I had a request for a shocking Dick Ayers electric chair tale a while back, and here it is after a few weeks of brain wrack trying to remember what and where it was published... from the October 1952 issue of Spellbound #8.
I had a request for a shocking Dick Ayers electric chair tale a while back, and here it is after a few weeks of brain wrack trying to remember what and where it was published... from the October 1952 issue of Spellbound #8.
I love it! It is so grisly -- the repeated pages of slowly building up the amps (it wouldn't work but it's a comic!) and the reaction on his body is really effective -- all of page 4 (even with the wall of text on panel 4) is great, especially that shadow work on the first two panels.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the early arcade machines were you grabbed the two handles and held on as long as you could while you got shocked. I could last a fraction of a second. I don't think this method is for me!
Outside of a space story, it's strange to see so much scientific language in one of these stories. And even though I can't really tell, it doesn't sound like doubletalk.
ReplyDeleteBy the middle, I thought it would end with him becoming completely scary-looking, and that being his punishment. That and the artwork make it remind me of a few early Warren stories.
Man what a great request. Dick Ayers--especially doing horror--is always a treat (the shocked faces on top of page five are amazing. All those rays cutting through that sky hatching on page one is pretty damn nimble, too); but today it's the story that really stands out for me. I love a good a mad science tale--even public library amateur science madness--and this is one of the best I've read. All the character and setting details are so chewy and on point, the brio of the tone entirely delightful. Stan, I'm assuming? That guy is often a pleasure to read, but he must have been in an especially good mood the day he pulled this one out.
ReplyDeletePeeping the table of contents over at Atlas Tales, this whole issue looks like a humdinger.
@Brian Barnes: I remember the shock machine at Disneyland. I don't know if it was lower-voltage or I really have a tolerance for that sort of thing, but I held on all the way to the end. My right hand kept twitching for a while afterwards, though...
ReplyDeleteA terrific entry here, thank you Karswell for this well written beauty. The art was great and complemented the story perfectly. I did not anticipate the obviously logical conclusion to this story and was wondering where it was going.
ReplyDeleteGreat story--thanks for sharing. It's interesting to see Dick Ayers' art from this period since I'm more familiar with his pencilling in the 60's on Sgt. Fury (and his inking over Jack Kirby). Ayers' style obviously evolved over time, and what came later was less stylized than what we see here.
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