Black Magic (DC) #8 - The Girl in the Grave

Two Simon&Kirby reprints in this issue, both from STRANGE WORLD OF YOUR DREAMS #2 (1952). "The Girl in the Grave" is a 5-page story, starting with dream analyst Richard Temple encountering a nervous woman who it turns out was going to see him about a series of nightmares she's been having that threaten her performance in her upcoming new job. She's been having dreams about seeing her own grave, leading to an underground office where she's overwhelmed by work and then facing rising water.



Of course Temple easily figures this out as symbolic of her doubts and fear of failure. Which even I could have figured out, but it seems to ease her mind.

Some great moody bits of artwork in the dream sequences, especially the graveyard on the opening page.

The other story is a 2-pager from the regular "Send Us Your Dreams" series from the book, with a man describing a dream of trying to race through a storm to a peaceful garden, being blocked by a fence, a horde of dwarves and a highway of futuristic cars. Temple explains that these kinds of dreams are common, and a reaction to tensions raised by the uncertain new world of atom bombs. I'm really not sure how Temple ever actually helps anyone, but man, a Kirby-drawn attack of misshapen dwarves is always fun.

Published 1975