''The Witching Hour'' was an

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

horror

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

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 the ...

from 1969 to 1978.

Publication history

The series was published for 85 issues from February–March 1969 to October 1978. Its tagline was "It's 12 o'clock... The Witching Hour!" and was changed to "It's midnight..." from issue #14 onwards. The series was originally edited by

Dick Giordano Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics. Early ...

, who was replaced by

Murray Boltinoff Murray Boltinoff (January 3, 1911 – May 6, 1994 in Pompano Beach, Florida) was a writer and editor of comic books, who worked for DC Comics from the 1940s to the 1980s, in which role he edited over 50 different comic book series. Biograph ...

with issue #14.

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 indu ...

was the cover artist for ''The Witching Hour'' for issues #1–6, 11–12, 15–16, 18–52, and 60. Stories in the comic were "hosted" and introduced by three witches, Mordred, Mildred, and Cynthia, initially designed by artist

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 ...

. After ''The Witching Hours cancellation as a result of the " DC Implosion", the title was merged with '' The Unexpected'' until issue #209. The witches were later revived along with the hosts of the companion series '' 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 se ...

'' as important characters 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, gra ...

's '' The Sandman''.

Vertigo limited series

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 ...

published an unrelated ''The Witching Hour'' limited series by writer

Jeph Loeb Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III () is an American film and television writer, producer and comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series ''Smallville'' and ''Lost'', writer for the films '' Commando'' and ''Teen Wolf'', and a writer and ...

and artists

Chris Bachalo Chris Bachalo (born August 23, 1965) is a Canadian comic book illustrator known for his quirky, cartoon-like style. He became well known for stints on DC Comics' ''Shade, the Changing Man'' and Neil Gaiman's two Death series. Chris has also illus ...

and

Art Thibert Arthur Thibert is a comic book artist, primarily known as a freelance inker, although he has a substantial résumé as a penciler and has even written some comics. Thibert is best known for his work as an inker for Marvel Comics on their various '' ...

in 1999–2000.

2013 one-shot

''The Witching Hour'' title was revived for a

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 ...

anthology by Vertigo in 2013.

2018 crossover storyline

''Wonder Woman & Justice League Dark: The Witching Hour'' is a five–part weekly crossover storyline published in two one-shots and the main ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byrne, are credited as bein ...

'' and ''

Justice League Dark The Justice League Dark, or JLD, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team would make their debut appearance in ''Justice League Dark'' #1 (September 2011). The Justice League Dark team features some ...

'' series. The crossover featured

and

teaming up to defeat Hecate. The entire crossover received positive reviews.

Critical reception

According to Comic Book Roundup, the 2018 series received a score of 8.2 out of 10 based on 98 reviews.

Collected editions

* '' Showcase Presents: The Witching Hour'' collects ''The Witching Hour'' #1–19, 544 pages, March 2011,

References

External links

* *
''The Witching Hour''
an
''The Witching Hour'' vol. 2
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics {{DEFAULTSORT:Witching Hour 1969 comics debuts 1978 comics endings 1999 comics debuts 2000 comics endings 2013 comics debuts 2013 comics endings 2018 comics debuts 2018 comics endings Comics anthologies Characters created by Alex Toth Comics by Arnold Drake Comics by Bob Haney Comics by Carl Wessler Comics by Dennis O'Neil Comics by George Kashdan Comics by Gerry Conway Comics by Jeph Loeb Comics by Marv Wolfman DC Comics one-shots Defunct American comics Fantasy comics Horror comics Fiction about witchcraft