House of Mystery #73
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeHouse of Mystery #73 (April 1958) is a representative artifact of DC's post-Comics Code pivot, the moment when the long-running anthology series had fully abandoned its original supernatural-horror identity in favor of science-fiction and weird-mystery stories that could clear the Comics Code Authority's restrictions. Sitting in the heart of the Silver Age transition, it reflects the editorial strategy — sustained across the series' first 173 issues — of substituting monsters, aliens, and sci-fi menaces for the vampires and werewolves that the Code forbade. While the issue carries no landmark first appearance, its contents document the stable, versatile freelance bullpen that Jack Schiff assembled to keep DC's mystery-anthology line commercially viable throughout the late 1950s.
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The issue was published under the editorship of Jack Schiff, who oversaw House of Mystery through its science-fiction middle period after the series was retooled in the mid-1950s to comply with the newly formed Comics Code Authority. The Comics Code effectively banned overt horror content, pushing the anthology toward science fiction and suspense tales — a format that defined the book from roughly issue #1 through #173. Issue #73's lineup of stories was handled by a rotating pool of DC freelancers typical of the era: Bill Ely, Howard Purcell, George Papp, and Joe Maneely contributed interior art, while Maneely and Joe Sinnott shared the cover — one of the last covers Maneely would produce before his death in June 1958.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: April 1958; part of House of Mystery Volume 1, the series that ran 321 issues from December 1950–January 1951 through October 1983.
- Cover art by Joe Maneely and Joe Sinnott — notably one of Maneely's final DC covers before his accidental death in June 1958.
- Interior stories illustrated by Bill Ely ('The Museum That Came to Life'), Howard Purcell ('The Voodoo Battle'), George Papp ('The Secret of the Vengeful Parrot'), and Joe Maneely ('The Human Icicle').
- The issue also contains a one-page comic strip 'Bells and Noises!' by Morris Waldinger, originally from House of Mystery #14 — an early in-series reprint.
- A two-page humor strip, 'Peter Puptent Explorer' by Henry Boltinoff, appears in the issue and was later reprinted in Super DC Giant #S-13.
- No named recurring characters or major first appearances are recorded for this issue; all lead story characters make single appearances, consistent with the anthology format of the period.
- The issue falls within the post-Comics Code era of the series (roughly issues 1–173), during which DC replaced supernatural horror with science-fiction and mystery stories permitted under Code guidelines.
- Jack Schiff served as editor of House of Mystery during this period; his editorial stewardship defined the series' science-fiction anthology identity across the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints House of Mystery #14 (1953)
Reprinted in Century, The 100 Page Comic Monthly #26 (1958), All Favourites, The 100-Page Comic #10 (1958), Mystery in Space #5 (1959), The Hundred Comic Monthly #28 (1959), Big Boy #31 (1959), Big Boy #33 (1959), Big Boy #36 (1959), Super DC Giant #S-13 (1970), Big Boss #18 (1974), Atlas Artist Edition #1 (2023)
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