Sunday, June 30, 2013
Shrinking Horror
In the comments of our last post someone was asking about a particular pre code horror story which we here at THOIA are only more than happy to identify as well as deliver-- so here it is, from the September 1953 issue of Superior Comic's Mysteries #3 --Shrinking Horror! See ya in July, and if you're on the west coast maybe we'll see you at SDCC (info coming!)
Wow. Just... wow.
ReplyDeleteGreat artwork.
Thank you! Thank you! A million todahs and thank you yet again!
ReplyDeleteOh, how karma fixed that schmuck!
I never expected the doctor to show up. I figured a different crook, also sequestered in the bank, would have found that pill the crook dropped and would have followed him to what he hoped would have been safety.
The last panel was luridly perfect! I concur...oy vay! Sweet and fitting it is! I wonder if the watchman just flushed his body... Also... think of how, after a few days, the mad scientist's little corpse would have bloated and popped inside the doll house or somebody would have bought it with the dead scientist inside. Stinko!
The crook looked like the great actor Karl Malden. The mad scientist reminded me of a balding Buddy Hackett. Outstanding art as well capped off this mix of pathos,greed, and wasted lives (that poor guard--the price of unpreparedness)...
This is a great story worthy of a tv episode. What goes around.... heeheehee... hey, it was a train!
Now we know why Hank Pym is such a jerk!
ReplyDeleteI swear I've seen this unnamed artist before. It's really great stuff, it's that right mix of cartoon (in the faces) and realistic (in everything else) that makes great pre-code horror.
Notice how the watchman are drawn with more normal faces, and the bad guys are all drawn with more orge or pug like faces. That's real attention to detail. Paneling is a bit weak in places, but that's a minor complaint.
The story is equally fun. There's a lot going on in it, and the re-appearance of the doctor distracts from the train (which is already shown so it doesn't come out of nowhere.)
This is how you put together a nearly pitch-perfect pre-code story.
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ReplyDeletegood tale. this story screams "twilight zone". it reads like an early 60s TZ episode (would have made a good one too. Any more like this one?
ReplyDeleteRod
There was a Twilight Zone episode of that era in which Earl Holliman found himself on a train which kept delivering him, in circles, to the same town of Oakwood.
ReplyDeleteNo one else was around. Everything was deserted. Then,the trees in town turned out to be artificial.
It played out that he was an astronaut and was suffering delusions from being kept in isolation preparatory to a moon trip testing for the effects of isolation.
"A doll with real blood... don't that beat all!" If you think that's impressive, just wait 'til he starts to decompose. A tiny skeleton - now that's what I call 'attention to detail'.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to actually read this one after the description in last post's comment thread--where I, too, began imagining it as a Ditko story. I think the art is pretty good here, but totally different from the fantasy version I had in my head, alas.
ReplyDelete