Saturday, March 19, 2011
Waitin' for Satan
Not to be confused with Bill Everett's hilarious "Satan is Waitin'" that I posted back in July 2008, todays story was originally presented in the May 1953 issue of Marvel Tales #114 (art by George Tuska), and asks the question, "Is it possible to double-cross the King of Double-Crossers?" Read on friends...
Be careful what you wish for, it might come true! I love these 'deal with the devil' stories, it's always such fun watching Ol' Scratch and his demons match wits with mortals.
ReplyDeleteOne of my absolute favorites is centuries old, Hans Carvel's Ring. Carvel, insanely jealous of his much younger wife, trades his soul to Satan in return for the devil's promise of a ring which as long as Carvel wears on his finger will keep his wife faithful. Content with his bargain Carvel goes to sleep only to wake next morning to the devil's mocking laughter.
"There you are, Hans Carvel! As long as you keep that ring on your finger your spouse will be as true as the day is long!"
Carvel has his finger inside his wife's ..... ahem!
I'd love to see a comics treatment of that!
some people can really draw and Tuska's one of them!
ReplyDeleteLove the language in this story. From "stench of his own unwashed body" to "barbared and perfumed like a dandy".
ReplyDeleteCan't decide if Tuska's floating devil head is pure genius or just cheesy...piddl
I looked up Hans Carvel's Ring in Google and found out there are several versions through the centuries. Very interesting.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.spamula.net/col/archives/2005/02/priors_hans_carvel.html
I wonder if it inspired Richard Brautigan's poem:
"Negative Clank"
He'd sell a rat's asshole
to a blindman for a wedding
ring.
Or if that sentiment is also very old.
I agree about the language in this story - "his nostrils opened like a horse's". He's stamping his hooves, ready to race.
Tuska's floating devil head was very effective, slowly growing in size on page 3. Then in the last panel of that page, the devil is off panel, as fear leaves Matthews, crowded out by cunning. In the first panel on page 4, the devil's head is human size, as Matthews convinces himself he can outsmart the devil. When the devil's head reappears on page 6 it is huge, floating above Matthews and looking down at him as if he were no more than an insect.
>Carvel has his finger inside his wife's ..... ahem!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I'll have to check this out-- thanks!
>some people can really draw and Tuska's one of them!
Absolutely- Tuska is fab! Check the THOIA Archive for more, there's lots of his best horror stuff in there!
>Can't decide if Tuska's floating devil head is pure genius or just cheesy
Perfectly straddling the fine line of both in my opinion! And Mark B makes some interesting observations about the sizing of 'Ol Scratch's noggin' too, thanks for the hot comments!
Ahh, nothing like a good old pact with the devil to spice things up!
ReplyDeleteNever been a big fan of Tuska, but I gotta give him credit, he really did a nice job on this.
ReplyDelete