Saturday, November 30, 2013
Prehistoric Beast
The third petrifying entry from the April 1954 issue of Web of Evil #13, pencils by Louis Ravielli, and as you have probably guessed by now I am indeed posting the entire issue-- see the final cover story in our next post which kicks off a chilly December-load of shivery spine tinglers. See ya in a few!
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6 comments:
It's kind of one-half the Picture of Dorian Gray, one-half the Hands of Orlac, wherein the transfusion creates a symbiotic relationship between protagonist and antagonist, but the debilitating sympathetic damage accrues in the wrong direction.
This is a kind of brilliant idea, and could stand to be expanded into a full feature. I imagine the monster going overboard in a hail of bloodthirsty Coast Guard firepower, only to be drowned in the brine, crushed between the two vessels, tug-o-warred by competing great whites, and dropped into a magma-filled vent on the ocean floor. Flattened by pressure. Eaten by sea beetles. And that's just the beginning! This guy can't die as long as nothing has actually happened to the other guy....
All the while, our protagonist is writhing in painful horror as he feels every second of every injury. His only recourse is to mainline bottles morphine and then navigate his ensuing surreal narcotic stupor in an attempt track down and repo his blood from the rampaging beast.
God, it would be glorious.
Man, too many guys in these capers are famous somehow. I mean, an acclaimed mystery author or newspaper reporter is one thing, but a "rock star" museum curator who pulls all kind of unorthodox publicity gimmicks? Too weird.
If your first instinct upon being trapped on an ice floe with a flash-frozen caveman is to think of revenge on your old boss, get some professional help.
So, just how did Magilla Gorilla manage to get perfectly frozen once, let alone twice, without any severe tissue damage? I mean, this isn't a scientific story by any means... but even so.
I wonder if the writer of 'Horror Express' ever saw this comic book.
For those who haven't seen the movie, Christopher Lee finds a prehistoric man/missing link frozen in ice, he brings it aboard a train, the beast man comes back to life and the rampage begins. The difference being between the comic book and the movie is Lee doesn't inject his own blood into the discovery, but the movie's premise would have made a great pre-code horror comic (though the fact the missing link turns out to be from outer space would make it really hard to believe, even for a fifties comic.)
The origin of Captain America really got changed in the 60s, didn't it?
I like this story, it takes on silliness after silliness, each one harder to swallow, but that's the only way an actual physical connection by donating blood (and how much blood? The thing looks like it outweighed him by a hundred pounds!) works.
It has one of the things you see in a lot of horror stories which is the monster wants to return to it's prison. Why? Possibly rent free? Never explained.
One of these days I will hire an artist to actually recreate one of these alt-scenarios that commenters come up with and I'll post it here-- I think THOIA has the smartest group of comic blog followers on the web! You guys make it endlessly fun!
One more tale from this issue-- comin up!
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