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My Lady in White Journal

Started by miraclemet,

161 posts in this topic

miraclemet

miraclemet

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Thanks for everyone's interest in my thread, and for the posts... love that people are watching my niche collection grow.

 

New addition this weekend, a Wonder Woman #200 (Apparent 9.0 with restoration) . This felt like picking the puppy at the pound that you dont think anyone else will take...

 

This exact book sold in 2011 for 5x what I paid for it over the weekend as no one bid, and I "swooped in" at the end of the auction to take it for the opening price. Again, it felt more like a "it's late and no one is taking this girl home so I will" move, but its still a pretty book despite the restoration.

 

With its black cover you'd think "oh color touch on this book" right? Nope. Trimmed bottom edge of the cover apparently. Sad that someone decided to take an exacto to the book to try and make it present better. The window in comics collecting history between "price boom" and "restoration discovery/authentication" seemed to claim many a book. I know golden age restored books still have a market, as I'm sure Silver age keys do, but as I saw this weekend, bronze age books don't have much of a market when they've been "altered". Still I'm happy to add this to my collection until an affordable well presenting blue label pops up on the market.

 

I'll give a full review once I have it in hand.

 

WW200.jpg

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miraclemet

miraclemet

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Now that it's in hand lets review Wonder Woman #200 (CGC 9.0 Apparent, Trimmed)

 

I now have a complete set of the Jeffrey Jones Wonder Woman covers for my "Lady in White" collection. This one has the unfortunate distinction of being my first ever PLOD book. Bought it this way, so I knew what I was getting. The price was so cheap (less than the cost of slabbing a book) that I bought it to fill this "slot" for the time being.

 

Jeff Jones will make more appearances in the Lady in White set, most notably with Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #3 along with his other Gothic cover from The Sinister house of Secret Love #2.

 

Let's delve into the themes and composition of Wonder Woman #200.

 

  • Most of our Gothic horror covers have our damsels in distress on the run, but as with Wonder Woman #199, Diana has already been captured and is facing some horrid executioner.
  • This cover, unlike many Gothic covers lacks any real architectural element. There is no masonry work in this room, and nothing is revealed beyond the table that has our Diana secured.
  • Our threat in this cover is very real, very ominous and very armed. A woman in a maroon dress and a white mask is wielding a knife and headed towards Diana.
  • The light source in this cover is primarily coming from outside of the room through the open doorway, but there is a second less obvious examination lamp above Diana. Otherwise our menacing woman in red would just be a dark silhouette.
  • Jeffrey uses a loose line, much like the other non-painted Gothic covers, though is still very detailed and deliberate in his work with Diana.
  • What can I say about Dana? First shes bound, arms and legs, but with enough slack to be writhing, struggling to get free.
  • Her white gown has morphed into a sleeveless, high collar version from the one in the previous cover. Definitely not off the rack, considering how form fitting the top of the dress is.
  • Diana is also gagged at this point, a development from last issue.
  • I am really impressed by how much fear Jones is able to reveal in Diana with just her eyes and brow, impressive.
  • Finally Jones takes the time to add a few additional instruments of torture sitting at the foot of the table awaiting use, further adding to the impending doom that will befall Diana.
     
     

WW200-1.jpg

 

So that is it for the week. The Wonder woman covers are the lone "bondage" covers in my planned Lady in White collection, but who knows what else will be unearthed!

 

There has been a new purchase, and I wont tease it beyond to say I finally got one of the "Gothic horror" books to add to my collection (which up till now has been Gothic horror as shown in hero and horror books).

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miraclemet

miraclemet

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There are these books I haven't seen on your list.

 

 

http://www.dcindexes.com/gallery/gallery.php?site=dc&seriesid=835

 

 

Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #5 is a cool cover.

 

Thanks for the link!

Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love 2-4 are definately on my list, as is the title-changed Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #5... all completely fitting my "Lady in White" gothic horror theme.

 

Thought about Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #6 with the Wedding dress, but the styling and atmosphere is not quite the same...

 

I've been surprised that some other 70s titles dont have any covers that fit my theme, Witching Hour most notably...

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miraclemet

miraclemet

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Here is my current list with books I've gotten, and those Im still targeting. Some I've found for sale (just getting funds for them) others I'm still hunting for.

 

  • Batman #227 (purple dress) GOT IT! (here on the boards!)
  • Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love # 2
  • Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love # 3
  • Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #4 GOT IT! (Here on the boards!)
     
  • Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #5
     
  • House of Mystery #210 Got it!
     
  • House of Secrets #88
  • House of Secrets #89 GOT IT!
  • House of Secrets #90 (ok not white dress)
  • House of Secrets #91
  • House of Secrets #93
  • House of Secrets #94
  • House of Secrets #95
  • House of Secrets #97(ok not a damsel in white, but whatever!)
  • House of Secrets #106
     
  • Phantom Stranger #10 GOT IT! (here on the boards!)
  • Phantom Stranger #26
     
  • Sinister House of Secret Love #1
  • Sinister House of Secret Love #4 GOT IT (here on the boards!)
     
  • Secrets of Sinister House #5
     
  • Teen Titans #35
     
  • Unexpected #127
     
  • Wonder Woman #199 GOT IT! (here on the boards!)
  • Wonder Woman #200 GOT IT!
     

 

Had bids on some mid-grade House of Secrets this weekend (#84 & #106) but they went for more than I wanted to pay (over GPA).

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miraclemet

miraclemet

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Are you doing DC only? If not, Night Nurse #4 is an unlikely place to find a lady in white being menaced by a gothic terror:

 

Night_Nurse_Vol_1_4.jpg

 

great one! Its going to go on my phase 2 list! Glad to finally have some Marvel up in here!

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vane

vane

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The Night Nurse to me does not have that romantic Gothic feel to it. The Tomb of Dracula #43 kind of have that feeling, but DC comics has that romantic touch. I would think twice if you really want Marvel's in your Lady of White collection. It might ruin your decor.

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miraclemet

miraclemet

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I've got a couple more possibilities for you that are rather... Unexpected!

 

House in the background too:

 

229b12ff-e057-4ed4-80dd-51c5adc65812.jpg

 

 

 

This woman's dress is... almost white? Well, she's got the staircase anyway:

 

4039775737724096.jpg

 

Love it. 127 was already on my list, but the later one (#178) wasnt!

 

Also that Night Nurse totally has all the elements of Gothic Horror down to the architecture/house element! Great finds!

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miraclemet

miraclemet

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Based on some new suggestions, I've again updated my list.

 

  • Batman #227 (purple dress) GOT IT! (here on the boards!)
  • Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love # 2
  • Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love # 3
  • Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #4 GOT IT! (Here on the boards!)
     
  • Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #5
     
  • House of Mystery #210 Got it!
     
  • House of Secrets #88
  • House of Secrets #89 GOT IT!
  • House of Secrets #90 (ok not white dress)
  • House of Secrets #91
  • House of Secrets #93
  • House of Secrets #94
  • House of Secrets #95
  • House of Secrets #97(ok not a damsel in white, but whatever!)
  • House of Secrets #106
     
  • Night Nurse #4
     
  • Phantom Stranger #10 GOT IT! (here on the boards!)
  • Phantom Stranger #26
     
  • Sinister House of Secret Love #1
  • Sinister House of Secret Love #4 GOT IT (here on the boards!)
     
  • Secrets of Sinister House #5
     
  • Teen Titans #35
     
  • Unexpected #127
  • Unexpected #178
     
     
  • Wonder Woman #199 GOT IT! (here on the boards!)
  • Wonder Woman #200 GOT IT!
     

 

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miraclemet

miraclemet

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So far most of my purchases have been of the mid-grade affordable variety (lots of 8.0s and up to some more affordable 9.4s). When I saw this high grade puppy I had to bite.

 

There are two main gothic horror titles Sinister House of Secret Love and Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love. Each title lasted 4 issues. Dark Mansion turned into "Forbidden tales of the Dark Mansion" while Sinister House turned into "Secrets of Sinister House" with both titles losing the "love" component of their title and focusing back on the more typical horror elements of the stories.

 

 

The Sinister House of Secret Love #4 had art and cover work done by Tony DeZuniga, with his wife contributing story work inside the issue. Tony was part of the Filipino group of artists that came to prominence in the 70s at DC. One of his first works was a story he penciled and inked in House of Mystery 188. One of his greatest contributions to DC was co-creating Jonah Hex with John Albano.

 

With that background lets look at the cover elements in Sinister House of Secret Love #4.

 

  • Our cover revolves around the iconic Lady in White, who is on the run from a shadowy thread.
  • We have the standard architectural component. It is a more amorphous structure, there is a tower, and some stone staircase but the building is not quite obvious.
  • Our damsel is facing many threats on the cover. There is of course the hooded, caped figure running towards her, but the statuary our damsel is running thru also has a threatening feel to it. Whether the snake and goblin (in green in the foreground) are real or stone is less certain.
  • We have our lit doorway helping to outline the threat, as well as to add some additional color to the cover.
  • This is one of the most comic-booky covers in term of the line the artist uses and the coloring used. It is not painted, nor is it as "hashy/sketchy" as some other covers (most notably Neal Adams).
  • The title itself "The Sinister House" has a mod feel to it, very 70s in design. Lacking any sort of "creepiness" a'la a House of Secrets or House of Mystery.
  • Our damsels white gown (possibly a night gown? is flowing behind her, the motion of the moment being helped by the flowing shawl/cape she has wrapped around her shoulders.
  • We have green mist circling our scene adding to the sinister atmosphere.
  • One thing I did not realize until I got my issue in hands is that the cover background is not white. I always assumed I was seeing either a yellowing with age, or an artifact of the scanning. But in fact the outside edge of the book is cream colored intentionally as far as I can tell. If someone has a pure white copy that proves otherwise I would love to hear about it.
  • The final element I wanted to touch on was this framing done around the image (the rounded corner frame) which encapsulates our scene, save for the jutting out steeple of the "mansion". The design adds to the slightly more "pop" nature of the cover, along with the 70s styled font of the title at the top.
     

 

SHSLlowerresbig-1.jpg

 

The last thing I will point out is less about the elements of the cover, and more about the impact of the design on the comics "presentability". Having the large frame running so closely along three of the four edges (left right and bottom) makes it difficult to find a perfectly centered, non slanted copy. Even the slightest angle is amazingly apparent when viewed because of this frame. Also with the placement of the "DC" at tht top left, and the "52 Big pages" circle at right top edge leaves almost zero room for error in centering. A centimeter to the left and you cut off the D, a centimeter to the right and you've cut into the 25 cent circle. Even this issue has the right edge barely cutting into the outer rim of the circle. I cant imagine there is an example out there with a complete price circle that does not cut off part of the D in DC.

 

Because of the difficulty finding a well centered version of this book (after buying this copy I did stumble across another one for sale at 8.5 condition, but the centering was far more problematic) I jumped at this one. I have seen a high grade example of this book with both the full circle and the full DC, but it actually looks like the cover has to be slightly larger (otherwise how did they both fit?) or the wrap and staple placement left more paper for the front cover than the back cover.

 

Either way, I am loving this book, and can’t wait to add more from the two core gothic horror DC titles as they become available!

 

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Crimebuster

Crimebuster

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Looking good!

 

Here are a couple more possibilities. Her dress might be yellow, but I think he overcoat is white? I'm a little color blind, so I'm not exactly sure. But the rest of the thematic elements are there, including the house in the background:

 

8d413c5c-7b55-4d88-9189-e8c63ec3cce1.jpg

 

 

No house or stairs, but definitely a woman in white. Someone could do a whole collection of people seeing terrible things -- usually themselves dead -- in mirrors:

 

gri1.45a.jpg

 

 

She's wearing red, but on the other hand, it's drawn by Steve Ditko of all people. Plus: candle!

 

297dc677-a950-46a0-8af0-b6066118c341.jpg

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Crimebuster

Crimebuster

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Also, I have to point this one out, as I find it to be hilarious rather than horrifying. You know how your women in white are always running from a menace eminating from a creepy cliffside manor?

 

Well, this is what happens when they don't watch where they're going, apparently. I bet if we could zoom in close enough we'd see she's wearing white:

 

 

bfd6d774-c73b-44be-9dfb-0e4a0294525c.jpg

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