Saturday, August 2, 2014
Make-Up for Death
Not only does the January 1952 issue of Web of Evil #2 contain two of Jack Cole's best precode horror stories ever (click HERE and HERE for 'em), it also contains this sadly uncredited, hot little number which, like the pair of Cole tales, saw multiple b/w repeats years later in the Eerie Pubs. And why yes, it's another complete issue presentation here at THOIA, --be sure to also check for the "Ghost Ship" which is still sailing around somewhere in my archive-- most likely HERE!
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ReplyDeleteThe always say that ideas are a dime a dozen, and execution is king, and this story proves it. The idea is original, I don't think I've seen a version of this in any other pre-code story, but the execution is haphazard at best.
ReplyDeleteI like the art, it's amateurish in places, and has some weird things in places (why is the final actress looking perfectly fine after going through a fire?) -- but the guy (or gal) got the chance to work in a lot of pin-ups, always a bonus!
This is also the first re-animated corpse that seems to want to go on after his vengeance is complete. Most would be happy to be destroyed in the flames after their mission was complete.
This is one you certainly don't want to think about as you read it, but it's quick and has some original ideals.
Can't wait to get a free moment to read this! Thanx!!!
ReplyDeleteNeat theater revenge story with the focus taken off the damn opera and put on make-up where it always belonged. This would work well gothed up into a whole book, frankly, with lots of spooky stage magic and trapdoors and horror. I'd have liked to see a grinning death's head in the last panel, but this works pretty well too. I did spend a lot of time imagining the superior Lon Chaney Sr. or maybe Louis Feuillade serial version of this, though.
ReplyDeleteI somehow expected Jo to survive. That's often the case in these revenge stories when the victims are "sort of" guilty but not completely (like the movie THIRTEEN WOMEN) - the last one survives.
ReplyDeleteI can't help wondering about those three dressers (or whatever their exact jobs are). Each one of them encourages the actor or actress to relax in the dressing room or go home - where they'll be isolated. Is the story trying to implicate THEM in Karl's revenge scheme?