As we approach Halloween, it's only right that we turn our attentions to the great Boris Karloff - an actor synonymous with horror in movies, television... and even comic books!
Below is BORIS KARLOFF THRILLER # 1 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: October, 1962) and based upon the THRILLER television series pictured above.
And this is BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY # 23 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: September, 1968), the long-running title that succeeded BORIS KARLOFF THRILLER once the TV series was cancelled. How long did it run? Therein lies a "kinda-eerie tale" that I wrote about HERE!
BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY # 23 reprinted the magnificent photo cover and most of its interior stories from BORIS KARLOFF THRILLER # 1.
Like Rod Serling and Alfred Hitchcock, back in the days of my sainted sixties, Boris Karloff's anthology drama/horror TV series featured a great many famous and "would-soon-be-famous" guest stars performing in its episodes each week.
William Shatner, Robert Vaughn, Alan Napier, Russell Johnson, Richard Anderson, Cloris Leachman, James Gregory, Richard Kiel, Marlo Thomas, Jeanette Nolan, Marion Ross, Natalie Schafer, Victor Buono, Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York (in separate episodes), John Carradine, Mary Tyler Moore, and so on...
And, if you're as insanely fannish for that period of television (and comics) as I am, you might even find yourself reading an issue BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY or Gold Key's TWILIGHT ZONE series and imagine the 1960s-era actors who might be "playing the roles" alongside the story intros and outros of Four-Color-Karloff-and-Serling - and "hearing all their voices" as you read! ...Aw go on... Admit it! I do it often! ...But, I digress.
BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY # 23 had two single-panel cameo "guest stars" that didn't require a similar imaginative effort from me! Alas, they were silent, so no "voices" got to kick-in - in fact one of 'em wasn't even real!
...But, there they were nonetheless - one such cameo is absolutely indisputable, and the other I'll "defend to the death", because I'm such a crazy '60s fan!
The story "Past and Present Danger" involves a young woman's first trip to New Orleans in time for (...you guessed it) Mardi Gras, and her encounter with a handsome, charming stranger who, while just as "charming" as advertised, also leaves both our protagonist and the reader feeling just a tad... uneasy.
Here's a page from that story...
4 comments:
When I was young, I generally avoided the more "realistic" people comics--not that comics tend much toward realism in any case. Now, looking at the quality of those Gold Key covers, and provided with glimpses of the interior stories and art, I regret not having cultivated the taste until so much later. The only comics I bought that featured "real people" or approximated the live-action films and television were the Disney comics such as "Walt Disney Showcase".
Given that limited background, it makes a posting like this all the more tantalizing and nostalgic. I have since developed a taste for Karloff's Thriller series through watching reruns on Me TV.
As for the cameos you showed, I would certainly support your choices. And while of course I recognized the (unauthorized?) use of Donald Duck--which would be less startling today, I might add, as Disney owns practically every franchise--I also guessed correctly that the second figure would be Napoleon. The only difference in our guesses is that at first glance I would have pegged him to be a stand-in for the real Napoleon. But you make an irresistible case for its being a caricature or cameo of Jonathan Harris, especially with your comparison photo. So I totally support your choices of interpretation.
One title I did have access to, though through inheriting, not purchasing for myself, was Gold Key's version of Ripley's Believe It or Not. That one did intrigue me and it was not too intense for my young mind, at least the one or two issues I saw. Alas, I don't know what happened to those copies.
Thus, my appetite is ripe for more of Boris Karloff or any of the other, and there were many, Gold Key titles based on popular live-action TV series. In short, whatever you present, I will be here. Sorry for the name confusion last time I posted. My computer is having an identity crisis now that I am working from home. It doesn't know which account it is accessing.
Scarecrow:
Would it surprise you to learn that “back then” I, too, “generally avoided the more ‘realistic’ people comics”? Probably not.
In those days of “so many comics, so little allowance money”, you just couldn’t have everything – even if you COULD find most of it. Even at a TWELVE-CENT COVER PRICE! My priorities were the Disney, Warner Bros., and Hanna-Barbera comics from Gold Key, with a smattering of DC as a result of the BATMAN TV show, and occasionally a Gold Key adaptation of a TV show I liked such as VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, TIME TUNNEL, or STAR TREK.
The rest of it, I made up for in (so-called) adulthood… and am still doing so!
I bought my first copies (5 random ones, including one that I hope to discuss by Halloween) of BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY at New York Comic Con 2010, coinciding with the release – and my great enjoyment – of the BORIS KARLOFF THRILLER DVD set!
Both BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY and Gold Key’s TWILIGHT ZONE (largely the same qualities, only with Rod Serling doing the intros and outros) have been part of my more recent focus in “making up for it”. The stories, while often shorter than you might expect, deliver on what they promise with good, solid writing and art! And, those PAINTED COVERS are magnificent! No other publisher did that on anything resembling a routine basis. They were mostly the product of a talented artist/painter named George Wilson.
Yes, considering that Donald Duck could now legally and officially appear in Star Wars, The Muppets, and The Avengers, his appearance here is indeed “less startling today”.
As for Jonathan Harris, Gold Key never had an “actual Lost in Space comic” based on the TV show, preferring to stick with their original “Space Family Robinson” concept (different Robinson family, no Don West, no Robot, and no Smith) – and going so far as to eventually add the words “Lost in Space” to its cover title, once the TV show achieved great popularity. Odd considering that Gold Key DID publish comic book versions of the other Irwin Allen shows - VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, TIME TUNNEL, and LAND OF THE GIANTS. I always felt that “Lost in Space” and “Space Family Robinson” could have coexisted as separate titles, but what do I know…
So, perhaps this was Doctor Smith’s way of making his long overdue “Special Guest Star” appearance in a Gold Key comic!
Finally, I must also confess that, as this story was reprinted from Gold Key’s BORIS KARLOFF THRILLER # 1 (1962), it originally appeared about a good three years before LOST IN SPACE premiered in 1965. So, it’s VERY unlikely that the artist actually drew a character based on Jonathan Harris. But it IS serendipity that the story was REPRINTED during the final half-year of the show’s original network run (1968), so that readers of the time might make that fun comparison.
But, if you’re looking for an authentic cameo by Jonathan Harris as Doctor Smith, you’ll find one in THIS COMIC!
According to this Youtube video from your fellow comics blogger Tim DeForest (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxTLgX4nS1g), the reason Gold Key didn't publish a true "Lost in Space" comic book is that they felt that Irwin Allen's show was at least partially inspired by their "Space Family Robinson" series. They sued Allen, and the case was eventually settled out of court. Per the terms of settlement, Allen agreed to let Gold Key add the phrase "Lost in Space" to their "Swiss Family Robinson" title. In the video, DeForest discusses this around the five minute mark. Of course, though, I'd highly recommend watching the whole thing!
Sergio:
I would also highly recommend watching the whole thing – and you can do it HERE! As something of a Gold Key “expert and historian” (those words come so cheaply today, don’t they?), I give it very high marks. Spend the next 8 minutes and 47 seconds in sheer informative bliss!
And then I’d ask you to revisit My 50th Anniversary of Gold Key Comics Blog Post - back to back, just to see how vast a subject Gold Key actually is, and that neither the video nor my post comes remotely close to covering it all! I still regret the many things I left out, but it was near impossible under the circumstances during which I wrote it.
I hope that someday someone does a comprehensive survey of Gold Key… and they at least ask me to contribute or assist.
In contrast, there was a video that directly followed your linked-one on YouTube that was dreadful in the degree of its lack of accuracy, focus, and especially perspective. I might ask you to watch it as well, if only to contrast it with one that was VERY well done! But only if you really have 8 minutes and 4 seconds to completely waste! Here it is!
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