In the summer of 1969 Marvel decided to spread its wings and attempt to return to making magical mystery comics as they had done less than a decade before. The supernatural was popular again, so much so that the Comics Code had done little when DC brought forth a truly scary The House of Mystery under Joe Orlando's editorial control. DC was onto something and Marvel wanted a taste. To that end they announced two new titles -- Tower of Shadows and Chamber of Darkness. Fantagraphics attempted to reprint Tower of Shadows but is only able to do so in an incomplete form. For some reason two stories based on H.P. Lovecraft stories were not able to be reprinted, much to the detriment of this otherwise handsome volume.
"At the Stroke of Midnight!" by Jim Steranko is the first and the best story in the series. Steranko was at his very best, offering up a haunted house story that fragmented time for the characters and the reader as well. "From the Brink!" by Johnny Craig gives us a dandy tale of a man who is seeking to root out fake mediums and then he finds a real one. "A Time to Die!" by Stan Lee and John Buscema and Don Heck is a tale of a mad scientist and his even madder assistant and what happens when the former discovers the secret of immorality. Cover by John Romita, replacing one by Jim Steranko which Stan Lee rightly deemed in my eyes as less effective.
"Witch Hunt!" by Roy Thomas, Don Heck and Dan Adkins tells the tragic story of a man looking for witches but gets surprised when he finds something else. "Look Out, Wyatt -- Automation's Gonna Get Your Job!" by Gary Friedrich, John Buscema and John Verpoorten is a story set in a mine where men fear machines will take their jobs, but one man finds that fear ends up threatening them even more. "One Hungers" by Neal Adams and Dan Adkins has a few hippies uncover a voracious menace from across time. Cover by John Romita for the Adams story.
"The Moving Finger Writhes...!" by Len Wein, Gene Colan and Mike Esposito is the story of a man who is a failure until he finds a special book which lets him glimpse the future, but what's there is both wonderful and terrible. "Midnight in the Wax Museum!" by Gary Friedrich, George Tuska and Marie Severin features a reporter who wakes up one day and discovers a house has appeared from nowhere and then he finds aliens. "The Terrible Old Man!" by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith finished this issue but sadly is not in this collection. Cover by Marie Severin for the Friedrich and Tuska tale.
"Evil is a Baaaaad Scene!" by Allyn Brodsky and Don Heck has two hippies seeking cheap thrills but find more than they bargained for when they let an evil mystic cast spells in their apartment. "One Little Indian!" by Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan and Dan Adkins tells the story of a cruel man who is cursed and is warned to avoid Indians, which he tries to do. "To Sneak -- Perchance to Dream!" by Tom Sutton is a sequel to a Chamber of Darkness story in which two spies occupy a living house in order to blow up a plutonium plant. Cover by Marie Severin and Herb Trimpe for the Brodsky and Heck tale.
"The Demon that Devoured Hollywood!" by Roy Thomas, Barry Windsor-Smith and Dan Adkins is about a famous horror film actor famous for his make-ups, but who has a terrible secret which ultimately destroys him. "Flight into Fear!" by Wally Wood tells of a lame young man who falls asleep on a gargoyle and before you know it finds himself a giant in a land of people needing a sword-wielding hero. "Time Out!" by Gerry Conway and Syd Shores gives us the story of a desperate couple who find themselves locked in a haunted house, and they lose something but gain something as well. Cover by Barry Windsor-Smith and Bill Everett for the Thomass-Windsor-Smith story.
"The Ghost-Beast!" by Wally Wood is another sword and sorcery story in which a character named Beowulf fights a deadly monster, but it turns out he is a menace as well. "Contact!" by Tom Sutton is a two-page bit of fun about a power-hungry old man who makes contact with aliens, much to his regret. "The Scream from Beyond!" by Steve Skeates, Gene Colan, and Dan Adkins tells the story of an evil man who causes crashes to record the sounds, but who finds a sound he doesn't want. Cover by Marie Severin for a reprint story "Man in the Rat Hole!" by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. (Not in this collection.)
"The Scream of Things" by Allyn Brodsky, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Vince Colletta is about a researcher and an evil girl who find more than they can handle in a cursed mansion. "Of Swords and Sorcery!" by Wally Wood is another sword and sorcery effort, this one filled with an evil sorcerer, an elf, and a transformed dwarf in addition to the usual hero and damsel in distress. Cover by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Marie Severin for the reprint story "I Was Trapped by Titano, the Monster the Time Forgot!" (Not in this collection.)
"Sanctuary!" by Wally Wood is yet another sword and sorcery tale about a man who would be king and seeks a crown in a forbidden place. Cover by Berni Wrightson for the Wood tale. The rest of the issue is comprised of reprints featuring artwork by Steve Ditko and Don Heck. (Not included in this collection.)
"Pickman's Model" by Roy Thomas and Tom Palmer. Cover by Berni Wrightson. The balance of the issue was filled with work drawn by Don Heck and Jack Kirby. Only Wrightson's cover is included in this collection.
This one-short King-Size Special cover by John Romita is included as well.
Here is Jim Steranko's rejected cover for the debut issue of Tower of Shadows. It's an awesome piece of artwork, but I have to agree with Lee that Romita's was likely to sell more books.
With both Tower of Shadows and Chamber of Darkness, Marvel wanted to tap into that EC horror host vibe as both Warren and DC had done. To that end they created Digger, above seen in a distinctive outfit by Steranko.
John Buscema renders him in his more traditional look for the third story in the first issue. Buscema's version is less offbeat but creepier.
Digger shared hosting duties with the official host of
Chamber of Darkness, one Headstone P. Gravely. Both Digger and Gravely show up in the early issues of
Tower of Shadows, but soon Marvel lets them fade away in favor of letting the artists introduce their own tales. I hated to see the hosts go, but using the real talent was actually quite in keeping with Marvel's general trend of promoting that talent for the fans.
Tower of Shadows changed its title to
Creatures on the Loose and became a home to more vintage monster stories from the Atlas days and sword and sorcery, specifically Marvel's first King Kull story by Berni Wrightson, and later Gullivar of Mars by Gil Kane and Thongor of Lemuria by a host of talents. Man-Wolf finished off the series. But for all that, I never forgot
Tower of Shadows and really enjoyed this chance to tumble into its pages again.
Rip Off
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