Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Avenging Corpse

Question: what could be more cheerful and inspiring than attempting murder using genetically altered killer fish?

(Answer: the last panel in this story.)

From the Sept 1953 issue of Mysteries Weird and Strange #3







15 comments:

Adriano (Adrio) Petrucci said...

good job!!!!!!!
i love this comics.

and the barracuda is very very great!

hi friend!!!!!

The Vicar of VHS said...

Wow, what a freakin' GRIM story! And even the narrative asides have no sympathy--"Ida takes the EASY WAY out!" Call me crazy, but I never considered suicide particularly "easy."

But a great, almost Jacobean revenge tragedy here. Very over the top. Some of my favorite moments: the cannibal fish are "raised on RAW MEAT!" (Wait, isn't that what ALL fish are raised on?); the ER doctor shrieking "EEE! A Walking Corpse!" (You'd think he'd have seen mangled folks before); and of course the fact that he was able to remain unseen in full frogman gear at the bottom of the pool while the lovers cavort topside (can't you usually see the bottom of the pool?)

Still, it packs quite a punch. I just wonder...HOW grim and wild did these things get? What's the wildest story ever? I shudder to think...

Mr. Karswell said...

Hi Adrio, thanks again for stopping by!

>HOW grim and wild did these things get?

Pretty damn grim. The grimmest stuff seems to be contained in precode issues that are somewhat out of my price range though thanks to their price guides ties with SOTI which causes them to skyrocket out of my wallet's reach.

>What's the wildest story ever?

Horror of the Mixed Torsos is pretty wild from Dark Mysteries #13, but I've only read the black and white reprint version of it. Also good, back in August I posted a story called The Corpse That Came to Dinner that was alot of fun... shall we put this question to the test and have everyone submit their own thoughts?

Anonymous said...

PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING YOU POST HERE IS WILD AND GRIM. I CONSTANTLY GO BACK TO THE VERY FIRST MONTH OF POSTS AND RE-READ MOST OF THOSE, LIKE THE QUIVERING BRAIN AND ROTTING DEMONS. THERES SO MUCH GOOD STUFF IN THE BACK ARCHIVE

Anonymous said...

i loved the entire issue of chamber of chills you posted a few months back with dungeon of doom.......and your friend brians submissions from mister mystery were great like modern design

googum said...

I dunno, I like the last panel of page 4: when you show up at the hospital to cries of "Look at that" or "A walking corpse!" you might wanna pick a better hospital.

Anonymous said...

Wow, two suicides for the price of one!

Anonymous said...

Damn!what a brutal story,poor Dr. Loring. as for my favorites,CORPSE THAT CAME TO DINNER,THE HEADLESS HORROR,THE HIDDEN VAMPIRE,UNSLEEPING DEAD,THE CANNIBALS all get top votes,but i've liked almost every story,even the Warrens,unpleasant as they can get.

Anonymous said...

Grim and unrelenting.............

Anonymous said...

Best....blog...ever.

I am a HUGE 50's sci-fi/horror fan and just found this blog.

To the question, the EC Crime story of the the man killing his wife with an axe is a good one (the issue with the infamous decapitated head cover).

Mr. Karswell said...

>Best....blog...ever.

Ahhh, my 3 favorite words. Thanks!

>the issue with the infamous decapitated head cover

Yeah, #22... it's the only Crime Suspenstories issue I still need (besides #1) to complete the entire run. Anyone got a lower grade copy for sale or trade?

Anonymous said...

Something I've been thinking about for a while-what's up with the pratice of giving weird stories like this very generic sounding titles? "The Avenging Corpse" kind of describes the action of the tale, but the same title could apply to any number of pre-code horror stories. Another example would be the voodoo-shrinking story you posted some time back, with the bland "Die my Darling!" title.

Anonymous said...

This is probably one of my favorite comics I've read on this blog. Good stuff!

Mr. Karswell said...

>the bland "Die my Darling!" title.

Bland? Don't agree at all, I love the title.

Arben said...

"Please take me with you! I'll help you find Hank -- Here's where he is and with whom.
... Oops."