Friday, February 8, 2019
The Deadly Doll
I'm guessing the very last panel of todays post (alone) is making the tumblr rounds, as I've had no less than 7-8 people email it to me lately asking what story and issue it's from. And the fact that the tale itself fits nicely into our month long Valentine's Massacre is all the more reason to unleash the deadly doll upon you all! So here is where it's from-- the May 1954 issue of Horrific #11, and the art is by Steve Kirkel.
Boy is Helen a dope. If a cursed object that obviously has a soul in it is trying to convince you to do something, you are going to trade their fate! It's horror comic 101! Keep up, Helen!
ReplyDeleteOf course, she traded her fate, to be trapped "forever" though it's not actually forever, she just has to find the next dope, but then, suddenly, she is in hell? Does she move? Did the devil pose her hugging him? That's ... pretty pathetic for the devil who's really got to have his pick of bad girls down there!
I like the artwork, a very Johnny Craig-ish type of clean advertiser type art. Work really well for this story which could have been a noir story aside from the supernatural elements.
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ReplyDeleteMaybe it's because of the fact that the doll is life sized and has painted on cheeks--but hes kind of looks like a sex doll. The way Freddie is playing with her in the last panel doesn't exactly help dissuade me from this theory.
ReplyDeleteAlso, panel 5 on page 5 when the doll come to life, looks rather risque to me as well.
Too bad Horrific only lasted a short while. The lead narrator, The Teller, made for an interesting horror host, a guy who can read people's minds and learn their deepest secrets.
ReplyDeleteA psychic terror tale teller, a unique idea back then or even today.
I guess its too late for a reboot of this comic.
Great bloody Valentine's day tale, Karswell, even if the bloodletting was offscreen.
Yeah, Kirkel certainly looks like he's dabbling in some comic book moonlighting after long day job drawing clothing catalogs. Or maybe that's just the kind of reference stuff he keeps in the cheat file. I especially like the bottom of page two. The last panel is certainly the eye-catcher, but my fave is the one before it. Not only is it clean and natural looking, super mundane (it reminds my eye of Ogden Whitney), but I love the way Helen's hectoring covers up her own face.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Don Heck cover on this issue.
I think glowworm's comments make sense. In fact, Helen is so distant with him, maybe HARRY is the one who should want to make sure the doll stays around. Partly for the obvious reason, and partly for sentimental reasons, as in, having a "Helen" around who ISN'T distant.
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