Continuing our theme of
"Crime Horror" this week, but with not so much the typical style horror you usually find at
THOIA... just some weird, almost surreal moments of eye-popping, lurid violence.
"Rats Die By Gas!" is from the Sept. '52 issue of
Fight Against Crime #9, while the back-up
"Scoop Daily" adventure originally appeared in the Aug-Sept '46 issue of
Triumph Comics #32 [27], and features a feisty heroine and
Scoop vs. a pair of crooks either so dumb or so vicious, that even her perky nipples can't save her.
Ness Magana was the big winner of the THOIA DRAW ME 2 Contest last month, and here he is sporting his THOIA tee-shirt prize along with a few of his other favorite things! More contests coming before the end of the year, don't miss a single day--- or you might miss out!
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Scoop Daily
i love this stuff, so crude and just as much horrific content and all-around absurdity as a "horror" comic, and i haven't even read the seocnd story yet!...
ReplyDelete"as easy as fallin' off a log...into sea of dough!" AGHRRR!!!
I DID THE OPPOSITE OF PROF AND READ THE SECOND STORY FIRST, A MIND BLOWER! "LIFT HER EASY MEN SO SHE KNOWS SHE CROAKIN'!"??????
ReplyDeleteTHE FIRST STORY IS GREAT TOO THOUGH. REALLY MEAN STUFF.I WISH SOMEONE WOULD START A GOLDEN AGE CRIME COMIC BLOG THAT IS LIKE THOIA.
"Gassy" is a very unfortunate nickname to have. I can see why Webb feels the need to explain to everyone why they call him that, so no one gets any funny ideas.
ReplyDeleteThat second story, though – o boy, what a glorious train wreck! I don't even know where to begin. The terrible Mexican accent; every Mexican on sight wearing a poncho and a sombrero; Shorty and his missing pants; the awful pacing of the plot – indeed, here we have a tale which transcends badness to become good.
Back to the first story:
ReplyDeleteYou know, I'm not particularly twelve, but even so I wasn't able to quit snickering at the "Gassy" nickname, and all the awesome and unfortunate hardboiled narrative produced. I'd love to hear somebody's kid try to read this with a straight face.
I hate it when they give away the twist ending in the title. That actually really bugs me. What on Earth are they thinking? They knew they needed some twist ending to keep things nice and unique. And then, so we wouldn't suspect the big clever punchline of the story, they tended to make those twists as implausible as humanly possible. Why then give it all away in the first panel? What gives?
The splash should have been whatsisface menacing the woman with his syringe full of gas drops on page five! That's right: gas drops! I don't understand why Gassy, what with is ability to transmute opposite states of matter itself, really needed this particular formula to get rich, anyway.
I agree with Mr. Cavin about the splash page giveaways often done in these stories; movies do the same thing all the time in teaser trailers. I feel like the producers of films and comic tales underestimate the intelligence (or at least the attention span) of the average American. But sadly, when I think about it, maybe they do estimate the average American quite correctly.
ReplyDeleteI love the pre-code crime tossed into our supply of horror. Keep 'em coming!
And as always, a huge thanks to you Karswell for the great effort you go through.
I love the ad you posted after the Scoop Daily story, both sides fit so perfectly with it.
ReplyDeleteAnd I too offer a big round of applause for these recent posts, great stuff!
Karswell: I am ashamed to admit that I, too, tittered over the "Gassy" nickname. "Harry Webb never uses violence - just gas. That's why they call me 'Gassy'." Sure. Just keep telling yourself that, buddy.
ReplyDeleteCool story, though, despite the chortle-rich choice of nickname. You can get a sense of what an ominous place the desert or any location in New Mexico had for atomic age readers after the rather confusing and world-changing events at Los Alamos. "What an awful little dump this is," says Gassy visiting Los Delmo, moping his brow as a bloated, blood-red sun rises over the scorched-pink mountains. The desert had become a place of dreadful science and hellish visions.
As for the second story, when a pair of stand-up nipples won't save a lass from the rope, we have lost our way as a nation and as a people. -- Mykal
??!!?? The woman's name is Winnie, not Scoop. Scoop is the blond dude.
ReplyDeleteAhh, "Science Quartly," my favorite magazine. Where else to learn about the fave malt liquors of my fave physicists!
ReplyDelete>The woman's name is Winnie, not Scoop. Scoop is the blond dude.
ReplyDeleteHaha, oops! That's what happens when I leave out one word in the intro, thanks Pete!
And thanks again for the comments everyone, I'll have one more Crime Horror tale for you, hopefully later today.
And a word of warning: the Boris Karloff Blogathon (hosted by Pierre over at Frankensteinia) begins on Monday the 23rd, over 100 blogs are participating so there's going to be TONS of amazing stuff online. Check Frankensteinia for all the info:
http://frankensteinia.blogspot.com/
Two great stories Kars- I couldn't help but do some belly laughs over the thought of a tough-guy type snuggled up to a dame and sayin' " The don't call me gassy for nothin" Too rich!
ReplyDeleteAside from the already mentioned flaws witht he second story, I couldn't believe what an insensitive douche Scoop is. His babe just see's her relative get gunned down, and he makes a crack about one of the killers loosing his pants!
Ahhh.... they don't call it the golden age fer nuttin'.... What a gas!
These are great 'check logic at door , enjoy story' type of comics!
ReplyDeleteWith names like 'Gassy' and 'Oily' these guys had some sort of pre-destined path...
that scoop daily story wa hilarious - I too enjoyed how Winnie stood and glared at Scoop when he joked about the pants!
..and a slightly re-written version of the last page as follows:
"I've got the knife out of his pocket!"
next panel - Scoop raises the 45 caliber knife and fires three rounds into Oily's chest.
"let her go or I'll let you have it!"
-crazy fun!
Thanks for the great post, Karsell!
Such a weird waste of a surprise ending. Oh, well.
ReplyDeleteMoney quote: "Skip it, Winnie!" So romantic.
ReplyDeleteHave to cancel the last Crime Horror story, all apologies but scanner problems since last week have plagued Casa THOIA, and by the time (I hope) to get it rectified we'll already be in the full swing of Pierre's Boris Karloff blogathon over at Frankensteinia. But as usual, thanks for the comments, there's more to come in the final breaths of 2009...
ReplyDeleteWow! Im glad i found this blog!
ReplyDeleteThis'll be added to the favourites rigth by the way! All the old good comics! keep it going! / joe