Wednesday, December 3, 2008

One Door from Disaster

The vampire villainy continues with a viciously sexy Lou Cameron tale featuring a full page splash that dares you to not read this entire story once you’ve simply looked at it. Go on, look at the splash and try not to read this story now! And for those of you who like a little twisted romance with your bloodsuckin’ action, this one’s a rare treat for you too.

From the November 1954 issue of Web of Mystery #27









TOMORROW: Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the barbershop--- it’s The Wig again?! BAW!

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And what do we have here? Why it’s Daphne and Dash Rozum, the winners of the THOIA 2008 Halloween Murderathon Contest--- and wearing their spiffy new THOIA prizes too! Wow, you guys look great!



And as the battle between voodoo witchcraftery and clone trooper technology rages on, I want to warn everyone that in just two weeks the next THOIA Contest rears its horrific head for yet another round. This is a big one too, so strap on your conjuring caps this instant, and prepare to call upon your own dark powers of pre-code inspired imagination… it’s going to be awesome (more to come…)

14 comments:

AndyDecker said...

I have to look up this swamp-grass thing. This is the second time this is mentioned. :-)

Some really mature story-telling here. They mention a warrant? Lol.

Beautiful artwork. And a nice tale. Okay, the ending is lame, maybe it were vampire mosquitos :-) Still, a good one!

Mr. Cavin said...

I'm the complete opposite of Mr. Decker: I usually love Cameron's art, but what is this? Collage? Rotoscoping? Tracery? I'm not too enthusiastic. The disparity of models (and even lighting and line size from one part of each panel to the other) is interesting but took me right out of the story. I really feel like I just read word balloons pasted over a lingerie catalog. (Actually, I want to see someone do that now, but as a fine art piece, not graphic storytelling.)

But I thought the ending was really neat (and the art was great there, too, since there probably wasn't any time-saving materials featuring death-by-mosquito. At least not back before the internet).

Chuck Wells said...

You are right, Karswell. That Cameron tale really was sexy.

p.s: Way back when, I tried to snap a photo of myself in my own THOIA shirt, but then the camera broke (I think that one of the naked girls that I was posing with did something wrong, but I was too distracted to be really sure).
Sorry!

Anonymous said...

MAN I THOUGHT THIS STORY, ART AND ENDING WERE ALL FANTASTIC. I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE COMPLAINT IS WITH THE ARTWORK THOUGH, EVEN IF CAMERON DID DO AS CALVIN SAID IT STILL LOOKS AMAZING. THATS LIKE COMPLAINING ABOUT WHAT ALEX ROSS DOES. SURE HE'S CUTTING CORNERS A LITTLE WORKING FROM MODEL PHOTOS MAYBE BUT DAMN IT STILL LOOKS GREAT. AND I HARDLY THINK SOMEONE WITH HIS LEVEL OF TALENT NEEDS TO TRACE ANYTHING, THOUGH NOW I'M GUILTY OF ASSUMING JUST AS YOU ARE.

THOIA TEES IN KIDS SIZES TOO? I KNOW WHAT SOMEONE IS GETTING FOR CHRISTMAS!

Prof. Grewbeard said...

thet there vampire gurl shore was purty...

sfdoomed said...

Semi erotic thoughts of Velma in that sheer nightgown from page 2 will keep me blushing in shame all day!

I thought the ending was pretty original, especially for a vampire story that has been told a zillion ways.

Kitty LeClaw said...

I agree with sfdoomed; fantastic, original ending. Gorgeous artwork: I'm fantasizing about a number of these panels appearing on canvas, throughout my apartment.

I was kinda hoping Velma would get all surly in the hosptial, so they'd have to whup her, but alas...

Looking good, Rozum Kids!! Love the masks!!

Zen Wizard said...

Hey, wait--I thought they were going to get into what happens when a mosquito bites a vampire...

...talk about a loose end...

I kind of thought that Velma was going to turn out to be Keith Richards mother there for a minute but that part got resolved.

Mr. Karswell said...

I too was thinking about how great it would've been to see a swarm of vampire mosquitos descend upon the nearest town and infect the populace... so yes, not really a loose ending but possibly just the beginning of something bigger (pssst! also something for you guys to keep in mind for the upcoming THOIA contest in two weeks.)

OK, it's been a long day and I really don't have the energy to discuss the Lou Cameron tracing accusation... anyone else got anything to add? *sigh* And Kitty's got me thinking about something else anyway, again...

Emby Quinn said...

Lovely art, gorgeous vampire babe, hunkish hero, but I am very much afraid I have to say I didn't care for the ending. It seemed sort of weak. Still, I suppose they couldn't have our "love at first bite" couple living--err, unliving--happily ever after.

Death By Mosquito. I've seen it done before, actually, in a Warren comic from the 1970s...either CREEPY or EERIE, can't remember which. Now if you want a really different take on vampire myths, that's a story to look for, even if it isn't pre-Code.

Anonymous said...

The use of an army of bloodsucking animals(mosquitoes) to kill vampires was used in an Atlas story too, with Tony Dipreta art. I can't recall the title but i saw it in an old issue of WHERE MONSTERS DWELL, the vampires in the story hid their lack of reflections with paintings or some crap, And leave us not forget the climax of Hammer's KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, only that used an army of demon bats. As for the story itself, it's convinced me that Lou Cameron was THE artist for vampire stories, look at all the ones he's done that you've posted! all excellent, too. Speaking of vampire romances, i recently saw TWILIGHT, not worth the hype but fairly watchable stuff,a good 3 stars(of 5) maybe vampires will replace zombies in popularity, even though it'll probably just lead to a bunch of Anne Rice rehashes.

Unknown said...

Mike's better as a vampire. Too bad he didn't specify the unreflective, insect-repellent type of vampire.

Any more Wednesdays with Werewolves?

Mr. Karswell said...

>Any more Wednesdays with Werewolves?

Temporarily moved to Thursday this week, but next Wednesday look for things to get alot hairier.

Unknown said...

Hooray for a balanced diet!