One year ago today we kicked off January 2008 with
“The Dead Who Walk” comic, now bare witness as we unearth another one-shot rarity to help usher in 2009. Today’s 1952 issue of
City of the Living Dead from
Avon Periodicals isn’t a full length single tale like
The Dead Who Walk, but instead the usual collection of individual tales in classic pre-code terror tale mode, highlighted by today’s title story from
A.C. Hollingsworth.
Enjoy! More details follow today's tale... and
Happy New Year too!
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And all this week (and weekend) you can expect: zombies, blobs, skeleton men, witches, severed heads and voodoo… and of course lots more
THOIA surprises are in store for 2009--- seriously, we’re just getting warmed up!
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Ah, this particular story WAS moody and atmospheric enough to serve as your opening salvo for calendar year 2009.
ReplyDeleteHollingsworth turned in a nice effort on this one, Karswell.
Not that it's saying much; but this is probably Holllingsworth's masterpiece. I really enjoyed the story, kinda reminded me of the first PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN movie, anyway it's hard to hate a story where the "god of justice" looks like Satan!(and where the heroine has dislocated hips!). The Kinstler table looks like the issue has some promising stories, lookin' forward. >people who have never died. gasp! i've seen people like that!. At Mcdonalds, K-mart, the town where i grew up, work, my old high school!, England, the Bronx, Tennessee, heck just about everywhere i've ever lived! i've been living in an abnormal world!. Just kidding, Happy new year to all!(even Frank Miller, who has hopefully made some resolutions about future comics adaptions).
ReplyDeleteYeah, an Aztec god popping up in the form of... Satan.
ReplyDeleteI think that splash dialog would go well on the new THOIA T-Shirt:
"Look! People who have never died!"
"They're what we need!"
Yum.
NICE COVER ART AND COOL STORY, BUT AM I ALONE IN SAYING I WOULD HAVE MUCH RATHER SEEN KINSTLER ILLUSTRATE THIS ONE? MAN HIS BLACK AND WHITE INKS ON THAT LAST PAGE ARE SO MUCH COOLER THAN ANYTHING IN THE ACTUAL STORY. I STILL LIKED IT ALOT THOUGH........ WAS ALWAYS CURIOUS ABOUT THIS ISSUE, GLAD TO SEE WE'RE GONNA GET THE WHOLE THING. THANKS!!
ReplyDeleteTalk about blatant art theft! ;)
ReplyDeleteOn the final page, that monster in the second panel ("Only its victims knew...") was taken from an illustration by Gustave Doré -- "The Gnarled Monster" -- from THE DAYS OF CHIVALRY, OR, THE LEGEND OF CROQUEMITAINE, by Ernest L'Épine.
You can see a scan of that monster here:
http://www.vintage-views.com/eshop/home.php?cat=398
Mark dq405
i like the way this guy Hollingsworth draws women- all tattooey-like. and the way he organizes action within the frame- very eccentric. i think i saw examples of his art in Seduction of the Innocent.
ReplyDelete>Hollingsworth turned in a nice effort on this one, Karswell.
ReplyDeleteI'm still not crazy about most of his horror output... I really liked something he did that you posted one time Chuck, I think it was a jungle girl story. The art was miles better than anything I've ever posted by him here at THOIA.
>Holllingsworth's masterpiece.
!!! Never thought I'd see those two words in the same sentence. Glad you liked it HP.
>I think that splash dialog would go well on the new THOIA T-Shirt
FYI: not really making a new THOIA shirt... unless people want one?
>WOULD HAVE MUCH RATHER SEEN KINSTLER ILLUSTRATE THIS ONE
I'd much rather see Kinstler illustrate ANYTHING and EVERYTHING, but that goes without saying...
>think i saw examples of his art in Seduction of the Innocent.
Search his name on my blog and you'll find quite a few stories by him here at THOIA. As much as I rip on him I sure do post alot of his stuff! Somebody stop me!
hollingsworth was ok but agree that kinstler would have really rocked this one
ReplyDelete>was taken from an illustration by Gustave Doré -- "The Gnarled Monster"
ReplyDeleteApparently the rules of swipage applied to even ultra talented pros like Kinstler back in the day. Oh well, everybody rips off somebody sometime...
Not to discredit the spirit of it all, but the artwork is pretty dismal...a lot of 50's horror comics really have terrible artwork which distracts from the mood of the story. Guess i was spoiled by EC and Warren as a kid. Anyway, it's all in fun and hats off to Karswell for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSo I wasn't the first by any means to notice that the Aztec god of justice looked strangely like Satan. I did also notice that Anne looked a lot like Barbie.
ReplyDeleteHoly cow, what a great way to start of the new year, Karswell!
ReplyDeleteI know the art here is..."eccentric," as Professor Grewbeard put it, but for me it had kind of a cumulative effect as the story went on--the strange pencilling, the constant IN YOUR FACE close-ups, the odd crowded panels. It's definitely it's own style here, for better or worse, but I kind of dug it.
As to the story, pretty wild--some very articulate zombies (almost poetic, even--"Vitality of the living! We must HAVE IT!"), Professor Bob putting his woman in her place when she tries to flee the zombies ("Take it easy, Anne! You're hysterical!" Oh, is THAT it?), and the quotable lines "The foolish scientist! His cold logic wouldn't let him be frightened!" and "WON'T SOMEBODY SPARE US THIS ETERNAL TORTURE?" Great stuff.
And as you knew I would be, I'm kind of in love with Anne in her awesome expeditionary outfit. That cover is fantastic, and that bottom panel on pg. 6--oh, Karswell, YOU KNOW WHAT I LIKE! I can't help thinking Professor Bob did pretty well for himself...
Happy new year, Fellow Pre-Coders!
*laughs*
ReplyDeleteSo, the "coldly logical scientist" wants to go find some gold chalices and ditch his busty, frightened wife with a pair of slavering, disloyal thugs? Methinks his "logic" was a bit lacking! The zombies should've eaten him too, if only to spare the world - and Anne - of his stupidity!
(Was the outlaw leader called "Torque" because he was tight? Who else was thinking of The Ruins as they read this story? And who let Metamorpho the Element Man loose on the cover? Just askin'...)
That cover is freaking great! Sweet way to start off '09.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year everyone!