Detective Comics #408

Detective Comics #408 (On Sale: December 31, 1970), has a classic Batman cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with the classic tale, "The House That Haunted Batman" written by Len Wein and Marv Wolfman and drawn by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano. Robin has gone missing and Batman sets out to find him in a decrepit old house; a place which appeared on the outskirts of Gotham City as sudden as Robin's disappearance.

As Batman enters deeper into the place, he shouts Robin's name, hoping that his young sidekick would answer his call. A few moments later, Batman is startled by the standing figure of Robin at the end of a long hallway. Batman runs to his young partner and once he is within reach, Robin collapses, forcing Batman to stop his fall with his arms. Batman takes a closer look at his partner and he is extremely shocked to see Robin aging at an inhuman speed until he becomes ashes in Batman's hands.

Suddenly, a raging scream breaks the silence of the abandoned house and Batman follows the source of the appalling sound, spawned from the darkest confines of the mansion. Opening a door on the upper floor, Batman is swarmed by a cloud of bats, but he continues his search despite the harrowing scenario until he finds the room from which the shrieks are coming. Once inside, Batman finds that it is all coming from a gramophone and just as he stops the record, he is attacked by an unknown assailant, who instantly runs away. Batman gives chase to the attacker, who is armed with a gun and is shooting backward as he escapes, aiming at Batman. Dodging the bullets, Batman finally manages to corner the attacker in one of the mansion's hallways, but he is paralyzed when he realizes that the attacker is none other than Robin.

As Batman is being attacked by his partner, he is forced to step back until he falls into a dark room and a door is closed in front of him. Surrounded by absolute darkness, Batman lights a match and is able to see members of the Justice League and Batman's personal friends, gathered together around a macabre open coffin. When Batman gets closer, he realizes that the body inside the casket is his own. Soon, the members attending Batman's funeral start giving their own eulogies about the Dark Knight. Unfortunately, they all speak dreadful thins, as Commissioner Gordon calls him a hypocrite and Superman resents him for stealing the glory on their past missions together. Finally, Batman realizes that everything is just a strange illusion, almost at the same time as Robin steps up and expresses his contempt for his late mentor and plans to reveal his secret identity to the world. At that moment, the light from the match fades out and the darkness returns. Lighting a second match, Batman realizes that everyone is gone and that it was in fact, all part of an illusion. However, he soon notices that the dark walls start closing in until they leave a very narrow space for Batman to move.

It is then that Batman's mind returns to reality and he realizes that he is locked in a special tube that makes him bounce up and down, with a monitor counting the number of times Batman has repeated the cycle. Besides Batman is an unconscious Robin, who is also locked in a similar tube, with the counter higher than Batman's. Finally, the mastermind behind it all reveals himself to the hero, and Batman is shocked to see Dr. Tzin-Tzin on a large monitor, controlling every movement.

Wanting to know how Tzin managed to escape prison, Tzin explains that it was easy for him to breach out and after he escaped, he tried to rejoin his old gang, but they scorned him after his defeat at the hands of Batman. Wanting revenge against the Dark Knight, Tzin was promptly contacted by the League of Assassins, whose plans had been thwarted twice by Batman and they provided the money and equipment to create this elaborate death trap. Tzin then proceeds to explain that the monitor counting Batman and Robin's movements on the tubes are actually triggers that would set explosions once the number reaches 100. Knowing that Robin's counter is far ahead of his own, Batman starts moving inside the tube in order to accelerate the counter so his tube would explode first. Tzin tries to get Batman to plead for Robin's life, but Batman manages to get the counter to 100 before Robin is killed.

Tzin believes that he has succeeded, but Batman appears again and breaks Robin out of the deadly tube. Batman explains that he used his Utility Belt to trigger the bomb and avoided being hurt by the explosion. Frustrated, but prepared for such eventuality, Tzin releases a dozen of highly trained killers to attack Batman. The Dark Knight uses his honed fighting skills to take down ten of his attackers, but the last couple of them manage to hold him, long enough for Tzin to reach him and end his vendetta. Batman is unable to break free and his hour of doom seems to finally have arrived when Robin appears out of nowhere and tackles Tzin-Tzin, giving Batman the chance to defeat the last two killers.

Finally, Batman and Robin take Tzin-Tzin out of the abandoned mansion and they take him towards the Batmobile waiting outside. However, as they reach their vehicle, the duo hear laughter coming from the house and when they turn around, they see Tzin-Tzin mocking them from one of the upper windows. Turning their attention back to the car, they realize that Tzin is not their prisoner any longer and seconds after this realization, the abandoned house explodes and the whole place comes crumbling down in ashes and fire.

As dawn breaks, the Batmobile silently retires from the ghastly scenario and disappears in the first mists of dawn that cover Gotham City. This classic tale has been reprinted in Detective Comics #477 (1978), Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 2 HC (2004), Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 2 TPB (2013), Tales of the Batman: Len Wein HC (2015), Showcase Presents: Batman Vol. 6 TPB (2016), Batman by Neal Adams Vol. 2 TPB (2019), and Tales of the Batman: Marv Wolfman Vol. 1 HC (2020).

Our backup Batgirl story is  "The Phantom Bullfighter" by Frank Robbins, Don Heck, and Dick Giordano. Barbara Gordon visits Spain to meet Don Alvarado who is donating an original manuscript by a prize-winning novelist to the library. During her stay, Babs attends a bullfight with Alvarado. The champion bullfighter El Granados is nearly killed, but a young fighter named Paco intervenes. Both the bullfighter and his mentor Manolo El Viejo are displeased that the boy has stolen their honor.

Later Babs visits Alvarado's ranch. During the night a cloaked man steals El Granados's sword and uses it to kill a prize bull. Batgirl tried to stop him, but she failed. The next day another sword is stolen, leading Babs to conclude that the man will strike again. This story continues next issue. This was Don Heck's first shot and Batgirl and he would draw her off and on for the next ten years. Reprinted in Showcase Presents: Batgirl Vol. 1 TPB (2007) and Batgirl: The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 1 HC (2018).

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Witching Hour #13

Witching Hour #13 (On Sale: December 17, 1970), has an amazing cover by Neal Adams. This is right up there as one of my favorite covers of all time. Love it, love it, love it!

In a delightful framing sequence drawn by Neal Adams, Cain and Abel from the House of Mystery and House of Secrets visit the three witches, for this is "New Year's Eve" at The Witching Hour.  

The first story is "The Maze" written by Marv Wolfman and Alan Gold and magnificently illustrated by Gray Morrow. Harold Beedle wakes up in a metal room, without memory or hope. A voice tells him his name and his goal: he is in a labyrinth with one million possible combinations and only one that leads to his reward. He wanders from room to room, hallway to hallway. Sometimes he sleeps, sometimes music and sound are blasted at him at painful volume. 

He cracks up, begs to die then begs to be kept alive then begs to die again. He wonders if he is already dead, but the voice tells him it is not so, he is alive and finally, he reaches the end of the maze, the maze that has been his home for one week, six days, and thirty-nine minutes. He exits the maze and finds a huge block of cheese waiting for him and two gigantic aliens, Spafon and Squatront, watching him as he lays down and dies. The aliens find this odd and decide that they need to find another specimen to test. This story was reprinted in Omega Men #24 (1985). In the letter column in Omega Men #24, it is revealed that these aliens were a prototype version of the Psions, created by Marv Wolfman, which were an integral part of the Omega Men series. The names of the two aliens, Spafon and Squatront, are also the names of two famous EC fanzines.

Cain mocks Abel for being frightened by the story in the continuing Neal Adams-drawn framing sequence. Mildred thinks she has a much better story to tell,

That leads us to "The Accursed Clay!" by Jack Miller, Jack Sparling, and Frank Giacoia. Arthur Delano was a sculpture of unfortunately minor talent. Good enough to sculpt, but lacking the greatness the museums required. One day a man arrives at his studio and offers him some ancient clay, enough for four statues. He tells him that the first statue will be great, the second greater still, the third almost a masterpiece, and the fourth will rival Rodin, Michelangelo, and Da Vinci. When Delano asks what he must pay, the man says he has asked for nothing in return, 

Delano starts on his first statue and it is the best thing he has ever done. A face appears in his mind and he is compelled to place it on the statue. The next morning he sees the same face on the front page of the paper, a man who died in a freak storm at sea. Deeming it a coincidence, Delano makes another statue and once again is compelled to put a specific face on it. As before the next day, the papers show the same man died by freak electrocution. Still going for a coincidence, Delano sculpts the third statue and when a face comes to him he tries to put a different one on the statue, but he is compelled to put the one he sees in his head. That man is also found dead, hit by a meteorite. Delano realizes he is killing these people by creating his artwork, so he deems to create no more. 

But the man who gave him the clay arrives and tells him he cannot stop, that he agreed to make four statues, and Delano once again finds himself compelled to create. This time, however, he adds the face of the man who sold him the clay, who falls to the floor. As he dies he whispers, "Not such a bad bargain. You have your masterpiece and I finally have my peace." What Delano never learns is that the man was an evil sorcerer named Rokk and that he was cursed, doomed to wander the earth until his image was duplicated exactly, as a place to hold his soul during death.

"The Accursed Clay!" was the last story written by Jack Miller, who passed away in 1969. Jacob Edward Miller (1908-1969), wrote under the name Jack E. Miller. Principally known as a creator of stories and editor for DC Comics. Miller created and wrote Sgt. Rock, as well as contributed to "Batman," "Superman," "Wonder Woman, "Showcase," Deadman, "Tarzan," "Action Comics," "Detective Comics," "Adventure Comics," "Aquaman," and "Phantom Stranger" comics. On TV he helped to create and wrote 25 episodes of "The Mighty Hercules" cartoon show from 1963-1966.

Continuing the Neal Adams framing sequence, Cain doubles over in laughter at this story and Mildred is none too happy about it. Just then, the Mad, Mod Witch from the Unexpected shows up. Cynthia has a tale of her own to tell.

"The Rush-Hour Ride of Abner Pringle!" is by Len Wein and Jose Delbo. On the night of April 18, 1775, there is a fourth man who rides to warn the people when the signal is given in the Old North Church. We never read of this man, Abner Pringle, because he has not finished his ride yet. That fateful night his horse stumbled in a hidden chuck-hole and Abner was thrown off, landing near a tree, where he slept till 1970. When he awakens he gets back on his horse and rids into Concord, causing traffic jams and almost getting arrested. When no one will take him seriously, he rides out of town, and once again his horse trips on the same chuck-hole. As he sleeps as the entire British Army marches by on their way to modern-day Concord and beyond.

Back at the Neal Adams' framing sequence, Cain rather liked this tale. The gathering is interrupted when Igor appears, a manuscript in his hands. 

We end with a one-page text story illustrated by Sal Amendola entitled "The Witching Hour Mistree." The entire book was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The Witching Hour Vol. 1 TPB (2011).

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Adventures of Jerry Lewis #121

Adventures of Jerry Lewis #121 (On Sale: September 8, 1970) has a cover by Bob Oksner.

We begin with "Schnook and Ladder" by Alan Riefe and Bob Oksner. While playing checkers at the local firehouse, Jerry's new bicycle is stolen. Jerry accidently catches a ride with the firemen to a fire, only to end up on the end up on the wrong end of a the ladder and saving fire-eater Madame Flamazola. Jerry ends up falling through a skylight and into the shop of the bicycle thieves. In the ensuing paint gun fight, Jerry set a torch to a crate, resulting in so much popping that the bicycle gang feels out numbered and gives up. Ends up they were in Popopski's Popcorn factory. With the help of the firemen, Jerry recovers his stolen bicycle.

Next is  "Pizza Pie in the Sky"  written by Len Wein, Marv Wolfman and Howie Post, drawn by Bob Oksner and Tex Blaisdell and reprinted from Adventures of Jerry Lewis #109. Jerry takes a job at a pizza booth, but can't get the hang of tossing the dough and ends up getting fired, as usual.

That is followed by our cover story, "A Boob in the Woods" by Alan Riefe and Bob Oksner. When Renfrew complains about Uncle Jerry's guitar playing and singing, Jerry heads to the woods for quiet place to practice. Instead of quiet, he runs into the gun-toting hillbilly family, the Shacknastys: Paw, twins Clark and Errol and daughter Sairy June. Jerry is taken at gunpoint to join their family band and ends up caught in their feud with the Jugbender family.

Jerry escapes but runs into a music producer who wants to tape the two families music. Jerry agrees to help (for money), and the producer ends up signing both families to contracts. Jerry takes his money and buys a tuba, causing Renfrew to ask him to go out to the woods to practice.

We end with "Low I.Q. High Snafu" written by Don Segall, penciled by Bob Oksner and inked by Oksner and Tex Blaisdell, and reprinted from Adventures of Jerry Lewis #108. Jerry takes a job painting flagpoles, but starts at the bottom ending up trapped at the top till the paint dries.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

House of Secrets #88

House of Secrets #88 (On Sale: August 4, 1970) has a spectacular cover by Neal Adams in wash. DC was about to make a move into the Gothic Romance books and this beautiful cover is almost a test drive of that concept.

The insides are not nearly as pretty as the outsides, but we begin with "The Morning Ghost" by Marv Wolfman, Dick Dillin and Frank Giacoia. In this 11-page tale a man meets a woman on the run from the ghosts of her dead family who want her to join them. He tries to convince her there are no ghosts by bringing her back to the house where they died in a fire, but she reveals to him that there were no survivors and she too is a ghost. He admits to her that he is one too and asks her to join him instead of her evil family.

Neal Adams' original painting for this issue's cover.

That is followed by "Eyesore!" by Gerry Conway and Bill Draut. A blind store owner begins to suspect an acquaintance of wanting to kill him and take over the business, so when the man tells him that he's got something for him in the closet, the blind man sneaks up behind him and kills him by striking him with his cane. The blind man hears sounds like something moving and thinks perhaps the man isn't dead and is coming for revenge. He tries to hide upstairs but he still hears the padding and tapping coming closer and becomes so terrified that his heart gives out. The police are puzzled to find the dead man downstairs and the blind man dead upstairs with a seeing eye dog sitting by the body with the blind man's cane in its mouth. Reminds me of the lines from that Buffalo Springfield song, "Paranoia strikes deep. Into you life it will creep."

The entire book was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Secrets Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

House of Secrets #87 (On Sale: June 2, 1970) has a nice, creepy cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with "Death Has Marble Lips," an eight-page tale by Robert Kanigher, Dick Dillin and Dick Giordano.  A sculptor offers to barter his soul to Satan if his latest beautiful creation can take the form of a living woman, and it happens, but she doesn't know that her kiss is cursed and it turns the artist to stone.

Next is "The Man," a seven pager by Marv Wolfman, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.  A woman falls in love with a man who turns out to be a robot.

We end with "The Coming of Ghaglan," a six-page story by Raymond Marais and Michael William Kaluta. A tomb explorer finds a missing chapter from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and when he reads part of the incantation, he finds his astral self sent to a dimension where the spirits of an undead army call out to their leader Ghaglan to finish the incantation so that they can return to their mummified bodies and commit acts of evil in his name.

The explorer feels himself drawn back to his body and his fellows tell him that a man named Ghaglan removed the scroll from his hands to revive him. He turns with apprehension to face Ghaglan, who tells him with a smile that he has been looking for this scroll for a very long time.

The entire issue was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Secrets Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

House of Secrets #84

House of Secrets #84 (On Sale: December 2, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams.

The book begins and ends with a nice framing sequence drawn by Bill Draut. The first tale is "If I Had But World Enough and Time" by Len Wein, Dick Dillin and Mike Peppe, a tale of suburbia and the perils and ultimate escape that can be found in watching a lot of television.

That is followed by "Double or Nothing" by Marv Wolfman and Sid Greene. This is a tale about Clifford King who runs a crooked gambling room and learns that even crooked games are no match for a man with the right "system."

Next is "The Unbelievable! The Unexplained" by Steve Skeates, Jack Sparling and Jack Abel. Ruth has a plan to steal her uncle's estate by having him committed and placed into a nursing home. Who can blame her, the old guy was catatonic, staring off into space as if he had seen something too horrible to accept. Shortly after moving in to her uncle's home and shortly after he dies in the nursing home, Ruth is busy looking for the deed to the home when she finds a mysterious key. Once in her had the key begins to throb and Ruth is forced to go where the key demands, in this case to an old house in the fog. There she opens a door and sees something, something beyond description that drives her mad. Somehow she makes it back to the estate, but she is in a catatonic state much like her uncle. Well, ,she coveted everything he had, and she got what she coveted. I liked the way that Skeates was able to immerse Abel into the story on this one.

The last story in the book is our cover-story, "If I Should Die Before I Wake..." by Len Wein and Jack Sparling, the story of Alan Fry, a man who dares not sleep for when he does he is attacked by Morlon in the land of Somnia. Fry tries to find refuge at a psychiatrist's office, but Morlon finds him even there. The entire contents were reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Secrets Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

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

We begin with a framing sequence that will go throughout the book by Dave Kaler, Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano. Mildred and Mordred visit Cynthia at her "mod" apartment, and they are none to happy about it.

The first tale is "A Face in the Crowd" by Gerry Conway, Mike Roy and Mike Peppe (some say this is the work of Don Heck, but it is not even close to Heck's style). After WWII, Arnie searches for Bulgart the Butcher, the Nazi in charge of the concentration camp where Arnie was held, to exact his revenge. His rabbi tries to talk him out of it, but he continues his search till one day, he bumps into a man in a crowd and see it is Bulgart. He chases him into an alley and takes out a gun to shoot him, but Bulgart disappears; he was never there, and Arnie realizes had he shot Bulgart, he would be no better than him. Back on the street he bumps into another man, but pays him no mind so he never sees Bulgart walk past him, just another face in the crowd.

Next is "The Doll Man" by Marv Wolfman and Jose Delbo. The tenants of the apartment building where Cyrus Caulfield lives want him gone. They are freaked out by the creepy dolls he makes, and mob mentality takes over when they burst into his apartment. Despite him having done nothing to the, the other tenants beat him to death. They then go looking for any money he might have and break into his locked bedroom where they are confronted by his monstrous dolls out for revenge.

Next we have "Treasure Hunt" by Steve Skeates, John Celardo and Dick Giordano. Jungle guide Max takes an archaeologist up river, following an old treasure map.. When Max discovers the treasure that the archaeologist is seeking behind a waterfall, he decides to kill the archaeologist and keep it for himself. He takes the man out on the boat and crashes it into some rock, hitting the man with a wrench. As he swims for shore a fog descends and when it clears he seems to be somewhere else, but he is not sure. He hears some rapids up ahead and realizes too lite that somehow he is now on the river that spawned the falls. His body lands on top of the treasure chest he wanted so badly.

We end with "Distortion," a one-pager drawn by Sid Greene. A trip to an amusement park fun house does not end well for John.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

House of Secrets #83

House of Secrets #83 (On Sale: October 2, 1969) has a cover by the legendary Gray Morrow. This is Gray's first work for DC comics and another great addition to the DC stable of artists courtesy of editor Dick Giordano. It will be a year before we see any more Gray Morrow work at DC and at that time we will explore the history of this amazing artist.

This issue has a wonderful framing sequence drawn by Bill Draut where Abel spends the entire issue trying to get into the House of Secrets and being thwarted at every move. It has some nice physical comedy and does a nice interplay with the stories in the issue. For example, Abel tells his imaginary friend, Goldie, that the first story was told to him by a wandering wolfman.

And the first story is "The Stuff that Dreams Are Made Of" by Marv Wolfman and Alex Toth. Jim Ivey awakens to find himself in a strange land where a beautiful woman is being attacked by a hideous monster. Jim fights and defeats the monster and meets the woman, Princess Lyla, who takes Jim to see her father, King Shalla. On the way as Jim and Lyla kiss the world fades away and Jim finds himself in a hospital bed, awakening from a dream. Jim has some fatal, incurable disease and knows he is dying.

That night, as sleep takes him once again, Jim finds himself back on the strange world with Lyla, where he meets and is accepted by King Shalla. Weeks go by and every time Jim sleeps he returns to his beloved Lyla and thoughts of death disappear. But one night assassins attempt to kill King Shalla and Jim fights them off, but the assassin's blade finds Jim and he is mortally wounded. On his deathbed Jim tells Lyla, "It's going to be all right Lyla--I see, now...I'll never have to leave you again, dear--Kiss me, darling--this is--forever!' Back in the "real" world the doctors note that Jim dies with a strange smile on his lips. Reprinted in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #24.

Next is "Bigger Than a Breadbox" drawn by Mike Roy and Mike Peppe. While searching through the attic used by her departed inventor and husband, Abner, widow Elmira finds a strange box, which she puts to use as a mailbox. The next morning she finds an anonymous letter in the box, which she assumes is from the postman, Mr. Smith, whom she finds sort of cute. The letter speaks of being lonely and looking for someone to correspond with. Playing along with postman Smith's game, Elmira writes an anonymous letter back.

The weeks and many letters pass and Elmira finds herself looking forward to each new letter and the "game" she is playing with Mr. Smith. Sometimes it seems like he doesn't even put the letter in the box and yet one is there almost daily. Finally a letter comes asking Elmira if she would like to meet in person. As she is putting her response into the box postman Smith comes by and she tell him that her answer to his letter is "yes." He says he has no idea what she is talking about and that he has delivered no mail to her box in a very long time.

Crushed that he would spurn her so, she retreats to the house and begins sobbing, when she is interrupted by a knock at the door. There, holding out a bouquet of flowers to her is a scaly orange creature. Though Elmira called the box a worthless piece of tin, her departed husband Abner called it an interdimensional teleporter.

This was one of only seven stories that Mike Roy drew for DC and the next to last one. It was also the first work he had done for them since he drew all of the stories and the cover for Jackie Gleason and the Honeymooners #3 in 1956. Roy studied at the High School of Industrial Art, as well as the Pratt Institute. He began his comics career in the 1940s, assisting Bill Everett, the creator of the original 'Sub-mariner' at Atlas Comics. He worked through the Funnies Inc. shop, and contributed to comic books by Holyoke Publications ('Hammerhead Hawley'), Archie Comics (funny titles) and Hillman Periodical (crime, war and western).

He also appeared in Lev Gleason titles like Crime Does Not Pay, Crime and Punishment, Daredevil and Desperado. During the first half of the 1950s, Roy produced a large amount of artwork for the romance titles of Better Publications. He later also contributed to many Dell/Western titles.

Roy also worked on newspaper strips. Between 1948 and 1951, he did the 'The Saint' daily and Sunday strip for the New York Herald Tribune. In the 1950s, he made the newspaper strips 'Ken Weston' and 'Nero Wolfe', and assisted on 'Flash Gordon'. In the 1960s followed the acclaimed Native American Sunday strip 'Akwas', and the 'Hoss Laffs' daily and the 'Indian Lore and Crafts' Sunday page. Mike Roy was active until the 1990s, working mainly on educational comics for Custom Comic Services. His final work was Screaming Eagle, a hardcover graphic novel for Discovery Comics. Mike Roy also co-founded a museum for Native American and Eskimo Art. He died in 1996.

Lastly we have "The House of Endless Years" by Gerry Conway and Bill Draut. This little gem is about two girls and their dog searching in the woods for, Neal, the brother to one of them. It is there that they come upon a house. One believes a witch lives there, the other believes she is just an old hag, but they both know that this is where Neal may be, and so, they head toward it. In the basement the old woman tells Neal that he was a fool to come there, when a flock of bats tell her that the girls are coming. She tells the bats to keep them away, but Neal cries out for his sister. The two girls hear Neal's cry and enter the house.

There they are confronted by the woman who pleads with them to leave before the evil of the house takes them over as it did her many years ago. The dog thinks the woman is attacking the girls and jumps to defend them, causing the old woman to fall down the stairs. When the girls reach her, she has turned to dust. Suddenly they notice that the dog is now old and withered and then they see Neal. Neal, now an old man warning them to leave before it is too late. Neal, who collapses at their feet and turns to dust. The two young girls, now ancient woman look down at Neal, who they know is not old, but young, just like them. This has been reprinted in House of Mystery #224, DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #24, Welcome Back to the House of Mystery #1, and Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 3 TPB. It and the entire contents of this issue have been reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Secrets Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

House of Secrets #82

House of Secrets #82 (On Sale: August 5, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with a framing sequence by Bill Draut featuring Abel telling stories to Goldie and his friend.

The first actual story is "Realler Than Real" drawn by Werner Roth and Vince Colletta. Producer Talbert Talcott fires the director of his latest film as bemoans about the state of art in Hollywood and how none of the pictures are real enough. Back at his mansion a director, George Purkos awaits, but when he offers to direct Talcott's next picture, he tells him to leave.

Sometime later Talcott receives a call from Purkos saying he has some real realism to show him in the screening room. As Talcott watches the western film in the screening room he once again screams that it is not real enough. When they next find Talcott he has been shot with an arrow. How's that for realism?

Most sources list this as Werner Roth's first work for DC since his first pencil job in Secret Hearts #42 in 1957, but Jerry Bails' Who's Who of American Comic Books contains a long list of Roth work for DC romance books covering most of the 60s. This includes long runs on Falling In Love, Girls' Romances, Secret Hearts, Young Love and Young Romance.

Roth spent most of his early career at Atlas/Marvel, beginning in 1951 when he started drawing the Apache Kid. Roth was so good at drawing women that Atlas publisher Martin Goodman had a comic created just for him: Lorna, the Jungle Girl. His last work at Atlas was in Strange Tales in 1958 and he didn't return till 1965 when now Marvel needed an artist to replace Jack Kirby on the Uncanny X-Men. At Marvel, Roth sometimes used the pseudonym Jay Gavin. He would remain the X-Men penciler till 1969, when he would return to DC starting with this story. However, in the later half of the 60s and the early 70s Roth also worked on a number of Marvel's other book, including The Avengers, Sub-Mariner, GunHawk, Kid Colt, The Rawhide Kid and Werewolf By Night.

Werner Roth also worked at Dell Comics and drew Mandrake the Magician for King Comics and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. for Western Publishing. He also worked for a time as an assistant on the On Stage newspaper strip.

In 1970 Roth became the penciler of Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, a book he would work on til his death in 1973 at the age of 52.

The next story is "Sudden Madness" drawn by Dick Giordano. All over the world posters saying "Sudden Madness, the new game sensation is Free and Fun!" Some of the signs say the game will arrive in a few months and a few months later the game arrives in everybody's mail. As people try to put together a block puzzle they begin to quarrel and fight.  Soon, people all across the planet are fighting as the aliens arrive to take over a soon to be uninhabited planet thanks to their "mind-retroverters" which were disguised as a game.

Next is "The Little Old Winemaker" drawn by Jack Sparling. Rudy is unable to keep his aunt Teresa from marrying Gino, a poor grape grower. Rudy fears that Gino is just waiting for his older aunt to die so he can inherit her fortune, which is what Rudy was expecting to do. After they are married, Gino seems to dote of Teresa as he works his vineyard, but Teresa's health is not very good. When she is not seen in town for two weeks, Rudy heads for Gino's, barging in and demanding to know where he buried his aunt's body as he is sure Gino murdered her.

Gino tells him that her health was faltering so she went "to sea" for her health. Rudy does not believe him and takes an ax the nearest barrel of wine, declaring, "Which one! Where have you hidden her?!" He smashes barrel after barrel and Gino fearing for his life leaves to get the police. So that Rudy wont get away, Gino locks the door. Inside, the room fills up with wine and Rudy, unable to open the door, drowns. We all know this is nonsense, but, hey, it's comics.

A few days later the police come to Gino's door with more bad news. His wife Teresa, on hearing of the death of her nephew, Rudy, had a heart attack and died. After the officer leaves we find out that that was Gino's plan all along.

We end with "The One and Only, Fully Guaranteed Super-Permanent, 100%?" by Marv Wolfman, Dick Dillin and Neal Adams. Just to be clear here, the art is very uneven and there are some pages that don't look like Neal Adams ever touched them. But, that said, the art is really interesting at times. Stanley Landman is constantly dominated by his wife, Stella. She doesn't want him looking at catalogs, like "Catalog of Miscellaneous Services and Products" and she doesn't want him reading magazines; she wants him cleaning the house.

As he gets to it, he reads an ad for "The Problem-Solving Institute of America" that fell out of the catalog when Stella was tearing it up. He has never heard of them, but he does have a problem, so...

A week later a huge package arrives for Stella. She opened it and inside is another box, and another and another. 30 minutes later she opens a tiny box to find a gold cube inside. From the other room, Stanley hears a blood-curdling scream. He walks into the room and Stella is gone, only the cube remains. He gets a bill for $29,99 from the Institute and promptly pays it, while tossing the cube into the trash.

This last story was reprinted in House of Mystery #224 and Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 3 TPB, The entire book was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Secrets Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

House of Mystery #182

House of Mystery #182 (On Sale: July 10, 1969) has another cool cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with "The Devil's Doorway" by Jack Oleck and Alex Toth. Wealthy student of the occult, Phillip Warren, buys a strange mirror from a New England auction. Phillip mentions his wife's misgivings about owning the piece and the auctioneer says that it is perfectly safe as the contents of the house were exorcised over a century ago and that the records of the exorcism are in the family records in City Hall.

Satisfied, the mirror is shipped home, but almost immediately strange things begin to happen. Phil's daughter Beth begins to disappear for hours at a time and when she does show up she says she has been in the mirror playing with Mr. Belial. Beth is told to stay away from the mirror, but just a few nights later she brings her father a gift, an ancient cult demon statuette used in black magic.

Beth once again claims that she has been in the mirror and the the gift is from Mr. Belial. Knowing the mirror has been exorcised, Phil tells his daughter to stop making up stories and sends he off to bed. But Phil can't sleep and that night while sitting in front of the mirror he sees inside it a strange world. He walks into the mirror and meets Mr. Belial, AKA Satan, who says that he has been expecting him to arrive. Satan explains that he finds students of the occult a challenge and since he could not leave the mirror he had to find a way to lure Phil into his world. He threatens to soon have Phil's wife as well.

Phil hurls the demon statuette at Satan and fights his way past demons to finally reach the mirror portal. Once outside he takes an axe to the mirror and then burns what remains. However, once the mirror is completely consumed Phil falls into a coma, yet a fitful coma of nightmare dreams. Days later the dreams end and Phil tells his wife that he was just sick and hallucinating. Now that Phil is better his wife tells him that their daughter Beth has vanished, that she has not been seen since the night Phil destroyed the mirror. But the mirror is harmless, the mirror had been exorcised. Phil heads to City Hall to look up the records of the house and finds that yes, everything in the house was exorcised, except a mirror that has been sent out to be gilded.

This story is a real winner and Alex Toth's artwork is an amazing workshop in minimalist line-work in the support of a story. This is wonderful work from Toth.

This is Jack Oleck's first credited work at DC, though he is known to have written both issues of Bother Power: The Geek. This only makes sense as Oleck was Joe Simon's brother-in-law and as Simon has said, "the number one scriptwriter for Simon and Kirby since the early days of Young Romance," though, it would seem, largely uncredited. According to the Jack Kirby Museum, Oleck also worked at Atlas in the 1950s when the company was publishing 85 titles a month, but exactly what work he did is not known as there are few records from this era. Jack also wrote for EC Comics doing war stories for Aces High and science-fiction for Incredible Science Fiction.

As a credited writer Jack Oleck would write more than 200 stories for DC, mostly in the horror/mystery books, but a few wars stories and humor stories for Plop! and the first three issues of Kong, the Untamed. Jack also wrote both of the paperback anthologies of adaptations of The House of Mystery stories and EC Comics The Vault of Horror paperback as well.

Oleck also wrote novels, including Messalina. As reviewer Joe Kenney says on Amazon, "Published in 1959 and continuously in print for the next several years, Jack Oleck's Messalina is now long out of print and barely remembered. Yet it is historical fiction of the best sort: trashy, exploitative, packed with violence and graphic sex. No "detectives in togas," no poorly-written military fiction, no thinly-veiled Christian glurge - this is a full-on romp in the salacious world of Imperial Rome, more Technicolor than Elizabeth Taylor's "Cleopatra."

Messalina recounts the tale of the real-life woman who married Claudius, the fourth emperor of Rome. She's known to history as a backstabbing schemer with an insatiable lust for sex, so don't go into this novel expecting a G-rated story of ancient Rome. Oleck takes us from her youth to her end, barring no details of her cold-blooded and predator-like ways: for Messalina, sex was a means to power, and boy did she know how to use it. "

Next is "Grave Results!" a "Cain's True Case File" by Marv Wolfman and Wayne Howard.
It tells the story of the Chase family of Barbados and how each time they go to bury a family member in the family crypt they find the caskets thrown about the crypt and overturned, even though the crypt is sealed each time with molten lead to keep anyone out. The two caskets belonging to the original owner of the crypt and her grand-daughter are never disturbed. Eventually the family has to leave the island to escape the cursed crypt. Reprinted in House of Mystery #229 and Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB.

This little piece of fluff was Wayne Howard's first work for DC and his first credited work anywhere. He contributed to comics fanzines in the mid-1960s before becoming an art assistant at the Long Island, New York studio of Wally Wood in 1969 and the Wood influence is evident in every panel Howard ever did. Wayne would only draw four stories for DC, though he would ink another 8 over the next 13 years. Howard also did work for the short-lived Web of Horror black and white book that also appeared in 1969.

Howard did work for a number of publishers. He penciled a story in Gold Key's TV-series tie-in The Twilight Zone and inked stories for Warren's Creepy and Eerie. At marvel he did inks for Worlds Unknown, Marvel Team-Up, Thongor! Warrior of Lost Lemuria in Creatures on the Loose and the Marvel black and white Haunt of Horror.

But none of this is what Wayne Howard is known for. Wayne Howard was the first American comics' cover-credited series creator, with the Charlton horror anthology book Midnight Tales which carried the blurb: "Created by Wayne Howard" on each issue. Howard did other work for Charlton, but it is with this book that he made his mark. Charlton writer/editor Nicola Cuti says that Howard's credit was granted since "it was his idea, his concept, his everything." Howard created the main characters, host Professor Coffin, The Midnight Philosopher, and his niece, Arachne, who in a twist on the horror-host convention would themselves star in a story each issue. Howard also developed the notion of having each issue be themed. He penciled and inked every cover, most of the stories and he even wrote a few of them.

In Comic Book Artist #12, Charlton editor George Wildman, described Howard as, "sort of shy. Easy come, easy go",and said Howard had married the sister of one of Wildman's early secretaries. In the same issue, Nicola Cuti said the heavy-smoker artist "always wore the same outfit: a white shirt, a kind of tan bush jacket, black hat, black pants and black tie. ...I was over at his apartment, and he opened up his closet, and there were 20 white shirts, 20 bush jackets, 20 black pants...."

Wayne Howard's last known comic work was for Warlord #64. Always a bit of a recluse, when Comic Book Artist attempted to contact him in 2001 they were told that "the artist/writer had no interest in delving into the past." Wayne Howard, one of the first African-American comic book artists of the Silver Age, died December 9, 2007 at the age of 58.

Next we have a one-page ad for the House of Secrets featuring Cain and written and drawn by Joe Orlando. That is followed by a Cain's Game Room by Sergio Aragones.

The last story in the book is "The Hound of the Night" by Robert Kanigher and Jerry Grandenetti. It was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Teen Titans #22

Teen Titans #22 (On Sale: May 15, 1969) has another great Nick Cardy cover.

We begin with the Teen Titans in "Halfway to Holocaust" written and penciled by Neal Adams and inked by Nick Cardy. Continuing from last issue, while Speedy and Wonder Girl battle an extra dimensional creature that suddenly appears in the criminals' control-room, Robin and Kid Flash, under the control of the aliens, are used to discover a third dimensional world, invisible to the Dimension-X-dwellers, which exists adjacent to both their world and Earth. Escaping, they rejoin their teammates in this adjoining dimension, only to be pursued by the aliens.

The battle between Titans and aliens is cut short when a community-intelligence being, the sole sentient native to the newly discovered dimension, takes on the form of a giant archer in imitation of Speedy, and drives the minions of Dimension X back to their own world. Promising that never again will beings from Dimension X use his world as a gateway to Earth, the "archer" allows the Titans to depart in peace. This story has been reprinted in Best of DC #18 and Showcase Presents: Teen Titans Vol. 2 TPB.

The back-up story, "The Origin of Wonder Girl" is by Marv Wolfman, Gil Kane and Nick Cardy. This story is sort of a side story to the first story in this issue. Upon the Titan's return to Earth, Wonder Girl unexpectedly collapses, the result of a recently recurring series of fainting spells. In explanation, she tells the other Titans her origin for the first time.

As a child, she had been saved from an apartment building fire by Wonder Woman, and taken by her to Paradise Island to live after all attempts to ascertain her identity or those of her parents (presumed to be a couple killed in the blaze) had failed. Becoming Queen Hippolyta's foster daughter and Wonder Woman's foster sister, she was unable to compete with the Amazons on a physical level, lacking their special powers, and so was given powers almost identical to those of Wonder Woman by Paula, the Amazon chief scientist, using the Purple Ray.

Returning to the outside world to join the Teen Titans, she was forced to stay behind when the other Amazons sojourned to another dimension to recharge their magical powers, and had been secretly living in Titan Lair since that time. Now, she takes the name Donna Troy as a civilian identity and moves into an apartment in Greenwich Village with new girlfriend Sharon Tracy.

Later, she is contacted by Queen Hippolyta, who informs her that the Amazons' use of the Purple Ray had been accidentally responsible for her recurring weak spells, a problem which has now been corrected. Wonder Girl celebrates her new life by designing a new costume and changing her hairstyle. Reprinted in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #5 and Showcase Presents: Teen Titans Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

House of Mystery #180

House of Mystery #180 (On Sale: March 11, 1969) has another creepy cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with "Comes a Warrior" written and penciled by Gil Kane and inked by Wally Wood. This is the story of barbarian Rangarry and his search for an adventure that would immortalize his name. He finds an unnamed village haunted by demons and sets out on a quest to slay the dragon in a distant valley that is said to spawn the demons.

Next is "His Name is... Kane" by Mike Friedrich, Gil Kane and Wally Wood. Comic artist Gil Kane finds himself being sucked into the page he has just completed drawing, there to fight against demons. He remembers back to how it all began, how that cheapskate editor Joe Orlando wouldn't pay him until he finished his work. And what crap it all was, hack stories and even worse inkers.

Kane decides to go off to a quiet place to work on his own stories and takes a room from caretaker Cain at the House of Mystery, where he is soon interrupted by Joe Orlando again. In a fit of rage he kills the hapless editor only to find a small factory of creatures how drawing and inking and coloring his pages. Shrinking down into the pages he fights on against the demon editors and writers. Later Cain looks in on Kane only to find him gone, all that remains is his artwork...or is there something else there as well? Reprinted in Limited Collectors' Edition C-23 and Welcome Back to the House of Mystery #1.

This is followed by a Cain's Game Room page by Sergio Aragones and "Oscar Horns In!" as two-page text story by Cliff Rhodes illustrated by Joe Orlando.

Mext is "Scared to Life" by Marv Wolfman and Bernie Wirghtson. Lord Dufferin, the British Ambassador to Paris is vacationing in Ireland when a terrible moaning sound draws him out into the night and to his destiny. Reprinted in House of Mystery #226 and Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 3 TPB

The book ends with another Cain's Game Room page by Sergio Aragones. Along with the previously noted, the entire book was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Teen Titans #20

Teen Titans #20 (On Sale: January 23, 1969) has a cover by Nick Cardy.

"Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho" is written and penciled by Neal Adams and inked by Nick Cardy, but that description doesn't even come close to explaining the real pedigree of this tale.

Len Wein and Marv Wolfman turned in a story to editor Dick Giordano which would have introduced a black super-hero by the name of Jericho, but this story was never published. The character was changed to Caucasian and renamed as Joshua. Although the cover still bears the original title: "The Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho."

In The Titans Companion by Glen Cadigan, Marv Wolfman reflects on the story: "The second Teen Titans was a story that no one has ever seen printed. It was a story that Len Wein and I co-wrote that was originally intended for Teen Titans #20. It was 'The Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho'...

"We met with Dick Giordano, and told him our idea of a gang, a black super-hero, and a fairly straightforward type of story, closer to what we were seeing in Spider-Man, but with the Teen Titans. We came up with a black character because DC didn't have any at the time...we grew up with black kids in school. Living in New York, all racers, all creeds, everybody was in our classes, so it was never a matter of 'Why not put a black character in?' it's "Why isn't there one?' I mean, like, 'Duh!' So we just wanted to do that.

"Dick liked the story concept, but knew that there could be some problems because of the time period, and brought us into Irwin Donenfeld's...Irwin said he really wanted us to try to do this, try to make it a multi-parter -- which, in itself, was incredibly exciting -- to really be powerful and very street and very authentic, and try to get down and dirty, get a lit grittier...

"A couple of weeks later we came back, and at that point Irwin had left and there was a new person in charge. Whatever the reasons were, because there are so many differences of opinion on this, the story got dropped...It was all drawn, buy the way. Nick Cardy did one of the greatest jobs I had ever seen him do.

"When it was killed, Dick was in a lot of trouble because of deadlines. Neal Adams took a lot of the pages, added a bunch of new pages and rewrote a story around it; a brand-new story, using Jericho, but no longer black. If you look at the cover, which had already been sent to the printer, all they could do was throw a blue tone over it and all the black characters were put into the background because of that, but they were obviously black on the cover and there were none in the comic anymore...

"At any rate, Neal redrew the story using as many of Nick Cardy's pages as he could. He did it, I think, over a weekend with Nick inking simultaneously. I plotted, secretly, the second chapter which Neal followed and made changes along the way, then he wound up the story on his own...Len and I didn't get work for almost two years from DC."

In Adams' tale, a mysterious costumed crime fighter called Joshua invades Titan Lair and enlists the Teen Titans' aid in stopping a confrontation between police and teenage protesters. All involved are unaware that the protesters are being backed by organized crime figures, who in turn are pawns of the alien invaders from Dimension X. The Titans, together with Joshua and his brother, the leader of the protesters, halt the aliens' scheme to release the Meroul Being, a monstrous giant creature, on Earth, but both the aliens and their criminal underlings continue to plot the team's downfall. Reprinted in Best of DC #18 and Showcase Presents: Teen Titans Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Teen Titans #18

Teen Titans #18 (On Sale: September 24, 1968) proves once again that all experimentations with logos do not result in winners. Cover by the wonderful Nick Cardy.

"Eye of the Beholder" is written by Len Wein and Marv Wolfman and drawn by Bill Draut. This issue is important for the number of "firsts" it contains. This is Bill Draut's first super-hero artwork. This is Len Wein's first story for DC. This is the first book with the Len Wein/Marv Wolfman credit, a credit that would be seen over and over for the next few years as for a while the two worked together as a writing team. This may also be the first appearance of a Russian super-hero.

Interpol requests that the Teen Titans team up with a Russian super-hero, Starfire, to safeguard the Crown Jewels of Sweden from Andre Le Blanc, the self-styled "world's greatest jewel thief". Mutual antagonism spoils the joint efforts of the Soviet and American heroes, until Starfire rescues the Titans from Le Blanc's death-traps. Kid Flash then returns the favor by saving Starfire from death on the subway tracks, while Robin defeats Le Blanc in hand-to-hand combat. Reprinted in Best of DC #3 and Showcase Presents:Teen Titans Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Showcase #78

Showcase #78 (On Sale: September 12, 1968) has very nice Johnny Double cover by Dick Giordano.

"Meet Jonny Double..." is plotted by Marv Wolfman, scripted by Joe Gill and drawn by Jack Sparling. Down-on-his-luck private investigator Jonny Double gets a case to help Wilson Twain, a financier who has received death threats from the synicate. Jonny begins questioning underworld informants and draws the attention of the criminals. After taking a beating, Jonny traces the crooks to businessmen Piker and Glass. He is spotted snooping in their office, and the crooks try to kill him. Jonny stays alive and defeats the crooks, leaving them for Lt. Branigan his former boss on the police force.

The last five single issue debuts in Showcase resulted in five six-issue series, but Johnny Double would not be so lucky. The story I have read, and I don't remember where, is that Johnny Double was supposed to be a "Disguise Expert/Bodyguard," who would through the use of disguise become the body double of someone targeted for murder. For some reason the "Double" name was kept, but the concept was jettisoned. Four years later Len Wein would revisit that concept in The Human Target in the pages of Action Comics.

As for Johnny Double, he was a character that, for a time, would not die. He was revived in 1970 in Challengers of the Unknown #79 (an issue also featuring Deadman and a few pages drawn by Neal Adams) and then more famously went on for a stint in Wonder Woman beginning in 1972.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

House of Mystery #176

House of Mystery #176 (On Sale: July 9, 1968) has another fairly spooky cover by Neal Adams and the Adams' kids are back!

Inside we begin with a one-page introduction featuring Cain, which DC says is written and drawn by Joe Orlando, though the art looks more like Jerry Grandenetti to me. The first story is "The House of No Return" a reprint from House of Mystery #131 drawn by Sid Greene.

That is followed by a Page 13 written by Joe Orlando and drawn by Sergio Aragones and a three-page Cain's Game Room by Sergio Aragones. Lastly we have "The Roots of Evil" by Marv Wolfman and Jack Sparling. This is Wolfman's first full script for DC and centered around lost love, revenge, crazed scientists and thinking plants. It and the entire book was reprinted in Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Blackhawk #242

Blackhawk #242 (On Sale: June 11, 1968) has Pat Boyette's first cover and first artwork for DC. It features a new Blackhawk logo, good for this one issue only and the return of the original Blackhawk uniforms.

This book tells you everything you ever should need to know about what kind a editor was Dick Giordano. When Dick was given the Blackhawk book he was told there were only three issues left before cancellation. Last issue featured the inventory work he was given from previous editor George Kashdan; it is in these final two issues that we see Giordano's take on Blackhawk.

In Dick Giordano: Changing Comics, One Day At A Time by Michael Eury, Giordano relates, "Blackhawk was one of my favorite comics when I was a kid." As such Giordano hoped to resuscitate the series or at least send the book off in a style he felt it deserved. Dick found a way to do that by perusing Kashdan's unopened mail.

From Dick Giordano: Changing Comics, One Day At A Time...

Recalls Marv Wolfman, who was then in his late teens and active in comics fandom: "I had sent in a spec script for Blackhawk, which was being edited by George Kashdan at the time. I didn't like the direction of the series. They had changed the Blackhawks into something called the 'Junk Heap Heroes'--which they where." Wolfman's treatment restored the Blackhawks to their former glory, and Giordano, having met Marv at several conventions, called the teen and offered to print the story (although it was dialogued by Bob Haney). "The was my first published work for DC," says Wolfman.

Giordano was not satisfied to just return the book to its former direction, he also wanted something special for the last two issues, so he phoned long-time golden-age Blackhawk artist Reed Crandall and offered the last two issues to him. Crandall was hesitant to accept the assignment, but was finally won over by Giordano's enthusiasm for the project. This was one of those times that Dick's "hands-off" style of editing almost proved fatal.

He called Crandall two weeks before the art was due for a status and Crandall confessed that he hadn't started and the aged Crandall admitted he "couldn't do this anymore." Really in a tight deadline bind, Giordano called on his old Charlton friend Pat Boyette to knock out the last issues of Blackhawk.

"My Brother – My Enemy" is plotted by Marv Wolfman, scripted by Bob Haney and drawn by Pat Boyette. The Blackhawks learn that G.E.O.R.G.E. has been wiped out by a villain known as the Black Mask. Without their special equipment, the Blackhawks are forced to return to their original uniforms and tactics to track down their foe. Blackhawk soon learns that the Black Mask is secretly his brother Jack, whom Blackhawk thought to be long dead.

During the early days of World War II before the Blackhawks were formed, Bart Hawk (Blackhawk's real name is revealed for the first time) and his brother were pilots flying a mission against the Nazis. Jack's plane was used as a decoy and shot down. Bart believed his brother dead and left his unit to become Blackhawk. However, Jack survived and was found by the Nazis. His damaged body was molded into a weapon and his mind was turned against his former allies and brother. Before the newly created Black Mask could seek vengeance, the Blackhawks bombed the Nazi camp. The Nazis were killed and Jack fell into a sleep of suspended animation.

Having recently awakened from his long slumber, Jack, now the Black Mask is eager to destroy his brother. The Blackhawks return to Blackhawk Island where Black Mask unleashes the War Wheel against them. The Blackhawks prevail in the fight. Black Mask is able to elude capture following the battle when Blackhawk is unable to fire upon his own brother.

Edited by Dick Giordano.