Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Release from Satan's Scourge

It's the last THOIA post of the year as we release you now from the demonic clutches of our Devilcember Fest with a great tale from the April 1952 issue of The Beyond #10. This is one of my favorite ACE stories, it's absolutely full of wild moments and overloaded with weird monsters and evil fun--- a perfect way to end 2009, which if I can be honest, was full of many not so great moments (at least for me.) We still have lots more to come here at THOIA in 2010 so stay close, you definitely don't want to miss anything!









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Vintage ADS


11 comments:

Unknown said...

Earlier tonight, my mother had on Ghost, and I asked whether there were anyone as stupid as the Demi Moore character. Did you post Gil here in response to me?

Cindy M said...

Given the time of year, I could easily read the title as "Release from Satan's Scrooge."

I really like the artwork and colors in this one.

And of course the Vintage Ads, lol. The first looks vaguely familiar, likely from a long-ago "Archies" comic.

Don't be SKINNY! Put on pounds. Quick weight gain! [Hello 1980s bulimia/anorexia nervosa!] I love the word "scrawny." It's not often used anymore.

Anonymous said...

THIS STORY WAS A BLAST! AS WAS THE ENTIRE MONTH OF DEVIL STORIES.

HAPPY NEW YEAR KARSWELL AND THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK! HOPE 2010 IS BETTER FOR YOU TOO.

Mykal Banta said...

Karswell: I'm going to miss Devilcember. Loved this post. As you say, many great moments and evil touches. My favorites were the two demons pulling on a human wishbone on the last panel of the first page; and the ass whipping our man, Gill, lays on the first attacking demon on the last page - second panel! Ka-rack! It seems Satan's minions are as susceptible to a good right uppercut as us mortals.

Great post! Happy New Year! -- Mykal

Mr. Karswell said...

I think I'm gonna miss Devilcember most of all too. And if I didn't mention it, Kitty was the one that came up with "Devilcember," takes a feline frame of mind to come up with something awesome like that, thanks again to her for coining it.

Okay, have a safe and fun Happy New Year's Eve, stay out of trouble and not out too late, don't drink and drive, and definitely don't do anything that I wouldn't. Arrive alive in 2010!

sfdoomed said...

A bit presumptuous of Gil, a freakin' location scout, to ridicule family heritage and arrogantly force open an antique chest. A true ugly American on foreign soil, a mild-mannered, Bob Dobbs lookalike douchebag, and yet still does not receive his much deserved pre-code karmic fate.

Thanks for the great year, Karswell. I enjoyed the Satanic December largely because it attracted a few religious weirdos, but I am happy to get back to the variety.

Happy New Year everyone!

Daniel [oeconomist.com] said...

I blame the Duke for the problems! If he'd had the good sense to write the book in Late Old English or in Early Middle English, then Gil wouldn't have been able to read it!

Mr. Karswell said...

Okay so Gil ain't the sharpest marble in the bag. But seriously, in my opinion, the only way to make this story better would be to cast El Santo in the role of Gil.

Get ready for some grim reality in 2010... seriously.

Anonymous said...

lol!

Mark Armstrong said...

Regarding the "Magic Art Reproducer" in the first vintage ad. I've got one of these things (or, maybe, a cheap knockoff).

First of all, it does not project any images.

Secondly, it contains no prisms, lenses, or other fancy optics.

Its sole optical component is a slanted piece of glass.

The way you use it is to look down through the slanted glass to see the paper underneath. And, if the object you are trying to "reproduce" is sufficiently brilliantly lit, you might see a reflection of that object on the glass that you can sort of trace under.

The lighting of both the object and the paper has to be just right for this to work at all. Also, you cannot change the magnification (there is no magnification). Moving your head around at all will mess things up.

The worst flaw in this device is that glass has two surfaces. Thus, the reflection is a double image, the second image being slightly off-register, as the glass is slanted.

Anonymous said...

Since it's not signed, you probably didn't realize that that story is a very early Lou Cameron work, but unmistakeably his.

His earliest stories are pretty poorly drawn, but he improved rapidly into the great that he became.

I've been working on and off an a Cameron checklist, but who knows when it will ever be complete?

I hope to get more fans interested in contributing to it.

Love your site!!

Thanks!

Jim Gray
wiffle@bellsouth.net