Heroic Halloween Horror SCORPION "Devil Doll Commission" Conclusion

When Last We Left our Pulp-inspired Hero...

Art by Ernie Colon

...freelance "problem solver" Moro Frost aka The Scorpion, is engaged by the wife of missing financier Jules Reinhardt, who dabbles in the occult.
The Scorpion finds Reinhardt...murdered!
Frost learns that the dead millionaire was once smuggler Max Cervantes, who "disappeared" after plastic surgery...becoming the respectable Reinhardt!

But who ordered the death of Cervantes/Reinhart..and why?

The answer to both those questions is Buddy Lyle, a crooked nightclub owner owed a fortune in gambling debts by the dead mllionare...who hadn't paid up!

Lyle used the powers of a voodoo mambo to kill Reinhardt, then killed her, but not before she cast a curse on him.

Though Lyle had the numbers for Reinhart's foreign bank accounts, only the dead man's wife could draw funds from them.

Lyle's men kidnap Bishop, The Scopion's aide, impersonating Mrs Reinhart, and are about to board a plane for Panama when the Scorpion strikes and kills Lyle's aides and pilot.

The criminal is about to force The Scorpion to pilot the airplane or he'll kill his far-from-helpless hostage...

The Scorpion was the creation of Howard Chaykin, a young writer-artist who was already a recognized talent in the comics industry.

Unfortunately, while he was (and is) good, he was also slow, and the deadline for this issue crept up on him.

To get the issue out on time, a group of friends including Mike Kaluta, Walt Simonson, Ed Davis, and Berni Wrightson jumped in doing whatever needed to be done, so the book is a fascinating amalgam of styles.
The next issue solved the deadline problem by replacing Chaykin and his version of The Scorpion with a present-day costumed super-hero who was more Spider-Man than anything else.

That Scorpion disappeared after his one issue.

Chaykin would revive the character at Marvel with modified garb and a new name; Dominic Fortune, who continues occasionally-appearing in both present-day and flashback tales.

The Scorpion (in any form) wasn't included in the recent short-lived revival of the Atlas/Seaboard characters.
BTW, here's another, never-used cover for #2 by Howard Chaykin...

Wonder why it wasn't used...

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Weird Heroes
Volume 1

Heroic Halloween Horror SCORPION "Devil Doll Commission" Part 2

When Last We Left Our Hero...

Unused cover from Scorpion #2 (1975) by Howard Chaykin finally used as cover for Comic Book Marketplace #77 (2011).

...freelance "problem solver" Moro Frost aka The Scorpion, is engaged by the wife of missing financier Jules Reinhardt, who dabbles in the occult.
The Scorpion finds Reinhardt...murdered!
And Frost learns that the dead millionaire was once smuggler Max Cervantes, who "disappeared" after plastic surgery...becoming the respectable Reinhardt!

What does crooked nightclub owner Lyle see?

Be here Friday to find out...

The Scorpion was the creation of Howard Chaykin, a young writer-artist who was already a recognized talent in the comics industry.

Unfortunately, while he was (and is) good, he was also slow, and the deadline for this issue crept up on him.

To get the book out on time, a group of friends including Mike Kaluta, Walt Simonson, Ed Davis, and Berni Wrightson jumped in doing whatever needed to be done, so the issue is a fascinating amalgam of styles.

Please Support Hero Histories
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Weird Heroes
Volume 1

Heroic Halloween Horror SCORPION "Devil Doll Commission" Part 1

In the 1970s there were a number of pulp-style heroes in comics...

...and here's a never-reprinted story featuring one of the best of them against an occult menace!

...murdered via voodoo doll!

This spooky tale continues Tomorrow...

The Scorpion was the creation of Howard Chaykin, a young writer-artist who was already a recognized talent in the comics industry.

Unfortunately, while he was (and is) good, he was also slow, and the deadline for this issue crept up on him.

To get the book out on time, a group of friends including Mike Kaluta, Walt Simonson, Ed Davis, and Berni Wrightson jumped in doing whatever needed to be done, so the issue is a fascinating amalgam of styles.

Please Support Hero Histories
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Weird Heroes

Volume 1

Reading Room: PHANTOM LADY "Army of the Walking Dead"

From Phantom Lady #15: Matt Baker "good girl" art!  Zombies! Doctor Crime!

The splash page of the story is the inside cover of the comic, with only two colors.

Oh, did we mention ZOMBIES???

Enjoy...

"America comes first, even before Dad!"--Phantom Lady's Words to Live By!
Doctor Crime (not to be confused with The Crime Doctor), despite being the first supervillain the Fox incarnation of Phantom Lady fought, never returned.
When this story was reprinted as the cover feature in Great Action Comics #8, the splash page was left out, because the reprint publisher didn't have the cover printing plates, only the interiors for this issue!
As a result, the editor retitled the story "The Zombie".
The new cover was a combination of two redrawn story panels and a badly-rendered (and mis-colored) Phantom Lady.
The cover art is attributed in the Grand Comics Database to Jack Abel and Sol Brodsky.

Next: The Phantom Lady fights a villain who could be ripped from today's headlines: the fiend named Foreclose!

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