Another tale from the June 1952 issue of Spellbound #4, and with its oddly ingenious mad scientist twist on the Most Dangerous Game theme, today's post will surely leave your hunter heads a'spinning!
What a wonderfully bizarre story! It seems more like a story from Voodoo or similar mag than an Atlas story.
So this guy is a crazy hunter/mad scientist? With a manor? On a deserted island? And we get all this from one text balloon! There isn't really even a shock ending (it can count as one, but it's not surprising.) Yet the pace just flips right along, there's more great 4-panel layouts, and it's just silly fun.
Things to love: The bat and vulture on the splash. Arx is a great Frankenstein's monster stand-in (I love the long neck.) Page 4, panel 1, what a great monster!
BTW: The artist never skips a background in this. That's dedication!
A wild tale. I could imagine that the heads in his collection were formerly attached to animals that were modified in a mad scientist way (increase their speed and strength) to add to the 'thrill' of the hunt.
One question bothered me, where did Arx get the knife? Was it in the boat that the hunter had for scaling fish, did Arx find it?
Right from the start we know we're supposed to hate our animal-murdering, taunting, psychopath narrator for being, well, an animal-murdering, taunting psychopath. That's a good reason to hate him, but an even better reason is that he created a Frankenstein's monster just to expend it in a caged hunt. A Frankenstein's monster that can apparently magic up a knife and pit-trap digging tools and dig at least one camouflaged trap in an hour, too. Killing such a creature is criminal.
I hope Arx knows taxidermy, or else Narrator's head is sob going to start to smell.
Well, if you consider a Frankenstein to be a kind of robot--cobbled together from an assortment of biological machinery cultivated from fresh graves instead of Radio Shacks--then I'm not sure just how I'd draw the moral distinction between hunting one versus gunning down any high-tech drone or well-programed and skillfully rendered Call of Duty NPC AI. I mean, it'd be unethical to borrow a friend's Frankenstein just to shoot the thing full of holes, but if you're using your own....
At least we know the Mad Doctor could've probably cobbled the fellow back together again the next day. A good prequel might tell the story of the five or six dangerous gamers he offed in the weeks previous, a sort of semi-final round that provided him with the parts for Arx.
I also noted the artist's excellent backgrounds. Not too sure about that upside down owl in the splash, tho.
Sid Greene did a surprisingly good job on the pencils and inks here. I agree with the other commenters that this is perhaps one of the most contiemptible protagonists we've seen in a horror comic, though that might have something to do with our contemporary views of big game hunting. In the 50s it was mostly still seen as an admirable and manly pursuit. There is a slight element of class creeping in here. Both the undead and robots were often used as metaphors for the exploted underclass, and someone who can afford a private island, and regular trips to Africa to hung big game, is from a very moneyed background. In this respect when Arx turns on our narrator, it might even be seen as a parable about class war (although I do concede that I'm reaching a bit here). I did wonder if our hunter had mischosen when it came to which brain to put into his human prey, and whether that woudl be part of the twist ending. Even still that's a very satisfactory final panel.
This is the feel-good tale we all need now. I almost wish that Arx was in a smoking jacket sipping at a snifter of cognac in the last panel for the full Épater la bourgeoisie effect. Hey Mr. Cavin: those questions and more are discussed in that book called "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus". Wordy but a good read. - rm
No matter how formidable they consider themselves, these "MOST DANGEROUS GAME" type hunters almost always seem to have helpers, even if it does them no good by the end of the story. But this one works completely alone. Maybe you don't want to all that brave, but it is kind of.
Mr. Karswell, just wanted to say a very heartfelt 'thank you' for continuing to share your excellent content regularly with us. I *always* enjoy the comics (as well as all the other fun stuff over at andeverythingelsetoo) that you post, but now moreso than ever I look forward to see what cool thing you'll post next. Please know that what you do is important, matters a great deal and is appreciated. Thank you! :)
>Please know that what you do is important, matters a great deal and is appreciated. Thank you!
You're mighty welcome, Wendy-- thank you very much for the super nice words too! :)
Another big thanks to everyone who's still hanging in there with us and also leaving encouraging thoughts and positive comments.
I know life for many is a bit dark right now, and the way the news sounds it's likely gonna get darker. So with that, THOIA (and AEET) would like to let each and every one of you know that no matter whats going on in your corner of the world, we'll be here for the long haul, and hopefully posting what you interpret to be fun and cool things too! We've lots more lined up for 2020 --and yes, more IDW / Yoe books are currently in the works as well! Please stick around-- we don't know what we'd do without you! :)
What a wonderfully bizarre story! It seems more like a story from Voodoo or similar mag than an Atlas story.
ReplyDeleteSo this guy is a crazy hunter/mad scientist? With a manor? On a deserted island? And we get all this from one text balloon! There isn't really even a shock ending (it can count as one, but it's not surprising.) Yet the pace just flips right along, there's more great 4-panel layouts, and it's just silly fun.
Things to love: The bat and vulture on the splash. Arx is a great Frankenstein's monster stand-in (I love the long neck.) Page 4, panel 1, what a great monster!
BTW: The artist never skips a background in this. That's dedication!
A wild tale. I could imagine that the heads in his collection were formerly attached to animals that were modified in a mad scientist way (increase their speed and strength) to add to the 'thrill' of the hunt.
ReplyDeleteOne question bothered me, where did Arx get the knife? Was it in the boat that the hunter had for scaling fish, did Arx find it?
All in all a wild horror comics tale.
Right from the start we know we're supposed to hate our animal-murdering, taunting, psychopath narrator for being, well, an animal-murdering, taunting psychopath. That's a good reason to hate him, but an even better reason is that he created a Frankenstein's monster just to expend it in a caged hunt. A Frankenstein's monster that can apparently magic up a knife and pit-trap digging tools and dig at least one camouflaged trap in an hour, too. Killing such a creature is criminal.
ReplyDeleteI hope Arx knows taxidermy, or else Narrator's head is sob going to start to smell.
Thanks Mr.K. for the fun fun fun!
ReplyDeleteAll hail ARX! "Urll..Urll": Words to live by,I'd say.
ReplyDeleteReally digging the ads, btw, Mr.K.
Well, if you consider a Frankenstein to be a kind of robot--cobbled together from an assortment of biological machinery cultivated from fresh graves instead of Radio Shacks--then I'm not sure just how I'd draw the moral distinction between hunting one versus gunning down any high-tech drone or well-programed and skillfully rendered Call of Duty NPC AI. I mean, it'd be unethical to borrow a friend's Frankenstein just to shoot the thing full of holes, but if you're using your own....
ReplyDeleteAt least we know the Mad Doctor could've probably cobbled the fellow back together again the next day. A good prequel might tell the story of the five or six dangerous gamers he offed in the weeks previous, a sort of semi-final round that provided him with the parts for Arx.
I also noted the artist's excellent backgrounds. Not too sure about that upside down owl in the splash, tho.
Nice one!
ReplyDeleteThis may be the most contemptible main character I've seen in any of these stories, including the rat-torturing mad scientist.
Sid Greene did a surprisingly good job on the pencils and inks here. I agree with the other commenters that this is perhaps one of the most contiemptible protagonists we've seen in a horror comic, though that might have something to do with our contemporary views of big game hunting. In the 50s it was mostly still seen as an admirable and manly pursuit. There is a slight element of class creeping in here. Both the undead and robots were often used as metaphors for the exploted underclass, and someone who can afford a private island, and regular trips to Africa to hung big game, is from a very moneyed background. In this respect when Arx turns on our narrator, it might even be seen as a parable about class war (although I do concede that I'm reaching a bit here). I did wonder if our hunter had mischosen when it came to which brain to put into his human prey, and whether that woudl be part of the twist ending. Even still that's a very satisfactory final panel.
ReplyDeleteThis is the feel-good tale we all need now. I almost wish that Arx was in a smoking jacket sipping at a snifter of cognac in the last panel for the full Épater la bourgeoisie effect. Hey Mr. Cavin: those questions and more are discussed in that book called "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus". Wordy but a good read.
ReplyDelete- rm
No matter how formidable they consider themselves, these "MOST DANGEROUS GAME" type hunters almost always seem to have helpers, even if it does them no good by the end of the story. But this one works completely alone. Maybe you don't want to all that brave, but it is kind of.
ReplyDeleteMr. Karswell, just wanted to say a very heartfelt 'thank you' for continuing to share your excellent content regularly with us. I *always* enjoy the comics (as well as all the other fun stuff over at andeverythingelsetoo) that you post, but now moreso than ever I look forward to see what cool thing you'll post next. Please know that what you do is important, matters a great deal and is appreciated. Thank you! :)
ReplyDelete>Please know that what you do is important, matters a great deal and is appreciated. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou're mighty welcome, Wendy-- thank you very much for the super nice words too! :)
Another big thanks to everyone who's still hanging in there with us and also leaving encouraging thoughts and positive comments.
I know life for many is a bit dark right now, and the way the news sounds it's likely gonna get darker. So with that, THOIA (and AEET) would like to let each and every one of you know that no matter whats going on in your corner of the world, we'll be here for the long haul, and hopefully posting what you interpret to be fun and cool things too! We've lots more lined up for 2020 --and yes, more IDW / Yoe books are currently in the works as well! Please stick around-- we don't know what we'd do without you! :)