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Vintage AD
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Mission of Lost Souls
Wrapping up September 2009 with a gorgeously illustrated Ace tale from the November 1954 issue of Web of Mystery #27. Seriously, artistically this one goes well above and beyond the call of duty (of the script) in the detail department, but most Ace stuff from this era was pretty top notch anyway. Okay, see ya'll in October-- tis the season to be screamin'!
Now~ if you could post that image of Pope Pius the XII~ with shifty eyes & moving lips~ THAT would be scary !!!
ReplyDeleteThe art, particularly the border on the opening page, and the dungeon scenes is truly amazing. As for the story itself, if only the writer had heeded his own advice in the final panel.
ReplyDeleteThe art burns brighter than the story, for sure. I like the basic premise, but it was clunky.
ReplyDeleteAlso check out another story from this issue with art by Lou Cameron here
http://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.com/2008/12/one-door-from-disaster.html
The top two panels of page three of Cameron's story are striking. It's another case of the art outshining the story, which after a wild ride ends ironically but not that dramatically.
Gorgeous artwork
ReplyDelete>Pope Pius the XII~ with shifty eyes & moving lips
ReplyDeleteHa! I'm always surprised at the cornball religious ads inside pre-code comics, or really any comics for that matter. I mean, who was more ill advised and out of their mind, the people placing the ad or the people accepting the ad for print within their own publication?
>if only the writer had heeded his own advice in the final panel.
Ha #2 John! And yes, everyone listen to Mark (above) and check out the other story from this issue, it's a Lou Cameron classic!
>everyone listen to Mark
ReplyDeleteI've got my Karswell quote!
I'm going to drop the word "(above)" so folks don't think I'm a freaking saint or something.
I DIDNT THINK THE STORY WAS SO BAD ON THIS ONE, OFCOURSE IT DOESN'T HOLD A CANDLE TO THE ART THOUGH......... SOME OF THOSE PANELS ARE MINI MASTERPIECES!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis has got to be the first time I've seen a Satanic hag busted by her own damn cat. Course, I'm a little skeptical that she was even a witch to begin with:
ReplyDelete"MAL-ALLEGRA-DE-MER"
Um, I think she's a pharmacist. Allegra is a pill, active ingredient fexofenadine (and sometimes pseudophedrine), used to combat seasonal allergies. Mal-de-mer is seasickness. I think she's making sleeping pills for regular business travelers.
Finally, after many tales of cat abuse in these stories a feline plays the (unknowing) hero. Maybe the lil' guy was sick of the same wretched cat food that must be served in that joint!
ReplyDeleteI love the religious ads after the story of Satan's lure; in fact, this tale would have worked well as a "scare the crap out of you into becoming a christian" comic. I remember some of them floating around when I was a kid in the '70s and it worked on me. The story was about a guy who didn't ask Jesus into his heart and found himself falling into the depths of hell because of it. Good stuff.
New post coming up today, another cool submission from Mark Borbas!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments!
good kitty!
ReplyDelete