The Talking Skull + The Purple Claw Origin

Last day of the month, as well as the last story from the January 1954 issue of The Beyond #24. And this one goes out to my pal Fred over at Sweet Skulls, you know cuzza the whole sweet talking skull thing here today… but everyone is encouraged to enjoy it too. And I hope everyone had a great July, (to be honest I’ll be glad when fall finally gets here cuz STL is freakin’ miserable right now.)

Anyway, see ya'lls in August, more news follows today’s story…

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Coming in August--- Mummy Mondays! Every Monday we’ll get all wrapped up in some mad mummy mayhem, so call your local embalmer now if you need any extra prep work.

PLUS: The Purple Claw! Yes, this August you’ll thrill to the horrifically weird nightmare adventures of The Purple Claw. He’s not a superhero mind you, just a non-average guy graced with unimaginable supernatural powers (via LeClaw!) and his uncanny will to fight all that reeks of pure stinkin’ evil.

And to get us started here's Purple C’s 2-page teaser origin… full adventures unfold right here at THOIA EVERY SATURDAY in August (on the 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, and the 30th.)

Originally presented in the Jan 1953 issue of The Purple Claw #1.

(to be continued...)

Lair of the Black Widow

If you’ve somehow survived the inescapable whirlwind of Batman hoopla permeating nearly every portion of popular culture right now, then I’d like to take this moment to show you instead the super origin of someone else “special”, one who is rarely, if ever even talked about--- The Spider Man. And no, not THAT Spider Man, I mean Lucas Vilmar, the late great goateed Spidertologist at Trask U’s East River Laboratory. Never heard of him? Well then, pull up a web and let me tell you all about it now…

From the January 1954 issue of The Beyond #24

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And from the lair of another black widow it's--- Tenebrous Kate from Love Train for the Tenebrous Empire! Barely escaping some indescribeable, unseen rapey beastie thing (just out of photo frame), TK discovers that by luckily procuring the horrific terrific new THOIA babydoll-tee (which doubles as a protective shield) she has thus won herself yet another day of movies, art, and other assorted lurid weirdness. Ahhh, precious life. Fantastique!

But then suddenly... AIEEEEEEEE!!!

These, My Hands of Doom

Ah, the lengths some people will go for the sake of art, especially their own. It’s Day Two of our look inside the chilling pages of the January 1954 issue of The Beyond #24 (plus a bonus quickie from the same.) For art's sake... enjoy!

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BONUS QUICKIE!

Step into My Empty Shroud

Step into my blog for story number one from the January 1954 issue of The Beyond #24. We’ll be looking at this Ace issue in its entirety starting today and up until Thursday, and if my most excellent math wizardry has not failed me that means 4 big stories total. And we kick it off with one of the most visually stunning Lou Cameron zombie classics of all time. Seriously, it’s amazing this guy has been so overlooked all these years; someone really needs to think about a nice hardback Cameron Collection for us pre-code freaks.

Eveready Horror!

“They recover power, and bounce back for extra life!” Sounds like someone describing zombies. But in fact this is a famous tagline used in many Golden Era ads for Eveready Batteries. Over at Ger’s Fab 50’s blog he’s recently posted a brilliant sampling of these compact and amazingly illustrated ads featuring thrilling horror themes and true “brush with death” storylines. Stunning artwork too, highly recommended viewing!

Ger’s blog is a treasure trove of superb comic art of all types for all ages, don't miss a single post!

The Graveyard Wanderer

“Stupidest Killers Weekend” Day Two! So you think yesterday’s brainiac was stupid, wait’ll you get a load of the two geniuses in today’s ACG sidesplitter. Practically every page of this story is a scream as our two ridiculous bumblers overdose on the bumbles to the point of extreme hilarity. Even the cops in this one (who prefer to shoot first and ask questions later) are complete and utter imbeciles. I’ve read this story a few times now and continue to wonder if it was actually meant as a comedy, though it’s definitely funnier if it wasn’t.

From the March 1951 issue of Adventures into the Unknown #17

FYI: I'm going to search the long boxes soon and see if I can claw up some more numbskullery for another, longer version of this theme... too much fun for just a weekend. And if anyone has any suggestions (good, or preferably bad) let me know.

And starting tomorrow--- the January 1954 issue of The Beyond #24 in it's entirety! Lou Cameron zombies, hunchbacks, killer spiders, and talking skulls, it's gonna be great... you just wait!

Graveyard Guffaws

As promised (though no one really asked) I have more cutesy, spooky fun from Vic Martin for you today as well as a couple of Weird Mazes.

Print ‘em out for your friends! Have an a-MAZE-zing goddamn time!

Wings of Death!

Here we go with "Stupidiest Killers Weekend", terror tales featuring some of the most careless, lunkheaded pre-code horror criminal characters this side of a Darwin Award. For the next two days you will witness people so deserving of a gruesome fate that when they do eventually meet their dumb ass death you’ll swear it was still too good for them.

From the Dec ‘54 issue of Amazing Ghost Stories #15