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HOUDINI’S COMIC TURNS



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Harry Houdini’s very first appearance in the comic books took place in February 1945, inside this ultra-rare Mask #1.

It was a four-page story called “The Touch That Failed.” Author and artist unknown - unless some of you Houdiniphiles are hoarding a copy in your inner sanctum!? Please let us know if you have any info. (The "Evil" cover artist was L.B. Cole.)

His second comic-book appearance was here, in 1946:

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The artist and writer here was the legendary Donald Sprang, who later had a long and lucrative career drawing Houdini's twin brother Batman.


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Houdini retro media history is breaking wide this month, with the re-release of his 1919 feature film The Grim Game making a whistle-stop tour on its way to eventual airing on TCM. For excellent coverage, see John Cox’s blog Wild About Harry.









2 comments:

  1. John CoxJuly 4, 2015 at 11:38 PM

    Whoa! I've never heard of The Mask! Does Mr. Moses know about this? I will have to check his updated Bibliography.

    And thanks for the shout-out. :)

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  2. Leo HeviaJuly 5, 2015 at 12:16 PM

    I believe Mr. Sprang used actual photos of HH as reference guides. It's clear in at least two if the illustrations. You can see it in the drawing of HH about to cut that poor man's head off. It's from a photo of HH about to cut Collins' head off in the Dr. Lynn illusion. The other illustration shows a seated and manacled Harry. That's straight out of the iconic photo of HH manacled to the hilt while seated in a chair.

    I believe the Sprang used a copy of the Kellock bio because those two photos are in there.

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