Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Bird of Prey! >>> Nightmare
"He wanted to make the future secure for his offspring, but his plan turned into a bloody bedlam of shock!" says the contents page for "Nightmare" from the September 1970 issue of Horror Tales Vol. 2 #5. This is yet another 70's remake from Eerie Publications of a Golden Age Harvey pre-code story, and since we haven't done a side-by-side comparison in awhile, let's see the original Abe Simon version first, aka: "Bird of Prey!" from the April 1953 issue of Witches Tales #18... note how both versions deliver on that devastatingly gruesome climax!
(Cover Art by Lee Elias)
Even though Peter had snapped when his wife left him, and he was a meshuganer, I still hate it that he ended up getting the bird (or rather, vice versa).
ReplyDeleteI hate to sound sympathetic to him because he did some awful things. Oh well, he chose to, and he answered for them.
Kinda stupid not t' keep 'em gi'nt vultures in mind.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see a killer who cares about his personal grooming; somewhere between panel he goes from "dirty and bearded" to clean shaven and murderous!
ReplyDeleteI think the original is more effective then the re-draw. In the original, page 4, panel 1, he truly looks crazed. In the errie re-draw, he looks like a man who is really happy to shake that woman's hand!
... and a suggestion, since you ask for them. I'm trying to participate more as you've given me years of enjoyment and a comment for each story is the least I can do :)
ReplyDeleteHow about a week of "monster mashes?" Always one of my favorite programmed stories. The basic gist is always:
Ha! As it turns out, I'm a vampire!
Ha ha! As it turns out, I'm a werewolf!
Errie pubs seemed to make vampire vs werewolf vs witch vs mummy the go-to for most of it's covers.
> I still hate it that he ended up getting the bird
ReplyDeleteHaha, nicely put Turok.
>Kinda stupid not t' keep 'em gi'nt vultures in mind.
I guess he felt like nothing could stop him, and in the very least our fine feathered friends!
>I think the original is more effective then the re-draw.
I agree, but still think both have their own strong points... the b/w Eerie touch gives everything a nice b-movie feel, at least to me it does.
>I'm trying to participate more as you've given me years of enjoyment and a comment for each story is the least I can do
Comments are very much appreciated Gumba, thank you! As far as your suggestion, I will probably focus a but more on these side-by-side comparions with the Eerie Pub remakes, (and hopefully not step too much on Mykal's toes over at the Bloody Pulp!) You can be sure too that there will lots and LOTS of MONSTERS!
Thanks for the comments!
One of my favorite occasional formulas for these things is this outta-the-blue type ending that has zero to do with the rest of the story. Really, the last page here could be appended to any character enduring any plot--at least as seamlessly as it meshes up to this guy's scenario. So I really think it should be:
ReplyDeleteHector was a henpecked husband who couldn't take it anymore, ...and then giant vultures swooped down and tore him to pieces.
Dr. Whale had finally discovered the real secret to turning a regular man into a blind mole-thing ...and then giant vultures swooped down and tore him to pieces.
Janey had always been the good girl on campus until she met Gil one afternoon outside the girls' dorm ...and then giant vultures swooped down and tore him to pieces.
You know, like that.
I kind of like the black and white version more, it gives it more of a creepy vibe, whereas the colours of the reprint take away its shock value
ReplyDelete