Monday, March 16, 2009

Dummy!

You experienced a terrifying weekend theme of evil dolls and killer puppets (or was the theme really Fiery Finales?) whatever, today’s post wraps it all up with another type of living doll tale, from the October 1954 issue of Uncanny Tales #25.





TOMORROW: An Overdue "Flash Forward" Day
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Vintage AD
(featuring great examples of 50’s lettering styles and clip art)

12 comments:

Emby Quinn said...

w00t! Firest comment love! <3

You knew Georgie was doomed from the third panel on the first page. Stories with mannequins who look like the main character never, ever turn out well for the latter.

I wonder what transpired when the workers found the original dummy where George stashed him. "Hey, didn't we burn this guy? OH NOES! RESURRECTED DUMMY!!!!"

Inconsequential to the story, I know, but I wonder about weird things like that.

As much as I love the pre-Code stuff--and you know I do--I think the "flash forward" specials are a wonderful idea. Not only do we get to see what our favorite artists managed to produce after the Great Purge, but there were actually some decent stories that managed to squeak past the straitjacketed confines of the Code. Writers and artists had to get a lot more creative to bring real horror to the table, and some, particularly the veterans, succeeded brilliantly.

Emby Quinn said...

(Note to self: Do not let excitement over getting first comment for the first time EVAH get in the way of proofing the comment.)

Sorry about the typo. Ay kin spel reel guode!!!1

AndyDecker said...

Ha, the case of the disappearing mustache. Clver to choose a colour you don´t see half the time :-)

Not the most compelling story, but it had a few nice lines.

Loved the ads as always. How to draw naked woman and duplicate keys. :-) What more can a boy want!

Mr. Cavin said...

"...OH NOES! RESURRECTED DUMMY!!!!"

Besides the fact that I'll never top that comment, I also think Ms. Quinn is correct. This is crying out for a sequel. I mean we got one incinerator chute ghost and one overlooked display mannequin. We gotta get these guys together, let nature take its course.

But I have a question about tactics: what did this guy's dressing as a dummy facilitate, with regard to stealing jewels from a department store, that wasn't already achieved by just hiding? He had to do that until he could assume a position in the display window, anyway. Could the burglar have not, in this case, just stood wherever it was he'd propped the real mannequin? In what way did standing in window help him, besides turning him into a revenging ghost for the sequel?

My god I loved this story.

sfdoomed said...

I was thinking the same thing as Cavin; why didn't he just stay in his hiding place in the stockroom? And couldn't the guys carrying him detect that he was slightly heavier than a wax mannequin (and limper)?

Oh crap, I'm letting a dose of logic ruin a great pre code story for me. Stop it, Stop it!!

Anonymous said...

HAAAAAAAA! EVERYONES LETTING LOGIC GET THE BEST OF THEM TODAY. I THINK THAT WAS KARSWELLS ACTUAL MOTIVE HERE BY POSTING THIS ONE. STRANGE ART, LOVE IT!

Anonymous said...

So, after all my yakkitying yesterday, all I can say about this'n is... mmmm, okay. Although I do love the idea of someone "cudgeling his brain" or "seething with... happiness."

By the way, it looks to me as though Atlas Tales got this right. That's got to be Sekowsky.

Dane said...

I enjoyed this one too, logic be damned.

Anonymous said...

I'd put up another De-motivator saying, but this guy was so dense he makes the story funny all by itself. I remember a story in the '60's in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY where a midget dresses up as a ventriloquist dummy and suffocates in a toy-chest, but this is just so much funnier.

Mr. Karswell said...

Bernie Wrightson hits THOIA tomorrow for another Flash Forward Day, this time from '72. It's weird 'n funny one! See ya in the morn!

Unknown said...

"But I have a question about tactics: what did this guy's dressing as a dummy facilitate, with regard to stealing jewels from a department store, that wasn't already achieved by just hiding?"

It facilitated his descent into the furnace, of course!

Dumb guy gets burned, but the pacing is perfect. Nice panel with the eye wide open, also.

Anonymous said...

Y'know, only two of the last nine stories posted on THOIA have NOT ended in fire (and one of those ended with a giant boiling vat). Who knew that the ultimate purging agent would be so common in stories about evil. Or is it really just a bunch of Christian writers reverting to type?