Monday, October 14, 2013
He Dwells in a Dungeon! / My Brother... The Ghoul
As we iron-out the details of the huge upcoming YOE BOOKS contest giveaway (as promised in the last post) let's take a quick look at two tales from the May '52 issue of Adventures into Weird Worlds #6, --an interesting inking style on the first tale, and Hank Chapman signature on the second... both stories are excellent examples of the menacing mood and atmosphere that Atlas excelled in.
That's an awesome (what I assume) to be Everett cover. The garish colors on the half skeleton/half whatever monster would really stand out on the racks. As much as I love Atlas, I've never been a fan of the stories side bar, it distracts from the great cover art they had and is usually pretty unrelated.
ReplyDeleteThis stuff really needs to be collected in a masterworks atlas era book (it's not as far as I know.) I'll be first in line for a copy.
Both relatively predictable Atlas style stories with some great art. The inking on the first story is different and seems to misinterpret the shading but I love it -- everything has this plastic look, and the door sequence is great.
Atlas learned the lesson so many EC imitators never did -- it's not the ending, but the journey there.
Oh man I love the story sidebar images! Funny how some things work for some people and not for others
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ReplyDeleteI'm thinking we'll keep it entertaining throughout Oct with Atlas double headers... any objections?
ReplyDeleteNo objection here. I love this Atlas stuff.
ReplyDeleteA brotherly love twofer! I think I prefer the looser, more emotional art in the second story, but nothing really competes with that astounding noir cellar sequence on page four of the first one. It just reinforces Mr. Barnes point about the narrative process. That page was the darling horror of the story, heavy with the pay-off promised in the title. The beginning and the end were just a rushed excuse to serve us that middle--to make us a little bit more alarmed the next time we go down into our own basements. The same can be said of the middle row on page five of today's second story. Everybody knows right where all this is going, so the narrative takes a time-out and just really plays-up the crescendo. Super!
Also I really like George's goofy wagon-wheel tie. I like to imagine the artist incorporated it as an in-joke (was it a gift from his brother's wife?). It's just too oddball to be anything else.
Great art, great yarns...what better than on a chilly October night?
ReplyDeleteAs to the second story:
ReplyDeleteSince Julius seems to have sustained more damage from the pick than did Hugo, I infer that the story had it that injuries were never equally experienced, but most or exclusively fell upon the other twin, whichever that might be. This would then explain Julius allowing himself to be arrested and so forth, and his sure sense that Hugo wre dead. Had he allowed ugo to be duly charged, Hugo would have survived and Julius would have died. (A question would be why Hugo didn't make the same calculation.)
Historically, grave-robbing could get one legally executed, but I doubt that this were the case in any nation using electrocution at the time.
Indeed, when an attempt at judicially approved electrocution has failed, there have usually or always been immediate, repeated attempts, without further judicial process, until the convict dies. But the story doesn't tell us that Julius was released.
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ReplyDeleteYes Yes Yes! Please keep the Atlas tales a-coming!
ReplyDeleteYou got it!
DeleteInteresting datum on electrocution, Mestiere. I recall that Churchill wanted to have an electric chair ready to be hauled to Hitler's location, should he be captured, to be used for his (summary!) execution. I can only guess why Churchill would think this otherwise un-British method especially suitable for Hitler.
ReplyDelete[Note that Godwin's Law has here been verified.]
I agree, page 4 of the first story is amazing... I love the way the splash page is laid out too
ReplyDeleteGreat looking stories indeed.
ReplyDeletePeculiar art in the first one, dare not guess who. Art in second should be George Roussos.
And nice to see Chapman credited. He was a very prolific Atlas writer and excelled at war stories.