If anything can drive the spirits away, it’s Dennis the Menace.
Here’s one of those weird things that showed up in some collection or ‘nother at the shop that I didn’t really pay much attention to ’til it came up during processing:
This is a variant on Dennis the Menace #140 (September 1975). with the date and price removed (you can compare the two versions here). The lead story features Dennis and his long-suffering parents visiting the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA. The price-less variant was apparently used as a promotional item for the attraction. The Grand Comics Database linked above refers to it as a “giveaway,” so I suppose it was handed out on the premises. I wonder how many were printed? How long did they give copies away? San Jose is only a few hours away from the stores I’ve worked at…I’m surprised I haven’t seen more copies. Or, perhaps I have and it just didn’t register with me that “oh hey, this one’s missing the cover price.”
What made me notice this particular copy, and what makes it different from the sample on the GCD, is that huge ol’ sticker affixed to the bottom of the cover:
Clearly not every copy got that sticker slapped on the cover, as per, again, that scan on the GCD. And this is the kind of sticker that ain’t comin’ off, so it’s not like someone got one of these and removed it. My guess is that stickerless copies were given out at the Mystery House itself, while stickered copies were used as advertising elsewhere, with the sticker making it clear that the point of being handed the comic was “oh, yeah, the Winchester House,” not “here’s Dennis the Menace, now available in comic book form…enjoy!” I have no idea…maybe copies were just randomly stickered. Only the Winchester House spirits know for sure.
