Thursday, June 18, 2015
Pursuit of the Vampire
We continue honoring the life and legacy of actor Christopher Lee, who recently passed away at the age of 93, --and here's another black and white, blood sucker classic that was originally posted here a few years ago (again for those of you who are new to THOIA.) From the debut issue of Creepy #1, and later reprinted in the Sept. '79 issue of Dracula '79, aka Warren Presents #5-- more specifically, this "collector's edition" magazine features an incredible painting of Chris Lee on the cover.
Why is the little afterword by "Cousin Eerie" instead of "Uncle Creepy"? Especially since the magazine Eerie hadn't actually come along yet? Maybe they were still laying around with the hosts at this point.
ReplyDeleteI, too, was wondering why Cousin Eerie shows up on the last page, and I'm at work so I can't check my Dark Horse HC reprint volume to see what the original page looked like. However, some Internet sleuthing reveals that "Pursuit of the Vampire" was also reprinted in a British version of Eerie published by Gold Star in '72. (This might also explain why Cousin Eerie looks so poorly pasted-into his panel.)
ReplyDeleteMystery solved?
Fantastic little piece.
ReplyDeleteHah! I knew it all along: the BurgerMeister and the Burger King!
ReplyDeleteMy, they had the nerve to write "Lugosi", "Lee" and "Langella" on the same page. How distasteful! But I guess Langella's flick was a big hit back then...
Yes, what's cousin Eerie doin' there?
James Warren never met a story he wouldn't try to reprint, would he? That said, this is a wonderful little tale and it showed how the Warren mags were good out of the gate (except for Vampirella which seemed to be the dumping ground for stories that didn't make the Creepy/Eerie cut at the beginning.)
ReplyDeleteThe story is pretty much cookie-cutter EC, but it works, because the atmosphere is so good. And the Torres art is just gorgeous. Page 3 with the female vampire framed in the old railings is the kind of art that makes these comics so good.
As for the Cousin Eerie, it was the last story in Creepy #1 so the original was Creepy talking about issue #2, so obviously that had to be changed. I almost wish it didn't exist in any edition, there's no reason to cut up that art like that!
Here is a word of advice for Loser Lanford -if you can't say something nice then shut the f*ck up!
ReplyDeleteAs for the story itself, the plot twist ending was similar to the last story in the anthology movie "Gallery of Horror" hosted by John Carradine.
A nice post Karswell, as are all of your postings.
Thanks mainly to "Gallery of Horrors," I saw the ending halfway through the story, but it couldn't bother me less. Mainly because of LIKING Gallery of Horrors as much as I do.
ReplyDeleteI won't pile on to a certain party who may deserve it, but I will chime back in to register my thanks and appreciation, Karswell. This blog continues to be a personal favorite, and I'm always a little happier whenever my day begins with seeing a new THOIA post in the Reading List on my Blogger main page. Thank you!
ReplyDelete[COMMENT NECROMANCY] The final panel looks heavily referenced from a scene from The Mummy's Tomb (1942):
ReplyDeletehttps://assets.mubi.com/images/film/46998/image-w448.jpg?1445903109