by Frank G. Murdock
Continued from The House of Mystery: The Thing in the Cellar
The cover:
Blue Devil stands in the center of the cover toward the back, his hands over his face in embarrassment. Changeling is stuffed face-first into a large, three-tiered celebratory cake. The Trickster is rolling on the ground, laughing and pointing at him. Jorj and Lehni, the Maldorian alien fugitives who encountered Blue Devil on two separate occasions, have dropped their presents and are making a hasty run toward the right side of the page. Other characters in the background are Manhunter (Mark Shaw in his red and blue outfit with a blue metal mask), Captain Comet, the Creeper, Firestorm, Black Lightning, Metamorpho, Halo, Geo-Force, Katana, Animal Man, Elongated Man and Sue Dibny, Plastic Man, Starman (Will Payton), the Demon, El Diablo, Kid Devil, Steel, Wonder Woman (Nubia), and Deadman. They are all walking away, looking disappointed as they toss away their party hats and favors. Guy Gardner is lying on the ground with a shiner. Ice is holding him, looking upset. Fire is apparently laughing at Guy’s situation. Lobo is holding Guy’s power ring and grinning as he slugs back a drink from his bottle of liqueur.
Cain is directing workers up above them. The workers are covering The House of Mystery Special 1988 logo with a logo for The Night Force Special 1988. Ambush Bug is sitting atop the cover logo, eating a piece of cake.
Standing in front of everyone are five figures: Baron Winters, Vanessa Van Helsing, Jack Gold, and Adam and Julie Kadmon.
Cain is saying, “Last time you covered your rent — consider this the deposit! Heh-heh-heh!”