Velma and Marcie in The House of Mystery

 

When Marc Tyler Nobleman, comics' historian and Patron of this blog, suggested a Velma and Marcie pairing on this blog, I knew just where I would set a tale featuring them.  Thanks for the inspiration, Marc!

New Mutants in the House of Mystery

The original splash page that I was working from required a bit of tweaking before I could add in the New Mutants.  Here's a look at the behind the scenes progress:

Son of Satan in the House of Mystery

 

There aren't a lot of places that would welcome Daimon Hellstrom as a tenant, but I think that The House of Mystery might just be one of them.  It would be interesting to see just what led him there, and what goes down once he spends the night. 

Mephisto enters The House of Mystery

 

There aren't too many guests that might make Cain nervous, but I think Mephisto could be one of them. It might be fun to read a story in which the spooky tables are turned.

Sherlock Holmes in The House of Mystery

 

Never mind Moriarty, Sherlock may have just met his match right here.  I heard some mention of Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law teaming for a third Sherlock Holmes installment, and I'm all for it.  While the series hasn't reached the heights of the Jeremy Brett or Benedict Cumberbatch versions (or even Basil -ahem- Rathbone) for me, I still find the first two films entertaining and it's always good to have more Holmes content.  At least we know for sure Enola Holmes has another movie coming up on Netflix.

Daredevil in The House of Mystery

 

Daredevil works best as a street level hero, but it's fun to see him way over his head with more larger than life challenges from time to time.  Whether it's battling The Sub-Mariner, tangling with Ultron or getting caught in the path of Mephisto, it's been interesting to see how Matt Murdock deals with the situations that he finds himself in.   

Hawkeye in the House of Mystery

 

I saw that Can and Abel have been cast for the upcoming Netflix series, and I an glad that they will be a part of the mix.  DC's most famous horror hosts have entertained readers for years, and it's high time they received a live action treatment!  I'm not familiar with actors Sanjeev Bhaskar and Asim Chaudhry, but I hope they do the roles justice with equal amounts of mystery, darkness, and humor.

This is only Part One of a Two-Part Tale, so make sure you come back tomorrow for the exciting conclusion!

Groo the Wanderer in The House of Mystery

There are certain artists that fill out my list of superlatives for comic book artwork.  My personal favorite?  Nobody will top Jim Aparo for the memories his artwork stirs from my childhood.  Best comics artist ever?  For me, it's Joe Kubert, hands down.  Best cover artists?  Gil Kane and Nick Cardy for Marvel and DC respectively.  But the best cartoonist of all time?  Now that one I do not even have to think about - Sergio Aragones!  His signature style has kept me laughing for decades, he is truly a master of the form!

The Addams Family in The House of Mystery

I have not seen the most recent Addams Family theatrical release, but I am interested to check it out.  It looks like it was made to appeal to a younger audience, which is fine.  The draw for me is that I really appreciate the designs of the animated characters.  They look very close to the cartoons of Chas Addams, where the creepy and kooky family got their start.  I appreciate it when adaptations stick so close to the source material.

Marvel Zombies in The House of Mystery

One of the best parts of Spider-Man: Far From Home was how Mysterio's illusions were depicted.  With the ever changing scenery and giant versions of the villain, it was just like the comic pages coming to life.  A great Easter Egg was Tony Stark rising from the grave in full armor, which clearly evoked the Marvel Zombies version of Iron Man - too cool!

Howard the Duck enters The House of Mystery

As I kid, I liked the fact that DC's horror titles would mix a little humor in with the scary goings-on. Giving Sergio Aragones a page or two to do his thing, or having Cain make darkly funny introductions to the stories and torment his brother Abel helped to offset some of the dark themes within.  It was a mix that worked for me and helped make the tales of murder and evil deeds more palatable.

Ghost Rider enters The House Of Mystery

I liked the balance that dc had with its old horror titles like House of Mystery, The Witching Hour, or House of Secrets.  While the stories inside were filled with scary creatures and dark morality tales, the horror hosts that introduced them still had a sense of humor about them.  A wicked sense of humor to be sure, but it was definitely there.  It was a juxtaposition that worked well for a young reader like I was at the time.

Calvin & Hobbes Exit The House of Mystery

My father never really understood my fascination with comics growing up, but comic strips were another thing.  He enjoyed strips like For Better or For Worse, Robotman, Mother Goose and Grimm and especially Calvin and Hobbes.  It was nice to have  something that we could both enjoy despite the difference in our ages.  And hey, now that I am showing him and my Mom my favorite superhero flicks for movie nights, he's even coming around to what I loved about comic books.

Man-Thing enters The House of Mystery

I was looking over some previews of the newest Man-Thing series and was surprised to see him speaking.  I'm not sure how I feel about that change.  Yes, it probably makes the character a lot easier to write for, but I worry that it will make him seem even closer to Swamp Thing.  I used to like that Man-Thing was mute, it made him seem scarier and more like a force of nature.  Still, I can't judge from a couple of pages, maybe the new take works well.

Promethea Enters The House of Mystery

I was glad to see The House of Mystery make an appearance in the Justice League Dark animated feature.  While I thought that having Black Orchid as the embodiment of the house was an interesting spin, I did miss seeing Cain and Abel.  I was hoping they would show up during the run of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, but no such luck.  Perhaps they will finally get their chance on Justice League Action.

The X-Files in The House of Mystery

The X-Files is set to return to TV next January, and despite the wonky final seasons of the series and the movies that followed, I have to admit I'll be tuning in to see what Mulder and Scully are up to.  I was hoping that The House of Mystery would be getting a little more TV exposure, but that does not seem likely with the cancellation of Constantine.  There is talk of the show moving to a different network or its characters showing up on Arrow, so maybe there's still a glimmer of hope.

Iron Man enters The House of Mystery

Comic books have had a lot of horror hosts, and Cain was always my favorite.  I loved his look as well as the dark humor with which he would present his twisted morality tales and monster stories.  It was also fun to see him interact with fellow host Abel.  He never passed up the opportunity to play the older brother role and give the House of Secrets host a hard time.

Man-Thing and Cain / Invisible Girl and Elasti-Girl

Here are a couple of team ups that I think are just natural pairings.  Man-Thing looks like he stepped right off of a cover of one of DC's Bronze Age horror titles, so him crossing paths with Cain seems like a no-brainer.  Rita Farr and Sue Storm are both the sole females in a quartet of heroes and I am sure they would have plenty to talk about if they got together.  Put both adventures in one issue and you have a comic that I would have snapped up in a second!

The Thing and The House of Mystery

I was more of a superhero fan when I was a kid, but my bothers had a bunch of DC's horror comics around and I was definitely intrigued by them. I mostly was drawn to the art, which often seemed to be a notch above the more traditional comics, especially the covers. They always had an unexpecting character just about to face some sort of demon or animated skeleton, and sent shivers down my young spine! The stories were basically morality plays, and you could always count on the villain of the story meeting his grisly just desserts by the tale's end. I like that DC had Cain, the host of The House of Mystery, show up in a few of their mainstream titles once in a blue moon, just to remind the readers that it was one big shared universe. I haven't seen him or his cohorts outside of the Vertigo imprint in years - but hey, Swamp Thing and John Constantine are back in the mainstream DCU, so anything 's possible I guess!