From the May 1952 issue of Suspense #18
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Vintage AD
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Stay Away! / Roll Call
Two terrific spine-tinglers from THOIA fave Bernard Krigstein today... I'd really love to do a more indepth examination of his work but I'm running dangerously short on stories by him. If anyone has anything they'd care to submit for a future Krigstein Fest please drop me a line.
From the May 1952 issue of Suspense #18
From the May 1952 issue of Suspense #18
I'm grateful to see some of the earlier work of Krigstein. The first story has some elements of his style, but if I were to see it, I would not know it was Krigstein's. The second story definitely contains his style. I became familiar with his work purely through my reading of EC comics. Its very likely that the editors gave Krigstein more artistic freedom at EC (see the story "Master Race", for instance). A website devoted to his works can be found at: http://www.bkrigstein.com/index.html.
ReplyDeleteReally great to see Krigstein back on these pages. The first story is only so-so (though beautiful) but surprisingly, the very predictable second story is a really nice moody piece. It can't possibly be by Stan, because as much as Krigstein's art enhances the mood, the writing is where it all begins. It transforms a "yeah, no kidding punchline" tale into a steady deconstruction of the mundane life which reveals the tragedy hiding behind it all. As I said, surprising.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could help you out with the Krigstein thing, but my interest in (and collection of) his Atlas work was all post-code -- or post EC, if you will. That's when Bernie started to take 5 and 4 and even 3 page stories, and carve up the scripts to turn out pages with as many as 24 panels. For another artist, this could have been a masturbatory experiment. For Krigstein (for the most part) the results were illuminating. Nothing so effective as "Master Race" (where this creative process seems to have been born for him) but still entertaining in the extreme.
Thanks so much.
i liked the first story- it's so convenient to be dead sometimes. expedites matters...
ReplyDeleteas for the second story- broadcasts from the dead are extra creepy to me. i can remember a time when radio was still a little magical & mysterious...
...
oh yeah, television too!
ReplyDeleteI DONT THINK THE FIRST STORY WAS SO SO AT ALL, I LIKED IT BETTER THAN THE SECOND ONE BUT THEY'RE BOTH KILLER OF COURSE! WOULD LOVE TO SEE MORE KRIGSTEIN HERE TOO, A FEST IS DEFINITELY ON ORDER FROM ME!!!!! THANKS
ReplyDeleteYou know what you gotta love about Krigstein? In both stories, the metaphorical hand of death (or arm, in the case of the first) casts a shadow.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Krigstein's EC. work is his best, but it sure is fun observing his earlier works with Atlas.
ReplyDeleteI especially lov his earlier work with the thick chinese brush that gave everything a heavy feel. Chic Stone tried in vain for a similar look in the '60's.
The repeated use of the skeleton arm makes me wonder why he never put out any work for the 'Skeleton Hand' series at the competition.....
Well, we're almost halfway through the All Atlas Month of June, hope everyone is enjoying it. Have a good weekend, and get ready for an Adventure into Terror, next...
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your hard work here. Your site has really made a big difference in my life. I look forward to it everyday and it makes me happy when i am here. You do make a difference in people's lives and we do appreciate your efforts. viva amigo.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anon, your comments are of course very much appreciated, which ever one you are... there's so many Anon commentors here I get you all confused!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry i did not mention my name before. i must sound very rude. my friends call me cat- el gato. nice to meet you sir and thank you again for all your hard work here. via con dios amigo.
ReplyDeleteI thought the second story was really, really awesome. The first two and a half pages were dazzlingly modern and clean, and the boneheaded lazy coloring really made 'em look even more slickly designy than usual. That sort of fell apart by the end of page three, once Bernie seems to have lost interest in the rote payoff and his colorist seems to have gotten drunk. It's all worth it for page two though.
ReplyDeleteBut what a bummer ending! That guy's never going to find out who won the fight.
"I'll have to wait for the morning papers..."
But there are no more morning deliveries after...
DEATH!