Sunday, December 29, 2019
The Ghoul and the Guest
A funny little Iger Shop tale from beyond the grave, and from the giant-sized Voodoo Annual #1 one-shot (1952.) I wonder if Farrell had any plans to do more annuals like this, because damn-- 100 pages of grimy horror for only 25 cents (back then) must've seemed like the bargain of the century!
That's an effective little horror story -- always have a single repeating chunk (the old tell/tale/heart trick -- here wood chopping) is a good way to build suspense.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I think the addition of the husband was a detriment. Nobody really needed to discover a body, it could have ended with her dead and alone (it's why we have a narrator) but that's a small gripe.
The art works well, in the stiff way you normally get Iger Shop work. Again, I love that in a farm house (a very poor looking farm house) we still get a well made-up and styled "good girl" lady!
BTW, why didn't see just drain the wood pile every morning? Poor doomed people, never thinking straight!
Thanx Mr.K. I have to agree with Mr.B. that they did a great job of building suspense here. Page two panel five Robert Crumb? Loved it. I don't think the author knew what a cord of wood is. A few of them is an expleteving lot.
ReplyDeleteOr taken her chances by feeding him beforehand. He might still have died, but he wouldn't have had a legitimate grudge against her.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I like the "good girl art," she doesn't look like any kind of traditional farm woman. I'm not saying they should all look like they've led hard lives, but she's really at the other extreme. Maybe Zeb is a real chick magnet to have gotten her as a wife.
I mean, here's a woman who, instead of tossing a sheet over a stranger's carcass and dragging him into the handy tool shed minutes before her husband returns, decides to go on and bury him real quick. Like, somebody who can dig a speedy grave maybe coulda done the firewood herself. Let the hobo handle the dishes or whatever. Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteI liked the art a lot. Especially all the emphatic wavy fright anxiety starburst close-ups. Great stuff. Happy New Year!