House of Mystery No. 231 Cover by Bernie Wrightson
Bernie Wrightson had just come off his groundbreaking run with writer Len Wein on Swamp Thing. He would move onto other projects, like the shared working space with Michael Wm Kaluta, Barry Windsor Smith and Jeff Jones which would be documented in the book The Studio and his illustrated Frankenstein.
As well as this Wolfman cover for the House of Mystery, 1974 would also see publication of The Monsters Color-the-Creature Book, which anticipated the adult colouring book market by more than a few decades.
Here’s the cover to House of Mystery No. 231, art restored and recoloured.

As published

Original art scan from Heritage Auctions. It was a fad in the 1970s for artists to hand colour originals for sale to collectors. Thankfully, the colours have faded, making it possible to return the scan to black and white.

Restored art. Some Photoshop manipulation combined with hand-painting out the remaining evidence of the previous colouring.

New colour

New colour detail

Re-created trade dress applied
Related
Swamp Thing No. 6 Cover by Bernie Wrightson
A clockwork horror, a badass robot, and Swamp Thing is as perplexed as ever. New colour by Scott Dutton/Catspaw Dynamics.
Chamber of Darkness No. 7 Cover by Bernie Wrightson
Wrightson emerged as the 1960s ended. With a lush and expressive illustration style strongly influenced by EC Comics of the 1950s, he didn't stay long at Marvel before settling in at DC. Colour by Scott Dutton.
The House of Mystery No. 182 Cover by Neal Adams
There's always something evil in the attic. It's a law of old houses and horror stories. Colour by Scott Dutton.
The House of Mystery No. 175 Cover by Neal Adams
Kids in peril was an effective theme Adams used for his DC horror covers. Scare the kids, they'll love it and they'll buy the comic. New colour and presentation by Scott Dutton.






