Thursday, July 1, 2010
Gunnvor the Sorceress
From the July 1953 issue of Out of the Shadows #9, comes this quickie overview of an ancient 'n evil Icelandic vixen turned vengeful dismembered ghost - turned troll - turned giant water dragon or something (umm, 3 pages to cover this much supernatural awesome only makes me wish I could google it for more info, but alas all I get is Warhammer links), anyway the Ralph Mayo art is still pretty spectacular. I padded out this post with the usual cool Standard Comic text story, half page filler and a vintage ad... I'll have more like this all week too.
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12 comments:
Great blog in general, and especially great posts the last couple of days. Mayo and Colan squeezed as much variation and dynamics into that conventional panel layout as anyone in the industry. Colan especially has been a huge influence on my work.
Golly I want to have a slinky too, because i can think of nothing to do. But I did not "tear out" the coupon as suggested in the ad but cut around the edges very carefully and mailed postpaid with one US dollar enclosed. When i get my slinky (with 5 day money back guarantee!) i will wear it on top of my head (like Mr. Slinky) and see what people say when i walk down the street. I know I will make many friends (just like Mr. Slinky!) I WILL have fun and have plenty to do now with my new slinky. It's the fun of the best of the toys.
It appears that the two named characters in this story (Gunnvor and Kolumkilli) were ripped off from the totally unrelated 1935 novel "Independent People" (English title) by popular Icelandic author Halldor Kiljan Laxness.
Here's the link: http://kirjasto.sci.fi/laxness.htm
Amazing stuff. Somehow Mayo's art seems very contemporary. Maybe because his layouts seem fairly spacious? Anyway, what an imgage on last page - our white-haired vixen riding the crest of a rooftop with a savage, lustful expression, pounding the roof with the flats of her hands and fists. Amazingly erotic.
Okay, so demon ghost hair-pulling is worse than mass murder and water stegosaurs have massive carnivorous overbites. Quite a lot of new info for a three page story.
Well, say about Gunnvor's misdeeds what you will, but there's no denying that she loves her job! Just look how gleefully she tears the woman's hair on page 3.
Thanks, Karswell. This story was insane, but I loved every single panel of it! If you happen to have any more stuff like this lying around, I'd very much appreciate it if you could post it.
Give some credit to John Celardo for the amazing inks, guys.
Peace, Jim (|:{>
Great comments, thanks everyone! More Standard Comics horror coming right up...
Great post , thanks.
Sorry I'm late. Weren't you expecting me? Drew, I did my own search before I read your comment and tracked it to the novel Independent People. But then I found this cool video from the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft that I thought I'd share. The museum seems to offer a blend of real history and cold-blooded exploitation -- sounds like my kind of place. (On preview: Jeez, I sound like a spambot.)
There's a list of legendary sorcerers of Iceland at the site, but none of them have names remotely resembling Gunnvor. Still, the description of Icelandic sorcery in the comic would seem to be reasonably legit, judging by the video.
Very cool clip Howard, thanks for sharing. But man, Necro Pants are soooo 17th century! haha
So, was the witch in the story burned or hanged? She can't seem to make up her mind.
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