While our
Web of Evil Week lasts until Sunday the 29th, our
Jack Cole Tribute ends today
(wah!) And today’s tale, like yesterday’s tale is also from the November 1953 issue of
Web of Evil #8. And FYI: the next two posts are also from this issue, so for you completists, yeppers--- it’s another full issue presentation! Enjoy!
TOMORROW: THOIA turns up the heat!
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Vintage Ads
I've always wondered what a mega-talent like Jack Cole might have thought of "instant artistry" ads like this, being a man who not only spent his life seriously perfecting his craft, but was obviously “born with it.”
I once used a “draw instantly” sort of device (not that in the ad above, but one working on the same principle) to ink a surface from which pencil lines could not have been erased.
ReplyDeleteYou saved one of the best for last! You've just gotta LOVE that splash panel.
ReplyDeleteSorry- I'm responsible for the deletion above. I just wasn't ready yet.
I AGREE WITH MIKE, EVEN THOUGH ITS KIND OF A SCOOBY DOO ENDING THIS STORY IS STILL FULL OF GREAT MOMENTS AND EVEN GREATER ART. ALL HAIL JACK COLE!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe bad guy wins again, or rather, "bad" wins. This master detective, transformed by the very process of combating evil into a vessel of evil himself. Ruined by a career in a field where he was undisputed master.
ReplyDeletePoor Jack.
Yeah, this one was pretty great, and it was certainly not at all Jack Chicky, either.
ReplyDeleteAs for the art contraption in the second ad, that's the same sort of device Vaughn Bodé used just like oeconomist. He liked to produce really loose pencils and really tight inks, and this was just the cleanest way to go about it. I've never used one, but it's because I am the basic opposite: I like to make tight little no-nonsense pencils, just notes really, and then fu*k 'em all up with a wild and loose final pass I really kind of make up as I go along.
A terrific and grim tale. There were a couple of plot holes in it, but who cares? The art was amazing and the story had enough twists and turns to actually be suspenseful. When the retired detective was introduced, I kind of suspected that he was really the Phantom, but I discarded that thought again when they began looking for the killer at the carnival. Needless to say, I was pretty dumbstruck by the ending.
ReplyDeleteAt first reading, I didn't like this too much. But then I considered the autobiographical elements (as someone else pointed out) and got a chill up my spine.
ReplyDeleteWell that wraps up the Jack Cole classics, but there's more WoE #8 on the way...
ReplyDeleteFYI: Friday's post will be up sometime in the afternoon.
Thanks everyone!