''The Unexpected'' was a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

- horror

comics anthology A comics anthology collects works in the medium of comics, typically from multiple series, and compiles them into an anthology or magazine. The comics in these anthologies range from comic strips that are too short for standalone publication t ...

series, a continuation of '' Tales of the Unexpected'', published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. ''The Unexpected'' ran 118 issues, from #105 (February–March 1968) to #222 (May 1982). As a result of the so-called

DC Implosion The "DC Explosion" and "DC Implosion" were two events in 1978 – the first an official marketing campaign, the second a sardonic reference to it – in which DC Comics expanded their roster of publications, then abruptly cut it back. The DC Explos ...

of late 1978, beginning in 1979 ''The Unexpected'' absorbed the other DC horror titles '' House of Secrets'', '' The Witching Hour'', and ''

Doorway to Nightmare Madame Xanadu is a comic book mystic published by DC Comics. The character is identified with Nimue, the sorceress from Arthurian mythology made popular by Sir Thomas Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur''. The character was played by Jeryl Prescott in ...

'' into its pages.

Horror hosts A horror host is a person who acts as the host or presenter of a program where horror films and low-budget B movies are shown on television or the Internet. Usually the host assumes a horror-themed persona, often a campy or humorous one. Generall ...

featured in ''The Unexpected'' included

The Mad Mod Witch ''The Unexpected'' was a fantasy- horror comics anthology series, a continuation of '' Tales of the Unexpected'', published by DC Comics. ''The Unexpected'' ran 118 issues, from #105 (February–March 1968) to #222 (May 1982). As a result of the ...

, Judge Gallows,

Abel Abel ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepher ...

, and the Witches Three. This title is not to be confused with ''The Unexpected'' published by DC Comics in 2018.

Publication history

Unlike the predecessor series, ''The Unexpected'' was a fantasy anthology at first, then turned into a weird/horror anthology in the style of '' House of Secrets'' and ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery Comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets''. It is also the name of the titular setting of the series. First serie ...

''. The series was published in the 100 Page Super Spectacular format from #157 (May–June 1974) to #162 (March–April 1975). ''The Unexpected Special'' was published in 1977 as an issue of ''

DC Special Series ''DC Special Series'' was an umbrella title for one-shots and special issues published by DC Comics between 1977 and 1981. Each issue featured a different character and was often in a different format than the issue before it. ''DC Special Serie ...

''. With issue #189 (January–February 1979), ''The Unexpected'' converted to the

Dollar Comics Dollar Comics was a line of DC Comics comic book publications issued from 1977 to 1983 and revived in 2019. The 1977-1983 line included the titles ''The Superman Family'', ''House of Mystery'', ''G.I. Combat'', ''World's Finest Comics'', '' Batman F ...

format and incorporated the previously cancelled titles ''House of Secrets'', '' The Witching Hour'', and ''

''. With issue #196 (March 1980), the series was restored to standard size, and rather than three complete issues in one, there was one story each per issue. ''The House of Secrets'' content continued through issue #208; ''The Witching Hour'' content continued to appear until issue #209 (April 1981), which incorporated the science fiction series, ''

Time Warp Time travel is a common theme in fiction, mainly since the late 19th century, and has been depicted in a variety of media, such as literature, television, film, and advertisements. The concept of time travel by mechanical means was popularize ...

''. The final issue of the series was #222 (May 1982) which included early artwork by

Marc Silvestri Marc Silvestri (born March 29, 1958) is an American comic book artist, creator and publisher. He serves as CEO of both Top Cow Productions and Image Comics. Early life Marc Silvestri was born on March 29, 1958 in Palm Beach, Florida.Rosenberg, ...

2018 series

DC again revived the title in 2018, in the wake of the '' Dark Nights: Metal'' event, this time as a mystical superhero team featuring revised versions of

Neon the Unknown Neon the Unknown is a fictional superhero from the Golden Age of Comic Books created by Jerry Iger for Quality Comics. Neon first appeared in a story penciled and inked by Lou Fine in ''Hit Comics'' #1 and was featured on the cover. His stories r ...

and Firebrand. It was cancelled after eight issues.

Regular features

The series' first "

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...

" was the Mad Mod Witch, who first appeared in issue #108, the fourth issue of the revived series. The Mad Mod Witch — later known as "Fashion Thing" in

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

's ''

The Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The Sandman is a traditional charact ...

'' — acted as host in issues #108–112, 114–116, 140, and 162; while Judge Gallows filled that role in issues #113, 118, 121, 125, and 133. Judge Gallows would also appear years later, alongside

and the Witches Three, in issues #203 and 205. The Judge Gallows character would later appear in the final story arc of ''

The Dreaming The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his co ...

''.

Nick Cardy Nicholas Viscardi (October 20, 1920 – November 3, 2013), known professionally as Nick Cardy and Nick Cardi, was an American comics artist best known for his DC Comics work on Aquaman, the Teen Titans and other major characters. Cardy was induct ...

was the cover artist for ''The Unexpected'' for issues #111, 116–117, 119–120, 123, 125–139, and 141–162. Each "Unexpected" story would always include the word "unexpected" in the last panel. After the series merger with ''House of Secrets'' and ''The Witching Hour'', this was only true of the ''Unexpected'' section; there would then be complete, advertisement-free issues of ''The Witching Hour'', hosted by its witches, and ''The House of Secrets'', hosted by

. ''The Witching Hour'' feature was alternated with ''Doorway to Nightmare'' starring

Madame Xanadu Madame Xanadu is a comic book mysticism, mystic published by DC Comics. The character is identified with Lady of the Lake, Nimue, the magician (fantasy), sorceress from Arthurian mythology made popular by Thomas Malory, Sir Thomas Malory's ''Le Mo ...

, who appeared in issues #190, 192, 194, and 195.

Johnny Peril

The series' only continuing feature at any point was "Johnny Peril", which ran from issues #106 to 117. For issues #111 on, the titular protagonist was billed as an "adventurer of the weird". Johnny Peril returned in issues #200 and 205–213. Johnny Peril's roots, prior to his first appearance in ''The Unexpected'', came in the one-off story "Just a Story" in

All-American Comics ''All-American Comics'' was a comics anthology and the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, one of the forerunners of DC Comics. It ran for 102 issues from 1939 to 1948. Characters created for the title, including Green ...

' ''

Comic Cavalcade ''Comic Cavalcade'' was an anthology comic book published by DC Comics from 1942 to 1954. Most American comic book publishers in the 1930s and 1940s Golden Age of comic books published anthology titles that showcased a variety of characters, usua ...

'' #19 (July 1946), by writer–artist

Howard Purcell Howard Purcell (November 10, 1918 – April 24, 1981)Howard Purcell
at the

. With issue #22 (Sept. 1947), the "Just a Story" anthology series gained newspaper-reporter Johnny Peril, who often acted as witness or narrator rather than as an integral part of the narrative. With this issue, the series title became "Johnny Peril Tells Just a Story", eventually changed to "Johnny Peril's Surprise Story" as Johnny became the series' two-fisted hero until the series ended with issue #29 (Nov. 1948). According to ''Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes'', "he's an adventurer who tangles with nearly every sort of enemy in nearly every sort of background, from the jungles of the Congo to the concrete jungles of New York to the moon". By then the character was appearing in his own backup feature in ''

All-Star Comics ''All Star Comics'' is an American comic book series from All-American Publications, one of three companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics. While the series' cover-logo trademark reads ''All St ...

'', beginning #42 (Sept. 1948). Purcell remained for the first few ''All-Star'' stories, with artists

Joe Kubert Joseph Kubert (; September 18, 1926 – August 12, 2012) was a Poland, Polish-born Americans, American comic book artist, art teacher, and founder of The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkm ...

Gil Kane Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character. Kane co-created the modern-day versio ...

Carmine Infantino Carmine Michael Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editing, editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creat ...

and others later working on the feature through #57 (March 1951). Johnny went on to star in the fifth and final issue of ''Danger Trail'' (April 1951). His last appearances before his Silver Age return in 1968 came in ''

Sensation Comics ''Sensation Comics'' is the title of an American comic book anthology series published by DC Comics that ran for 109 issues between 1942 and 1952. For most of its run, the lead feature was Wonder Woman, a character which had been introduced in ''Al ...

'' #107-116 (Feb. 1952 - Aug. 1953; retitled ''Sensation Mystery'' #110-116) where artists included

Alex Toth Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...

and

Frank Giacoia Frank Giacoia (July 6, 1924 – February 4, 1988) was an American comics artist known primarily as an inker. He sometimes worked under the name Frank Ray, and to a lesser extent Phil Zupa, and the single moniker Espoia, the latter used for collab ...

2011 one-shot

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

special of ''The Unexpected'' was published by

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

in 2011.

Collected editions

* ''The Steve Ditko Omnibus'' Volume 1 includes ''The Unexpected'' #189: "Dead Man's Eyes" by

Jack Oleck Jack Oleck (March 1, 1914 – March 10, 1981)Social Security Death Index, SS# 115-01-6988. was an American novelist and comic book writer particularly known for his work in the horror genre. The brother-in-law of comics pioneer Joe Simon, Oleck' ...

and

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...

and ''The Unexpected'' #221: "EM the Energy Monster" by Ditko, 480 pages, September 2011 ().

References

External links

*
''The Unexpected''
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics {{DEFAULTSORT:Unexpected 1968 comics debuts 1982 comics endings Comics anthologies Comics by Arnold Drake Comics by Carl Wessler Comics by George Kashdan Comics by Steve Ditko Comics magazines published in the United States DC Comics one-shots Defunct American comics Fantasy comics Horror comics Mystery comics