Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Cloth of Terror
Because obviously "Coat of Terror" wouldn't sound frightening enough as a title, "Cloth of Terror" is another horror hit from Harvey's fun Witches Tales series-- the May 1952 issue of Witches Tales #10 to be exact. Remember this yucky yarn next time you're bundling up for winter with your murder mittens and Satanic scarf!
This one needed an extra page or two, there's some really strange jumps done by text and not panels (show don't tell), like at the bottom of page 2.
ReplyDeleteGhost Jeremiah is a good, spooky image!
This one has some kind of strange morality in it, sure, Jeremiah gets killed, but then his ghost kills others -- innocent others -- to setup his revenge. So are they going to come back as ghosts and haunt ghost Jeremiah? What a murky message! Killing innocents is OK in the path to revenge?
Another fun quicky, though the question of why there is a twisted woods right behind a tailor shop on a quiet street corner is never answered!
Twisted Woods answers to no one!
DeleteA fine artist, this Mr. Stallman, he knows how to draw faces distorted by fear and wickedness. Jeremiah's face reminds me of some Dick Tracy's characters (I'm no expert, just a sensation).
ReplyDeleteThis may be a stupid question but... are those two guys supposed to be Jews?
Fine story, but with really odd bits:
Does Caleb really kills his partner just because he thought he stole ONE dollar?
Why the ghost of Jerry doesn't kill Caleb immediately (aside from the fact that there would be no story)?
And have you noticed the names? Jeremiah, Caleb, Ephriam, John,... Is it a comic book or a Bible quiz?
Whatever it is, God don't like it...
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ReplyDeleteInteresting! Silly how it seems, when I think about Jewish communities in big American cities, is the diamond business that comes to my mind.
ReplyDeleteNow I seem to recall that, in an old Sven Hassel book, Obergefreiter Joseph Porta tells the story of a renowned (and sly) berliner jewish tailor who manages to reach the U.S. with his family by means of corruption, and this man states that "life will be easy for us there" or something like that.
At least we italians had some good cooking to offer (a relative of mine has a couple of restaurants in Florida).
Emigration is no easy matter at all. "Meglio se hai un mestiere" (= better if you got a trade)!
Great story! The art reminded me of Gasoline Alley (especially on page two). I guess Dick Moores' stuff from the sixties and seventies? Deceptively intricate, nice use of line and foreground stuff to open up the panels. I really dug it.
ReplyDeleteWhat's odd about this story is that, usually when one business partner kills another in a suspense story, it's either because he suspects him of stealing money from the business to live the high life, or because he wants to do that HIMSELF, or because he's already doing it himself and about to be caught at it. In this story, Jeremiah might or might not be a thief, because you never hear it mentioned beyond that first scene. And instead of wanting to relax with the money from the business, Caleb sets out to do all the work now that Jeremiah's gone!
ReplyDeleteGrant's right -- Caleb seems to have used the "you stole my dollar" excuse to strangle his partner so that he could get the joy of working like a slave-dog 24/7! It doesn't make a damn bit of sense!
ReplyDeleteDid like the art style of this one.