Friday, October 24, 2008

The Monster Maker

Feeling like yesterday’s post didn’t quite meet the Monster Overload Quota that I was hoping for, I present to you "The Monster Maker" from the January 1954 issue of Baffling Mysteries #19. Its a hot little story to wrap up our dreary work week... and don’t forget, our Ace Fest is far from over.









THIS SATURDAY & SUNDAY DON’T MISS---
DEADLY KILLER DOLLS WEEKEND!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

One now imagines the writer and artist, gone mad, protecting the script and original art for this story.

blackwalnut2001 said...

Okay, okay! UNCLE! Monster Overload Quota MET! Holy $#!T.

More ACE though, please. ACE goood!

Anonymous said...

As much as i enjoyed your more atmospheric stories from eralier,this is definitely high concept stuff despite being jam packed with monsters(how is that a bad thing if they're used well?look at ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN in comparison to DESTROY ALL MONSTERS,one's campy fun,but A&C is the superior film because of it's well-structured story and use of the monsters.).Carl really comes off as a creep even though he hasn't commited any real crimes and performs a heroic deed,nice contrast.I also love the dialogue,i wish in the real world someone in Hollywood would say what Carl says on page 1,panel 1(after splash).and last but not least,Medusa isn't really such a bad looker in the group panel!.

silvano said...

Definitely a good story , and especially superb artwork ! The splash page and the bottom panels from pages 3 and 5 are worth of appearing in an anthology of horror comic !
THanks for sharing !

Mr. Cavin said...

No! Don't burn that page! I really want to read the horror story about the diaper-wearing gorilla! Actually, this guy's a nut. He writes up all sorts of diaper-wearing monsters.

Man, the art on page six, especially the first two-thirds, is awesome. And I really didn't see the ending coming, either. I always look a bit askance at these love-letters to comic-books creators from comic book creators (oh, I see, comics writers are dashing young Dean Martin types. I never knew), but this one was really edgy and great. Though:

"Nothing like it has ever been done before!"

Er. I wouldn't go that far, really.

Unknown said...

Medusa should have survived longer than Carl. Hubba, hubba.

joe ackerman said...

that was sweet! one of my faves, definately, since I first started lurking around this site.

Anonymous said...

YOU DEFINITELY FILLED THE MONSTER OVERLOAD QUOTA!! THIS ONE HAS SOME OF THE BEST ART AND COOLEST MONSTERS I'VE EVER SEEN. I FOUND THE ENDING TO BE ALMOST AS FUNNY AS IT WAS DISTURBING. I GUESS IF YOUR ON FIRE OWWW-W-W HELP IS THE THING TO YELL?

cube said...

Loved the ending. Thanks for posting this.

Marc Burkhardt said...

That's one of my favorite Ace stories - even if I do feel sorry for the diaper-wearing Gorilla.

Patrick said...

I have always wondered why I keep all of my monster drawings, and now I know!
I had to laugh when I read Mr.Cavin's comment about all the diaper wearing monsters, as I was thinking the same thing as I read this story. Maybe they were just gearing up for their horrible deaths by burning? I think anyone would want a diaper if they had to die that way!

The Gill-Man said...

Fun story, with some great artwork! Great blog!

Anonymous said...

This art is beautiful, and looks so familiar, but I can't quite place it. Any ideas?

Mr. Karswell said...

>This art is beautiful, and looks so familiar, but I can't quite place it. Any ideas?

Except for the few exceptions of Lou Cameron and the handful of Gene Colan apearences, I'm completely clueless on the ACE artists. Overstreet mentions Mike Sekowsky and Bill Discount, a John Chilly cover, Palais, etc... but usually stories are credited as something like "EC Swipe" or "Wood-ish" / "Baker-ish" art. If anyone knows anything REAL I'd love to hear from you.

Hope everyone's been enjoying this lengthy look at ACE this week. More this weekend too so don't stray too far... and Monday begins the THOIA HALLOWEEN ASSAULT 2008.