Countdown to Hallloween 2016 BLACK MAGIC "Madame Cyanide and Mister Tricks!" & HORROR TALES "Broomstick Witch"

Our final Black Magic post for the Countdown to Halloween 2016 blogathon...

...is a never-reprinted tale, which was redone with new art decades later!

Steve (Dr Strange) Ditko illustrated this story from Prize's Black Magic V4N5 (1954).

The writer is unknown, but could be either Joe Simon or Jack Kirby, since the book was produced by their studio.

Was it meant to be the first in an ongoing series about Mister Tricks and his attempts at debunking?

The tale's script (with minor changes) served as the basis of this story from Eerie Publications' Horror Tales V6N4 (1974) twenty years later...

"Romero", the artist who signed the piece is not Enrique Romero, who illustrated Modesty Blaise and Axa, but one of several other Romeros who've worked in American comics over the decades. 

We hope you've enjoyed our contributions to the Countdown to Halloween 2016 blogathon and hope you'll continue to check in occasionally to see what's new on the blog!

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Simon & Kirby Library: Horror!

(which doesn't include any of the tales we're running!)

Countdown to Halloween 2016: BLACK MAGIC "Man Who Captured a Ghost!"

Most people wouldn't consider our judicial system a source of horror...

...at least not the non-corporeal type!

Since Kirby (and Joe Simon) were the editors/art directors for the book, it's not unreasonable to think one or the other was also the story's writer.

While Kirby is clearly the cover artist...

...the interior art for the never-reprinted, cover-featured, tale from Prize's Black Magic V2N1 (1951) seems to be a combination of his layouts, pencils by Mort Meskin, and inks by Meskin and George Roussos!

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Simon & Kirby Library: Horror!

(which doesn't include any of the tales we're running!)

Countdown to Halloween 2016: BLACK MAGIC "Masterpiece"

Once more we open the crypt to reveal a never-reprinted tale...

...from Simon & Kirby's classic 1950s series!

Though Mort Meskin is listed as the penciler of this tale from Prize's Black Magic #6 (1951), it's pretty obvious he was working from Jack Kirby's layouts.

(George Roussos inked the tale,)

Since Kirby (and Joe Simon) were the editors/art directors for the book, it's not unreasonable to think one or the other was also the story's writer.

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Simon & Kirby Library: Horror!

(which doesn't include any of the tales we're running!)

Countdown to Halloween 2016: BLACK MAGIC "Don't Look Now!"

Let's start off our collection of never-reprinted tales from Simon & Kirby's Black Magic...

...with a terror-tale from the very first issue about a writer...

Ironically, we don't know who wrote this tale from Prize's Black Magic #1 (1953)!

It could be either of the editors, Joe Simon or Jack Kirby!

It could be penciler/inker Bill Draut, who had written some of the stories he illustrated for Harvey and DC!

We'll never know.

Note, that, unlike most of the other horror titles of the period, Black Magic didn't depend quite as much on gore and visceral shock.

That, unfortunately didn't save them from the witch hunt led by Dr Wertham in the mid-1950s, when almost all comics with horror elements were cancelled!

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Simon & Kirby Library: Horror!

(which doesn't include any of the tales we're running!)

Tell a Tale Three Times WEIRD "Land of No Return"

The first, horrifying version of this tale was HERE...

...the second, far less scary version of the story, is HERE!

Now continue with the final version...

Ajax/Farrell finally gave up the ghost (as it were) in 1958, but publisher Robert Farrell remained in publishing, doing non-comics projects.

In 1969, he joined with Myron Fass, a former comics artist who had failed to make a Silver Age color comics line (MF Enterprises) profitable, but saw that Warren Publications' b/w magazines (Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella) were selling very well!

With Farrell providing art from the Ajax/Farrell files, the two launched Eerie Publications with titles like Tales of Voodoo, Weird, and Terrors of Dracula!

This version of the tale appeared in Weird V3N4 (1969)

Was the alien entity modified from the original (1953) version, or was this the original version, modified for the first publication in 1953?

We'll never know...

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Four Color Fear

Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s

Tell a Tale Three Times: STRANGE FANTASY "Love Trap"

Here's a tale presented during the heydey of horror comics...

...then modified to satisfy the Comics Code, then re-modified to be more horrifying!

All we know about the credits for this tale from Ajax/Farrell's Strange Fantasy #6 (1953) is that it was produced by the Iger Studio, who supplied several publishers with stories and had a history of re-using their material over and over again...as you'll see from the follow-up entry to this at our "brother" RetroBlog, Atomic Kommie Comics!

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Four Color Fear

Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s

DEVILINA "Devilina Fights Corrupta in...Curse of the Ra Scarab"

Yesterday, we presented the origin tale of Devilina...

...today it's the introduction of the villainess who was supposed to be her arch-nemesis...except the book was cancelled after this issue!

Ric Estrada had some kool ideas, as this cover-featured tale from Atlas/Seaboard's Devilina #2 (1975) proves.
Since he owned the character, did he try to take it to another publisher, as Howard Chaykin did with his Scorpion series (which became Dominic Fortune at Marvel) or Rich Buckler did with his Demon Hunter (who became Devil-Slayer at Marvel and BloodWing at Galaxia Magazine)?
It might have been nice to see his concept fleshed out, but, sadly, it was not to be...
BTW, the cover was George Torjussen's sole comics credit.
He apparently got better at his art as he got older, as you can see HERE.
But he never returned to comics...

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Weird World of Eerie Publications
Comic Gore that Warped Millions of Young Minds!