The Diversions Turns 10 "Best of" Birthday Bash! Archie Comics' Supernatural Side: Die In the Name of the Law! and The Man Who Tried to Kill Death

Happy anniversary, Groove-ophiles! This coming Saturday Marks 10 years since the Diversions hit the interwebs, so Ol' Groove thought we'd celebrate by looking back at some his favorite, but least viewed, posts from our first fateful year! We'll be back new and live next Monday with a special anniversary post. Until then, enjoy these "reprints" and rap with us about 'em!



Welcome back, my Groovy Ghoulies! Ol' Groove is once again dipping deep into his museum of the macabre to bring you the most spine-chilling comicbook tales of the 1970s. This time around, we're looking at the always-wholesome Archie Comics Group's entry into the eerie, Red Circle Sorcery.

If you want the full rundown on the history of Archie's Red Circle Comics Group, check out the howling history written by my pal Jon Gilbert posted right here at the Mighty Crusaders website. I'll wait by the coffin for ya...

Back? Okay then, now that you know all about how even the Archie folks tried to cash in on the creepy and cookie supernatural craze of the early 70s, let's take a look at a couple stories from Ol' Groove's very most favorite issue of RSS, the legendary issue #8 (May, 1974)!

First up is "Die In the Name of the Law!"by Mysterious Marv Channing and Gruesome Gray Morrow. I could always relate to this story of a compulsive collector (of pulps novels, which I also dig the most)...



Author Channing was on a roll this ish. Here he teams up with the master, Alex Toth, for "The Man Who Tried to Kill Death!"

Were-Week! Random Reads: "Requiem for a Werewolf!" by Channing and Sutton

HooowwwOOOOOOOOOO's it going, Groove-ophiles! Another day, another werewolf (well, it is October...)! This time, Marv Channing and Tom Sutton bring us a howling and happening horror tale whose ending just might have inspired John Landis' classic ending for An American Werewolf in London! (Don't know if that's the case, just me speculatin' and trying to get some chatter started...) From Tales of Evil #2 (January 1975), here's "Requiem for a Werewolf!"

Makin' Chaykin: Red Circle Sorcery Two-fer

Why, oh, why haven't I started a regular Howard Chaykin segment here on DotGK? To be totally honest...I dunno. But never let it be said that Ol' Groove makes the same mistake forever! To celebrate the sensational skills of "Humble Howie", welcome to the first official installment of Makin' Chaykin. And since it's a Tuesday, let's kick things off with a two-fer! Here's a pair of extremely rare Chaykin masterpieces that originally appeared in Archie Comics' Red Circle Sorcery. From Red Circle Sorcery #6 (January 1974), check out "The Patience of a Cat" written by Carole Seuling, followed by the Marv Channing authored "Pirate Island" from Red Circle Sorcery #10 (September 1974).

If You Blinked You Missed: Red Circle's Mad House

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Hey, I know that you know that for a short time in the early 70s, squeaky-clean Archie Comics (under its Red Circle imprint) dabbled in the occult-style comics that were so popular at DC and Charlton at the time with Red Circle Sorcery (aka Sorcery and Chilling Adventures in Sorcery). But did'ja know that they produced a second, short-lived mystery comic called Mad House (taking the numbering from Archie's Madhouse/Madhouse Ma-ad/Mad House Glads, a sometimes experimental Archie humor comic)? Mad House ran for three issues (July-November 1974) and was pretty much a clone of Sorcery with the main difference being that editor Gray Morrow didn't contribute much more than covers. He did manage to round up some pretty far-out creators to fill its musty, macabre pages though. F'rinstance, dig this rock-n-roll fear-fable (featuring a parody of the Grateful Dead, yet!) by writer Marv Channing and artist Doug (Johnny Quest) Wildey from Mad House #95!


Ish #96 sports a story spotlighting the sexy side of the supernatural--"Demon Kiss" by none other than a young Bruce Jones. Check it out!


And finally, from Mad House #97, here's a fun riff on the great Sherlock Holmes by Marv Channing and Frank (Red Sonja) Thorne. Here comes "The Vampire Hunter!"


Henry Hobson was to have become Mad House's regular lead feature, but sadly, issue 97 was the final issue for Gray Morrow and company. After a few months in limbo, the mag returned to its humorous roots as Madhouse Comics and would last another 33 issues before the keepers decided to lock it up for good.