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...
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9 comments:
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.
A good story with great art.
I 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.
Beautiful 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.
One of the creepier ideas about an afterlife is the concept of the dead not being able to change. To simply persist at a moment in time like an insect preserved in amber. One wonders if the women forgot that they were dead the next day.
I liked this story. I guessed the twist when I noticed the women didn't mention the bomb exploding but that doesn't diminish this tale. The art and words very effectively establish a mood.
Let me correct myself since the women never knew they were dead. I meant that they would have forgotten Vassily's visit the next day.
The 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.
I 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.
"What a twist!" as the comedians who imitate Shaymalan say. And it was in my case.
Of course, it's also one of the most downbeat ones I've read here in a while.
Thanks for putting these up!
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