From the Dec-Jan ‘52/’53 issue of Eerie #10
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"I'm growin'..."
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Green Grows the Grass
As you read today’s tale try not to focus on, or think too much about Stephen King’s “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill” segment from Creepshow. I mean, sure there are differences, but there are also major similarities that for some might be just a little too, uh, similar. In fact I probably could have just not even mentioned anything here, but one of you would have surely mentioned it yourself anyway and... awww, meteor shit!
From the Dec-Jan ‘52/’53 issue of Eerie #10
From the Dec-Jan ‘52/’53 issue of Eerie #10
Great story and artwork , with a cool splash page to boot ... makes me wonder if Len Wein had read this story and it influenced his creation of Swamp Thing ( which I know seems like a golden age character called "The Heap",pratically identical to Man-Thing , but there are many similarities here ...)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing !
I doubt growing fur would faze half the people here. Growing grass, on the other hand, is a crawling horror in its own class. Even though the splash gave away almost everything, still terrifying.
ReplyDeleteIt was unsporting of you to steal the thunder away from any of us smartasses who would have liked to draw a corollary between this tale and the Creepshow segment.
ReplyDelete(Boo! Boo!)
Let me warn you in advance, that I'm gonna come back here tomorrow to make sure that you don't resort to this type of shameless tactic again.
So ..... there! Hmmm.
Haven't seen the film so I can't comment on that. But this is definitely a very original and nastily clever tale.
ReplyDeleteCOOL STORY AND DEFINITELY MORE CREEPSHOW THAN SWAMP THING, HIS GRADUAL CHANGE AND ULTIMATE TRANSFORMATION LEADS ME TO ALSO THINK KING READ THIS ONE AS A KID. KINGS SUICIDE ENDING IS MORE HORRORIFIC BUT I THINK THE ENDING HERE IS MORE DISTURBING.
ReplyDeleteSO FAR THIS IS A GREAT ISSUE OF EERIE!
Man, I love Creepshow. Hence, I love this. There's enough of the Vicar's love to go around!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great splash! Also, great villain name: "Felix Halt." Literally, "Happiness Stop." Clever, that's what these writers were. Or drunk.
Love the bulging eyes as Doc Braggart gets Pillsbury-ed! Once the grass sprouted the story seemed to lose steam as it pounded toward the inevitable conclusion, but still, great horrific stuff, and no wonder King and Romero ripped it off...er, paid homage to it! :)
So not only did Halt murder the world's most brilliant scientist, he also indirectly starved countless millions of people. I wonder if he robbed any crippled orphans before his demise.
ReplyDeleteIt was wise of him to deduce that the landlord would become suspicious over a tenant growing plants through every pore of his body.
"No, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
A delightfully creepy tale.
I didn't even think about Swamp Thing or Man Thing but those are all good comparisons too, especially with the science gone wrong angle.
ReplyDeleteI'll be the odd man out and say that I think the art here is not good. Don't get me worng, it works which I guess is most important, but I'm seriously not a Hollingsworth fan at all (as I've mentioned here countless times.) His stuff is always such a mixed bag to just ultimately be frustrating, great panels next to laughable panels, poor perspective (look at the bottom panels on page 3: the ceramic pot inside the little fence, the exterior of the greenhouse lab vs the landscape...) everything is just so slightly out of whack that it all becomes distractingly wanky. I do like his odd little occasional touches though, especially on the last page center panel, he draws three weeds that are different from all the others growing right out of Halt's ass.
Slightly off topic, but I really need a t-shirt with a scan of GIANT-SIZED MAN-THING #1 on it.
ReplyDeleteBecause I'm a 12-year-old inside.
not a big fan of the art here either but the story is strong and well told
ReplyDeletemeteor shit cracked me
I agree about Hollingsworth,nice layouts,but the actual rendering is too loose and stilted.and flaws like Sarbo's completely circular eye on pg.3 panel 2 are too numerous for an artist who supposedly has a cult-following.as for the story,yeah that's a terible way to die,but at least he got to go...somewhere that's greeeeen.....
ReplyDeleteFunny how the comments here today start off glowing about the art and then slowly slide into poo-poo on the art... only someone like Hollingsworth could produce such a two sided reaction.
ReplyDeleteSooooo, two more tales from Eerie #10 to go, we're halfway there... is the best yet to come? Well, better than today's post probably, but it'll be hard to top yesterday's Kinstler tale. See ya in the morn!
But the worst was yet to come... when a COW came along and ATE THE GRASS!
ReplyDeleteHorrors!
Maybe they could do a variation on this theme- make the plant character be covered with marijuana plants, and have him stumble by accident into a situation like Woodstock, where he is systematically smoked to death by the hippies?
ReplyDeleteAnything that inspired or is inspired by Creepshow is a good thing in my book. In fact, I need to post an old acrylic painting I did back in high school on my blog... thanks for the reminder Karswell!!
I think this is ranking up there as a recent fave. Good find, as always.
ReplyDelete