HOUSE OF SECRETS #91 May 1971
A young woman clad all in white flees in terror as a huge eagle smashes through the tall windows behind her. 'Death by the Eagle's Talon!' reads the caption on this Neal Adams cover for DC Horror anthology HOUSE OF SECRETS #91, cover dated May 1971.
Of course the cover is in no way representative of the tale it illustrates, THE EAGLE'S TALON. Anyone expecting a horror story about gigantic creatures crashing into tower blocks will be disappointed by a narrative which introduces us to a political agitator who bizarrely has an eagle's foot grafted on to replace a missing hand.
And those hoping to see more instances of pretty ladies being made victims of terrifying attackers will have to look elsewhere for their thrills, as the only character being terrorised in this story is a bald, overweight dictator. The creatures doing the terrorising are indeed over-sized eagles, which the narrative suggests are in the Generalissimo's mind, since he has evidently been cursed for his cruelty. But Neal Adams can be forgiven for exaggerating even further the size of the vengeful creature in order to create a dramatic cover-image, I'm sure you'll agree.
The revolutionary, El Aguila (yes, Spanish for 'Eagle', and no, not Marvel's Zorro-inspired character) is dead by page 2, and his eagle claw burnt to a crisp. And the cruel dictator's response is typical of such a figure's preposterous hubris.
The story, drawn by the legendary Wally Wood (though I can't find a record of its author anywhere) has some nice moments, such as this one where the Generalissimo makes a disturbing discovery--
Wood seems to enjoy meting out retribution to this bloated bigot. You're free to take away whatever symbolism these images might suggest to you--
Following this are a pair of single-page two-panel features both titled REALM OF THE MYSTICS, illustrated by Jack Sparling (again, there are no writer credits and online listings offer no clues as to the author of neither these nor any other stories in this issue).
Both seem to be the beginnings of narratives with no conclusion, almost like their writer came up with a neat opening idea but then didn't take the time to work out any explanation or resolution. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, making them quite intriguing really.
Next up is the frankly absurd PLEASE, DON'T CRY, JOHNNY! drawn by Sam Glanzman, about a kid with a head shaped like an egg who is the victim of other kid's bullying.
I won't give away anything about the story's ending, it has to be seen to be believed. But I must share this incredible picture of the fearsome Witch's Hat, a terrifying and potentially lethal playground attraction known and loved by all kids of that era-- Wow!
The final tale in this issue is THERE ARE TWO OF ME... AND ONE MUST DIE! I'm pretty certain the first two pages of this story have been swopped around, this dramatic splash-page being far more effective as an opener than its inexplicable inclusion after a page of narrative--
The story features that old stand-by of Horror and Fantasy stories, the mysterious foreign artefact, here "an ancient incense burner" that "may separate man from his madness"--
Suffering from an explosive temper, the tale's protagonist Marshall Perkins of course gladly pays the asking price of two hundred dollars, desperate that it will render him placid at all times--
Of course, the earlier splash page has already given away what will happen, and sure enough the remedy provided by the statue is the physical separation of Perkins into two different people--
And it doesn't take a genius to work out what the likely ending will be, writers in these anthologies regularly relishing the opportunity to show the innocent suffering and evil triumphing in a way that would not be considered appropriate in on-going titles--
The letters in this issue include a couple of declarations of love and affection from female readers addressed to the title's curator, Abel. The first of these, purportedly from a four-year old girl, Joanne Stern, sounds more the sort of thing a fourteen-year old boy might pen to amuse himself and his friends, but Abel plays along gamefully--
The second, from Cynthia Riggs, also elicits an appreciative response from our host--
Cynthia's letter refers to her namesake, the sultry blonde co-host of THE WITCHING HOUR, who'd featured in #88's framing sequence--
And finally I was warmed to see this page offering a variety of left-wing and counter-culture posters, which range from various Peace symbols to The Women's Liberation Movement, images from EASY RIDER and Picasso's sketch of DON QUIXOTE--
My thoughts on the first 2 parts of the SUPERMAN story arc KRYPTONITE NEVERMORE and on Kirby's JIMMY OLSEN #136 and FOREVER PEOPLE #1 can be found by clicking the covers below--
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