Talk about the end of an era! More than 30 years and 3oo issues after it was opened, the House of Mystery closed its doors. Its main contemporary, House of Secrets, had been cancelled in 1978 and The Unexpected put out its final issue in 1982. I really like the topical Mike Kaluta cover. It may not be his best horror cover at DC, but it suits the occasion. While the stories in this issue are fine, it is the framing sequence written by the team of Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn and drawn by Adrian Gonzalez. In this story, Cain is furious when he discovers that he receives a Notice of Eviction and Demolition. He storms the DC offices and gets argues his case to Karen Berger and Joe Orlando, but to no avail. Things get really crazy in the final few pages when a second Cain begins to narrate the story of the Cain we've been following (Cain Prime?). It's a head scratching, meta textual moment that likely inspired Grant Morrison. All in all, it is a fitting finale to a fine series.Monday, December 20, 2010
Exit Stage Left: House of Mystery #321
Talk about the end of an era! More than 30 years and 3oo issues after it was opened, the House of Mystery closed its doors. Its main contemporary, House of Secrets, had been cancelled in 1978 and The Unexpected put out its final issue in 1982. I really like the topical Mike Kaluta cover. It may not be his best horror cover at DC, but it suits the occasion. While the stories in this issue are fine, it is the framing sequence written by the team of Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn and drawn by Adrian Gonzalez. In this story, Cain is furious when he discovers that he receives a Notice of Eviction and Demolition. He storms the DC offices and gets argues his case to Karen Berger and Joe Orlando, but to no avail. Things get really crazy in the final few pages when a second Cain begins to narrate the story of the Cain we've been following (Cain Prime?). It's a head scratching, meta textual moment that likely inspired Grant Morrison. All in all, it is a fitting finale to a fine series.
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I must admit I only picked up the occasional issue of HOM, but they made a nice change of pace to the superhero comics of the time. I'll have to dig this one up.
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