Saturday, October 11, 2008

The Shrunken Head vs. Devil Drums

Two-For-One Day here at THOIA, with a big, grisly, 24 hour, Double (Severed) Header! Its Atlas voodoo vs. Harvey jungle witchcraft as Mac Pakula takes on Warren Kremer in this no holds barred fight to the death! Who will win? And whose shrunken head winds up on the dusty mantle for display between the stuffed Tijuana Toads and the Precious Moments?

From the January 1954 issue of Men’s Adventures #25








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DEVIL DRUMS
From the April 1953 issue of Black Cat Mystery #43





14 comments:

blackwalnut2001 said...

Nice pair, sir. I've always had a weakness for shrunken heads. There are all too few of them in the world. Why, even in the best of households, one is often struck by the complete absence of any shrunken head display whatsoever. Bloody hell, there aren't even any decent GAFFS around!

HARUMPH! Well...

Both stories have their merits, but my vote is for The Shrunken Head. The gritty quality of the artwork suits the tale, and the story line has a couple of nice touches -- the "cold fire" idea, for one.

Of course you have to love the Devil Drums approximation of "native language" -- "Bataa-yaa naootacha!" This well-known expression of the Stunken People means "These hemorrhoids are itching me to death!" (For some reason the Stunken are plagued with 'rhoids.) How it made it into this story I can't imagine.

Mysterio said...

Wow, that Carl was a nasty piece of work, wasn't he? His ultimate fate might have been a bit predictable, but the fact that he really had it coming makes up for it.

Anonymous said...

Love those jungle terror stories. And love those fake jungle languages. EC comics had them too ("Toombah!Toombah! Vanah Tamba!").

Anonymous said...

I liked both stories, but the first one was surprisingly graphic - loved that the narrator's hair turned all white within a couple of months though.

Kitty LeClaw said...

Ooh eeh, ooh ahh ahh
Ting Tang
Walla walla bing bang!

Anonymous said...

Damn, those were some violent tales! I enjoyed both of them, but in my opinion, 'The Shrunken Head' wins this duel. It was grittier than 'Devil Drums' and Carl the Hunter was one of the biggest jerks I've ever seen in a comic. I really got a kick out of when he finally got what was coming for him.

Prof. Grewbeard said...

the museum i worked at had shrunken heads. they were no longer on display and were stored in the "vaults". employees were occasionally allowed in to see them. creepy, creepy...

Tim Tylor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tim Tylor said...

Pretty effective little tales, those. And I admire the natives' sour wit in making Carl a little mini-eyepatch for his little mini-head.

silvano said...

Both comics are very good ; if I have to compare them , I'd say the "Shrunken Head" has a better story ,while "Devil Drums" wins in the artwork department , in ant case Thanks for sharing !
PS - for a better enjoyement of these two gems , I'd suggest a soundtrack of THE CRAMPS or YMA SUMAC - you decide what's better ...

Anonymous said...

I know I'm a day late, but MAN am I happy to see more Warren Kremer art posted here. Always a welcome (and disappointingly rare) sight. Thanks!

Unknown said...

Devil Drums was worth the wait. I like the jungle version of tough love.

DrSpecter said...

These are both great fun! I want both of those heads hanging over my rearview mirror. But first, I need a car.

I took Silvano's advice and put on my rare "Yma Sumac Sings The Cramps" LP, and it really did set the mood.

Well, Carl's whacking the lantern with his machete and running around on fire was a nice piece of irony, but I actually liked Devil Drums a little better. The art was really solid!

Eerie Publications actually swiped the plot pretty blatantly for a story called "The Head Shrinkers" which is in the nifty Zombie Factory book. It also reminds me of a McCain campaign ad, but that's another story.

Anonymous said...

Both a lot of fun but I'll go with DEVIL DRUMS. I love those Harvey pre-code horror books!