House of Mystery #72 is an issue of the series House of Mystery (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1958.
Synopsis for "Dark Journey"
Appearing in "Dark Journey"
Featured Characters:
- Narrator (Unnamed) (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Witch Doctor (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- Bandits (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- A rich man & his wife (Unnamed) (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Africa
- Kurudu
Items:
- Satchel of money
Vehicles:
- A boat
Synopsis for "The Return of the Masked Phantom"
Appearing in "The Return of the Masked Phantom"
Featured Characters:
- World-Wide News reporter (Unnamed) (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Duval (Single appearance)
- Villemain (As a spirit)
Antagonists:
- General Metaxa (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Landstark
Synopsis for "The Man Who Betrayed Earth"
Appearing in "The Man Who Betrayed Earth"
Featured Characters:
- Elliot Wright (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Emmett (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- Zironians (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Marston (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Planet Earth
- United States of America
- Clayton County
- United States of America
- Planet Ziron (Destroyed)
Vehicles:
- Ziron spaceship
Synopsis for "The Girl in the Glass Sphere"
Wealthy treasure hunter Edward Yaeger disembarks from his yacht with a beautiful woman, and he quickly ushers her into a carriage equipped with a soundproof glass cover. Mr. Palmer, a reporter, decides to follow them. Later, Yaeger and his date attend the opera, and she wears a plastic bubble over her head. Later still, at a restaurant, she sits enclosed in a glass dome.
Palmer interviews several of Yaeger's contacts, but nobody can explain why he keeps the woman covered. Finally, a dock worker explains that Yaeger was recently involved in a shipwreck. He was stranded on Shipwreck Island, but the other two crewmembers escaped in a lifeboat. After a passing ship saved Yaeger, he started buying large amounts of building materials.
The next morning, Palmer sees Yaeger's boat leaving the docks. Palmer hires a skiff and follows Yaeger to Shipwreck Island. There the reporter finds Yaeger, who tells him the story. On the night of the shipwreck, Yaeger's two crewmates were entranced and sailed into the rocks. When Yaeger regained consciousness on Shipwreck Island, he saw a beautiful woman named Laurie. She brought him to her treasure trove and said it was all his. Yaeger used the money to build Laurie a house on the mainland, but she was unhappy there because she had a terrible secret.
As Yeager is about to finish his story, he sees a beacon flashing, indicating that Laurie is in danger. Thieves are stealing treasure from Laurie's garden. However, as Laurie starts singing, the thieves become hypnotized and start walking toward the edge of a cliff. Palmer becomes hypnotized too, and he's just a few steps behind the thieves.
Yaeger tells Laurie to stop singing. Then he saves Palmer and ties up the thieves. When Palmer regains his senses, he realizes that Laurie is actually Lorelei, the siren who lures sailors to their doom. Yaeger explains that he's not affected by the singing because he's deaf. He understands people by reading lips.
A few minutes later, Yaeger discovers that Laurie has left him a note, saying that she's leaving him. She believes she can only bring him unhappiness. Even so, Yaeger sets off in his yacht, determined to find her. Meanwhile, Palmer takes the thieves back to the mainland and decides not to write his story because nobody would believe it.
Appearing in "The Girl in the Glass Sphere"
Featured Characters:
- Palmer (Single appearance)
- Edward Yeager (Single appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Lorelei, a siren (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- Thieves (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Tom (Single appearance)
- Carl (Single appearance)
Locations:
- An undisclosed city
- Shipwreck Island
Vehicles:
- Shipwreck II, a boat
Notes
- The Lorelei featured in "The Girl in the Glass Sphere" is a different character from the villain fought by the Justice Society, who also happened to have voice powers.
- "Dark Journey" was reprinted in House of Mystery #196.
- "The Man Who Betrayed Earth" was reprinted in The Unexpected #162.
- "The Girl in the Glass Sphere" was reprinted in House of Mystery #227.
- Other features appearing in this issue of House of Mystery include:
- "Giants of the Telescope: Simon Newcomb" (1-Page comic strip) by Mort Drucker. Originally appeared in Mystery in Space #10.
- "Do You Know What's Behind a Law?" (1-Page Public Service Announcement) Written by Jack Schiff, art by Bob Brown, and lettering by Ira Schnapp.
- "They Haunt the White House" (1-Page text article)
- "Moolah the Mystic" (2-Pahe humor strip) by Henry Boltinoff.
See Also
Links and References
Look at how sad this is making Batman. You did this.