Customer Reviews

Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery Archives Volume 1

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Dark Horse has breathed life into yet another Gold Key classic series. Boris Karloff, Tales of Mystery was a mainstay of the line from 1962 until the day it folded.

Reading through the four books presented in total, I remembered why I enjoyed them so much. It's not that the art was always great, nor that the stories were so extraordinary either. I was young, and they were frightening. Now, they are still surprising, yet the art takes me to time when I wondered who these folks were who made them. I like the art of Heck, Sekowsky, Gill, Evans, Speigle, Giolitti, Certa and Moore. No matter what kind of paper they are printed on, you can tell. Having written a book on Tom Gill, I appreciate this opporunity to see his work the way he would have liked to see it, in glossy color.

Do I have a favorite story? It is hard to pinpoint any one book that does stand out.

The forward by Sara Karloff is welcome. Learning a little more about Mr Boris Karloff is a treat. The cover for this book rocks!

Well done folks.

Time had a funny way of creating a rosy memory of certain people, places and things of childhood. I can honestly say that this is one instance in which the memory was spot on. While other kids thrilled to reading the exploits of Marvel and DC comic superheroes, I was mesmerized by the Whitman/ Gold Key comics. The titles of Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery, Twilight Zone, Ripley's Believe it or Not! and the countless other TV and movie tie-ins. The art was great, stories were fascinating and the lush, paintings that adorned the covers really sucked you in as a kid. This deluxe, hardbound edition 1 of BK Tales of Mystery is nothing short of stupendous. The first 4 issues are here in full color with front and back covers reproduced as well. No more hunting down "reader copies" of old , musty comics or paying through the nose for high grade issues that you would have to keep in a bag. This volume was an obvious labor of love by the folks at Dark Horse. Learn about the artists and writers( mostly uncredited originally). You'll be amazed at some of the talent that worked on these( Frank Miller!). If you loved these comics as a kid, this is a great opportunity to visit with an "old friend" that has certainly aged well. Enjoy!

Once again Dark Horse has come to the rescue of a comic series that may have been lost to obscurity. This time its Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery. In the 1960s, the aging horror icon lent his name for this anthology series from Gold Key Comics. This second volume presents issues #5 - 10 in their entirety, originally published in 1963 - 1965. In much the way that the Cryptkeeper or Uncle Creepy introduced the stories in "Tales from the Crypt" and "Creepy" magazine, Karloff introduces readers to the stories within.

Like classic EC Comics, the stories generally featured ironic twists at the end or had a moral message to relate. In "Possessed" a group of friends who have a `black magic club' foolishly play with a Quija board and end up trapped by evil spirits. In "A Cage for Hassan" a greedy and paranoid Arab merchant has the tables turned on him at the end leaving him trapped in a prison of his own mind's making. In "The Terrible Dark Glasses" a man murders a wealthy Optician in order to marry his wife and steal his fortune. But the dead Doctor's mysterious eyeglasses reveal imagery, which is too terrifying for the murderer to bear.

Each issue of the comic also included a one-page text story and a Key of Knowledge feature, which featured various topics such as archaeology, or understanding weather. The main difference between theses stories and those of EC Comics or Warren magazines lies in the art. The quality of art in Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery was simply not on a par as those other magazines. Occasionally there would be art by people like Joe Orlando, Frank Thorne, or Wally Wood, but more often than not, the art was by capable but mediocre journeymen artists and thus these stories lack that extra appeal. Still, the stories are a fun read and its great to see these in print after nearly fifty years.

Dark Horse hat taken the old Gold Key series Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery and put them into a beautiful bound anthology which is first class all the way. The reproduction is clean and beautiful, the introduction and extras are all great. So where is the problem. I remember the old series from my youth and I thought them at the time some of the coolest and scariest comics around. Unfortunately as I reread the stories they are not always first class. The artwork is below standard and the stories very elementary. Having said that, I did love going back to these old stories and Dark Horse cannot be faulted in any way. If a volume 2 comes out I'll be there.

I hesitated to purchase at first due to the rather steep cover price.
After some deliberation, I went ahead and bought the product to my ultimate delight.

The publication is FIRST CLASS.

The nicely drawn images have never looked better than on the pages of this DARK HORSE
publication. I don't remember them looking this clear and bright on the 1962-63 "comic"
copies. It certainly helps that they are printed on high quality paper meant to last
for decades.

This reader was instantly transported back to a time in 1962 when a quick ride on his "STINGRAY"
bicycle brought him to the corner drugstore to buy the latest edition of this series.

If you owned any of the early originals, you will certainly appreciate these well-made copies.

Tales of Mystery Volume 1 gathers the two-issue run of BORIS KARLOFF THRILLER, unavailable since 1962, and the first two issues of the comic that continued the series for the next two decades, packaging all in a book packed with lovely full-color panels throughout. The result is a 'must' for any fan of Karloff in particular and graphic novels and comics. It does an outstanding job of gathering Karloff masterpieces that might otherwise be lost to time, and deserves a place in any graphic novel library.

My Cheers to Dark Horse and other publishers for getting these old Gold Key comics back into print. I love horror comics, esp those of the early 70's. While the quality of Karloff Tales of Mystery is not up to par against the classic EC horror comics, the DC horror comics of the 70s or even the Warren Publishing magazine, they're still a goofy kind of fun to be had here. The art is a bit sub-par with it's trademark Gold Key look. The cover paintings are amazing, of course. The writing is decent. This is mostly for avid Gold Key fans and horror comic buffs. Other will be disappointed. Lovely job at the packaging, as is expected from Dark Horse.