REVIEW: Doorway to Nightmare #2

Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Vicente Alcazar
Review: The Notorious Ghostwriter

Pre-Crisis, Post-Silver Age DC books are some of the best the company had to offer. Honestly, most of the comics DC put on shelves from 1970 to about 1991-92 were pretty great.
In any case, I’ve quite the soft spot for these older DC comics. As was common for many companies in the ‘70s and ‘80s, DC was graduating away from the, “gee whiz!”, sensibilities of the Silver Age. Untested writing voices led to more mature storylines and shaped comics into an adult genre as well as one for children.
....and by mature storylines I’m not necessarily referring to Dark Knight or Watchmen-levels of maturity. Rather, the scripts had been elevated, generally speaking, to a more serious level.
Perhaps it was the sobering attitude of the post-Vietnam era.

In addition to the elevation of superhero comics, horror books saw quite the resurgence in the Bronze Age. Tomb of Dracula, House of Secrets, Werewolf by Night, and (amongst many others) Doorway to Nightmare all came prowling onto the scene.
I’d never read Doorway to Nightmare before, due to lack of exposure. DC had dozens, it seems, of horror comics, some long-lived and some destined to be canceled. Having stumbled upon a lone issue residing in a back issue longbox prompted me to open the Door.   

To be fair, I bought it solely based on the phenomenal Michael Kaluta cover. His work is amongst my favorites and fits right in with other luminaries like Mike Ploog and the dearly departed Bernie Wrightson.
Against an oversized tarot card leans Madame Xanadu, all curves poured into a clinging purple dress, throwing an arcane gesture to the sky and encircled by flying imps.

Sold, good shopkeep!
I’ll take that kind of pagan idolatry any day of the week and twice on the Sabbath.

Presumably, Doorway to Nightmare was similar to many of its contemporaries in that a focal character or storyteller (in this case Madame Xanadu) frames the story or is otherwise more of a peripheral figure.
Other similar characters are The Crypt Keeper, Cain and Abel, the list goes on, but whereas many of these characters do not actively participate in the story, it appears Xanadu serves as more than an observer.

Telling fortunes from her Greenwich Village shop, Madam Xanadu has the misfortune of prognosticating fell days ahead for an odd couple.
Douglas, a freewheeling artist, and Melissa, an uptight physicist, learn that Melissa’s future holds danger to both body and soul.
Mel flees in fear and anger and the good Madame assures Doug she may be saved by his help alone.

Soon after, a laboratory accident reminiscent of PG-rated From Beyond transforms uptight, emotionally detached Melissa into a creature of Id. Giving into her baser desires, Mel turns into a gluttonous, lustful version of herself and it’s up to Douglas to save the day.

This particular issue of Doorway to Nightmare doesn’t fly off the hinges with originality, but it is a fun little tale. As much as I lauded the new direction post-Silver Age comics took, we see age-old tropes and archetypes.  The setup, minus the supernatural, is essentially a 1950s-60s romance comic showcasing the dichotomy between a cold, shrewish woman and her easygoing suitor. Throw in a good ol’ love triangle, and the tale easily could have been lifted from any romance book.
The art even reminded me of some mid-late 1960s romance comics.
Changing the set dressing and adding otherdimensional magic, however, breathes some new life into this copy/paste.