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Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Anatomical Monster
Another one from the April 1953 issue of Eerie #11 (see our last story post as well.) It's a tale that's just as fun as it is wildly frustrating, mostly due to some writing problems that are somehow even more flimsy than the wonderfully whack Hollingsworth art. See what you guys think as we finally get rolling with some stories here in July 2019 --lots more on the way too!
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11 comments:
I’ve noticed an odd theme with some of these tales. The protagonist is often poor or of limited means. They end up at an antique/thrift shop to buy something as a gift or to brighten their lives..... THEN THEY DIE HORRIBLY as the supernatural Mcguffin wreaks its revenge... people punished for their poverty... considering how poorly compensated most of these artists were, these stories might stand as commentary on their situations.
I remember the Pulsar doll. His face flips up and you can put "computer disks" in it to enhance his brain, so presumably he was some kind of cyborg.
There was a real weirdness to some of the toys in the 1970s. Anyone remember Gre-Gory the monster bat?
This story definitely springs from somebody seeing an anatomical drawing. The bottom of page 4 is a particularly hard read, I wasn't sure who was getting killed.
So it's been pointed out so many stories are about somebody poor getting it for daring to rise a bit beyond their station -- but what's up with Bill the half transparent man? Why is he a mad murderer? The story tries to set it up (Bill acts strangely, Gloria scared of him) but it's dashed off so quickly before his clubbing that it only registers as our artist being jealous, or making up a reason to kill Bill.
The art -- I like the Hollingsworth stuff. It's fascinating in it's skill level, and how much space he leaves sometimes (did he expect the balloons to be bigger?) The last page has a really weird layout that doesn't quite work with the punch ending.
... but it's different! And unique!
This story is pre Gallio- unexplainable plot, people acting in ways that normal people in real life would never do, the protagonist dies at the end, had Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci or Dario Argento been cartoonists....
I still have my Pulsar doll from my childhood, though the blood in his clear veins has somewhat died up... I do still have the brain discs though too which seem to be the first thing everyone lost back in the day
Whenever somebody bumps off a husband they for sure get to marry that guy's widow right away. One of the hard fast rules of comics. Inked in stone.
I like all the work Hollingsworth put into that splash to make it look like an illustration come to life. That's a little bit of a puzzle to solve, how to get the idea across in a comic. How do you make one element of the page look even more hand-drawn than the rest? I've seen it tackled in several ways--unusual color separation processes, collage, scratchboard negatives or halftone screens. But this simple pointillism, and the simple lack of color throughout the story, is actually a pretty effective strategy.
I had Pulsar. I loved any cyborg Bionic Man knockoffs in the seventies. It's weird that they aren't more beloved. He had a great sci-fi uniform and, at the time, I thought his articulation and size were ideal. While both had a pretty gross biological look, the Six Million Dollar Man couldn't move his roll-up arms nearly so well without that ball-and-socket elbow. Looking back on it now, Pulsar seems like he was ahead of his time. That toy was definitely more than halfway to Masters of the Universe level.
I also had Hypnos. I really dug anything that sparked, frankly. I forgot how amazing the box designs were. Or maybe I never even noticed when I was a kid. Thanks for the reminder, Mestiere.
Wotta terrorific splash. That skylight gives me a swastika feel for some reason. The art throughout has me a Ditko vibe at times and a Kirby look to the shop owner. Nice touches like the pin-ups on the wall and panels from the cat's perspective. For me, the twists were unexpected, and was that really the end? Thank you Mr. K. a fun time was had by all.
Sorry for the bad proofreading on my comment. Oh well.
Ghengis Khan looks like he’s freaking the **** out at the bottom there.
A detail-free half-skeleton is the most perfect anatomical drawing ever? Really?
When the hell did the antique shop man even suggest to the medical student that he should burn the chart, let alone make him promise to? Was the writer changed halfway through the story, and the new one didn't bother reading the first half?
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