Wednesday, June 24, 2020
The Death of Me
Gliding effortlessly on the wings of Death, and back to the 1950's with an astonishingly dark tale from the February 1954 issue of Astonishing #30. Okay, so how many of you actually feel sorry for these decrepit old miserly millionaires and their good for nothing heirs? The even older saying, "You can't take it with you," seems terrifically trapped in limbo on this one.
The art is great in this one and the author was pretty damn sure nobody was going to get the ending! I've seen a lot of hype on Atlas pages but this one really goes all out!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this was planned or a happy coincidence, but I love that the art gets more scratchy as the tale goes on, until we get to the last page and everything is full of lines and scribbles, and the final ghastly image (sans holes, strangely enough!)
I love the splash, too, it's awesome.
I'm with Karswell, I do sort of feel sorry for him. There's no indication in the story that he stepped on anybody on the way up, and if his dream is to be believed, his relatives are "scurvy." And yet he gets himself trapped in an awful -- seemingly endless -- fate.
Does the 4th panel on page 2 remind anyone of Creepshow?
ReplyDelete"You're all a bunch of vultures-- just waiting to get your hands on my money!" --Nathan Grantham
The rats in the splash panel were so cute, I kept waiting for them to be plot-significant.
ReplyDeleteI suppose old Powers could have done what the protagonist of one Frederick Forsythe story did: knowing he had incurable cancer, he turned all his assets to cash, bought platinum with the cash, and constructed a "lead-lined" coffin which he stipulated would have to be buried at sea by his greedy sister and her husband. Then he shot himself. Only afterwards did they discover that all his money had gone into the lining of the "lead-lined coffin" they'd buried at sea. Subverted in that the coffin really *was* lead-lined; he'd resold the platinum and anonymously donated the money to an orphanage.
Man, some kind of miserly old so-and-so with his four-poster bed and his patched-up old quilt. I love the bottom of page two and all of page four. I agree with Brian about the wild, emotional lines on the last page, that angsty and overwrought scribbling really sells the mood.
ReplyDeleteThe Maneely cover on this one is a jaw dropper, too.
Good one!
ReplyDeleteIt's like as if it was written by a Seventh Day Adventist or Christian Scientist.
They are forbidden to use medicine.
"If I only hadn't have taken that medicine I would be in heaven right now!"
The rich guy wanting to hold onto his money was a 50s horror trope.
Didn't Creepshow have two rich people with wills?
I'm surprised they haven't made a Creepshow t.v. show.
That should be a new Netflix show.
they seem to be just working on lame teen shows lately.
They wouldn't even have to come out with new ideas. They could just lift them from the comics on this site.
Most of the comics on this site are probably public domain.
Marvel wouldn't want too much for the stories.
This story would work.
Each show would have four or five stories like an old comic.
It would definitely need some good host sets.
All the stupid shows that get made...
How is this show not a no-brainer?
I don't remember any will readings in Creepshow.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Shudder Channel actually does have a Creepshow TV series, the first season has already ended and season two is currently in production.
No will readings in Creepshow?
ReplyDeleteWell it's been a while since I've seen it but the Happy birthday story wasn't a will reading but it was a family waiting for a rich old man to die wasn't it? It's a bit blurry in my mind.
"where's my birthday cake!"
The Stephen Kng segment is probably the most memorable and the one with the two lovers buried in the sand.
And the rich old lady at the end story... wasn't she with a lecherous greedy family waiting to die too?
Maybe I have to watch it again.
It's on my PVR now.
No wills but the idea of an unloving family only held together because of money is the trope that is really popular in E.C. comics.
Is the Creepshow T.V. show good?
I remember they did one years ago but it was kind of cheap.
This one has some great reviews on IMDB
I haven't heard of the Shudder channel.
I don't think we can get it in Canada.
We have silly rules (CRTC) that stop a lot of channels and movies from getting here if the channels don't have Canadian content.
We can't even get Hulu here.
Netflix has the monopoly and then the channels our telephone company is allowed to sell.
It's stupid.
Most Canadians grow up watching American content.
Sometimes I expect things that I really like to be much more commercially successful.
Part of me wants (and hopes) to believe that your comments is just someone joking around, but if not, maybe you should just watch the movie again, because whoa-oh-oh-oh Nelly, you are definitely NOT remembering this film correctly. Let us know what you discover.
ReplyDeleteAnd I will also admit that I was not very pleased with Shudder's recent Creepshow series... and I'll leave it at that, with high hopes for much better, higher quality results in season two.