Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Flame Thrower!

Yesterday’s fiery finale not hot enough for you? Well, here’s a scorcher from the June 1953 issue of Mysterious Adventures #15 (or is it The Haunt of Horror?!), illustrated by Jon D’Agostino... and yet another mean spirited example that defines The Code.









TOMORROW: I have no clue… I’m soooo unprepared this month.

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Vintage AD for an easier way to “burn” off that weight, (and your arms...)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

"You can't kill me... You can't!"

Dude, she not only defied death itself, she reassembled her body from ashes (although you'd think she could have made herself a prettier face while she was at it). I'd say she can do just about anything.

So much to love here.

Anonymous said...

He charges $500 and yet can't even stop the bodies coming back as zombies inside the urn? What a rip-off.

Awesome story!

PooBahSpiel said...

I love the "agonizing moments later", meaning her spirit was in pain. Cruel pain that would only stop with revenge. Bu wa ha ha ha ha!

Mr. Cavin said...

Observation window? What the hell kind of weirdo crematorium is this? And why is everyone stuttering all the time? And are these things related?

Anonymous said...

This was basically just another run-of-the-mill pre-code story about revenge from the grave (or, in this case, the urn), but it was neatly executed. The part where Lenore's ghost emerged from the urn was pretty awesome.

Anonymous said...

ANOTHER WINNER! MYSTERIOUS ADVS IS DEFINITELY ONE OF THE CRUELEST PRE CODE COMIC SERIES EVER!! THE ART HERE SEEMS KIND OF STIFF COMPARED TO YESTERDAYS AWESOME STORY BUT IT STILL TOTALLY WORKS.

Anonymous said...

excellent blog, comics, greetings, take care. turn followed by your blog.

Anonymous said...

The wife burned to a crispy critter yet her dress is hardly touched.Kind of an off the wall wrap up explanation for her involvement with the young guy.

The Vicar of VHS said...

I actually got a kick out of this one--I expected it to go all Roald Dahl's "Tales of the Unexpected" where the hubby would discover his mistake and have to live with the guilt, but Lenore's not goin' out like a punk!

(A "punk," see...like that sawdust stick you use to light fireworks that...oh, never mind.)

Lots of nice touches here--the wisecracking moratorium worker, the "$500 Peirson Burning," like that's the name on the menu ("Will you be having the Peirson Burning, or would you like to splurge for the Hollywood Star Char?"), and of course the Hellraiser-style reconstitution from ashes. And that bottom panel on p.5--"NOW YOU'LL BURN FOR YOUR SINS!"--cool stuff.

I got a little confused as to why John's moustache kept disappearing, and when Lenore appears for the first time at the top of pg. 2, I thought she had a nosebleed or something. SHE'S A FIRESTARTAH!

Anyway, cool stuff, Karswell, as always!

And I'm def. gonna have to pick up one of those "Secret Identity" books...looks like it's right up my alley, IYKWIM ;)

Anonymous said...

Remember, when you assume, you make an ash out of you and me!

nutsilica.blogspot.com said...

I think this is the only time I've seen, "illustrated by..." before the illustrator's name in a pre-code horror.
I wonder if he thought the story was in too bad of taste and he was trying to distance himself from it.
Like saying, "look, I didn't write it. I had "
He burned his innocent wife!
The host said it took thirty minutes to take her through town.
It's a good story but I think it would be more emotionally powerful if the husband found out she was innocent and then she burned him.
"No please no Lenore! I didn't know!"
The detached ending is funny though.