In the late 1960s, there was an effort by Marvel to position a new horror/mystery anthology book called "Tower of Shadows". It was heavily promoted in in-house ads and blurbs in the Bullpen Page.
The lead issue and lead story was a creation by Jim Steranko, who had scored big in the moody/mysterious realm with the Hell Hound story in SHIELD #3.
But after a dispute in the very first issue, Steranko walked.
The "series" only lasted nine bi-monthly issues. And then after a year's pause, a "KingSized Special #1" was released which featured some reprints of the series itself, and at least one Ditko reprint from 1961 or so.
What are your memories of this series? Was it worth reprinting as a Marvel Masterwork?
How about the individual issues? What are the most favorable stories or issues to seek out. Or is it even worth it at all?
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As I've learned, it was quite standard for Martin Goodman to put out not 1 monthly book, but 2 near-identical bi-monthly books. The reason is simple: Each issue would have one full extra month on ther newsstand before being replaced.
And so in this case, it was TOWER OF SHADOWS and CHAMBER OF DARKNESS. It's probably impossible to discuss one without the other. (At Nick Simon's Silver Age Marvel site, I had the pages for them interlinked.)
Just the other day, while watching THE VAULT OF HORROR (1973), I was struck by how 3 of the 5 stories, I just didn't like. And I found myself thinking about the one issue of these early-70's mags I had back then... CHAMBER OF DARKNESS #5. It had 3 stories, and 2 of them I would consider all-time classics. No gore or violence... just suspense, and TERROR. The 1st was written & illustrated by JACK KIRBY, "And Fear Shall Follow", about a fighter pilot whose plane crashes somewhere in southeast Asia. The other was "The Music Of Eric Zahn", an adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story done by Roy Thomas, with art by Johnny Craig, one of the original "EC" horror comics guys!
I began thinking, with all the "Marvel" movies out there, I wondered if anyone would ever want to do a Marvel horror anthology film? there are COUNTLESS such stories, an absolutely endless supply of them... but to keep it simple, I thought, hey, why not narrow it down to only stories from ONE magazine, and a short-lived run at that? Picture a CHAMBER OF DARKNESS movie... or a TOWER OF SHADOWS movie, with 4 or 5 of the BEST stories adapted for the big screen, using the comics as the storyboards (for design & camera angles).
When Freddie Francis did TALES FROM THE CRYPT in 1972, he said he never read the comics the movie was based on, as he didn't want to be influenced by them. Sheesh. Now imagine a director who WOULD want to adapt the comics, including their visual style. I always remember when I saw THE FIFTH ELEMENT in a theatre, I kept thinking, "This whole film looks like a MOEBIUS comic!" Then I saw the end credits-- and I found out, I was right! Jean Giraud had been the film's production designer. If only Jack Kirby had managed to swing a job like that...!!! The mind boggles at what we never got to see. (Let's face it, most "Marvel" movies & TV shows don't even try to look like their source materials.)
...Just as DC had HOUSE OF MYSTERY/SECRETS and Warren CREEPY/EERIE , etc. , wasn't there a counterpart ( I've NOT looked this up !!!!!!!!! ) to TOS , CHAMBER OF DARKNESS ???
Also , BTW , these titles eventually mutated into CREATURES ON THE LOOSE & MONSTERS ON THE PROWL , which emphasized Marvel Monster Age reprints - but continued offering at least some new material as well well into the 20c/" boxed-off cover " era !!!!!!!!! Perhaps they were all stuff commisioned before the switctheroo , but even so...
I remember fondly a Steve Englehart co-write from this period titled " Pterror Of The Pterodactyl " - Yeah , spelled that way .
I guess (from the other thread) that you're aware of what went on regarding TOS #1. Steranko did the lead story, the front cover, and even designed the book's logo. Stan rejected the cover, AND the logo... the one they wound up with was so "generic" and artless as to be a disgrace. (The CHAMBER OF DARKNESS logo was much better.) But Steranko, from what I read, had written the script so that the words would fit EXACTLY in the space allotted for them, with real PRECISION. And Stan, it would seem, purely to show who was "boss", arbitrarily decided to change the script. He also changed the story's title, replacing it with the absolutely meaningless "At The Stroke Of Midnight", a story title Stan had already used before, TWICE!!! (Once in an earlier anthology story-- the cover story, in fact-- and the 2nd time, for the "autobiographical" piece in the back of DAREDEVIL ANNUAL #1, where Stan & Gene "plot" a story together. Right there, it's almost shockingly honest, though done for laughs so as to disguse just how REAL it was. Because Gene has all the ideas, Stan has none. Many people do not realize that Gene Colan WAS a writer, at least, on the books he did with Stan. That why his run of IRON MAN is so completely different in every possible way from Don Heck's run on the same series. Don Heck was writing HIS later issues, as well.)
Sometime later... Steranko told Stan he wanted to do a romance story. He did. But when he turned it in, he insisted that it DID NOT need any editing. Stan disagreed.
Later still, Steranko did another anthology story (I forget what genre), and once again insisted it didn't need editing. Stan pushed his weight around again. This time, Steranko TOOK BACK the story, and gave back the money he'd been paid for it... and NEVER did another story for Marvel again.
Around 1973, he did the first several issues of FOOM magazine, and a pile of covers. But that was it.
...BTW , what were Marvel's two new love story comics launched during that period , one of which also had a #1 Steranko story ????????? Was there editorial dispute THERE ???????????
I recall that Marvel tried some brand distinction between the two , with one being a " normal " love comic...and one being pushed a bit more at males , as in " If you like georgoeus gals , True Believer , this one's for you ! " !!!!!!!!!!! Ah , Stan...........
...Somebody (well , sort of) says something nice about Gary Groth here !!!!!!!!!!! Well , glory be . The saints be praised .
George Poague said:
Reading the letters' pages, I noticed several times Stan (I guess) stating that Jim Steranko was hard at work on a couple more horror stories. Whatever they were supposed to be, neither ever saw print, and I've wondered if he ever released them somewhere else. What exactly happened to him after leaving Marvel? They pushed him and Neal Adams like crazy, but after GL/GA Adams' career didn't seem to go anywhere either. The next I heard of him was when he redesigned Robin's costume for Tim Drake, and that was about 1990 or so.
At any rate, it's a pity Tower of Shadows and Chamber of Darkness ended up the way they did. They had a lot of potential and should have been as successful as House of Mystery and Unexpected.
...The later changed-title issues of COD and TOS that were mostly reprints DID have some new material ~ Probably irregularly , and not showcased on the cover . ~ I have long called here - Perhaps even further up this line :-) !!!!!!!!!!! - for a reprint of all the new material in Tower-Chamber and Creatures-Monsters , perhaps even the new covers for the reprintied old stories in the later issues and even the reprinted stories while we're at it , for a thick volume ?????
That seems unlikely unless they could be convinced there's a market for it. I remember a two pager from one of those titles where a mad scientist brings a Frankenstein like monster he called Manak to life. He brags to the monster that it's the strongest and smartest being that ever lived and might be immortal, and it will conquer the world for him. Manak says "If all this is true, then logic dictates I ask one question." The mad doctor tells him to ask. Manak starts towards him menacingly and says, "Who needs you, Master?!"