The Case of Professor Zoff

The popularity of Dr. Occult and later Dr. Thirteen made occult detective characters another “must have” feature of early comics, along with the jungle lord or lady, the super hero and the Mountie. Because of this we got plenty of also-rans such as Dr. Styx. (For more see “It’s Okay, I’m a Doctor”) Most lasted only an appearance or two but some like Zero Ghost Detective ran for years. A perfect example of a one-shot wonder was the anonymously written and drawn “The Case of Professor Zoff” (All Top Comics, 1944), featuring Hugo Bart and Pete Storm, “The Spook Hunters”.

The detectives are already established by cases we can only guess at. People are whispering behind their backs about it.

Our ghostbreakers are Literature professor, Hugo Bart, and his student, Peter Storm. When a long day of caucer and Shakespeare is over, the two men begin their real occupation, hunting spooks.

A letter arrives and the game is afoot! Like most Watsons, Peter Storm does little but give Bart somebody to talk to. This time it is a letter asking for help. No time to waste, the duo are off!

They drive out into the creepy woods to the house of Professor Zoff. The chemist has recently died. There they find his housekeepers in distress.

The old folks explain the house isn’t haunted, only the laboratory. When the gentleman entered that room a band of demons attacked him. they refuse to enter that room ever again. There is no electricity, but the Spook Hunters came prepared. They have flashlights. (No mention of garlic, holy water or a copy of the Saatii Rituals.) They find a cat that has broken a flask. The trip looks to be a waste of time, when …

… ghosts come pouring out of the ceiling!

Both men pass out, knocking over a gas cylinder. The cylinder breaks the window. When they wake, Bart has the answer to the ghost mystery.

Professor Zoff was a chemist. he was working on secret weapons for the U. S. military. The cylinder contains a gas that causes hallucinations. With this gas, the army could drive their enemies insane before attacking, causing panic. The cylinder has a slow leak. When the caretaker entered the room, he too was subject to the gas.

The old folks thank the Spook Hunters, who will accept no payment for their work. On the drive back Peter wishes the ghosts had been real. (You got that right, Pete!) Bart says, “Maybe next time.” There will be no next time.

Well, The X-Files it ain’t. It’s not even close to Dr. Occult. What I did notice were a few things: first, all the classic Gothic touches, even if poorly done. The haunted house, the cowering victims, ghosts and that terrible Ann Radcliffe ending. (It’s okay, mom and dad, nobody is going to believe in ghosts after this comic. Which is odd since the Comics Code is still twelve years away.)

The other thing I noticed is that the idea for a gas that caused ghost or demon hallucinations was used in the Doc Savage novel The Giggling Ghosts (Doc Savage, July 1938). Lester Dent loved to tease us with a supernatural-looking situation then explain it away with Science. There is every chance the anonymous author read that Doc Savage novel. The military angle is typical of wartime comics. ten years earlier Zoff would have been a mad scientist but since there was a war on, he could be more noble.