Tuesday, October 29, 2019

UTHEORY OF : Ghosts (Limited Collectors' Edition)



Here's DC's second and final horror tabloid - Limited Collectors' Edition C-32 - Ghosts - from late 1974 (cover-dated Jan. 1975)...10 stories, all written by workhorse Leo Dorfman, who sadly passed away a few months before this issue came out.

7 of the 10 had appeared in the ongoing Ghosts title, which DC had launched in 1971 as part of its horror boom. Weird War Tales debuted the same month, giving DC six - six! - ongoing horror titles.

Dorfman wrote every story in the first several issues of Ghosts and had been writing Superman and Superman-related stories for DC since the late 1950s. Comics writer and historian Mark Evanier has said that Dorfman may have been the most prolific Superman writer of the 1960s. In addition to Ghosts, Dorfman wrote similar stories for Gold Key's horror anthologies such as Twilight Zone.

Most of the stories here are solid, with the "haunted castle" types being more entertaining than some of the international ones. Ghost lions in Africa?

Art-wise, it's a mixed bag. We get two great-looking stories by Tony Dezuniga and well-crafted ones by Jim Aparo and ER Cruz. The rest are professional but not exceptional efforts by Art Saaf, Jerry Grandenetti, Ernie Chan, John Calnan, George Tuska (inked by Nick Cardy), Jack Sparling, Frank Redondo and Gerry Talaoc.

That's a swell cover by Cardy, who drew covers for 34 of the first 35 issues of the Ghosts title.

Ghosts was kind of an odd title to feature here, since it was one of DC's newest horror titles. House of Secrets, Unexpected and Witching Hour all had been around longer. This one and the previous House of Mystery tabloid must not have sold well, since DC didn't do any others...

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