Thursday, January 14, 2016
Devil's Disciple!
From the April 1954 issue of Weird Mysteries #4, this is a left-over tale of terror that, despite some smokin' artwork from Ross Andru, didn't quite cut the spicy hot mustard for inclusion into the DEVIL TALES collection (in stores February 9th now!) Thanks again to Howlin' Mike Howlett for generously donating these scans though-- I mean, god help us all but there's also always the possibility of a goddamned DEVIL TALES 2 collection too someday, I suppose-- AIEEEEEE!
Good art even though it feels a little rushed.
ReplyDeleteI like this one -- it's a bit different then "aha, I'm the devil" in the fact that the devil never reveals himself to our dope magician, and a dope he is, if he hears somebody is interested in the occult and his name is Diablo he should have run the other way as fast as possible!
The top panel on page 3 is great, it reminds me of lot of Disney haunted house records.
I was thinking just the same. Lovely cemetery panel.
ReplyDeleteGotta love that last panel of the devil revealing himself to the readers with those skulls in his eyes.
ReplyDeleteFletcher comes across as one of the least DESERVING horror story characters when it comes to dealing with the Devil and getting the short end. Maybe not innocent, but not terrible. Sure, he sees Mr. Diablo as an "easy mark" in that one thought balloon, but that's about as awful as you see him.
ReplyDeleteI have another story up next containing scans donated by The Howler, dooming you all soon-- thanks for comments!
ReplyDeleteLord I love Andru. I love him more and more the more of his work I see. Since he drew the overwhelming balance of the Spider-Man books I real as a preteen, I think that I am most comfy with him in his precode romance book mode (whether managed by Romita or not). But there is something magnificent to seeing him chew the scenery in this sort of thing, too, dazzling in full-on chunky brush mode. I love the thick lines that make up all the faces, especially the portrait of Fletcher at the bottom of page three. It looks very much like he used the same size brush for every line in the story--with a couple of glaring exceptions. I'm slightly less enthusiastic about the crosshatched cemetery panel at the top of three, or that first spotty Ben-Day panel of the devil at the bottom of the last page, because they don't really match all that well with the simple curvilinear muscle of the other frames.
ReplyDeleteGreat artwork in this one.Loved the scary reveal at the end.
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to think I should've put this in Devil Tales now :/
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