Halloween By Adams - Those Pesky Kids!

When DC returned to the classic ghostly comic book format in the 60's they employed a veteran of the form, Joe Orlando to spearhead the effort. He wisely brought aboard superstar artist Neal Adams to create some powerful covers for those early House of Mystery and House of Secrets covers. 

You can see clearly how Adams ability to capture realism made for even more potent images to drag the young readers to the long-forbidden format. Silly monsters maybe, giant monster perhaps, but now we were about to be graced by the classic blood-curdlers of ages gone by. 

At about this same time Hanna-Barbera launched what would prove to be their most successful creation of the late 60's and throughout the 70's and beyond. Scooby Doo, Where are You! (Isn't that supposed to be a question? ) was a monster hit as a group of older teens and their precocious Great Dane prowled the countryside looking for mysteries and finding always that it was all a hoax. 

But that was not to be the case in Joe Orlando's comics. Orlando himself produced the first cover of House of Mystery #174 which showcases a boney hand beckoning to a gang of kids to enter. A wonderful cover. And the ideal of kids finding out these mysteries became an iconic element of the covers going forward as rendered by Neal Adams. Below are those covers. Do you dare enjoy them? Of course you do. 

(Tony DeZuniga)

And that's a wrap on Halloween this year amigos. We close with Neal Adams and expect to see more Adams work as the next few months unfold. Be sure to check back. 

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