Saturday, December 11, 2010
Elixir of Evil!
We've seen some great cover art by Lee Elias this month, and now it's time for a Lee Elias story from the August '52 issue of Witches Tales #13. "Elixir of Evil!" is 7 pulse-pounding pages of rollicking, rampaging Jekyll & Hydesque horror, expertly illustrated by Elias and containing a terrific twist at the bottom of page 6. The unusually non-horrific "Weird Facts" filler page after the story also features fine artwork by Lee.
I'm becoming quite a fan of these feature pages. I never noticed how much I liked them when they were current/contemporary, but I now I can remember reading and re-reading them again and again.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I can recall a story with stupider characters. Wow.
ReplyDeleteYes, even Doddo had more sense than these schmegeggis.
ReplyDeleteI thought the professor was going to replace the Hyde formula with some Kool-Aid or any other innocent drink. I am shocked he did not.
Oh, well, it would have been a dull ending had he done so. I don't suppose Doddo would have imbibed any of it again and eaten the nefarious perpetrator.
In the "Weird Facts" section, the temple which is alluded to is the Erectheum on the Acropolis. It still stands beside the ruins of the temple of Zeus.
The "screams" are thought to have been the wind whistling through the Erechtheum. The superstitious workmen thought the statues of the Muses were warning them off.
Karswell - - Thank you for another fantastic post.
ReplyDeleteI'll say that there was a terrific twist at the bottom of page 6: Look at all the "savage lust" on page 4! And now she has TWO savage LUSTY creatures pursuing her! Yikes!! Run, honey, RUN!!!
And folks, don't be too critical of the intelligence of the characters - - obviously the author was a "High Concept" writer (see Wikipedia). He imagined the scene of a Hyde versus Hyde battle, and then wrote the rest of the story around it.
This style of authoring led to such classic cinemas as Jaws, Speed, and Snakes on a Plane.
So here's to the anonymous author who, had he been born decades later, would have been a multimillionaire Hollywood screenwriter.
Can't wait 'til your next posting!!!
that face in the 1st frame of page one is a winner. it would make a nice t-shirt design
ReplyDeleteI dig these filler pages. There's usually some very intriguing and informative stuff in them.
ReplyDeleteI do require my facts be backed up by facts. And I expect the term to be used similarly loosely in both instances. Re: the Erechtheum of the Acropolis, it is ironic that the Caryatids that supposedly drove away the pilfering Brit (Lord Elgin) is one of the most famous things he actually took--one the statues can be seen in the British Museum today. The other five have also been removed from the north porch, but they live in the nearby Acropolis Museum.
ReplyDeleteAnd Re: switching the potion for Kool-Aid--yes! That's the better twist, I'm right there with you, Turok1952. And it does not have to make the ending dull. I expect the weak little Karam would pretend to get tougher anyway, just like a Sorority chick pretends like she's drunk on wine coolers. Some kind of Dr. Jekyll placebo effect. Doubting his own ability to handle the little-but-homicidal maniac, and himself enraged by the assistant's advances toward his daughter, the professor would calmly feed the real potion to the dog and lock the room behind him....
We only hear about the mad scientist strength enhancing formulas that go wrong. What about all the ones that go right?
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention that Lee Elias's art is NUTS! Like an unholy marriage of Johnny Craig and Fletcher Hanks.
ReplyDeleteForgot to thank everyone for the great comments on this bonkers story. I've been busy getting ready for xmas and trying to keep the blog alive as much as I can this month as I have a million other things constantly going on lately it seems. Thanks gang!
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