Saturday, January 27, 2018
The Long Wait
Finally-- a post! Apologies, things got pretty busy around here this week, but the long wait is over! Oh wait, no-- actually the long wait has just begun, and it's a spooky Sam Kweskin mystery from the June 1953 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #19. I've had a few requests for this story over the years, and while it's okay enough, it most certainly doesn't live up to that spectacularly eerie Joe Maneely cover tease! See what you think...
Usually, I see the "Dead all along" plot twist coming pretty quickly--but I didn't see this one coming at all! Sure, the story definitely doesn't match the cover artwork but the tale is really good--and quite tragic when the twist kicks in at the end on who is really dead.
ReplyDeleteA good story with great art.
ReplyDeleteI can't add anymore than that, though I wish I could.
Thank you for this post, Karswell.
Like glowworm2, they caught me good with the twist. And what's nice about this one, is that they pulled the twist half a page before the ending. That takes some confidence and good writing. It leaves the remaining panels to really let the horror of this one sink in, and the seemingly endless waiting of the ghosts.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Maneely cover. Sometimes it sucks to look at Maneely art knowing ALL the that we lost in his accidental death. Can you imagine him in the super hero age of Marvel? He would have been up there with Ditko and Kirby.
This tale is a great one, for sure.
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ReplyDeleteThe cover and the story are certainly a lot different in horror approach. The cover is visceral while the story has that shiver effect of a good ghost story. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't going to, but what the hell, I'll plug a comic project I contributed to that is really in the THOIA mode with the covers I did. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2147339717/tomb-of-horror-vol-5 I understand if you edit it out, Karswell.
I liked the story a lot. And I like those deep, gothic shadows everywhere, the haloing on backlit silhouettes, etc. Pretty moody stuff. I thought the end was completely obvious. Why would granny be wearing the colander on her head if the house hadn't blown up? Sheesh.
ReplyDelete"What a twist!" as the comedians who imitate Shaymalan say. And it was in my case.
ReplyDeleteOf course, it's also one of the most downbeat ones I've read here in a while.
Thanks for putting these up!
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time I read a story where a girl kept seeing a ghost, called Mr Dot One, in the house - a ghost that seemed totally unaware of her, her parents, and her brother - and then at the end it turned out that it was Mr Dot One who was alive and the family were all dead. Therefore unlike the rest of the comments I could tell as soon as the "ghost" appeared where this story was heading. However, it doesn't get any less affecting for that: it's an excellent story, though the twist could have been postponed for a couple more panels.
ReplyDeleteOne nit to pick: the Tsarist regime had no Archdukes, that was an Austro Hungarian Empire thing. The Tsarist regime had the Veilikii Kniaz rank, which is usually translated as Grand Duke, but properly means Great Duke, instead.