Sunday, June 15, 2014
Man with a Tail
I'd love to see a collection of Larry Woromay's greatest pre code horror hits, because man oh man I dig his fun, noodley slick style from this Atlas era where the art sublimely balances on real and cartoony, (sort of the same reasons why I adore Bill Everett's unique work so much!) This is a cute little "tail" with a great twist, originally appearing in the October 1952 issue of Astonishing #18 and reprinted in 1975 in Marvel's Uncanny Tales from the Grave #8.
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ReplyDeleteMan, Woromay was so good at the faces and the acting. Cartoonists are always loose and groovy, I'll bet he'd have made a great animator. I particularly love the second to last panel on page two and that first crowd shot on page four (but really, every little detail of page four is magnificent). Excellent stuff.
ReplyDeleteI think the one thing that kept Atlas neck and neck with EC (other than sheer volume and it's own feel that wasn't really duplicated by others) was the knack -- and I suspect Stan had a lot to do with this, as Al did -- for placing the right artist with the right story.
ReplyDeleteA less cartoon-y artist and the ending of this story might not have worked so well, but it's easier to get swept up into the story for what seems like a wacky off-beat Disney cartoon.
Notice in some of the illustrations of our hero when he was young he was given prominent buck teeth, like a mouse. Not sure if that's just me reading into it, or a setup. Either way, it's pretty neat!
Maybe the result is the same, but I always prefer it when a character like poor Benjy gets killed in a wild way like this, instead of shot by the police. I didn't really want him to get killed at all, but it's just more poetic this way.
ReplyDeleteThis story is amusing, almost ridiculous. So the guy never realized he was a mouse instead of a cat?
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