From the Nov. '52 issue of Suspense #24
NEXT: More Suspense!
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The Raving Maniac
From the April '53 issue of Suspense #29
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Back from the Dead! / The Raving Maniac
Finishing out May 2009 with a double dose of Joe Maneely! And if you read yesterday's post then you know this is only the start of an entire month of Atlas tales lined up for June... I'll be covering all their pre-code horror titles featuring (in my opinion) the greatest comic book writers, artists and stories of the 1950's. Hope you stick around-- enough said!
From the Nov. '52 issue of Suspense #24
From the Nov. '52 issue of Suspense #24
Awesome! Another Jack Chick tract church thing wrapped in a searing indictment of the American justice system. Just another side effect of my evil blood pact with Stan....
ReplyDeleteAnd, psst, either I'm crazy of you've switched the Atlas Tales links for these stories, Karswell.
These two are plenty fun! I like the surprised look on ol' Donald's face in the splash panel. And the second that Satan sends him to find just one person who's sorry he's dead... well, you just know how that will pan out. "Raving Maniac" was a neat indictment of the old comics-bashers.
ReplyDeleteAnother couple of prime examples of the great Joe Maneely compensating (and beautifully so) for ham-fisted Stan Lee dialog. Sure, a couple of funny lines in "Raving Maniac" but most of it is way too clumsy to ever make his point artfully.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that is interesting about the plot of "Back from the Dead" is how Lee manages to combine New Testament Satan-phobia with Old Testament judgment structure ("if you can find one person..."). Stan sometimes had great ideas, I'll grant that.
Thanks for catching the goof Mr C, I've corrected the Atlas link and issue info...
ReplyDeleteEveryone have a great weekend, and we'll see ya in June!
whew, finally caught up with your latest posts, great stuff, especially "Raving Maniac"! love the usual candy-colored Atlas art too, of course!
ReplyDeleteMANEELY WAS SO GOOD, AND WHAT A DISTINCT STYLE. THE BACK FROM THE DEAD SPLASH IS JUST AWESOME, BUT I THINK I LIKED THE RAVING MANIAC STORY BETTER TOO. MAYBE NOT BETTER BUT IT WAS JUST GOOD OLD TYPICAL STAN LEE FUN. ACTUALLY THOUGH HE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO WRITE THE GUY AS BEING AN ESCAPED LOONY, THERE ARE PLENTY OF REGULAR PEOPLE WALKING AROUND WHO THINK THIS WAY!!
ReplyDeleteAwwww, nobuddy wikes Donald.....
ReplyDeleteThe second story is a lot of fun. maneely's work isn't as great as the first story, but very good.
It's also sad to know Batman was taking a break, according to that newspaper......
I always like the work of Joe Maneely. As I recall he did a lot of western comics for early Marvel.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff.
Bill
Hot damn! A whole month of Atlas horror. As my dear ol' daddy used to say, "I can't hardly wait!"
ReplyDeleteGreat art in both of these tales. Bruce got what was coming for him, but I have to say I felt a bit sorry for him in the end. Too bad he couldn't ask the readers if they pitied him.
ReplyDeleteThe second story was good too (mostly because its message is so true), though it could've ended one page earlier.
This may be slightly outside the province of this website, but I recommend getting hold of a Maneely comic for Atlas called 'Spaceman' if you can. The first few issues are all great space opera, mostly illustrated by Maneely at his best.
ReplyDeleteI love these scans of horror comics.
ReplyDeleteHere in Brasil I don´t find these comics...
[COMMENT NECROMANCY] The second panel of page 6 of "Back from the Dead" really has a Daniel Clowes feel to it.
ReplyDeleteAnd I bet Smilin' Stan found writing "The Raving Maniac" sooooo cathartic!