Monday, December 27, 2010
Heartless!
Post-holiday posts usually feature some of THOIA's most anticipated stories, especially so to our more "deadicated" readers who (as usual) recently had your own hearts ripped out by loved ones that didn't deliver on the xmas goodies you had hoped for this year! Yep, that's why we're here to deliver-- plus! with a little help from my buddy Brian Hirsch you know you're in for something that'll leave you clutching your chest in terror! Take for example this pulse-pounding yarn from Fight Against Crime #17 (1954.)
Karswell: If that last panel doesn't snap us out of the damn, holiday jollies nothing will. Great post.
ReplyDeleteouch...
ReplyDeleteIf the plot (crime suspense with a twist ending) looks vaguely familiar, it's because by 1954 "Fight against Crime" had modified its story format from simple cops-and-robbers tales into a deliberate imitation of the E.C. "Suspenstories" style.
ReplyDeleteE.C. fans may disagree, but in my opinion, by mid-1954 some "Fight against Crime" twist-ending tales were actually better than the by-then very formulaic E.C. stories which they mimicked.
"Fight against Crime" #20 is a good example. EVERY story in that issue is clearly a take-off on the E.C. style. Perhaps you should check out that issue, Karswell.
zthis was wunderbar. Although it was telegraphed in the panel where Elaine takes off in a cadilllac, it was well done.
ReplyDeleteI remember another story which involved a doctor, in this case a plastic surgeon, plus an unfaithful wife and a boorish clod to complete a triangle.
The doctor really messed them up and then shot himself.
The last panel said something like,
"...and this...this is Dr. (?)'s revenge."
It was predictable and gruesome. Does anyone remember this one?
Turok1952: That was "Fatal Scalpel" from Haunted Thrills No. 5, Jan. 1953. It was reproduced in a Eerie Horror mag (Karswell, if I may be permitted) which I posted at my Bloody Pulp blog:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bloodypulptales.com/2010/10/fatal-scalpel-corpse-came-home.html
Another example of why 50s lingo could be troubling -- "you killed my brother, sister!"
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mykal! I am off to see it now!
ReplyDelete>If that last panel doesn't snap us out of the damn, holiday jollies nothing will.
ReplyDeleteFor sure Mykal, and thanks for that Bloody P link too!
>Perhaps you should check out that issue, Karswell.
Perhaps I will, or maybe, just maybe, perhaps I have! Thanks Drew...
I have one (maybe two) more stories from this issue,and as mentioned thanks again to Brian Hirsch for donating these scans to THOIA-- if anyone is interested in owning a copy of this great Fight Against Crime issue please be sure to check Brian's store link as he's got one on ebay right now (and it's still somewhat affordable, though probably not for long!)
As if you haven't had enough already this month, we've got more bird terror coming up next! *SQUAWK!!*
I always love a good "vengeful doctor" story. Although EC's "The Last Laugh" will always be the best in my book.
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