From the June 1954 issue of Hand of Fate #23
SATURDAY & SUNDAY it's--- Shrunken Head Weekend!
Friday, October 10, 2008
He Who Robs the Dead
Lou Cameron returns to THOIA today with a brilliant pre-code zombie shocker. Nice use of bones for panel borders on a few of the pages here, typically clever of Lou… artistic touches like this is what put Cameron miles above most of the other contributors working at Ace. Also, I apologize for the rat chews on the top corners of each page; you’ll have to fill in a couple narrative blanks here and there yourself, but overall you shouldn’t have any real trouble following the story. And if you do I'll give you a full goddamn refund.
From the June 1954 issue of Hand of Fate #23
From the June 1954 issue of Hand of Fate #23
Wow.that was one of the bst twist-endings i've ever seen.kudos.
ReplyDeleteWell-written story. I especially liked the little touches, from bones to money back to bones. Nice!
ReplyDeleteAnd hey, the rat chews just make this more authentic *g
Ah, The Haunting. Just saw it a couple of weeks ago again. Great movie. It didn´t deserve the god-awful reamke they did. Whre is the tale where the remake-producer and his director get their revenge form the ghost of movies past?
Good stuff. The bone-frame panel borders are pretty neat. Unusual to see the low-down dirty graverobber drawn as a dishy handsome guy rather than a hulking beetle-browed brute or a rat-featured squirmy character.
ReplyDeleteThat one was amazing! Loved all the little touches that really make it stand out - and the writing in this one is better than most too.
ReplyDeleteLoved the "Your thoughts are mental shots of morphine" and "The tombstones are stacked against you".
I can think of many professions lower and more despicable than that of grave-robbing.
ReplyDeleteThe Haunting (1963) is actually one of those occasional cases where the movie is better than the book.
ca-ripes! what a corker! and you've got rat chews, too! as always, a brilliant effort on your part, sir.
ReplyDeleteand I was watching the Haunting last night on dvd, it's the missus' favourite film. my mate was running containers to and from the set of the remake, and, apparently, during filming, even Liam Neeson knew that it was going to be a sinker.
Darn, this was a good one! The bone-bordered last page was a great touch.
ReplyDeleteWOW. CAMERON NEVER FAILS TO DELIVER. INCREDIBLE STUFF.
ReplyDeleteOh that makes since. The dead toss all their cash into the money corner when they finally die. I always wondered why there wasn't going to be any inheritance.
ReplyDeleteAnd oeconomist.com: while I don't necessarily disagree with your assertion that many books are indeed better than their resultant movie versions (but it's always a complex comparison to say the least), I completely disagree that the Haunting of Hill House is inferior to its movie adaptation. I love the Haunting too, but Shirley Jackson's novel is probably the best book ever written about a haunted house. Well, in my opinion at least.
You gotta love Albert's occasional responses to the narrator's assertions/questions. It adds a layer of the surreal to the story, creating a kind of meta-narrative unusual for that era in comics. Hell, unusual for any era in comics.
ReplyDeleteBeen too long since I stopped in to comment! This was a great story with art to match!! Cameron's stuff is just awesome- I love all the added details.
ReplyDeleteGood to know that we don't need to worry about money and fine jewels once we die!
I prefer all three* film versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers to the original novel. Jack Finney's book was imaginative, but it just didn't have the same impact for me. Partly because he gave it a heartwarmingly upbeat "Triumph of the human spirit" ending, but also because stuff that worked onscreen just seemed silly in text. Particularly the scene where they've found an unfinished pod-person and are oggling at it and exclaiming "My word! This looks absolutely exactly like an ordinary human corpse, and yet there is something ineffably Incomplete about it in a way we can only mystically sense! It seems somehow... unlived-in! This is an Unlived-In Person!" And so on until you want to sedate and restrain them for their own safety.
ReplyDelete*I vaguely remember some buzz about a fourth, but I don't know if anything came of it.
There have been four film versions of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." There is the original 1950s B&W version, the classic '70s remake with Donald Sutherland and Leonard Nimoy, then there was another remake in the '90s that I never saw, and the most recent "Invasion" starring Nicole Kidman (which I also never saw).
ReplyDeleteBtw, this is my first time posting here at THOIA but I love this site and read it every day!!! Awesome stuff! I love pre-code horror!!!
Albert Torrance! A man without ORALS! A sad, sad man indeed... ;)
ReplyDeleteI loved the art in this one--the shadowed faces and figures prefigure the kind of art Mike Mignola is rightly praised for, and as with his stuff, lends the tale a nice added atmosphere of spookiness. (Love his anguished cry at the bottom of the penultimate page--cool stuff.)
I too was intrigued by Al's ongoing conversation with the narrator. Also, Albert's patois is one of the better we've heard around here lately!
I have to wonder about his business model, though. He's been digging for TEN YEARS, and still no pile? What, he has no plan? Just dig up a random grave and hope for the best? Dude, at least crack open the obituary page or look for aristocratic names!
And that grave guardian's line--"Why leave? Everyone comes back sooner or later..." is a classic shudder-inducer. Love this one!
As to the "movies better than their books" conversation, allow me to stir the pot with my opinion that Kubrick's version of Stephen King's The Shining is a much, MUCH better movie than King's book is a novel. We all saw what happened when King got it done HIS way. Unfortunately. :(
Good story, good art. (And good for Al that he at least got to live the high life for a week.)
ReplyDeletehey, i got your "coffin full of Family Jewels" right here, buddy!...
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff , and it looks surprisingly modern ( also reminds me on of my faves- the late Don Newton ); may I get more Lou Cameron , Please ?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing
As usual, Cameron's a hit... glad you all dig dug it. And FYI: closer to Halloween I'll be spotlighting more quality Ace tales like this one so don't stray too far away from the THOIA crypt.
ReplyDeleteShrunken Head Weekend kicks off tomorrow with a two-for-one Saturday deal you don't wanna miss. See ya in the mourn.
Great story and the art is excellent. The bone borders are cool. It reminded me also of Mignola and early Wrightson. More stories like this please.
ReplyDelete