House of Secrets (DC, 1956 series) #23

Price: 0.10 USD

Pages: 36

On-sale Date: 1959-06-18

Editing: Jack Schiff (credited) (editor); Murray Boltinoff (credited) (associate editor); George Kashdan (credited) (associate editor)

Cover Thumbnail for House of Secrets (DC, 1956 series) #23

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The Curse of the Prophetic Pencil!

(Table of Contents)

cover / 1 page

Script:	?
Pencils:	Bernard Baily
Inks:	Bernard Baily
Colors:	?
Letters:	Ira Schnapp

First Line of Dialogue or Text:Great scott! It's scribbling another message of doom!
Keywords:pencils

Reprints (2)

Issue Data

Publisher's Brand: Superman DC National Comics
Indicia / Colophon Publisher: National Comics Publications Inc.
Indicia Frequency: monthly
Publisher's Age Guidelines: Approved by the Comics Code Authority
Printer: Printed in U.S.A.

Indexer Notes

On-sale date from copyright registration.

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 1)

Jowett Institute of Physical Training / advertisement / 1 page

I Scout Earth's Strangest Secrets!

(Table of Contents: 2)

Mark Merlin / comic story / 7.67 pages

Script:	Jack Miller ?
Pencils:	Mort Meskin (signed)
Inks:	Mort Meskin
Colors:	?
Letters:	Ira Schnapp ?

Genre:fantasy-supernatural; adventure; science fiction

Characters:

Elsa Magusson
(supporting) (introduction)
Mark Merlin
(featured) (introduction)

Mrs. Phipps; Mr. Wakely; Mr. Cole; Joss; Mr. Lemmon

Synopsis:: Mark Merlin describes three recent cases that he took on in his job as a supernatural investigator.; in Five-Score Comic Monthly (K. G. Murray, 1958 series) #19 ([November 1959])
in Bat Man (Arédit-Artima, 1960 series) #1 (février 1960) [N&B/B&W]
in Relatos Fabulosos (Editorial Novaro, 1959 series) #11 (1 de julio de 1960)
in The Phantom Stranger (DC, 1969 series) #15 (September-October 1971)
in Big Boss (Arédit-Artima, 1970 series) #45 (1980) [N&B [B&W]]

Indexer Notes

Writer suggestion by Bob Hughes.

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 3)

Tootsie Roll / advertisement / 0.33 page

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 4)

Stephens Credit Sales Mottoes / advertisement / 1 page

[no title indexed]

(Table of Contents: 5)

Professor Eureka / comic story / 0.5 page

Script:	Henry Boltinoff
Pencils:	Henry Boltinoff
Inks:	Henry Boltinoff
Colors:	?
Letters:	Henry Boltinoff

Genre:humor

First Line of Dialogue or Text:I don't want to be disturbed!

Characters:

Professor Eureka

Mrs. Eureka

Reprints (4)

in The Brave and the Bold 57 (Facsimile Edition) (DC, 2025 series) (July 2025)

in Jupiterserien (Illustrerte Klassikere / Williams Forlag, 1968 series) #4 ([august] 1968)

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 6)

Palisades Amusement Park Admission / advertisement / 0.5 page

The Creeping Creatures of Steel

(Table of Contents: 7)

comic story / 7.67 pages

Script:	?
Pencils:	George Roussos
Inks:	George Roussos
Colors:	?
Letters:	Stan Starkman ?

Genre:science fiction

Keywords:amusement parks

Synopsis:: Giant metal creatures at the Legend Land amusement park come to life and menace the patrons.; in Big Boy (Arédit-Artima, 1956 series) #44 (May 1960)
in Relatos Fabulosos (Editorial Novaro, 1959 series) #11 (1 de julio de 1960)

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 8)

Tootsie [all other candies] / advertisement / 0.33 page

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 9)

Nichols Industries Toy Guns / advertisement / 0.5 page

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 10)

Wilson Chemical Company Cloverine Brand Salve / advertisement / 0.5 page

The Brief Life of Mr. Mechano

(Table of Contents: 11)

text story / 1 page

Script:	Jack Miller ?
Letters:	typeset

Genre:fantasy-supernatural

The Crazy House!

(Table of Contents: 12)

comic story / 1 page

Script:	Mort Drucker
Pencils:	Mort Drucker
Inks:	Mort Drucker
Colors:	?
Letters:	Mort Drucker

Genre:fantasy-supernatural

Reprints (3)

Peter Porkchops Gives Tips on Summer Fun!

(Table of Contents: 13)

Peter Porkchops / public service announcement / 1 page

Script:	Jack Schiff
Pencils:	Otto Feuer
Inks:	Otto Feuer
Colors:	?
Letters:	Ira Schnapp

Genre:advocacy; anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters:

Indexer Notes

Published in cooperation with the National Social Welfare Assembly.
Previusly appeared in DC comics cover-dated August 1954.

The Curse of the Prophetic Pencil

(Table of Contents: 14)

comic story / 7.67 pages

Script:	?
Pencils:	Bernard Baily
Inks:	Bernard Baily
Colors:	?
Letters:	Stan Starkman

Genre:science fiction

Characters:

Dwight Henslow; Dorothy Fay; Sam Collins; Arthur Fothergill; Koj

Synopsis:: A pencil inexplicably writes messages to a group of scientists, warning them that their experiments in teleportation will draw an other-dimensional creature to Earth.; in Five-Score Comic Monthly (K. G. Murray, 1958 series) #20 ([December 1959])
in Bat Man (Arédit-Artima, 1960 series) #1 (février 1960) [N&B/B&W]
in Relatos Fabulosos (Editorial Novaro, 1959 series) #11 (1 de julio de 1960)

The Curse of the Prophetic Pencil! (Table of Contents)

cover / 1 page

Issue Data

Indexer Notes

[no title indexed] (Expand) / (Table of Contents: 1)

Jowett Institute of Physical Training / advertisement / 1 page

I Scout Earth's Strangest Secrets! (Table of Contents: 2)

Mark Merlin / comic story / 7.67 pages

Indexer Notes

[no title indexed] (Expand) / (Table of Contents: 3)

Tootsie Roll / advertisement / 0.33 page

[no title indexed] (Expand) / (Table of Contents: 4)

Stephens Credit Sales Mottoes / advertisement / 1 page

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 5)

Professor Eureka / comic story / 0.5 page

[no title indexed] (Expand) / (Table of Contents: 6)

Palisades Amusement Park Admission / advertisement / 0.5 page

The Creeping Creatures of Steel (Table of Contents: 7)

comic story / 7.67 pages

[no title indexed] (Expand) / (Table of Contents: 8)

Tootsie [all other candies] / advertisement / 0.33 page

[no title indexed] (Expand) / (Table of Contents: 9)

Nichols Industries Toy Guns / advertisement / 0.5 page

[no title indexed] (Expand) / (Table of Contents: 10)

Wilson Chemical Company Cloverine Brand Salve / advertisement / 0.5 page

The Brief Life of Mr. Mechano (Table of Contents: 11)

text story / 1 page

The Crazy House! (Table of Contents: 12)

comic story / 1 page

Peter Porkchops Gives Tips on Summer Fun! (Table of Contents: 13)

Peter Porkchops / public service announcement / 1 page

Indexer Notes

The Curse of the Prophetic Pencil (Table of Contents: 14)

comic story / 7.67 pages

[no title indexed] (Expand) / (Table of Contents: 15)

Tootsie [all other candies] / advertisement / 0.33 page

[no title indexed] (Expand) / (Table of Contents: 16)

Giant Flying Plastic Jet / advertisement / 1 page

Bill's Vacation Gift from Dad! (Expand) / (Table of Contents: 17)

Daisy Air Rifles / Daisy B-B Guns / advertisement / 1 page

[no title indexed] (Expand) / (Table of Contents: 18)

Junior Sales Club of America Cards / advertisement / 1 page

[no title indexed] (Expand) / (Table of Contents: 19)

Daisy Air Rifles / Daisy B-B Guns / advertisement / 1 page

The Curse of the Prophetic Pencil!

(Table of Contents)

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 1)

I Scout Earth's Strangest Secrets!

(Table of Contents: 2)

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 3)

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 4)

[no title indexed]

(Table of Contents: 5)

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 6)

The Creeping Creatures of Steel

(Table of Contents: 7)

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 8)

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 9)

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 10)

The Brief Life of Mr. Mechano

(Table of Contents: 11)

The Crazy House!

(Table of Contents: 12)

Peter Porkchops Gives Tips on Summer Fun!

(Table of Contents: 13)

The Curse of the Prophetic Pencil

(Table of Contents: 14)

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 15)

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 16)

Bill's Vacation Gift from Dad!

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 17)

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 18)

[no title indexed]

(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 19)