Monday, November 08, 2021

Wait, I guess DC already had a Fugitive-riff with Deadman, huh?

A well, unexpected, recent quarter bin find: from 1968, The Unexpected #108, "Journey to a Nightmare" Written by George Kashdan, art by Jack Sparling.
I recognized the name, but am still not sure I had read any Johnny Peril stories: feel like I had to have seen a reprint somewhere? Maybe Showcase #100? No? Well, his DC Database entry there describes him as "a detective of the occult and 'adventurer of the weird,'" but here he seems to be in maybe a Fugitive riff, framed by mysterious mobster the Planner, and on the run from the cops and the crooks. Searching for the Planner to clear his name, Johnny was in a remote fishing village, and gets wrapped up in a mystery involving sea serpents and a possible witch. The Planner was behind some of the trickery, but I don't Johnny makes a lot of headway in his search here: he wouldn't until #110, then would begin weirder stuff after that.
Also this issue: "Tales of the Mad Mod Witch: the Cat with a 1,000 Lives!" The intro may be the most horrifying part...A short on a possessed boxer, and some trickery in "The Crazy House!"
There's also an ad for the Aurora Hobby Kit model of the Pan-Am Space Clipper from 2001: A Space Odyssey! That seems like an odd tie-in, I wonder how it sold?

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