It's been awhile since we've had a good 'n gory gorilla on the loose tale around here, so let us now salute those rampaging, savage Sunday Matinee monkeys of the silver screen (see Bride of the Gorilla, Monster and the Girl, Gorilla at Large, Murders in the Rue Morgue, etc...) with a fun Johnny Danger murder mystery on a movie set scenario! From the June 1947 issue of Movie Comics #3, highlighted with terrific art by the great, George Tuska! Yes sir, hang on to your slinkiest, sheerest nighties, --this one's a real corker!
I love the panel where Johnny hits Mr. Smyth so hard the ape mask flies off. That's entertainment!
ReplyDeleteI also love the panels in which the colorist turns his not inconsiderable skill to the task of rendering Mrs. Smyth's negligee see-through. Good work, colorist!
I wonder how many other "gorilla" horror stories make the gorilla the victim of a frame-up.
ReplyDeleteThere's THE APE with Boris Karloff, though in that one the ape is already dead himself when the frame-up starts.
And THE GORILLA with Bela Lugosi and the Ritz Brothers, where the killer uses that nickname but a real gorilla becomes a red herring in one scene.
I'm not sure about others.
There is great art in this. It has a weird, almost 3D look, not sure why, heavy inking maybe? Tuska certainly spent some research time, yes, it's not a perfect gorilla but he got a lot of it right ... and it's purple/gray, and we all know that increases the sales of comics!
ReplyDeleteI love the drooling gorilla mouth, don't know how Mr. Smyth pulled that trick off! Poor gorilla didn't deserve to be killed, though!
I double up with Mr. Cavin, here, I appreciate the extra work the colorist went too, that's dedication to selling a comic!
"I wonder how many other "gorilla" horror stories make the gorilla the victim of a frame-up."
ReplyDeleteWhile not necessarily a horror, it was done in Charlie Chan at the Circus.