a young adopted boy asks his parents if he had a real mother and father. They say of course, but they don't know who they were and tell young Angelo to shut up. Strange things begin happening at the house: the wife is attacked by nightmarish creatures, the furniture floats in the air and crashes to the floor. The couple come unglued, blaming each other for bringing Angelo into the family and causing all these problems. They take Angelo back to the orphanage and tell them they must take him back. Just then they are joined by a hippie-looking couple who say that they are Angelo's parents and that they had put him in the orphanage to learn about human love. The couple turn into angels and fly away with Angelo, leaving the couple pointing accusing fingers at each other.

We end with "Trick or Treat" drawn by Michael Kaluta. This is a small page and a half story about con-artist who is dressed up as the devil in order to relieve some devil worshipers of their money. His only problem is the real devil has plans of his own. This little piece of fluff is Michael Kaluta's first credited work at DC. Kaluta would be associated with DC for decades to come, doing some of his finest comic work here. From Carson of Venus to Spawn of Frankenstein to his amazing Shadow work, Kaluta would make a name for himself at DC.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Witching Hour #6 (On Sale: October 16, 1969) has a cover by Nick Cardy.

We begin with "A Face in the Crowd" drawn by Don Heck. Now this is Heck's first work at DC in three years and his first on a horror story. Heck had been working at Marvel for a few years now, drawing just about everything. Most notably he is one of the co-creators of Iron Man. Heck also introduced us to Hawkeye and the Black Widow during his run on Iron Man in Tales of Suspense.

At DC he would mainly do female characters, becoming the main Batgirl artist starting in 1971, but also pulling stints on Wonder Woman, The Rose and the Thorn, Zatana and Supergirl. Heck would also pull a long run on The Flash and Justice League of America. Heck died of lung cancer in 1995.

Heck was one of those guys who was not very appreciated by fans, but who turned out competent work year after year. Tony Isabella said of Heck, "If there were a Marvel Universe version of Mount Rushmore, he would be up there with Stan [Lee], Jack [Kirby], Steve [Ditko], and Dick [Ayers]."

I was personally not much of a Heck fan till I found X-Men #64. Smack dab in the middle of a Neal Adams' run on the book Don Heck has to do a fill-in issue. Sure, Tom Palmer did a lot to make the work look Adams-like, but Don Heck did a heck of a job (pun fully intended) in pinch-hitting for Adams. Not everyone can do that.

Next is "The Doll Man" drawn by Jose Delbo. We end with "Treasure Hunt" by an unknown artist. I am sure there is a framing sequence as well, but I can't find my copy of this book to check it out.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Witching Hour #5

Witching Hour #5 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has a cover by Nick Cardy.

We began with "The Witching Hour Has Arrived - And I Have A Chilling Tale To Tell!" which is the story wrapper penciled by Alex Toth wherein the witches test the backbone of Cynthia's college boyfriend with their eerie tales.

The first of those is "The Sole Survivor" introduced by Mildred and drawn by Bernie Wrightson. That is followed by "The Non-Believer!" which is a one-page horror story. Next is "A Guy Can Die Laughing" which is introduced by Mordred. "The Computer Game" is Cynthia's tale and it is followed by "My! How small You've Grown!" a one-page tale drawn by Sid Greene.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Witching Hour #4

Witching Hour #4 (On Sale: June 19, 1969) has a cover by Nick Cardy. I like the way the girl is reciting the book's title, something they did often in the early issues.

This issue's framing sequence, "The Witching Hour Welcome Wagon" is drawn by the great Alex Toth. Cynthia has talked Mordred and Mildred into visiting the new neighbors. They each tell the new neighbors a tale. Mildred tells "A Matter of Conscience" drawn by Winslow Mortimer. Harvey Harrington thinks his house is trying to kill him and so he goes to Exorciser Inc, where he hires the services of Tamroth. They go back to Harrington's house where he informs Tamroth that all of the ghostly action takes place in one room, the room his wife died in twelve years ago. he is positive that she is trying to kill him, but he swears that he did not kill her, that he tried to get her a doctor, but was too late.

Tamroth lights the "torch of the blue flame" and the room shimmers around them as they are transported to the realm of the underworld. They are drawn towards a hooded figure which Tamroth tells Harrington is the one he seeks. The hooded one sends forth a swarm of flying creatures and while Tamroth fights them Harrington moves toward the hooded figure. Using the torch Harrington lashes out at the figure who is the "one at fault," never noticing that the hooded figure is Harrington himself.

Suddenly they are back in Harrington's home and Tamroth explains that he is actually a psychiatrist and that Harrington is suffering from a guilt complex over his wife's death, that he is the cause of all the disturbances at his home. But just then a vase crashes against the wall.

Next it is Cynthia's turn to spin a tale. "Disaster in a Jar" is drawn by Pat Boyette. Amos Canby is a door-to-door salesman who can't make a sale. Everyone thinks he is a fraud and a phony. What he peddles is Magic Youth Skin Cream, a product of his own creation. He goes from town to town and it is always the same. They call him a "fake" and a "cheat" and a "bum." but Amos knows something everyone else does not; his cream actually works. He decides that what he needs to do is give away some free samples and that night he makes up a new batch, a batch that he calls "extra special."

The next day he starts giving out samples and the women flock to him. Within three weeks Amos is a rich man and decides to spend his cash in the stock market, cornering a market. Meanwhile a local research lab does and analysis of the cream but can't figure out what it is.

One year later to the day Amos's customers all lose their hair, starting a run on wigs. For weeks there are runs on wigs all over the country and on the news one night it is revealed that every facility for manufacturing wigs in the country is under the control of Amos Canby. Money well invested I would say.

By the way, Boyette does a great Chet Huntly and David Brinkley in this story. And take a look at the page here, particularly the fourth panel. I don't know how much of this was in the script and how much is Boyette having fun, but the "DownEnOut Hotel" and the "Rooms $1.50 and Down" signs cracked me up, not to mention the man throwing his wife out of the window and her response, "I've lost his love!"

Lastly it is Mordred's turn and she tells the tale "A Fistful of Fire!!" drawn by Jose Delbo. It is 1692 and Judge Samuel Sewell has just burned another witch at the stake in Salem, Massachusetts. The town doctor asks Sewell how long the witch burnings will continue and Sewell replies that the burnings are indeed unpleasant, particularly on an empty stomach. Judge Sewell invites the doctor to his house for dinner and they take a short-cut through the woods in hopes of getting home before a storm breaks. While in the woods Sewell admits that the evidence against the witch today was sketchy at best, but that is because the really are no witches, he is simply ridding the world of evil people and calling them witches makes the job easier to do.

At the same time a coven of witches is casting a spell against Sewell and they catch up to the two men in the woods just as the storm breaks. The witches attack but are repelled by the doctor who reveals that he too has magical dark powers. Be bests the witches at their own game and they rush away convinced that they have tussled with the devil himself. But the doctor reveals that he is actually a warlock.

This is Jose Delbo's first artwork for DC. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1933 where he became the assistant of comic artist Carlos Clemen, Delbo moved to the US in 1965. He worked at Wally Wood's Tower Comics drawing Secret Agent Mike Manley in Fight the Enemy. At Gold Key he drew Buck Rogers and Doctor Solar.

At DC Delbo would draw 163 stories between 1969 and 1990. Besides his work on the horror books, Delbo would draw the second-string strips: Robin, Batgirl, Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, The Atom, Superboy. Tomahawk, Sandman. He did a number of Red Tornado stories in World's Finest Comics a string of Superman/Batman stories also for World's Finest Comics and finished his DC career drawing The Adventures of Ford Fairlane. In between he managed to draw the daily Superman newspaper strip. But he is mainly remembered at DC for a six-year stint on Wonder Woman, where his pencils were usually smothered by Vinny Colletta.

At Marvel Delbo drew the Thundercats and he did a three-year run on The Transformers.

Jose Delbo retired from the comic book business and lives now in Boca Raton, Florida, where he runs the Delbo Cartoon Camp, a summer camp for teaching children how to draw comics.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Witching Hour #3

Witching Hour #3 (On Sale: April 17, 1969) has an interesting cover art combination: Mike Sekowsky and Nick Cardy and it creates a really nice, moody piece.

There is a surrounding story featuring the three witches and Egor, drawn by Alex Toth and Dick Giordano. The first real story is "The Turn of the Wheel" drawn by Alex Toth and Vinnie Colletta and this is a perfect example of what was wrong with Vinny Colletta as an inker. The first three pages are very nicely inked, Colletta taking his time and showing that he did have some abilities. However the remainder of the story is horrible, sloppy work.

That is followed by "The Death Watch" drawn by Jack Sparling. We round out the issue with "...and in a Far-Off Land" drawn by Bernie Wrightson.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Witching Hour #2

Witching Hour #2 (On Sale: February 18, 1969) has a cover by Nick Cardy.

We start with our Mordred, Mildred and Cynthia framing sequence, "(Come, dear reader, come along!)" drawn by Alex Toth. That's followed by "(That's right, Bernard -- scream!) " pencilled by Jerry Grandenetti adn "The Trip of Fools" by persons unknown. by persons unknown. We end with "Once Upon a Surprise Ending" drawn by Jack Sparling.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Witching Hour #1

Witching Hour #1 (On Sale: December 19, 1968) has a very moody cover by Nick Cardy.

This was DC's second foray into horror/mystery titles giving the House of Mystery some competition. Editor Dick Giordano went with a trio of "hosts" for this book, two older witches (Mildred and Mordred) and a young, hip witch (Cynthia). I liked this book and Giordano got the most amazing artists for his horror stories. He also made the stories of the old vs. young witches and the bumbling Igor a lot of fun.

Like House of Mystery, the Witching Hour's hosts appeared in framing sequences around the actual stories, but in the Witching Hour they tended to be more of another story in themselves involving the interactions between the three witches. This first issue begins by introducing the hosts in "Let the Judge Be...You!!!" written and drawn by Alex Toth.

Next is "Save the Last Dance for Me" by Denny O'Neil and Pat Boyette. Trapley is rich and selfish and has a machine that has locked onto earth 100 years into the future. He wants all the benefits of traveling there for himself, and what he finds...well, you'll have to read the story. Reprinted in Witching Hour #38.

That is followed by "Eternal Hour" another tale with Alex Toth story and art. Terwit is dwarfish and is teased and ridiculed by the town's boys. Most adults do nothing to stop it. Terwit recluses himself in a clock tower and the clock from then on is stopped at midnight. Years later, many of those boys, now men, go to the tower to drive Terwit out and their screams cry out...Why? Reprinted in Witching Hour #38.

Next is "The Perfect Surf" drawn by Jack Sparling. Stanley is totally nuts about surfing. He really never even notices the total babe at his side. He is obsessed with finding the "perfect wave". He is afforded an opportunity to find that wave in the dead of night. Reprinted in Witching Hour #38.

The book ends with the Epilogue to "Let the Judge Be...You!!!" written by Alex Toth and drawn by Neal Adams.

Edited by Dick Giordano.