| Ghosts | |
|---|---|
Cover to Ghosts #6 (July-August 1972). Art by Nick Cardy. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | Horror |
| Publication date | September-October 1971 to May 1982 |
| Number of issues | 112 |
| Main character(s) | Dr. 13 - The Ghost-Breaker (1980–1981) |
| Creative team | |
| Creator(s) | Leo Dorfman |
Ghosts is a comic book series published by DC Comics for 112 issues from September-October 1971 to May 1982. Its tagline was "True Tales of the Weird and Supernatural" (Dec. 1978), changed to "New Tales of the Weird and Supernatural," as of #75 (Apr. 1979), and dropped after #104 (Sept. 1981). Paul Levitz, in a quote on Mark Evanier's News From Me blog, states that prolific scripter Leo Dorfman created the title, and noted "... while it wasn’t a fan favorite (then or in retrospect), it was a disproportionately good seller."[1]
Contents |
Ghosts was one of several horror-mystery-suspense DC Comics series. Other notable DC horror titles include House of Secrets, House of Mystery, The Unexpected, The Witching Hour, Secrets of Sinister House, Secrets of Haunted House, Weird Mystery Tales, Doorway to Nightmare, and Tales of Ghost Castle.
Each issue of Ghosts carried multiple stories of the supernatural. The stories were prefaced by a short description introducing the premise and ended with a summation of how a mysterious justice was dealt to the evildoers of the tale.
The first issue of this series carried the singular title Ghost in its indicia, but everywhere else, including advance promotional house ads and even on its own cover, it was the plural Ghosts, as even the legal fine print would read from #2 on.
Starting with issue 37, April 1975, a new regular feature was added. At the front of each book a page of single panel depictions of alleged ghost sightings were listed in the fashion of Robert L. Ripley's Believe it or Not! features. These one-page introductory spreads were usually titled "Ghosts and the Supernatural."
The editorial page of issue 94, November 1980, announced, "Welcome to the haunted pages of the new GHOSTS"; two issues previously they had added 8 pages to the comic and 10 cents to the cover price.
Issue 95, December 1980, introduced to the Ghosts readership its first (and only) continuing-character feature, "Dr. 13 - The Ghost-Breaker." Dr. 13 was not an original creation of Ghosts but one introduced to the DC universe in 1951 on the pages of Star-Spangled Comics #122, and had more recently been put to significant use in The Phantom Stranger. Thirteen last appeared in #102, July 1981.
For the most part, Ghost was not "hosted" by a recurring character used in a framing sequence. In issue #104 (Sept./Oct. 1981), however, Squire Shade was introduced as the title's host. He lasted in that position until the book was cancelled with issue #112 (May 1982).