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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential, unmissable, 5 stars,
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This review is from: Showcase Presents: House of Mystery, Vol. 2 (Paperback)
I was captivated and enthralled by these comics when I was a child -- adults always felt that comics were awful, a distraction from "real" books, from "real" reading. However, for many of us, these books actually led us to creative writing, and good literature -- these comics led me directly to Ray Bradbury, John Whyndam, M.R. James and countless other quality authors. Later, these kinds of stories led me onto the likes of Chekov. Of course, reading these comics some 30 years later, they don't have the same enthralling sense of the magical -- but one can appreciate them in other ways. One feels transported back to that time of naivety, when the stories were like a world complete, a space complete unto itself. The other point to mention is the extraordinary, quality artwork by unsung greats such as Redondo, Nino, Alcala and others , most of whom were from The Philippines. Get "House of Mystery" as soon as possible if you were a fan of the genre back in the 60's and 70's -- and at the price, how could you go wrong? You will be transported back ( mentally at least ! Though who knows??? ) to the time when you huddled alone under the bed covers, or read alone in a quiet room on a rainy afternoon, enchanted by these odd, weird tales. A real trip then, back into time of childhood -- a time of naivety, creativity and wonder.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A BEVY OF LEGENDARY ARTISTS!,
This review is from: Showcase Presents: House of Mystery, Vol. 2 (Paperback)
One era/genre of comics that seems to get little attention are the horror comics of the 1970's. For a genre that seemed almost a throwaway back then there certainly were a myriad of titles being produced. DC had House of Secrets, Tales of the Unexpected, Ghosts, Ghost Castle, The Witching Hour, Weird Mystery, Dark Mansion, Phantom Stranger, and of course, The House of Mystery. Funny thing about all these old horror comics that seemed to be so lightly regarded...they had some of the best artwork around. The roll call for the second volume of "Showcase Presents The House of Mystery" includes such masters as Berni Wrightson, Neal Adams, WM Kaluta, Gil Kane, Gray Morrow, Russ Heath, Wally Wood, Nick Cardy, and Jim Aparo. It's an incredible lineup of artists.
The second volume re-prints issues #195 - 211 of the regular comic series, spanning the years 1971 - 1973. By today's graphic standards, the stories are somewhat tame. One must remember that the dreaded Comics Code Authority still had their control, pre-direct distribution. The stories in House of Mystery owed a lot to the EC Comics of the 1950's, often going for shock endings with twists of irony. One can also see influences by many great early horror writers on these stories such as H.P. Lovecraft and Arthur Machen. "Things Old...Things Forgotten" certainly seems to be one of those tales influenced by Machen's lore of mysterious and ancient woodland beings, far older than the human race. This tale finds a would-be conqueror cutting a path through the wilderness to try and surprise his enemies, until he encounters something far more dangerous than man. Writghtson illustrated this story and its one of the best in the book. One of those stories of ironic morality is "The Beast's Revenge" illustrated by Mike Kaluta. When a man kills his own sister to get her half of the family farm, nature decides to take its own revenge. An amusing story with art by Jim Aparo is "The Demon Within" about the drastic means a mother and father use to curb their seven year-olds ability to transform into a hideous demon. I would be remiss if I did not mention the spectacular covers of these issues, the bulk of which were done by Adams, Kaluta, and Wrightson. The ghostly Adams covers for 197 & 198 are masterpieces, My favorite cover, however, is Wrightson's Lovecraft inspired pieces for issue #204. This depicts a gruesome, slime-like creature with multitudes of eyes all over its shapeless body. Wrightson's Dracula cover for #211 is another standout. There's no doubt that the best covers of the early 1970's were found on The House of Mystery. Providing some comic relief throughout the book is longtime Mad cartoonist Sergio Aragones with his always hilarious cartoons. This is just great stuff and at $16.99 for over 500 pages of comics, it's a great value as well. Five out of Five Stars! Reviewed by Tim Janson
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Gorgeous art, mediocre stories,
By
This review is from: Showcase Presents: House of Mystery, Vol. 2 (Paperback)
The review would probably be more like a 3.5, if that were available.
This book has so many truly great comic book artists, it's ridiculous. Here's the rub - the stories tend to be VERY derivative and extremely moralistic. They showcase the kind of prudishness the comics code sometimes fostered. Some stories flat out plagiarize Lovecraft (but bowdlerize him). The best parts of the stories are Cain's narrative framing, which is pretty neat though not particularly out of the ordinary for a horror anthology (for instance, I think Phantom Stranger does a much more intriguing job of it). The stories are mildly amusing and of historical interest, though, provided you're a genre buff. Unfortunately, the stories are overly reliant on plot - especially on "twilight zone twist" endings that fail fairly frequently (though there are one or two good ones). If M. Night Shyamalan movies annoy you, these stories will make you want to slit your wrists. To give you an idea - robots, Nazis and Satanists (and other cliches) show up in just the first 100 or so pages. All in all, 100% must for cultural historians or graphic fiction/art buffs. The art is literally gorgeous, esp in B&W. I really cannot emphasize how cool some of the art is. The fact DC is releasing so much of our cultural history, even what's not considered "high-brow" is to be commended and folks who read these comics as kids will probably be well-served to purchase this book. The technical aspects of the release are also excellent. It has an index for easy reference and crisp B&W. I really appreciate the fact DC releases these Showcase books. Occult/horror comics buffs who aren't as into art may be mildly disappointed (it's not nearly as good as the other reviews indicate) but it's still worth a buy if you have an historical interest in horror fiction. So IMO, despite some reservations, it's still a definite buy for genre buffs, at this price. I'd still buy The Spectre TPB or Phantom Stranger Showcase books first, though as those are more or less the premier DC occult comics - complete with great art and great writing. Mainstream comic types (who are not nostalgic for their youth) may want to look it over first as the stories are extremely dated and may be of limited interest to those who are not nostalgic, cultural specialists, artists or art aficionados, or horror/occult fans.
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