Weird Mystery Tales #18
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeWeird Mystery Tales #18 (May 1975) holds a firm place in DC's Bronze Age horror lineage as the venue in which Lucien — later Dream's devoted head librarian in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman — made his debut in a one-page publisher's promotional story advertising the forthcoming Tales of Ghost Castle series. That cameo, however modest in scale, planted a character who would become one of the most resonant supporting figures in Vertigo's most acclaimed series, making this issue a genuine connective thread between DC's throwaway anthology era and the literary ambitions of the late 1980s. The issue also captures Eve at the height of her role as the series' sole host, a position she had only recently assumed from Destiny, illustrating the editorial fluidity DC practiced across its interconnected horror-anthology line.
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By the time issue #18 reached stands in May 1975, Weird Mystery Tales was in the final stretch of its three-year run under editor Joe Orlando, whose shop had championed the Bronze Age horror-anthology boom partly because, as Orlando himself recalled, the word 'weird' had proven a reliable sales draw across DC's anthology titles. Eve had fully taken over hosting duties from Destiny as of issue #15, after her own title Secrets of Sinister House was cancelled and she was folded into this book. The one-page Lucien preview — scripted by Paul Levitz and drawn by Ricardo Villamonte — was produced as an in-house promotional piece to build awareness for Tales of Ghost Castle ahead of its June 1975 debut, giving Levitz double duty on the issue alongside his lead story 'The Return of the Serpent.'
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: May 1975, published by DC Comics; cover by Ernie Chan.
- First appearance of Lucien: a one-page story-format promotional piece titled 'The New Arrival,' written by Paul Levitz and drawn by Ricardo Villamonte, advertises the new Tales of Ghost Castle series and features Lucien meeting Eve.
- Lucien went on to become a central supporting character — chief librarian of the Dreaming — in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman (beginning 1989), with the Ghost Castle later retroactively established as the deteriorating palace of Dream of the Endless.
- The issue contains three additional stories: 'The Return of the Serpent' (8 pages, written by Paul Levitz, art by Leopoldo Duranona), 'A Feline Feast!' (2 pages, by Lee Marrs), and 'Hell Hath No Fury' (7 pages, written by Robert Kanigher, art by Ruben Yandoc).
- Eve serves as host of all stories in this issue; Destiny does not appear, and Eve participates actively in the first and third stories rather than functioning purely as narrator.
- The series ran 24 issues from July–August 1972 to November 1975; issue #18 falls near the end of its run, with the title folding the same year.
- Lucien was apparently killed in Secrets of Haunted House #44 (January 1982) before Neil Gaiman resurrected and reimagined him starting with Sandman Vol. 2 #1 (1989).
- There is an ongoing collector debate about whether Weird Mystery Tales #18 or Tales of Ghost Castle #1 represents Lucien's 'true' first appearance; the former contains a one-page promotional cameo, the latter his first full hosted-story appearance.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Supercomic #113 (1976), Haunted Tales #34 (1979), Terror Tales Album #13 (1980), Il Est Minuit... l'Heure des Sorcières #9 (1981), Richard Dragon Combattant du Kung-Fu #12 (1981)
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