The Demon Phantoms #2

Gredown's The Demon Phantoms #2 was published c.February 1978:

The cover art is credited to Lopez Espi as per this listing for the Spanish comics magazine Vampus #42, February 1975:

As per the cover blurb Vampus #42 carried Warren material. I don't know if this cover appeared on a Warren magazine. (Keen Junkyard lurkers will recognise Lopez Espi as the artist of the Hulk poster in Newton's Planet of the Apes #1).

The contents hail from Eerie magazines:

The Spooks, originally published in Horror Tales v6#1, February 1974 

Isle of Demons, originally published in Terror Tales v2#4, July 1970

The Dead Demons, originally published in Terror Tales v2#2, March 1970 

Our Green-Eyed Princess of Dumbrille!, originally published in Weird v2#10, December 1968 

Burn, Witch, Burn!, originally published in Tales of Voodoo v3#4, July 1970 

The Living Dead, originally published in Horror Tales v6#3, June 1974 

The Bloody Demon, originally published in Horror Tales v3#6, November 1971

Death's Shoes, originally published in Weird v2#6, April 1968 

There are two Eerie Publications stories titled Burn, Witch, Burn! I have verified the source for the one in this issue from scans. The story in The Witches Cauldron #5 and Fearful Spectres is a different one. I don't have a copy of  Eyes of Night to advise either way. TBA.

The three Eerie stories titled The Living Dead have been detailed earlier.

 .

Many of the other stories in this issue were recycled by Gredown, for example: The Spooks in Spooks of Terror; Our Green-Eyed Princess of Dumbrille! (along with the aforementioned The Living Dead) in Thriller Tales; The Bloody Demon in Claws of Horror and Voodoo #3; and Death's Shoes in Call of the Monsters.

Tracking Eerie's The Living Dead in Gredown issues

If you've ever tried tracing the original appearances of horror stories published by Gredown you'll understand the many difficulties this entails. One of the most frustrating hurdles is the generic titles of some of the stories - differentiating between them on reference databases such as the GCD is dependent on details such as page counts and, hopefully, plot synopses or creator credits. And sometimes, with the benefit of scans, some degree of accuracy can be achieved.

There are three stories titled The Living Dead published by Eerie comics, and all three stories were published twice by Gredown.

Here's a scan of the splash page of The Living Dead in The Demon Phantoms #2:

This is an 8-page story signed Macagno and was originally published in Horror Tales Vol. 6 #3.

This story was recycled later by Gredown in Thriller Tales:

This version of the story has been censored - note the whitewashing of the wound and blood on the character in the foreground of the first panel.

Another story titled The Living Dead.... was originally published in Weird Vol. 6 #2. This is a 6-page story signed by Cerchiara and appeared in Gredown's The Devil's Triangle #4:

This story is reprinted by Gredown in Beware!. This latter version is also censored - for example, the sounds effects of gunshots and screams are omitted.

Another story titled The Living Dead was originally published in Weird Vol. 4 #3 and was published by Gredown in Crypt of Creatures #4:

This is a 4-page story reprinted later by Gredown in The Vengeful Corpse.

The Witches Cauldron #1 and The Panther's Revenge: The cover story

 Gredown's The Witches Cauldron #1 was published in 1976:

The cover art, likely by Phil Belbin, is based on two panels from the lead story, The Witch of Hog Wallow (incorrectly titled The Witch of Hog Hollow on the front cover) :

The cover was recycled by Gredown a few years later for The Panther's Revenge: 

Interestingly, the bumpkin figure in front of the panther is replaced by a rendition of the priest figure from the lead story Sweet Resentment. The panel below shows both Priest Nofrite and the panther:

Not only is the priest on the cover clearly based on Priest Nofrite, but the figure appears to be the very same figure on The Witches Cauldron #1 touched up to represent the priest. 

Clearly there was an attentive editorial hand at work in this instance.

The contents of The Witches Cauldron #1 and The Panther's Revenge have been indexed on AusReprints along with many of the splash panels to the various stories.

Tales of Horror #4

 Gredown's Tales of Horror #4 was published c.July 1976:

The cover is likely by Phil Belbin and is based on two full page illustrations by Miguel Gomez Esteban for the lead story The Black Cat:

And here's a scan of the splash page to El Gato Negro:

The story contents:

The Black Cat, originally published as El Gato Negro in Dossier Negro #17, August 1970 

Night of the Mockers, originally published in Beyond the Grave #5, April 1976

The Unbelievers, originally published in Monster Hunters #4, February 1976

That Old Gang of Mine, originally published in Monster Hunters #4, February 1976

The Devil's Vicar, originally published in Ghost Manor #27, January 1976

Some of these stories were subsequently reprinted in other Australian editions, for example: Night of the Mockers in Planet Series 1 #2 Unusual Tales; The Unbelievers in Monster Hunters #1 and Voodoo Tales #1; and The Devil's Vicar in Ghost Manor #3.

Ghosts and Ghouls #3

Gredown's Ghosts and Ghouls #3 was published c.October 1977:

The cover is by Salvador Faba. This image was previously published on the cover of European comics such as Chock #3, 1975:

And Shokki #7, 1975:

It was also on the cover of a horror pulp novel, Gespenster-Krimi #40:

The story contents:

The Rotting Ghouls, originally published in Weird v7#4 

Deadman's Dream, originally published in Weird  v8#2, April 1974 

The Hungry Ghoul, originally published in Tales of Voodoo v3#4, July 1970 

The Work of Genius, originally published in Ghostly Tales #83, December 1970 

Satan's Demon, published in Terror Tales v9#1, January 1978 

The Supernatural, originally published in Weird v8#3, June 1974 

Ghoul without Pockets, originally published in Horror Tales v2#2, March 1970 

There are two Eerie stories titled Satan's Demon. The one in this issue is signed Felix Saborido. This is the story published in Terror Tales Vol. 9 #1, according to my set of digital scans. I am certain there is an earlier Eerie printing of this story but I have yet to identify it. 

Gredown recycled some of these stories: The Rotting Ghouls is in The Fanged Monster; Deadman's Dream is in Ghost Dancers and Shuddering Fear; and The Supernatural is in Fate of Death.

Ghosts and Ghouls #1

Gredown's Ghosts and Ghouls #1 was published early 1978:

This cover previously appeared on Dossier Negro #88:

The cover is signed Ballestar, a Spanish artist whose work appeared on many Australian comics published by Gredown and Murray. 

The contents hail from Charlton comics:

The Treasure Seekers, originally published in The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves #45, May 1974 

Ghost Town, originally published in Ghostly Tales #86, June 1971 

Someone Else is Here!, originally published in Ghostly Tales #86, June 1971 

The Curse of the Hanging Man, originally published in Ghost Manor #3, February 1972

Who Roams Tyford Castle?, originally published in Ghost Manor #19, July 1971 

When Johnny Comes Marching Home!, originally published in Ghost Manor #16, December 1973 

Gypsy's Revenge!, originally published in Ghostly Tales #85, April 1971 

A Bad Bargain, originally published in The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves #44, January 1974

The Engagement Party, originally published in Ghostly Tales #82, October 1970 

Many of these stories were subsequently recycled by Gredown. For example, The Curse of the Hanging Man and Who Roams Tyford Castle? in Temple of the Dead; When Johnny Comes Marching Home! in Satan's Corpse; Gypsy's Revenge! in The Spirits of Misfortune; and The Engagement Party in Spooks of Terror. Some also appeared in Murray comics, such as The Treasure Seekers in Ghostly Tales #6, and A Bad Bargain in Scary Tales #4.

This Magazine is Haunted #19 in Ghosts and Ghouls #6

Charlton's This Magazine is Haunted #19 was published c.August 1954 and contains the following comics features:

Where Do They Lurk?

Final Payment

Friendship Beyond Death

Doom of the Cheat!

The Coffin Maker!

The Ghost of Port Palos

All of these features - apart from Doom of the Cheat! - were reprinted in Gredown's Ghosts and Ghouls #6:

I believe Ghosts and Ghouls #6 was published late 1978.

The Coffin Maker can also be found in Gredown's Shriek of Despair. I expect to find the other stories in this issue to have also been recycled in subsequent Gredown issues. 

Oh - if you're chasing a reprint of Doom of the Cheat! it can be found in Gredown's This Comic is Haunted #3, another fulsome repository of This Magazine is Haunted material

Savage Beastman

Savage Beastman was published by Page Publications:

This is a digest-sized recycled edition of Werewolf By Night #3:

This is the third recycled edition from the Werewolf By Night series, and the second to be retitled. this is one of many such retitled and recycled editions published by Yaffa.

Tracking The Menace from the Stars!

Panic in the Sky is the title of the 38th episode of the tv series Adventures of Superman, originally airing 30 November 1953. The key plot element involves Superman losing his memory after ramming into an asteroid which is on a collision course with Earth. It's one of my favourite episodes and it's "Superman at his very best", according to Michael Bifulco in Superman on Television (1998 edition).

Bifulco doesn't mention that this episode bears plot similarities to The Menace from the Stars!, a contemporaneous Superman story originally published in World's Finest Comics #68, cover-dated January-February 1954. Some sources claim the television episode adapts the comic book, whilst others credit the tv show as influencing the comic book. It is also apparent that some elements of Panic in the Sky and The Menace from the Stars! are indebted to an earlier Superman comic book story, When Stars Collide! from Action Comics #63, August 1943.

I first read The Menace from the Stars! in K.G. Murray's Colossal Comic #43, published c.November 1967. This printing of the story is likely recycled from an earlier K.G. Murray Australian publication, but I haven't yet identified the source. However, I'm pretty sure there is an Australian printing of this story from the 1950's, not only because the Colossal Comic series was a repository of such recycled material, but because it does appear in the UK edition Superman Annual 1963-64, which was licensed to Atlas Publishing and Distribution Co. Ltd by K.G. Murray. Indeed, the story is referenced on the cover of the book:

The cover artist is not credited, but the image is based on a panel from The Menace from the Stars!:

This pic is from the UK Superman Annual, as evidenced by the two-tone colouring. 

This edition of the story has some modifications on the last two pages, whereas the version in Colossal Comic #43 appears to be intact.

Menace from the Stars! was recoloured and reprinted by DC Comics in Superman in the Fifties, 2002.

I look forward to identifying the other publication of Menace from the Stars! in a K.G. Murray issue.

The Avengers #6: The Yaffa edition

Page Publications' The Avengers #6 was published c.April 1981:

The cover recoloured and cropped from the original on Marvel Comics' The Avengers #17:

The contents:

The Old Order Changeth!, originally published in The Avengers #16, May 1965 

[Four Against The Minotaur!], originally published in The Avengers #17, June 1965 

When The Commissar Commands!, originally published in The Avengers #18, July 1965 

This printing of Four Against The Minotaur! is missing the splash page. Similarly to previous issues in this series, it appears the story which sacrifices the splash page for the page count is compensated with a reprint of the cover to the story, which mirrors the splash page to some extent. 

The rest of the stories appear to be reprinted intact except for the omission of references to previous Marcel comics issues, which sometimes entails minor art extension, and the omission of the Next Issue text box at the end of When The Commissar Commands!

This issue is the first digest-sized edition in the series.