Sunday, April 28, 2019

Bad Blood!

Despite one horrifically huge, glaring plothole, Dick Ayers and Ernie Bache really knock it out of the bloody 'ol ballpark with this terrific tale of a brutal acid murder / underserving inheritance, from the November 1954 issue of The Thing #17.

Bottoms up, fiends!











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17 comments:

Mestiere said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Glowworm said...

I do really love panel five on the second page of Gabriel's greenly shadowed face gloating over the death of his uncle.
Where did that door really lead to though? We never did get to find out.
Gotta love that ending although I really hope no one drinks that wine--it's made from Gabes instead of grapes.

JBM said...

A nice vintage take on greedy nephews. Of course that door led to the unimaginable. I enjoyed the art on this one and noticed the green face's appropriateness too. Thank you Mr. K.

anthrax2525 said...

Mestiere, Amicus Productions was the anthology maker, not Hammer.
I agree, though, that this would have been a dandy entry for them or AIP.

Brian Barnes said...

I'm in agreement with the others above that it's going to bug me that we'll never know what was behind the door!

I love all the different stuff on this blog, but it's nice to get back to the ol' standard walking corpse revenge story. This one followed all the notes, cheated a little (we didn't know about the press until the end) but was still fun.

You are going to need to add a new label after this one "foreground breasts!"

I like the goopy art and the extended faces in this. I especially like Page 2, Panel 5, really well staged with the acid/killer/victim.

Mr. Cavin said...

I love a good McGuffin!

What a ice, swift story! I really liked page two of this thing. Good brisk action taking us out of the first act and into the second. The blood and matching shadow on the stone floor in panel three is an excellent touch. I agree with Glowworm about the effective green face.

Mr. Karswell said...

No one's mentioned it, but the plothole problem plaguing me is how did Gabe actually get his hands on ANY of the money? Just stammering out an explanation of his uncle's death during his parties, or a narrative line saying that no one noticed or cared to know about Lord John's demise, makes no sense if the body itself is still secretly locked away in the wine cellar! haha

Mestiere said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mestiere said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jasper Bark said...

Reminds me of Ayers' later work for Eerie Publications. It has that same dream logic (hence the plot hole), and gleefully vicious gore that those stories had. This leads me to think that he may even have written this as well pencilled it. What do think Mr. Karswell?

Grant said...

Not only is this loosely connected with "Cask of Amontillado," it also looks ahead to that famous COLUMBO episode "Any Old Port In A Storm." Not only does a winery owner murder his half-brother by locking him in a wine cellar, he also brings up that "bad blood" idea by telling his half-brother that his mother must have caused everything bad about him.

JMR777 said...

Speaking of mysteries surrounding a door-

Check out the last tale in the anthology movie 'From Beyond the Grave' from Amicus.

For a more recent adaptation (of sorts) is the last story in "Crooked House" by Mark Gatiss from 2008 shown on BBC four. A doorknocker is the item that gives the door its unique properties, but I won't give away much more than that. It is on youtube if you wish to watch it yourself.

Mr. Karswell said...

Seen ‘em both, great stuff!

Ankit Sethi said...

Nice series.really unique concept.i am regular visit your stories which is related to haunted stories and haunted places.

Mestiere said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mr. Karswell said...

>What do think Mr. Karswell?

Definitely possible, we know he wrote a lot of his own work

>Gabriel said he was now the fifth Lord Robb

I would still think a body should be produced before the changing of money to a different Lord heir...

Ok, thanks for the comments-- Walpurgis Night coming up next, I'd say "stay tombed" but tonight's the night we're supposed to burst forth from them and party! Who's bringing the napkins and brownies?

anthrax2525 said...

JMR777, the last segment of From Beyond The Grave truly is a pip, especially with the extra twist at the end (Peter Cushing at the cash drawer, anyone?)
I really should watch that one again. It's been quite a while.