Thursday, August 20, 2020
Horror Story
We've screamed along to a lot of great Atlas tales over the last few months (and years) around here, and as you've likely figured out along the way, when you really need one to knock your socks off, you can always rely on bloodcurdlin' Bill Everett to deliver the spookiest of sock knockers! A terrifically eerie entry (and cover!) from my all-time favorite artist, and from the April 1952 issue of Spellbound #2.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I refuse to think ill of the werewolf on page 5, comfort bone in his paw, who I think must be a very good boy, yes he is, yes he is.
Mr. morbid/Dr. Zardo would have made one of the best horror comic hosts if he had been given a chance.
Bill Everett could do both horror and pinups very well, as is demonstrated by Marie the secretary.
The werewolf was hilarious, but only slightly more so than Leo's failure to look at Dr Zardo's face until the extreme end.
Marie is like a thoroughly modern rockabilly chick. You just know she's got a Cherry Bomb tattoo somewhere. And I kind of wish this story was from her perspective. I mean, there is something very creepy about the idea of sending a well-liked coworker out into the storm--only for somebody entirely different to return wearing his face. Shudder. But look at her. I imagine she's gonna be up to the challenge.
Another story with coy, faceless panels. I like that. There's definitely something spooky about having to wait a couple pages longer than usual to see see someone's identity. It forces an interested patience, like the patter of magicians. It also creates a need to show the intervening panels in an unusual way. I really like the ones here. All those expressive Vanna White hands gesturing from coffin to coffin during Leo Grant's tour. It doesn't hurt that Everett draws a damn fine satin.
Leo Grant was a dum-dum, but this story was worth it for the unintentionally adorable werewolf.
After reading the comments, I am beginning to wonder if Marie might have more than a passing interest in horror tales. Could she be a practitioner of black magic, a vampire vamp, a voodoo queen from New Orleans picking up a few extra bucks by submitting horror tales herself?
Maybe Marie is an accomplice of Morbid/Zardo and they cooked up this scheme to get rid of Leo while gaining a face for Morbid/Zardo in the process.
The deeper down the rabbit hole I go the more the mystery deepens.
Marie definitely contradicts the "girls who wear glasses" cliche.
I see people saying Leo was stupid; I assume they meant because he went into the crypt but I think it started back when he left any room that had Marie in it!
Anybody notice the "excelsior" parking lot, page 2, last panel? Was Stan involved? Confidence?
I love how everybody but Marie gets a cartoon-y look, right up to the awesome werewolf who I want to hug and squeeze and call George. Charles Cross is a particularly gruesome image!
Post a Comment