From the July 1953 issue of Journey into Fear #14
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The Green Witch
Okay, straight up time… you’re not going to learn anything new from this one. And while it is most definitely a humdinger of a yarn about possession and bitchcraft, if anything, what you should really take away from THOIA today is this: Proper Harpoon Storage = vertical. Not horizontal. Seriously folks. Safety first!
From the July 1953 issue of Journey into Fear #14
From the July 1953 issue of Journey into Fear #14
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20 comments:
The artwork today is top notch! Maybe a tad predictable story wise, but I enjoyed it regardless! Great renderings of the witch!!
Now that would be an interesting day in court *g "Yes, your honor, I ran the guy down, but I was posessed, what can a girl do?"
Great artwork.
Cool art, but poor Andy!
Where's The Purple Claw when you need him?
He tells her that she had a bad dream? And what's the plan for when she discovers that she's facing charges of vehicular assault or homicide, leaving the scene of a accident, and assaulting a police officer?
andydecker and oeconomist.com have a good point. It isn't as if the young couple's life hasn't been totally ruined, whether or not the last two panels seem to indicate a happy ending. It somewhat mitigates that offhand finale, as a matter of fact. Sure, I still want to know how a real harpoon stabs into a real girl but only damages the ghost heart? "Why, this stake is just through the bewitched ventricle, Mr. Jones! All the real Mrs. Jones parts are fine." But it's not all that important knowing that the girl is going to be institutionalized forever, and the man will be shunned and driven from his childhood home.
Creeping up with the Joneses. Sheesh.
I know this isn't a terribly original story, but it woke me up to the four-color lore regarding witches: they always go for the sleeping missus, exacting domestic revenge for being persecuted. This is a witch-specific motif, I think, over and above the more widespread back-from-the-dead motif, enjoyed by mummies and evil heiresses and witches equally, that any centuries- or millennia-old reanimation will immediately run into someone they know.
I hate to hog the comments section, but I forgot to mention the badass ad. "Does just about anything a ghost will do, and perhaps more..." must be some of the most brilliantly crafted advertising ballyhoo I've ever been promised.
Yeah, the story was a bit of a let-down, but the art is first-rate.
And all I can think of right now is the closing line of an old WB cartoon...
"Aren't they all witches inside?"
--Bugs Bunny
Too much of a "She's alive and everything is happy again" ending. But then even if she is alive she is still going to have to go to court. Maybe they can work in a deal with the doctor to say she had a moment of insanity.
Really nice artwork ; that Sandra ia hot babe !
Thanks for sharing
I am sooooo jealous of that skull mask scan! (Stamps foot.) Waaagh!
Cool, though!
Check out the scan I made and added last night to the Monster Memories sidebar of Gre-Gory the Bat. Unless you have it already...
-Fred
Let me chime in with everyone else here and say how much I enjoyed the AWESOME artwork in this tale--the witch's face at the top of pg. 3, Sandra's face at the bottom of the splash and throughout really--all the close-ups are very well done. And that's some tasty cheesecake, esp. on pg. 8 with the full-length portrait in the center of the page. Eeybita-eeybita!
So once again, a beautiful young woman turns into an evil, insane witch just a short time after getting married. Hmm...I wonder what these authors are trying to tell us here? It's a mystery wrapped in an enigma...
The flowing hair on crazy Sandra, the neat shadow effect on p. 6 (I think that's a different shadow behind her), a cat named Fuzzy who for some reason DOESN'T like witches (I thought the felines were always in cahoots), and the All-Purpose Stake through the heart, good for any supernatural creature.
The last two panels were a bit of an "Aw, BULLSHIT" moment, though--especially given that as soon as she falls off the harpoon, she should be good as new, right? At least given the whole stake-removal thing earlier.
And yes, Mr. Cavin, the witches ALWAYS curse the descendants of the guy who executes them, usually from the pyre while they're setting it alight. No one ever thinks to slap a gag on them, for some reason--I guess since the threat is against their great-great-great-great grandchildren, the sense of urgency just isn't there. ;)
And what about that selling point on the skull mask ad: "SMOKE, Eat, Talk With It On!" I guess Lucky Strikes sponsored a lot of comic books, back in the day.
That's right kids! Smoke Early, Smoke Often, Smoke With a Flammable Skull Mask On! It's like Silver Shamrock, the prototype. :D
"And yes, Mr. Cavin, the witches ALWAYS curse the descendants of the guy who executes them..."
Well of course. Everybody's always cursing everybody. My point is that the witch never rises to enter a policeman or a fireman or big bad timberwolf (the better to shoot, burn, or eat the cursee to death with); witches always enter the wife and proceed to nag the poor motherf@#ker to death. That's the witch motif.
Gah. Even stage magicians die cursing somebody. Everybody knows that. Sheesh.
"I dreamed I was possessed by a witch, alienated all our friends, ran down a man, clawed a police officer and was thrown in jail. But now it's all over."
"No, honey, that part is true. Your court date is next week."
Yes, witches like to spend their spare time in museums full of the only thing that can kill them. And what's with the lightning hitting a harpoon gun? And a museum with deadly harpoons sticking out at head level for a child? "Timmy stop pushing your brother or you're going to impale him!" Visit the Salem Whaling Museum and ask for your coupon worth 10% on your hospital bill and/or legal fees.
I like the sight of little things that were commonplace 50 years ago but that we never see -- like the big boiler in the basement, and a wooden barrel. I wonder what that's for? And why was a Spanish conquistador at the witch's burning?
Great artwork and fun story, even if it felt a little like they had to rush to resolve things at the end.
Proof, as if it were needed, that fast cars and strong spirits don't mix. And again with the Female Lead Amnesiac Ending Syndrome... The art's not bad, though the cartoonish look of the lighting did jar a bit.
For someone born in the seventeenth century, that witch sure did pick up DRIVING really fast!
Some things I thought of while smokin' a catnip hookah and flipping through this comic:
Page 1-Panel 1: OMG! It's The Intercessor!
P2-P6: I'd be a spazzed-out kitty, too, if my owner served me cremated grandparents!
P3-P1: The Witch's strategically-placed tufts of hair make for groovy, horned shadows!
P4-P2: Hey, Madge!! Soak in it!!!
P5-P4: "Keep your filthy paws off me" is what I always say when I am being arrested. "Oh, I think I'm blind" is always the response.
P6-P3: "Fuzzy" is one Bad Mama Jama. He shouldn't be takin' that witch's shit.
P8-P5: Next time any of you git out of line, yer gittin' The Bible!
Will also accept: I'm taking my Bible off, and you kids ur gonna git it!
P9-P4: Looks like she finally got P9-P2 to line up properly :D
Grrrrreat... Now I've got "Stake Through the Heart" by Bryan Adams in my head ;o)
Thanks, Karswell!
"I dreamed I was possessed by a witch, alienated all our friends, ran down a man, clawed a police officer and was thrown in jail. But now it's all over."
Actually, jeffos, I think that sentence properly ends with "...in my Maidenform bra."
Page 5, panel 1 - did cops really used to yell" Wheeee - eeee" to get people to pull over? Seems ineffective.
I think that sentence properly ends with "...in my Maidenform bra."
OMG! That was awesome!
I'd love to have seen the ad for that one.
Too bad the lyrics contest is over,i know a certain Eagles song that would propel me to first place...
Yay, Bible stories!
Best part is the lower lefthand corner of page five. What a maroon.
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