Back in the day - "the day" here being defined as the late 1960s and early 1970s - fans of the DC horror antho title House of Mystery could find the work of legendary cartoonist Sergio Aragonés on page 13. First, he drew single splash-page gags cooked up by series editor Joe Orlando. These page 13 gags included such things a game board for a game players couldn't win and a cut-and-post "do not disturb" sign, perfect for the sort of lonely, moody, malcontent that would read House of Mystery. Later Aragonés was given greater freedom to write and illustrate his own stuff. This lead to the on-going "Cain's Game Room" feature: a page with a couple of goofy, gallows humor strips.For me, "Cain's Game Room" is a standout feature of the series. Aragonés knobby, quirky style was a joy and, with his funny grim punchlines, he comes off like the rowdy relation of Chas Addams, master of the comic macabre.
For the curious, several of these pieces are collected in DC's excellent Showcase Presents House of Mystery collection.
I bring this up because, these days, you can find Aragonés working the splash-page gag format again, though in a showcase a bit removed from the comics mainstream. Sergio is now doing splash-page style "Weird Picture Search" in that venerable gray dame of journalism: The Weekly World News. This week's picture find, featured above, is worthy of his most twisted House of Mystery work – a sleeping girl about to be attacked by nightmare versions of her own escaped dreams!
Enjoy.
