ACTION & MYSTERY - I'VE GOT 'EM COVERED...

Copyright DC COMICS

Before we begin, just a brief explanation about my absence from blogging (aside from minor layout amendments to some old posts) for the last couple of months.  Had a few health and family care concerns to contend with, which have distracted my attention and sapped my energy and enthusiasm for writing anything new.  Matters still not fully resolved, but I've forced myself to write the following short post before you all start thinking I've fallen off the twig.  So here goes...

Regular readers may recall a post I published some years back about the true tale of a baby who was born five years after his mother's death.  I first read a reprint of the Simon & Kirby comic strip account of it in Black Magic #2, back in 1974, and a couple of years ago a commenter informed me that there'd been another, two-page version of the story related in The House Of Mystery #196 in 1971.  I recently decided I'd like to read it, but baulked at paying any of the rather hefty asking-prices that some issues are listed at on eBay - from as little as £20 to as high as £245 depending on condition.

Had it been a comic I really desired, I'd have bought a lower-priced copy, but I really only wanted to satisfy my curiosity about the two-page strip and couldn't justify to myself spending anything over a few quid on a mag that wasn't crying out to me to own, its Neal Adams cover not withstanding.  So I bought a coverless copy for a mere £1.75 just so that I could read the two-pager.  Then I decided to replace the missing cover just to make the mag more presentable, so sourced an image of the front cover online.

There were also glimpses of the ads on the interior and back covers, and I was fortunate enough to own a Superboy issue with those same ads, which luckily required some minor repair to the cover, justifying my careful removal of it it to fix, then scanning it to create a duplicate.  I printed out the front cover of HOM on glossy photo paper, attached it to a print-out of the Superboy cover, re-scanned it and printed it on high-quality white paper.  Had to play around with it to get it more or less the right size, but the end result was a complete issue with cover, though obviously my 'facsimile' isn't quite as sharp or as vibrant as an original.

A few years back I also acquired a coverless issue of Action Comics #352, which was a bit tatty and in need of 'tarting up'.  I've since replaced it with a superior condition copy, but was loath to simply discard its predecessor.  So I scanned the exterior and interior cover of the better copy, printed it out, then restored and repaired the tatty incarnation, resulting in a complete and acceptable condition reading copy.

I've included photos for your consideration, as well as the two-page tale which prompted me to buy The House Of Mystery issue.  Feel free to let me know what you think, and if you'd like to remind yourselves of the Simon & Kirby version of the tale, you can do so by clicking this link.  (Incidentally, the mags' original interior pages look a bit too yellowish in the following pics, but I think that might be the result of being photographed under fluorescent lights.)

And now, the two-page tale from The House Of Mystery #196, drawn by Wayne Howard.  (Click on image to enlarge, then click again for optimum size.)  Just like the Simon & Kirby account, this version attributes events as occurring in England, though Walter's mother gave birth to him in Edinburgh, so yet again, our American friends seemingly confusing 'England' as being synonymous with all parts of Great Britain.