Friday, January 30, 2015
The Drifting Snow
For all of my snow-bound friends on the east coast, here's a frigidly faithful Tony Isabella and Esteban Maroto adaptation of August Derleth's fear-fraught Weird Tales short story classic "The Drifting Snow" from the April 1974 issue of Vampire Tales #4 magazine. Awesome cover by Boris too, though the blurb incorrectly states the story is called "Night of the Snow Vampire." Keep warm friends, we'll get back into the precode gold next-- stay tombed!
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13 comments:
This is one of the stories that shows the incredible promise and power of comic horror stories.
The Drifting Snow is probably second to "The Upper Berth" for short text horror stories (IMHO.) From that basis, springs this beautiful adaptation. The full figured vampire woman is something Maroto did over and over in his career and you can see it in a lot of other works. As Mestiere said, though, could have been a swipe.
But, separating the art from any failings of the artist, this is a pristine and wonderful job. And something that could have only been done well in B&W. The starkness of the black lines vs the snow covering wouldn't have been as bleak if in color.
Maroto's use of negative space (the all black/all white panels) is very solid here. Especially last page, panel 2, where he uses negative space to frame the rising snow/legs of our victim as the vampires attack.
Beautiful piece. On that should be in a museum, and that's not hyperbole. Everything works here.
To put it bluntly: I don't like Maroto. I can't help it, it's a matter of personal taste. I don't remember this story, looks like one of his better efforts, and surely all the embellishments and effects he uses here help a lot. When he is more "essential", like in some Satana stories or, worse still, in Cinco por Infinito or in later comics, he seems to be dull (in his human portraits) and pretentious at the same time. He fills the page as if he was telling us "Hey, look how 'graphic' I am", but lacking real pathos. A "cold" artist (which is fine here). I repeat: personal taste.
The cover: that cover bring me fond memories, for it gave me the creeps as a kid (I know, I know...), but if I remember well, THIS story was not in the italian version.
I immediately thought of "I tre volti della paura" ("Black Sabbath") by Mario Bava, the segment with Karloff ("the Wurdalaks"). Was there a blizzard? I seem to recall there was... Anyway, that Lady is NOT a vampire, maybe a western Yuki - Onna.
We had this issue as a kid...
and always enjoy Moroto's artwork....
I have such trouble recognizing comic artists from one story to another, but not so much Maroto. He gives the supernatural figures here such a great "arty" look. Just like the ones in his DAX THE WARRIOR sword and sorcery stories.
Not my favorite artist but he is effective at times here. BTW the servant girl needn't have been raped to be described as blameless. An artful seduction would also be deserving of that epithet.
I have not really been a fan of Maroto, but I have to say that with this story his style really "makes it". The aloof, often superficial ornateness of the line work, and inexpressive characters' faces, have made it hard for me to warm to his work. Nobody seems to "act" in one of his stories -- they're just there to look pretty. However -- with this tale he seems to come into his own. The brittle character of the drawings, the ornate, snowflake like effects (affects?) he always does come into their own. All in all, a terrific piece. Really like that Boris cover, too.
I am stunned to see those blatant art swipes linked above. Why do this when you've got solid talent? There is nothing wrong with the odd photo reference as a starting point here and there. Even looking to some really great art for inspiration on composition or dynamic figures is not the end of the world -- just make it your own! But, wow, those links are blatant. Except for the Frazetta, which is a little iffy, the rest are embarrassing for him. Is he embarrassed by those? Has he ever commented on it all?
Art swipes or not, this was a well drawn tale by the artist. Could another artist have done better? It is hard to say, but the art works well for this story.
The first page sets the scene of isolation, reminiscent of the hotel in The Shining, just a bit.
The art gets the job done in eleven pages, a page or two less and it would have made to feel rushed an compressed, a page or more and the story would have suffered.
Wow, art swipes don't bother me in the least bit... in some stories it's actually kind of fun to find the swipes and identify them. Oh well...
So THOIA will be taking a break for a few weeks here as we focus on a precode related side project... but we'll return in time for a Valentines Day massacre the likes of which you've never seen. Adios for now, enjoy the archives if you're new around here, or even if you're old to THOIA, why not revisit some of the backlog?
I agree that finding art swipes can be fun when reading some of the stuff that pops up in THOIA. I especially like it when they pop up in some really struggling guy's work from some 1950's poverty row horror comic publisher. You can just picture him, desperately trying to draw a story for a few peanuts and ability-wise he's in way over his head. The deadline looms and his work is crap! Even the editor of this rag he's drawing it for is going to reject it and not give him another job! So he cracks open a bottle of rotgut, pours a glass, and reaches for an EC or an Atlas and thumbs through it... salvation!
Maroto Shmaroto - I'm here ta pick a fight wit' da guy who badmouthed Augie Derlet'!
S.D. Joe,
Try this review: http://lethismore.blogspot.com/2011/12/drifting-snow-short-story-review.html
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