It's legends day here at
THOIA with
Dick Ayers and
Gil Kane in a double, horror-headed,
Atlas showdown... both stories originally appeared in the May 1952 issue of
Mystic #8.
To see two more legends of horror illustration, head over to my other blog and check out my recent posts showcasing the spooky artistry of
Fred Banbery and
George Wilde.
Great stories! I'm more familiar with Gil Kane as a Marvel artist in the 60s so it's nice to see his precode work. That last sentence of House For Sale was a little clunky though ("the inspector heard you"), it felt like just the sort of thing that would be demanded in the eraof the Comics Code, the villain must not be shown to prosper. But come to think of it even the precodes were pretty moralistic in this regard, the bad guys usually met a nasty end.
ReplyDeleteFive will get you ten that in the pre-Code publication of Mystic, that last sentence was not there. Nota bene that the scans are from reprints.
ReplyDelete"The Burning Flame," I am guessing, is either a Stan Lee story or he took it from somewhere else. The irony is powerful and reminiscent of his writing.
Ye, these scans are from the Journey into Mystery reprints from the 70's. Anyone have the original issue of Mystic to check for us?
ReplyDeleteI like that paragraph at the end of the first story, though. I frequently roll my eyes at the things these characters say right out loud, and I feel like it's a little bit of a crime comic in-joke to get this guy busted for using a word balloon instead of a thought bubble.
ReplyDeleteAs for story number two, wow, I'm glad I don't live in a town where the cops'll shoot you back for shoplifting.
I liked "Burning Flame". Quite an inventive story. A miserable bum, mysterious candles, the tableau at the end. A man in a grave, candles burning at his side. That's nice.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree with Mr. Cavin. The cop violence is way out of line.
Yeah, that line at the end of "House For Sale" definitely looks like it was inserted into the reprint to appease the Comics Code. I remember seeing similar lines at the end of other Marvel horror reprints from the 70s.
ReplyDeleteThe part of The Burning Flame that really gets me is when the cop says, "Cut him off from the railroad station so he can't hop a freight out of here." Since he's a bum they automatically assume he tries to ride the rails for free. Talk about profiling. :)
Well, I have to say, I did not expect mild-mannered old Harris to be the baddie!
ReplyDeleteAnd it was a dirty trick on the part of the dead guy to have those ever-burning candles put in the candelabra.