Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The Devil's Circus
After recently posting some stories from The Tormented #1 issue, I had an inquiry / request for something from the September 1952 issue of The Tormented #2, and with that we kick off a new month with another FULL ISSUE PRESENTATION! And, because the cover demands that "You Must Read The Devil's Carnival", we'll start it off with this screwball classic (pencils by Mike Sekowsky.) And don't forget-- more Tormented tales all week... thanks again to Brian Hirsch for the scans!
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8 comments:
Nice! I wish top hats would make a comeback. They're grrrreat! I'd wear one but I don't want to be the only guy with it.
I can't make up my mind wether or not i like this story. or not. Should i read it or ignore it? I can't decide. Why do i spend hours at the supermarket produce section?
No apple or pear is ever perfect enough and in the end i leave empty handed. Life is an endless cycle of decisions to be made and sometimes on the fly! I Will read this story. I will. I swear i will. me thinks i will someday read this story. methinks not.
This is a tale about either taking responsibility in one's life or else seeing someone else do it for you. Further, if someone else makes your decisions, it will not be for your benefit, but for the decider or who the decider represents.
I would rather make a decision, which, if wrong, even disastrous, would result in learning something, than vacillate like a fool straddling a fence who eventually falls from a brisk wind into whatever mud puddle lies underneath.
Sometimes a bad decision is better than none at all, and what may seem like a bad decision can be at a later time turn out to be a blessing.
That is the lesson in this tale and that is why I like it a lot.
Wow, this was great, an interesting story told well. I think it lost a little traction at the very end by not giving George a panel to voice his uncertainty whether or not to take the devil's offer (before the decision is made for him), but that is such a minor criticism.
I really appreciate how modern the art looks here--at times almost sort of Kyle Baker- or Mike Mignola-ish--and how modern it feels to read a pre-code story that's so art-driven. There are several panels without narration and one with no words of any kind. That's just not something you saw very often in the fifties.
I really like the art style. it's different. and the title "TORMENTED"--how great!
>I'd wear one but I don't want to be the only guy with it.
Hell, I'll wear a top hat anytime, nobody has to twist my arm!
>I can't make up my mind wether or not i like this story. or not. Should i read it or ignore it? I can't decide.
har har
>That is the lesson in this tale and that is why I like it a lot.
Glad to oblige Turok! And I think you'll like the rest of the stories in this issue as well.
>There are several panels without narration and one with no words of any kind. That's just not something you saw very often in the fifties.
I agree, Mr C! I love wordless panels too... why use words if an illustrator is talented enough to tell the story without them.
>I really like the art style. it's different. and the title "TORMENTED"--how great!
More high quality art in the remaining stories, coming up next! Thanks for the comments!
fantastic story, could have been a great Twilight Zone episode. Powerful effective art, gives me a new respect for Sekowski. Thanks!
Sekowsky is great,i am really beginning to see how he was trying to do great things with design and composition (and simplicity) that ALEX TOTH was doing around this time...fantastic art!....
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