DC Special #11 is an issue of the series DC Special (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 1971.
Synopsis for "The House of Gargoyles!"
This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #175.
Two gargoyle statues suddenly appear on top of a guest house in a small town. Their appearances coincide with the arrival of a strange looking French man who works as a sculptor. The townspeople are aghast at the unsightly creatures and wonder about their origin. A little boy named Jimmy takes it upon himself to confront the French artist about the gargoyles and their story is revealed. The French artist reveals that he was extremely jealous of another artist named Francois. His own career is dwindling and his fiancée suddenly leaves him to be with Francois. The old French sculptor pays Francois a visit and sees him working on plans for a magnificent Gargoyle statue. He kills Francois and steals the plans for himself. With his dying breath, Francois warns that the gargoyle is cursed and will cause his death if the sculpture is brought to fruition. The old artist moves forward with creating the sculpture and even wins a major prize for his stolen work. Upon completion of the statue, it immediately comes to life and begins to terrorize the artist. It follows him everywhere he goes, and the gargoyle carries the artist away to his doom in the end.
Appearing in "The House of Gargoyles!"
Narrator:
- Cain (Host)
Featured Characters:
- A French Sculptor (Unnamed) (Flashback and main story) (Single appearance; dies)
Supporting Characters:
- Jimmy (Single appearance)
- Francois (Dies in flashback)
Antagonists:
- Gargoyles
Other Characters:
- Samuel (Single appearance)
- Gregory the Gargoyle (First appearance)
Locations:
Synopsis for "The Moon Monster"
This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #97.
A butterfly collector named Martin Kell is hunting for rare butterflies in Brazil. A meteorite from the moon falls next to him and transforms him into a grotesque creature with a moonlike round head. He wanders into a village where he somehow triggers a tidal wave that wipes out the village. He then stumbles upon a native tribe that mistakes him for a moon god. It is said that the moon god will restore the river to the tribe. A lightning bolt suddenly strikes a nearby mountain causing a flood of water to descend towards the village forming a new river. The moon creature reverts back to human form leaving the villagers convinced that their prophecy has been fulfilled.
Appearing in "The Moon Monster"
Featured Characters:
- Martin Kell (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Dr. Gaines, astronomer (Single appearance)
- Karaba, a medicine man (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- Cloud Demon (Flashback only) (Captured)
Other Characters:
- Chief Sutaya (Flashback only)
Locations:
Synopsis for "The Creatures from Nowhere!"
This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #70.
Giant creatures begin to appear in a small suburbial town. Residents panic and call upon leading anthropologist, Tom Conroy for guidance. Conroy patrols the city along with police chief Hodges and witnesses and incredible display of alien creatures as they wreck havoc on the small town. They eventually encounter a creature with a lens on its head that exposes them to a powerful beam when it spots them in a window reflection and allows it to escape. The military is called in to handle the situation as the creatures continue to cause damage to the town. They beeline to a nearby water tower and climb inside as they are led by the creature with a Lens on its head. The citizens soon witness that the water tower is actually a spaceship that takes of into the sky. Conroy surmises that the creatures were being transported from one planet to another but crash landed on earth. He also surmises that the creature with the Lens was the keeper since it had the intelligence to recognize them as a danger when he saw them in the windows reflection. Conroy then announces that the keeper had given him a ray gun in return for his help in getting the military to show restraint as the creatures made their escape from the planet.
Appearing in "The Creatures from Nowhere!"
Featured Characters:
- Roger (Single appearance)
- Orry (Single appearance)
- Hank (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Osano (Single appearance)
Animals:
- Timber Wolves
Locations:
Items:
- Totem Pole
- Gold masks
Vehicles:
- Old canoe
Synopsis for "Return of the Barsto Beast"
This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #116.
A film crew sets up their equipment in a small town to shoot a movie based on the legendary Beast of Barsto. The director selects his best friend Lance Steele to play the lead role. He relates the story of how the beast is similar to Frankenstein in that he is activated by thousands of volts of lightning. A strange man named Roger Vardon then appears on the set with a poster of what the Beast supposedly looked like. They recreate the creature's image perfectly for the movie based on the poster they viewed. Steele soon appears on set wearing an insulated Beast costume when he is hit with a burst of lightning bolts during shooting of the film. The costumed actor goes berserk and begins to destroy the set. He then starts to wreak havoc on the nearby city. The mayor insists that the creature be hunted down and destroyed but the director cannot allow that to happen to his best friend. He surmises that the creature might be hiding in a cottage that was rented earlier by Lance Steele. Upon arriving at the cottage, he finds a note from Roger Vardon urging him to come to Vardon castle on a matter of life and death. The director arrives at the Castle in haste only to find his best friend locked up in a dungeon. Vardon suddenly appears with the real creature and reveals that he had lured the actor to the set and replaced him with the real creature so he could receive that volts of lighting to awaken him. Vardon mentions that he is a descendant of the scientist that originally created the Beast. The director then notices that the creature was kept in a cell with wooden bars and surmises that he has a weakness. He then uses a metal tape measure to ground the beast to the floor and causes him to short circuit leaving the beast incapacitated once and for all.
Appearing in "Return of the Barsto Beast"
Featured Characters:
- Greg Peters, a director (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Lance Steele, an actor (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- Roger Vardon (Single appearance)
- Beast of Barsto (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Mayor of Barsto (Unnamed) (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Barsto
Items:
- Metal tape measure
Synopsis for "Prisoners on Beast Asteroid"
This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #113.
A scout ship lands on an asteroid to make repairs. The two pilots then observe four capsule- like ships landing near them. The first capsule opens, and the pilots observe a huge tentacle creature emerge. The creature attacks the pilots, but they blast the creature with their guns, and it retreats into a lake. A second capsule opens, and a giant flying beast emerges. The creature flies above them as the pilots take cover. The third capsule releases a dragon like creature that chases the pilots, but they get away by jumping on a raft and crossing a small lake. Once on the lake they encounter all of the beasts once more, but they do their best to escape their wrath. The two pilots then notice a space craft as three aliens emerge from it. The aliens seem to be rounding up the creatures that emerged from the capsules. The pilots get their attention and explain that their ship is damaged. The aliens explain that they were unaware that the pilots were thinking beings. The aliens were under the impression that the pilots might have been pet beasts that had somehow transmuted. The aliens help the pilots repair their ship so they can rejoin their party.
Appearing in "Prisoners on Beast Asteroid"
Featured Characters:
- Mark (Single appearance)
- Vern (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Alien Scientists (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- Large Beasts (Single appearance)
- Octopus, the water-beast (Single appearance)
- Bird, the flying beast (Single appearance)
- Fire-Breathing Dragon, the land beast (Single appearance)
- A Cave-Dwelling Creature
Locations:
- Alpha Centauri
- An Asteroid Planet
Items:
- Capsules
Vehicles:
- Scout-Ship
- Alien Spaceship
Synopsis for "The Stone Sentinels on Giant Island"
This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #85.
A scientific expedition encounters a mysterious island containing huge stone sentinel rock carvings. The scientists also locate a tablet with strange inscriptions. One of the stone carvings suddenly comes to life and chases the scientists into a cave. Professor Spears, one of the scientists, states that he has deciphered the tablet they found. He says the sentinels were left on the island by creatures from another planet. The aliens built a dome-covered base, but they abandoned it and left the sentinels behind on the island. The inscription read that the dome base contained controls that would stop the sentinels. The scientists make their way to the alien base and use the controls to deactivate the sentinels. The scientific party departs from the island as it sinks into the sea.
Appearing in "The Stone Sentinels on Giant Island"
Featured Characters:
- Professor Spears (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Morgan (Single appearance)
- Drew (Single appearance)
- Harry (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- Stone sentinels (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Pacific Ocean
- An uncharted island
Vehicles:
- Sailboat
Notes
- "Prisoners on Beast Asteroid" was originally titled "We Were Prisoners on the Beast Asteroid".
See Also