“Gutter of
Horror” is a Brazilian column from Dinamo Studio website about horror comics.
This is a version of the original article.
Have you
ever thought about how was life before television? Even with internet today, TV
is still a big part of the modern culture. And one of the cool things TV has is
serialized TV shows. But what the hell this has to do with horror comics? Well,
imagine how was life before television. It was not very different, actually,
just the news were slower and what we consume today on TV or internet at the time we
read in print publications, books, newspapers and, if you were looking for monthly stories, you would read comics.
Between the
end of the 19th century and the first half of 20th
century, American Comic Industry was dominated by “pulps”, which I already
wrote about my first article. But let’s do a quick recap: pulp described the
kind of comic book that featured mostly adventure and fiction stories. There
were all kinds of pulps, from war to science fiction, crime, western and, of
course, horror. There was no intention to be profound or to have some kind of
literary value (whatever that means); it was pure and easy to follow
entertainment. No wonder pulps were extremely popular at the time. With due
proportions, pulps represented to and American society without television and
internet what TV series represent to our society today – although we can argue
that this dynamic is shifting, but that’s another story.
The arrive
of Superman in the pages of Action Comics #1 traditionally marks the beginning of
the transition to the Pulp Era to what it would later be called Golden Age of
Superheroes. During this transition, there was not much difference between them,
since the superheroes was kind of pulps’ spiritual successor, and because of that,
they shared much of the same elements. In this landscape, came, in 1935 –
before Superman – a character that could be considered one of the “missing
links” between pulp and superheroes (well, actually he is not “missing”, but
you know what I mean): Doctor Occult.
First
appearing in More Fun Comics #6, Dr. Occult, also known as “The Ghost detective”,
was a private investigator with supernatural powers and the typical style of noir
detective and crime pulps, that solve cases involving paranormal, the mystic
and the supernatural. Eventually, the detective would also count with a
partner, Rose Psychic. More Fun Comics (first only More Fun) was the first comic
book published by the company who would later be known as DC Comics. Created by
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (also creators of Superman), Doctor Occult actually
appeared before More Fun Comics in a title by Centaur Publications, The Comics
Magazine, but it was almost a completely different character. His name was Dr.
Mystic and he was a sorcerer who traveled through mystic worlds and was capable
of flying. Unlike the known version of the character, Dr. Mystic wore a superhero-like
uniform, that was actually just a trunks and a cape. This makes Dr. Occult (or “Dr.
Mystic”) maybe the first superhero with superpowers to wear a uniform, even before
The Phantom (1936) and Superman (1939).
Like most
stories from that time, there was no concern in showing the origins of the
character, to establish him in the present and showing him investigating a
different case each month was enough at the time. The format was similar to many TV shows that would
come later, like Carl Kolchak, which would inspire TV shows like The X-files. But,
because origin stories was not a thing at the time, not much is known about
how he came to be.
And he kept
going without origin until he was brought back to light decades later, in the
1980s, in All-Star Squadron. This title featured a team of superheroes and took
place during World War II. In the comic, his origin was finally told using a
retcon. In this story, Occult and Rose were brother and sister that, when kids,
were offered as sacrifice to Satan by a mystic cult at some point during 1889.
Something in that ritual goes wrong and they summon Koth, instead of Satan.
Koth was a creature that didn’t feed of pure souls, but corrupted ones. So, he
killed all cult members while the two brothers were rescued by a man names
Zator and taken to a citadel that was a home to a powerful mystical organization
called The Seven. After spending years studying the mystic arts, they moved to
New York where they opened a detective agency to solve supernatural cases. All-Star
Squadron took place on Earth-2 and all those stories were erased during the
Crisis on Infinite Earths event – which Dr. Occult were also part of.
After DC
rebooting all universe, Dr. Occult appeared in The Books of Magic, by Neil
Gaiman. In this version, along with Constantine and other Mystics (the
Trenchcoat Brigade), he helps Tim Hunter to enter the world of magic. Neil
Gaiman also gave another take on the relationship between Occult and Rose: in
this new version, they were not partners or brothers, they were the same person, two
different aspects of the same being.
The
character was also part of the group Sentinels of Magic, created to prevent
artifacts such as the Spear of Destiny falling into the wrong hands, and he and
Rose played an important role in the event Judgment Day, helping to protect Earth from a demonic invasion.
In the New 52 timeline, Dr. Occult is seen in Justice League Dark #12, where is revealed that he is the keeper of the House of Secrets.
Doctor Occult
may be a little forgotten by DC right now, but it was one of the oldest
characters from the company, and an interesting one. I hope one day a
live action adaptation of the character sees the light of day. A TV show would be cool, don't you think?
Rafael Algures is a Bachelor of Philosophy specialized in Neurosciences of Language. He is also a copywriter, content and science writer, and a comic book creator. His latest work, “Gutter of Horror: Transition”, is available at Amazon – digital and paperback.
Further
reading: Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes, by Chris
Knowles and Joseph Michael Linsner
DC ComicsYear By Year, New Edition: A Visual Chronicle, by Alan Cowsill and Alex Irvine