Artists of DC – DC HORROR

Twisting horror into super-nonsense

Having read about 15 DC mystery books, realization dawned. No wonder horror researchers hardly mention DC HORROR.
There is no DC HORROR.
Well, there is, kind of, but it’s highly disputable. One might argue if DC HORROR is horror at all. The six issue series PHANTOM STRANGER has been excluded from the pre-code horror canon, but offers nothing else than the rest of DC’s horror books. Namely a blend of detective mystery with crime and dreamlike drama.

The DC “ratio-twist” – all horror is just illusion!

An example up front: The gangster Nesbitt kills private investigator Maxon who was shadowing him. With his dying breath, Maxon swears to haunt Nesbitt: “Even from my grave, I’ll be shadowing you!”. Nesbitt flees the city, changes his name, but is indeed haunted – or so it seems. A bodiless shadow keeps following the murderer!

Nesbitt gets frantic and jumps in his car. Seeing the eerie shadowplay still before him, the killer tries to run the shadow over, crashes his car – and dies in the wreckage.

So far so good and creepy. BUT, big but coming up, what does DC do? They ADD a rational explanation for it all!
Now cops arrive at the crash site and reveal how they were trying to scare Nesbitt into a confession – by staging this elaborate shadow show for him!

 I call that the DC ratio-twist.

These “twists” are often enough a full-frontal assault of reason!

I do feel insulted by that. They’re playing me for a sucker. No other company dared that. I’m seriously miffed, people.

I had to take my time reading DC HORROR. A book a day was almost too much to stomach.

Maybe that kind of writing “goes with the territory”, as they say. DC authors had to come up with tons of fantastic, intellect-defying plots for their superhero books. They probably can’t shake off that pattern when writing for the horror genre. They are stuck to super-nonsense!

They do give fair WARNING in their house ads for the mystery books:

However, this website is not meant to be a tirade or an angry rant. It’s just a very subjective analysis of DC HORROR. I’ve done similar websites about the companies Ace, Fawcett, Charlton, Standard and Fiction House. I will point out the highlights to you – and our “Stories” section will present the best horror yarns I could find. So enjoy our look at DC HORROR – and relive the mad, mad, mad times of the early 50s. When anything was possible!

Footnote: I stand not alone with my “beef” against my so-called “ratio-twist”. I quote William Schoell, who – in his grand review of hundreds of horror comic books (“The Horror Comics, Fiends Freaks and Fantastic Creatures 1940s-1980s”, McFarland 2014) – observed the queer DC endings.
He talks about “elaborate hoaxes”, of which he is no fan, either.
“Generally the stories which truly involved the supernatural were more memorable than the hoax stories, however clever the latter. […] Occasionally, a hoax story was too clever for its own good. […] Many stories in HOUSE OF MYSTERY have excellent premises and build-ups, but come to unfortunately abrupt and flat conclusions.”

See?

 

The Covers

I’m not a fan of DC’s horror title pages. I think they rate as some of the most feeble and uninspired of all pre-code horror. There are just a handful of exceptions. They are really and utterly BORING. Worse even than those from Ace. They are Ace’s worthy competitor. DC also has that fatal urge to use word balloons on covers! Never a good idea.

Cover artwork arouses no curiosity at all. Composition, perspective and “camera” are set up in the most inconspicuous ways. There’s hardly any action going on, no danger springs out at the reader. Shockingly bland stuff.

I admit they hit a very dry spell – cover-wise, cause depicted above are HOM#14-16 in a row. Okay, I’m ranting (again), but DC’s horror covers work no magic! In the best case they are able to “document” an interesting moment. Strewn in throughout this website are covers I DO like. Five or six spring to mind…

The main cover artists, by the way, are Ruben Moreira, Curt Swan and Leonard Starr for HOUSE OF MYSTERY. For the SENSATIONS and PHANTOM STRANGER it’s Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson and Gil Kane (all with varying inkers).

 

The Artists

Cutting it short this time. Because I don’t know jack about DC artists. I’ve never read DC comics, and since they’re not public domain I didn’t come across them in my years as horror aficionado. But recently I could borrow these books and study them.

I chose to do so because no one took a close look at pre-code DC HORROR so far. DC HORROR in general is rumored to be quite lame and tame. There are, of course, many enthusiasts out there collecting and blogging about DC’s 70s horror books – like HOUSE OF SECRETS, HOUSE OF MYSTERY and WEIRD MYSTERY TALES. They’re not my cup of tea, so I’ll stick strictly to PHANTOM STRANGER, SENSATION MYSTERY (and those last issues of SENSATION COMICS) and to the first 35 issues of HOUSE OF MYSTERY without the code seal…
All in all I’ve looked at 51 pre-code “horror” books from the DC company.

Going through the entries for these books on the Grand Comics Database, I encountered quite a few errors: Incorrect number of pages in a story (or a whole issue) and some art credits even an amateur like me found suspicious. I corrected as much as I could and added story synopses (most had not been done yet). Then I met with art spotting wizard Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. and had a long hard look through all the books.
We erased some freak sightings (Krigstein? Moldoff? No way!), but were at a loss more than just a few times. So we let most art credits stand as they were.
DC art is often split in pencils and inks assigned to different and changing teams. And in this special phase in comic book history, “they all start changing their styles”, as Jim woefully exclaimed.

However, we tried and made our traditional who-did-how-much count. This time to be taken with an extra grain of salt. Here’re the (probably hazy) results of the bean counting committee:

Ring the alarum for our beloved statistical count…
WHO DID HOW MUCH?

Validated were only “full-length” stories, meaning no fillers, no one-pagers or two-page stories. Here’s the ranking, art spotting ladies and gentlemen:

Curt Swan	31
Ruben Moreira	22
Carmine Infantino	21	with different inkers, amongst them Sy Barry (7)
Leonard Starr	14
Jim Mooney	14
Howard Purcell	11
Murphy Anderson	11
Bill Ely	10
Jerry Grandenetti	9	with different inkers (5)
Bob Brown	6
Ed Smalle	5
Nick Cardy	5
John Prentice	4
John Giunta	4
Frank Giacoia	4	with inker Sy Barry (3)
Alex Toth	3	with inker Sy Barry
Howard Sherman	3
Gil Kane	3	with different inkers
Mort Meskin	2
Mort Drucker	2	with different inkers
Gene Colan	2	with different inkers

 

CURT SWAN  

This prolific artist started out at DC in 1946 doing “Boy Commandos” and (in 1948) a first “Superman” story (in SUPERMAN #51). Just the one, though. It should take him 15 more years to become one of the seminal artists to draw Superman. From 1950 on he learned the ropes by working on SUPERBOY and “Tommy Tomorrow”.
With the very first issue of HOUSE OF MYSTERY Swan was assigned to be the leading artist for their new horror book. Swan contributed to almost every issue up to #29 (except #7 and 9). On the side he did more SUPERBOY, crime stories for GANG BUSTERS and the occasional “Superman and Batman” feature for WORLD’S FINEST COMICS.
In the fall of 1954 he left horror – and started filling the pages of the newly launched SUPERMAN’S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN. From 1956 to 1960 Swan was responsible for the SUPERMAN daily newspaper strip, too. Then he went fulltime back to books and “became the definitive artist of Superman in the early 1960s with a „new look“ to the character that replaced Wayne Boring’s version”. Quote from his entry on Wikipedia.

 

RUBEN MOREIRA

According to his Wikipedia entry, this Puerto Rican comic book artist left the business in 1962. Before, however, he did a long and interesting stint drawing for the “funny papers”. He started with thriller stuff for Quality in 1943 and went over to Fiction House, where he did “Kaänga” for JUNGLE COMICS, some “King of the Congo” for WINGS COMICS and even two “Mysta of the Moon” stories for PLANET COMICS.
At 1950 he found a home at DC, drawing THE ADVENTURES OF ALAN LADD and crime for GANG BUSTERS. In 1952 he was pulled into horror, providing grisly stuff not only for HOUSE OF MYSTERY, but for rival publisher Standard as well (just two stories, though)!
When horror was over in 1955, Moreira had to draw the “Roy Raymond TV Detective” feature for DETECTIVE COMICS and continued to work actively for the code-approved HOUSE OF MYSTERY (last seen in #132). His stuff was reprinted in issues as late as #228!
I like to think that he was influenced by Alex Toth (whom he possibly met at STANDARD HORROR). Moreira’s artwork is solid, often nice; he made an effort filling his pages. DC trusted him by giving him oftentimes the last slot in the book.

 

CARMINE INFANTINO

Veteran artist who started out as a kid scrubbing the floors of Harry Chesler’s studio, then drawing a first war-time feature called “Hell’s Angels” for SPARKLING STARS. Not the biker gang, but “the avenging forces of the US army”. Allegedly Infantino tried his hand on “The Human Torch” for Marvel, but landed at DC in 1947 – doing “The Flash” and other features for FLASH COMICS!
From 1949 on his editors put him to work for their western books and for SENSATION COMICS (“Dr. Pat” and “Romance, Inc.”). With issue #107 SENSATION was remodeled into a mystery-horror title and soon renamed SENSATION MYSTERY. Infantino got to be the main artist for this series and the newly launched PHANTOM STRANGER.
When horror folded, he stayed onboard to draw more western and science fiction (STRANGE WORLDS / STRANGE ADVENTURES / MYSTERY IN SPACE). His name is forever famous in the annals of comic books history for what came next: DC’s SHOWCASE #4 (September 1956) – the creation of the NEW FLASH! Some mark this as the beginning of the “Silver Age”; Carmine kicked it off!
Infantino went on at DC to become editorial director and publisher in the 1970s. Learn even more about the guy by reading his entry in Wikipedia.

 

LEONARD STARR

Better known for his newspaper strip MARY PERKINS, ON STAGE (1957-79), Starr did a lot of comic book work before. Delivering odd jobs since 1945 to various publishers, he began at DC in 1950 with a detective feature called “Pow-Wow Smith, Indian Lawman”. Hmmm. The early 1950s saw him drawing tons of western and crime stories (on the side for rival company ACG as well, in THE HOODED HORSEMAN and OPERATION: PERIL).
Late in 1952 Starr got assigned to the HOUSE OF MYSTERY group, doing mostly mediocre work, if I may say so. Still, he counts as one of their artistic mainstays. After the arrival of the Comics Code, Starr continued with HOM and DC’s new mystery book TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED. Until he changed horses, of course, and went into newspaper syndication. Learn more about the man HERE.

 

JIM MOONEY

The year is 1941. Stan Lee is still writing just filler text features for CAPTAIN AMERICA, but Jim Mooney is already hard at work for Ace Magazines – drawing foolish superhero stuff like “Lash Lightning”, “The Raven” and “Magno the Magnetic Man”. He escapes to Fiction House, doing foolish jungle stories (“Kaänga”). Gladly DC comes along and gives the youngster work on BATMAN in 1947. Mooney becomes an expert for the “Robin” feature, ghosting for Bob Kane, of course.
In the early 1950s Mooney contributes to HOUSE OF MYSTERY, but also horror tales for Stan Lee’s ATLAS HORROR (he appears in STRANGE TALES, SUSPENSE, UNCANNY TALES and ADVENTURES INTO TERROR). Like Moreira and Starr, Mooney draws in that typical mid-50s style: solid with a basic knowledge of “camera”, but not striving for more, not pushing the envelope in any way. Dozens of artists looked exactly like that, makes them very hard to spot…
The late 1950s have him doing “Tommy Tomorrow” for ACTION COMICS. From 1959-68 he gets to be the main artist on SUPERGIRL.
That was not the end of Mooney’s career, however. He deserted DC for Marvel and inked John Romita’s pencils for SPIDER-MAN. And did more stuff on “Spidey” features. I don’t care about those…
He’s said to have been friends with DC HORROR colleagues Ruben Moreira and Nick Cardy. Read it on Wikipedia.

 

HOWARD PURCELL

I’d never heard of Howard Purcell before. Turns out he’s another veteran DC artist, starting out in 1940 with different features for SENSATION COMICS and ALL-AMERICAN COMICS. He’s famed for drawing the cover of the first issue of GREEN LANTERN in 1941.
In the early 1950s he got assigned to thriller and crime books, filling the title MR. DISTRICT ATTORNEY almost single-handedly. In-between he did his jobs for HOUSE OF MYSTERY. The late 1950s and early 1960s added to these chores single stories in TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED and HOUSE OF SECRETS. The mid-60s saw Purcell filling the pages of SEA DEVILS.  Well, there’s absolutely nothing special about Howard Purcell. A DC work drone like many others. No offence, though.
More on him to be found on Wikipedia.

Let our eyes turn lastly to two more interesting artists: Murphy Anderson and Bill Ely.

MURPHY ANDERSON

Anderson began drawing features for Fiction House around 1944.  In 1951 he filled the two-issue run of LARS OF MARS for Ziff-Davis, and then joined DC’s line of science fiction working on STRANGE ADVENTURES and MYSTERY IN SPACE. Anderson stayed at the company for over 50 years! He seemed perfect do contribute to PHANTOM STRANGER and SENSATION MYSTERY. Which he was. His workload was so immense, though, that he had to rely on different inkers. A role which he switched later in his career.
According to Wikipedia, “as an INKER, Anderson designed the costume of Adam Strange. With his frequent collaborator, penciler Curt Swan, the pair’s artwork on SUPERMAN and ACTION COMICS in the 1970s came to be called „Swanderson“ by the fans.”

 

BILL ELY

Our only artist in this line-up without an entry on Wikipedia. Unfair.
Let’s see what info we can pull from our main (and most reliable source) – the Grand Comics Database. Chronological search for pencils by Bill Ely.

Jeez! Allegedly spotted in 1937 at DC’s NEW ADVENTURE COMICS!
Then doing “Ellery Queen” for Dell from 1939 on. After a five-year hiatus Ely emerges again at Dell in 1948, now providing the feature “The Iron Man” (no relation to Marvel’s 60s hit comic book) for their DICK TRACY MONTHLY.
Around 1951 he appears with crime work for Hillman and at DC (again) – drawing for GANG BUSTERS and HOUSE OF MYSTERY (from #14 on). Ely stayed at DC and the HOM (plus sister title HOUSE OF SECRETS) until 1965, dropping off the radar by then. In the 1960s he added RIP HUNTER… TIME MASTER to his credits.

Ely stands out from the usual DC “house style”. His faces are very expressive and often captured in close-ups. His fluid brushwork and the coal black eyes remind me of Nick Cardy and George Evans.

——————————————————————

Well, I am not excited about DC artwork, not at all. It serves its purpose, so to say. This company produced a lot of books; they were not striving for artistic highlights. The best (few!) contributions come from Alex Toth, Carmine Infantino and inker Sy Barry, of course.

Alex Toth (with Sy Barry) threw in three gorgeous looking “Johnny Peril” stories in SENSATION COMICS #107-109. Who can match these? No one.

Concerning their regular in-house staff: Sometimes they seem to make an extra effort. Curt Swan CAN look nice, Bill Ely CAN look nice, Ruben Moreira CAN look nice (cause he’s mimicking Toth, or TRIES to…). My humble opinion.

Some books are strangely above par (single issues of the HOUSE OF MYSTERY, some SENSATIONS and most of the PHANTOM STRANGERS). Most issues sadly are nothing to remember, they radiate the DC assembly line production feeling. Formulaic stories accompanied by formulaic artwork.

Fillers were drawn by Mort Drucker and Morris Waldinger. And let’s not forget Henry Boltinoff who contributed with funny one-pagers (or half-pagers) to fill last gaps. His features are called “Professor Eureka”, “Bebe”, “Shorty” and “Casey the Cop”.

 

The story titles

A big favorite is the word “doom”. Doom, I say! Doom-da-Doom-da-Doom!

“Tree of Doom!”, “The Prophecy of Doom”, “His Double… in Doom?”, “Tattoos of Doom”, “The Wishes of Doom”, “Dance of Doom!”, “The Stamps of Doom”, “The Whirlpool of Doom”, “The Dress of Doom!”, “Doom Enters a Beauty Contest”, “The Sands of Doom!” and “The Freak Show of Doom”.

Close on the heels of doom follows death.

“The Dummy of Death!”, “The Devil Mask of Death!”, “The Melody of Death!”, “Death’s Strange Deputy!”, “The Strange Faces of Death!”, “The Clock Strikes Death!”, “The Screaming Death”, “Death Has Five Guesses!”, “The End of Death” and “Death Writes an Obituary!”.

Pretty busy feller, that Death… Another story title gimmick is “The Man Who…” respectively “The Man With…”. You figure out which applies in the following stories:

“… was Death”, “… the Evil Eye”, “… the Strangler Hands”, “… Could Change People”, “… Killed His Shadow”, “… the X-Ray Eyes”, “… Could See Death”, “… three Eyes”, “… Magic Ears”, “… Became a Lion”, “… Became a Fish”, “… Haunted a Ghost”, “… Cried Werewolf”, “… Carved Death”.
Keeps you on the edge of your seat, doesn’t it?

Last of DC’s evil machinations to draw readers into their books it the personalized story! Headlines that SCREAM at you: “I Was a Teenage Satan Worshipper!”
No, not that one, though. But close. Here’s a small listing of what can happen to any of us:

“I fell in Love with a Witch!”

“I Was a Dead Man!”

“I Was a Victim of Black Magic!”

“I Was a Witch!”

“I Was a Ghost for Hire!”      (DC should’ve hired more ghosts to write their stories…)

“I Hired a Ghost!”                  (Ah?)

“I Was Born to Kill!”

“I Was a Sorcerer’s Apprentice!”

“I Was King of the Moths!”

And they like to end their titles with a “bang”, that is an exclamation mark!
Bang! Doom! Bang!

 

The first-person narrative

Talking about those personalized headlines… A very high, an unusual high percentage of DC HORROR stories are told in first person. DC is the company using this narrative perspective the most. Made a count: 78 out of 199 stories are first-person narratives! That is over a third of all stories.

This is their way of hosting the tales. No recurring horror hosts are to be found in the issues of HOUSE OF MYSTERY. The SENSATIONs feature one story in first-person each about (and told by) Johnny Peril – and PHANTOM STRANGER mercifully refrains from first-person narrative.

DC HORROR never undercuts a certain standard of quality, but won’t alarm anyone above 12 years of age.

 

Story length

The SENSATIONS feature stories 8 pages long (three per issue + fillers), later issues change to an 8-page lead story plus two tales 6 pages long (and fillers, of course).

PHANTOM STRANGER goes for a mixture of 8-6-4-6 pages.

From #11 on (February 1953)  all the stories in HOUSE OF MYSTERY are 6 pages long. They employ a standard roster of 6-6-6-6. The über-number of the beast.

So they are a tad longer than the standard ATLAS 5-pager, but shorter than the ACE and EC formula of 7 pages. Oddly, six pages were seldomly employed. In my opinion, five pages are often not enough or invite “fast solutions”, and seven pages can get tedious.

I ran a search for six page horror stories. There are some issues by companies Avon, Comic Media, Ajax-Farrell, St. John and Trojan filled with “sixers”. But no one used that formula as consistent as HOUSE OF MYSTERY.

Strange. Just noticing this. A story length of six pages could be a perfect choice. DC is the wrong company, though, to work them.

Before we now attach our very lengthy DC chronology (just for sheer mad fun) come the

Acknowledgements:
All the folks at the Digital Comic Museum (DCM), Comic Book Plus (CB +) and the Grand Comics Database (GCD), who have been incredibly supportive – as always. Special mention goes to Mike Benton and George Suarez, who have been breaking ground for pre-code horror research in the 90s.
And of course a big hand (drumroll) for (you guessed it) Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., the man with all the wisdom and generosity. Jim again loaned me many missing comic books, which I read and researched.

House Of Mystery #1	December 1951	Action Comics #163 Adventure Comics #171 Adventures of Bob Hope #12 All-American Western #123 All-Star Western #62 Batman #68 Big Town #12 Comic Calvacade #48 A Date With Judy #26 Detective Comics #178 Flippity & Flop #1 The Fox & The Crow #1 Gang Busters #25 Girl´s Romances #12 Hollywood Funny Folks #41 Leading Screen Comics #52 Mutt & Jeff #55 Mystery In Space #5 Peter Porkchops #13 Real Screen Comics #45 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer #2 Scribbly #15 (last) Secret Hearts #7 Star Spangled Comics #123 Strange Adventures #15 Superboy #17 Western Comics #30 World´s Finest Comics #55
Sensation Comics #107	January 1952	Action Comics #164 Adventure Comics #172 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #1 Big Town #13 Buzzy #41 Dale Evans Comics #21 Detective Comics #179 Funny Stuff #64 Girl´s Love Stories #15 Here´s Howie Comics #1 Hollywood Funny Folks #42 Jimmy Wakely #15 Leave It to Binky #24 Movietown´s Animal Antics #36 Mr. District Attorney #25 Real Screen Comics #46 Star Spangled Comics #124 Strange Adventures #16 Superman #74 Tomahawk #9 Western Comics #31 Wonder Woman #51 World´s Finest Comics #56
House Of Mystery #2	February 1952	Action Comics #165 Adventure Comics #173 Adventures of Bob Hope #13 All-American Western #124 All-Star Western #63 Batman #69 Comic Calvacade #49 A Date With Judy #27 Detective Comics #180 Flippity & Flop #2 The Fox & The Crow #2 Gang Busters #26 Girl´s Romances #13 Hollywood Funny Folks #43 Leading Screen Comics #53 Mutt & Jeff #56 Mystery In Space #65 Peter Porkchops #14 Real Screen Comics #47 Secret Hearts #8 Star Spangled Comics #125 Strange Adventures #17 Superboy #18
Sensation Comics #108	March 1952	Action Comics #166 Adventure Comics #174 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #2 Big Town #14 Buzzy #42 Dale Evans Comics #22 Detective Comics #181 Funny Stuff #65 Girl´s Love Stories #16 Here´s Howie Comics #2 Hollywood Funny Folks #44 Jimmy Wakely #16 Leave It to Binky #25 Movietown´s Animal Antics #37 Mr. District Attorney #26 Real Screen Comics #48 Star Spangled Comics #126 Strange Adventures #18 Superman #75 Tomahawk #10 Western Comics #32 Wonder Woman #52 World´s Finest Comics #57
House Of Mystery #3	April 1952	Action Comics #167 Adventure Comics #175 Adventures of Bob Hope #14 All-American Western #125 All-Star Western #64 Batman #70 Comic Calvacade #50 A Date With Judy #28 Detective Comics #182 Flippity & Flop #3 The Fox & The Crow #3 Gang Busters #27 Girl´s Romances #14 Hollywood Funny Folks #45 Leading Screen Comics #54 Mutt & Jeff #57 Mystery In Space #75 Peter Porkchops #15 Real Screen Comics #49 Secret Hearts #9 Star Spangled Comics #127 Strange Adventures #19 Superboy #19
Sensation Comics #109	May 1952	Action Comics #168 Adventure Comics #176 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #3 Big Town #15 Buzzy #43 Dale Evans Comics #23 Detective Comics #183 Funny Stuff #66 Girl´s Love Stories #17 Here´s Howie Comics #3 Hollywood Funny Folks #46 Jimmy Wakely #17 Leave It to Binky #26 Movietown´s Animal Antics #38 Mr. District Attorney #27 Real Screen Comics #50 Star Spangled Comics #128 Strange Adventures #20 Superman #76 Tomahawk #11 Western Comics #33 Wonder Woman #53 World´s Finest Comics #58
House Of Mystery #4	June 1952	Action Comics #169 Adventure Comics #177 Adventures of Bob Hope #15 All-American Western #126 (last) All-Star Western #65 Batman #71 Comic Calvacade #51 A Date With Judy #29 Detective Comics #184 Flippity & Flop #4 The Fox & The Crow #4 Gang Busters #28 Girl´s Romances #15 Hollywood Funny Folks #47 Leading Screen Comics #55 Mutt & Jeff #58 Mystery In Space #85 Peter Porkchops #16 Real Screen Comics #51 Secret Hearts #10 Star Spangled Comics #129 Strange Adventures #21 Superboy #20
Sensation Mystery #110	July 1952	Action Comics #170 Adventure Comics #178 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #1 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #4 Big Town #16 Buzzy #44 Dale Evans Comics #24 (last) Detective Comics #185 Funny Stuff #67 Girl´s Love Stories #18 Here´s Howie Comics #4 Hollywood Funny Folks #48 Jimmy Wakely #18 (last) Leave It to Binky #27 Movietown´s Animal Antics #39 Mr. District Attorney #28 Real Screen Comics #52 Star Spangled Comics #130 (last) Strange Adventures #22 Superman #77 Tomahawk #12 Western Comics #34 Wonder Woman #54 World´s Finest Comics #59
House Of Mystery #5 Phantom Stranger #1	August 1952	Action Comics #171 Adventure Comics #179 Adventures of Bob Hope #16 All-American Men of War #127 (first) All-Star Western #66 Batman #72 Comic Calvacade #52 A Date With Judy #30 Detective Comics #186 Flippity & Flop #5 The Fox & The Crow #5 Gang Busters #29 Girl´s Romances #16 Leading Screen Comics #56 Mutt & Jeff #59 Mystery In Space #9 Our Army at War #15 Peter Porkchops #17 Real Screen Comics #53 Secret Hearts #11 Star Spangled War Stories #131 Strange Adventures #23 Superboy #21
Sensation Mystery #111 House Of Mystery #6	September 1952	Action Comics #172 Adventure Comics #180 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #2 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #5 Big Town #17 Buzzy #45 Detective Comics #187 Funny Stuff #68 Gang Busters #30 Girl´s Love Stories #19 Here´s Howie Comics #5 Hollywood Funny Folks #49 Leave It to Binky #28 Movietown´s Animal Antics #40 Mr. District Attorney #29 Our Army at War #2 Real Screen Comics #54 Star Spangled War Stories #132 Strange Adventures #24 Superman #78 Tomahawk #13 Western Comics #35 Wonder Woman #55 World´s Finest Comics #60
House Of Mystery #7 Phantom Stranger #2	October 1952	Action Comics #173 Adventure Comics #181 Adventures of Bob Hope #17 All-American Men of War #128 All-Star Western #67 Batman #73 Comic Calvacade #53 A Date With Judy #31 Detective Comics #188 Flippity & Flop #6 The Fox & The Crow #6 Girl´s Romances #17 Leading Screen Comics #57 Mutt & Jeff #60 Mystery In Space #10 Our Army at War #35 Peter Porkchops #18 Real Screen Comics #55 Secret Hearts #12 Star Spangled War Stories #133 Strange Adventures #25 Superboy #22
Sensation Mystery #112 House Of Mystery #8	November 1952	Action Comics #174 Adventure Comics #182 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #3 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #6 Big Town #18 Buzzy #46 Detective Comics #189 Funny Stuff #69 Girl´s Love Stories #20 Here´s Howie Comics #6 Hollywood Funny Folks #50 Leave It to Binky #29 Movietown´s Animal Antics #41 Mr. District Attorney #30 Our Army at War #4 Real Screen Comics #56 Star Spangled War Stories #3 (new numbering) Strange Adventures #26 Superman #79 Tomahawk #14 Western Comics #36 Wonder Woman #56 World´s Finest Comics #61
House Of Mystery #9 Phantom Stranger #3	December 1952	Action Comics #175 Adventure Comics #183 Adventures of Bob Hope #18 All-American Men of War #2 (new numbering) All-Star Western #68 Batman #74 Comic Calvacade #54 A Date With Judy #32 Detective Comics #190 Flippity & Flop #7 The Fox & The Crow #7 Gang Busters #31 Girl´s Romances #18 Leading Screen Comics #58 Mutt & Jeff #61 Mystery In Space #11 Our Army at War #55 Peter Porkchops #19 Real Screen Comics #57 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer #3 Secret Hearts #13 Star Spangled War Stories #4 Strange Adventures #27 Superboy #23
Sensation Mystery #113 House Of Mystery #10	January 1953	Action Comics #176 Adventure Comics #184 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #4 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #7 Big Town #19 Buzzy #47 Detective Comics #191 Funny Stuff #70 Girl´s Love Stories #21 Here´s Howie Comics #7 Hollywood Funny Folks #51 Leave It to Binky #30 Movietown´s Animal Antics #42 Mr. District Attorney #31 Our Army at War #6 Real Screen Comics #58 Star Spangled War Stories #5 Strange Adventures #28 Superman #80 Tomahawk #15 Western Comics #37 Wonder Woman #57 World´s Finest Comics #62
House Of Mystery #11 Phantom Stranger #4	February 1953	Action Comics #177 Adventure Comics #185 Adventures of Bob Hope #19 All-American Men of War #3 All-Star Western #69 Batman #75 Comic Calvacade #55 A Date With Judy #33 Detective Comics #192 Flippity & Flop #8 The Fox & The Crow #8 Gang Busters #32 Girl´s Romances #19 Leading Screen Comics #59 Mutt & Jeff #62 Mystery In Space #12 Our Army at War #75 Peter Porkchops #20 Real Screen Comics #59 Secret Hearts #14 Star Spangled War Stories #6 Strange Adventures #29 Superboy #24
Sensation Mystery #114 House Of Mystery #12	March 1953	Action Comics #178 Adventure Comics #186 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #5 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #8 Big Town #20 Buzzy #48 Detective Comics #193 Funny Stuff #71 Girl´s Love Stories #22 Here´s Howie Comics #8 Hollywood Funny Folks #52 Leave It to Binky #31 Movietown´s Animal Antics #43 Mr. District Attorney #32 Our Army at War #8 Real Screen Comics #60 Star Spangled War Stories #7 Strange Adventures #30 Superman #81 Tomahawk #16 Western Comics #38 Wonder Woman #58 World´s Finest Comics #63
House Of Mystery #13 Phantom Stranger #5	April 1953	Action Comics #179 Adventure Comics #187 Adventures of Bob Hope #20 All-American Men of War #4 All-Star Western #70 Batman #76 Comic Calvacade #56 A Date With Judy #34 Detective Comics #194 Flippity & Flop #9 The Fox & The Crow #9 Gang Busters #33 Girl´s Romances #20 Leading Screen Comics #60 Mutt & Jeff #63 Mystery In Space #13 Our Army at War #95 Peter Porkchops #21 Real Screen Comics #61 Secret Hearts #15 Star Spangled War Stories #8 Strange Adventures #31 Superboy #25
Sensation Mystery #115 House Of Mystery #14	May 1953	Action Comics #180 Adventure Comics #188 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #6 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #9 Big Town #21 Buzzy #49 Detective Comics #195 Funny Stuff #72 Girl´s Love Stories #23 Here´s Howie Comics #9 Hollywood Funny Folks #53 Leave It to Binky #32 Movietown´s Animal Antics #44 Mr. District Attorney #33 Our Army at War #10 Real Screen Comics #62 Star Spangled War Stories #9 Strange Adventures #32 Superman #82 Tomahawk #17 Western Comics #39 Wonder Woman #59 World´s Finest Comics #64
House Of Mystery #15 Phantom Stranger #6 (last)	June 1953	Action Comics #181 Adventure Comics #189 Adventures of Bob Hope #21 All-American Men of War #5 All-Star Western #71 Batman #77 Comic Calvacade #57 A Date With Judy #35 Detective Comics #196 Flippity & Flop #10 The Fox & The Crow #10 Gang Busters #34 Girl´s Romances #21 Leading Screen Comics #61 Mutt & Jeff #64 Mystery In Space #14 Our Army at War #115 Peter Porkchops #22 Real Screen Comics #63 Secret Hearts #16 Star Spangled War Stories #10 Strange Adventures #33 Superboy #26
Sensation Mystery #116(last) House Of Mystery #16	July 1953	Action Comics #182 Adventure Comics #190 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #7 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #10 Big Town #22 Buzzy #50 Detective Comics #197 Funny Stuff #73 Girl´s Love Stories #24 Here´s Howie Comics #10 Hollywood Funny Folks #54 Leave It to Binky #33 Movietown´s Animal Antics #45 Mr. District Attorney #34 Our Army at War #12 Real Screen Comics #64 Star Spangled War Stories #11 Strange Adventures #34 Superman #83 Tomahawk #18 Western Comics #40 Wonder Woman #60 World´s Finest Comics #65
House Of Mystery #17	August 1953	Action Comics #183 Adventure Comics #191 Adventures of Bob Hope #22 All-American Men of War #6 All-Star Western #72 Batman #78 Comic Calvacade #58 A Date With Judy #36 Detective Comics #198 Flippity & Flop #11 The Fox & The Crow #11 Gang Busters #35 Girl´s Romances #22 Leading Screen Comics #62 Mutt & Jeff #65 Mystery In Space #15 Our Army at War #13 Peter Panda #15 Peter Porkchops #23 Real Screen Comics #65 Secret Hearts #17 Star Spangled War Stories #12 Strange Adventures #35 Superboy #27
House Of Mystery #18	September 1953	Action Comics #184 Adventure Comics #192 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #8 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #11 Big Town #23 Buzzy #51 Detective Comics #199 Everything Happens to Harvey #1 Funny Stuff #74 Girl´s Love Stories #25 Here´s Howie Comics #11 Hollywood Funny Folks #55 Leave It to Binky #34 Movietown´s Animal Antics #46 Mr. District Attorney #35 Our Army at War #14 Real Screen Comics #66 Star Spangled War Stories #13 Strange Adventures #36 Superman #84 Tomahawk #19 Western Comics #41 Wonder Woman #61 World´s Finest Comics #66
House Of Mystery #19	October 1953	Action Comics #185 Adventure Comics #193 Adventures of Bob Hope #23 All-American Men of War #7 All-Star Western #73 Batman #79 Comic Calvacade #59 A Date With Judy #37 Detective Comics #200 Flippity & Flop #12 The Fox & The Crow #12 Gang Busters #36 Girl´s Romances #23 Leading Screen Comics #63 Mutt & Jeff #66 Mystery In Space #16 Our Army at War #15 Peter Panda #25 Peter Porkchops #24 Real Screen Comics #67 Secret Hearts #18 Star Spangled War Stories #14 Strange Adventures #37 Superboy #28
House Of Mystery #20	November 1953	Action Comics #186 Adventure Comics #194 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #9 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #12 Big Town #24 Buzzy #52 Detective Comics #201 Everything Happens to Harvey #2 Funny Stuff #75 Girl´s Love Stories #26 Here´s Howie Comics #12 Hollywood Funny Folks #56 Leave It to Binky #35 Movietown´s Animal Antics #47 Mr. District Attorney #36 Our Army at War #16 Real Screen Comics #68 Star Spangled War Stories #15 Strange Adventures #38 Superman #85 Tomahawk #20 Western Comics #42 Wonder Woman #62 World´s Finest Comics #67
House Of Mystery #21	December 1953	Action Comics #187 Adventure Comics #195 Adventures of Bob Hope #24 All-American Men of War #8 All-Star Western #74 Batman #80 Comic Calvacade #60 A Date With Judy #38 Detective Comics #202 Flippity & Flop #13 The Fox & The Crow #13 Gang Busters #37 Girl´s Romances #24 Leading Screen Comics #64 Mutt & Jeff #67 Mystery In Space #17 Our Army at War #17 Peter Panda #35 Peter Porkchops #25 Real Screen Comics #69 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer #4 Secret Hearts #19 Star Spangled War Stories #16 Strange Adventures #39 Superboy #29
House Of Mystery #22	January 1954	Action Comics #188 Adventure Comics #196 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #10 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #13 Big Town #25 Buzzy #53 Detective Comics #203 Everything Happens to Harvey #3 Funny Stuff #76 Girl´s Love Stories #27 Here´s Howie Comics #13 Hollywood Funny Folks #57 Leave It to Binky #36 Movietown´s Animal Antics #48 Mr. District Attorney #37 Mutt & Jeff #68 Our Army at War #185 Peter Porkchops #26 Real Screen Comics #70 Star Spangled War Stories #17 Strange Adventures #40 Superboy #30 Superman #86 Tomahawk #21 Western Comics #43 Wonder Woman #63 World´s Finest Comics #68
House Of Mystery #23	February 1954	Action Comics #189 Adventure Comics #197 Adventures of Bob Hope #25 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #11 All-American Men of War #9 All-Star Western #75 Batman #81 Comic Calvacade #61 A Date With Judy #39 Detective Comics #204 Flippity & Flop #14 The Fox & The Crow #14 Gang Busters #38 Girl´s Romances #25 Hopalong Cassidy #86 (continued from Fawcett) Leading Screen Comics #65 Leave It to Binky #37 Mystery In Space #18 Our Army at War #19 Peter Panda #4 Real Screen Comics #71 Secret Hearts #20 Star Spangled War Stories #18 Strange Adventures #41 Superman #87 Tomahawk #22 Wonder Woman #64
House Of Mystery #24	March 1954	Action Comics #190 Adventure Comics #198 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #14 Batman #82 Big Town #26 Buzzy #54 Detective Comics #205 Everything Happens to Harvey #4 The Fox & The Crow #15 Funny Stuff #77 Girl´s Love Stories #28 Here´s Howie Comics #14 Hollywood Funny Folks #58 Hopalong Cassidy #87 Leading Screen Comics #66 Leave It to Binky #38 Movietown´s Animal Antics #49 Mr. District Attorney #38 Mutt & Jeff #69 Our Army at War #205 Peter Porkchops #27 Real Screen Comics #72 Star Spangled War Stories #19 Strange Adventures #42 Superboy #31 Superman #88 Tomahawk #23 Western Comics #44 World´s Finest Comics #69
House Of Mystery #25	April 1954	Action Comics #191 Adventure Comics #199 Adventures of Bob Hope #26 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #12 All-American Men of War #10 All-Star Western #76 Batman #83 Comic Calvacade #62 A Date With Judy #40 Detective Comics #206 Flippity & Flop #15 The Fox & The Crow #16 Gang Busters #39 Girl´s Romances #26 Hopalong Cassidy #88 Leading Screen Comics #67 Mutt & Jeff #70 Mystery In Space #19 Our Army at War #21 Peter Panda #55 Peter Porkchops #28 Real Screen Comics #73 Secret Hearts #21 Star Spangled War Stories #20 Strange Adventures #43 Superboy #32 Wonder Woman #65
House Of Mystery #26	May 1954	Action Comics #192 Adventure Comics #200 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #13 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #15 Big Town #27 Buzzy #55 Detective Comics #207 Everything Happens to Harvey #5 Funny Stuff #78 Girl´s Love Stories #29 Here´s Howie Comics #15 Hollywood Funny Folks #59 Hopalong Cassidy #89 Leave It to Binky #39 Movietown´s Animal Antics #50 Mr. District Attorney #39 Our Army at War #22 Real Screen Comics #74 Star Spangled War Stories #21 Strange Adventures #44 Superman #89 Tomahawk #24 Western Comics #45 Wonder Woman #66 World´s Finest Comics #70
House Of Mystery #27	June 1954	Action Comics #193 Adventure Comics #201 Adventures of Bob Hope #27 All-American Men of War #11 All-Star Western #77 Batman #84 Buzzy #56 Comic Calvacade #63 (last) A Date With Judy #41 Detective Comics #208 Flippity & Flop #16 The Fox & The Crow #17 Gang Busters #40 Girl´s Romances #27 Hopalong Cassidy #90 Leading Screen Comics #68 Mutt & Jeff #71 Mystery In Space #20 Our Army at War #23 Peter Panda #65 Peter Porkchops #29 Real Screen Comics #75 Secret Hearts #22 Star Spangled War Stories #22 Strange Adventures #45 Superboy #33
House Of Mystery #28	July 1954	Action Comics #194 Adventure Comics #202 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #14 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #16 Big Town #28 Buzzy #57 Detective Comics #209 Everything Happens to Harvey #6 Funny Stuff #79 (last) Girl´s Love Stories #30 Here´s Howie Comics #16 Hollywood Funny Folks #60 (last) Hopalong Cassidy #91 Leave It to Binky #40 Movietown´s Animal Antics #51 (last) Mr. District Attorney #40 Mutt & Jeff #72 Our Army at War #245 Peter Porkchops #30 Real Screen Comics #76 Star Spangled War Stories #23 Strange Adventures #46 Superboy #34 Superman #90 Tomahawk #25 Western Comics #46 Wonder Woman #67 World´s Finest Comics #71
House Of Mystery #29	August 1954	Action Comics #195 Adventure Comics #203 Adventures of Bob Hope #28 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #15 All-American Men of War #12 All-Star Western #78 Batman #85 Buzzy #58 Congo Bill #1 A Date With Judy #42 Detective Comics #210 Flippity & Flop #17 The Fox & The Crow #18 Gang Busters #41 Girl´s Romances #28 Hopalong Cassidy #92 Leading Screen Comics #69 Leave It to Binky #41 Mystery In Space #21 Our Army at War #25 Peter Panda #7 Real Screen Comics #77 Secret Hearts #23 Star Spangled War Stories #24 Strange Adventures #47 Superman #91 Tomahawk #26 Wonder Woman #68
House Of Mystery #30	September 1954	Action Comics #196 Adventure Comics #204 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #17 All-American Men of War #13 Batman #86 Big Town #29 Detective Comics #211 Everything Happens to Harvey #7 (last) The Fox & The Crow #19 Girl´s Love Stories #31 Here´s Howie Comics #17 Hopalong Cassidy #93 Leading Screen Comics #70 Leave It to Binky #42 Mr. District Attorney #41 Mutt & Jeff #73 Nutsy Squirrel #61 (cont. Hollywood Funny Folks) Our Army at War #265 Peter Porkchops #31 Raccoon Kids (cont. Movietown´s Animal Antics) #52 Real Screen Comics #78 Star Spangled War Stories #25 Strange Adventures #48 Superboy #35 Superman #92 Superman´s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #1 (first) Tomahawk #27 Western Comics #47 World´s Finest Comics #72
House Of Mystery #31	October 1954	Action Comics #197 Adventure Comics #205 Adventures of Bob Hope #29 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #16 All-American Men of War #14 All-Star Western #79 Batman #87 Buzzy #59 Congo Bill #2 A Date With Judy #43 Detective Comics #212 Flippity & Flop #18 The Fox & The Crow #20 Gang Busters #42 Girl´s Romances #29 Hopalong Cassidy #94 Leading Screen Comics #71 Mutt & Jeff #74 Mystery In Space #22 Our Army at War #27 Our Fighting Forces #1 Peter Panda #85 Peter Porkchops #32 Real Screen Comics #79 Secret Hearts #24 Star Spangled War Stories #26 Strange Adventures #49 Superboy #36 Wonder Woman #69
House Of Mystery #32	November 1954	Action Comics #198 Adventure Comics #206 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #17 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #18 All-American Men of War #15 Big Town #30 Detective Comics #213 Girl´s Love Stories #32 Here´s Howie Comics #18 (last) Hopalong Cassidy #95 Leave It to Binky #43 Mr. District Attorney #42 Nutsy Squirrel #62 Our Army at War #28 Raccoon Kids #53 Real Screen Comics #80 Star Spangled War Stories #27 Strange Adventures #50 Superman #93 Superman´s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #2 Tomahawk #28 Western Comics #48 Wonder Woman #70 World´s Finest Comics #73
House Of Mystery #33	December 1954	Action Comics #199 Adventure Comics #207 Adventures of Bob Hope #30 All-American Men of War #16 All-Star Western #80 Batman #88 Buzzy #60 Congo Bill #3 A Date With Judy #44 Detective Comics #214 Flippity & Flop #19 The Fox & The Crow #21 Gang Busters #43 Girl´s Romances #30 Hopalong Cassidy #96 Leading Screen Comics #72 Mutt & Jeff #75 Mystery In Space #23 Our Army at War #29 Our Fighting Forces #2 Peter Panda #95 Peter Porkchops #33 Real Screen Comics #8 1 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer #5 Secret Hearts #25 Star Spangled War Stories #28 Strange Adventures #51 Superboy #37
House Of Mystery #34	January 1955	Action Comics #200 Adventure Comics #208 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #18 Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #19 All-American Men of War #17 Big Town #31 Detective Comics #215 Girl´s Love Stories #33 Hopalong Cassidy #97 Leave It to Binky #44 Mr. District Attorney #43 Mutt & Jeff #76 My Greatest Adventure #1 Nutsy Squirrel #63 Our Army at War #305 Peter Porkchops #34 Raccoon Kids #54 Real Screen Comics #82 Star Spangled War Stories #29 Strange Adventures #52 Superboy #38 Superman #94 Superman´s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #3 Tomahawk #29 Western Comics #49 Wonder Woman #71 World´s Finest Comics #74
House Of Mystery #35	February 1955	Action Comics #201 Adventure Comics #209 Adventures of Bob Hope #31 Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #19 All-American Men of War #18 All-Star Western #81 Batman #89 Buzzy #61 Congo Bill #4 A Date With Judy #45 Detective Comics #216 Flippity & Flop #20 The Fox & The Crow #22 Gang Busters #44 Girl´s Romances #31 Hopalong Cassidy #98 Leading Screen Comics #73 Leave It to Binky #45 Mystery In Space #24 Our Army at War #31 Our Fighting Forces #3 Peter Panda #10 Real Screen Comics #83 Secret Hearts #26 Star Spangled War Stories #30 Strange Adventures #53 Superman #95 Tomahawk #30 Wonder Woman #72

 

Note: AVON, DC & QUALITY HORROR is a spin-off of the German website FIFTIES HORROR (presenting pre-code horror in general to an unsuspecting public). AVON, DC & QUALITY HORROR specializes in the products of three specific companies and is therefore drafted in the English language. The sister websites ACE HORROR, FAWCETT & CHARLTON HORROR and FICTION HOUSE & STANDARD HORROR are already online. Look for the links just below…

If you like to read on, click on our “Series Section” (EERIE, WITCHCRAFT, HOUSE OF MYSTERY, SENSATIONS, PHANTOM STRANGER, WEB OF EVIL) for our issue by issue review for all books.