Time now for a creepy Atlas classic by Bob Powell, from the May 1954 issue of Menace #11 (love those ghastly ghosts) and highlighted by a menacingly iconic cover by Harry Anderson.
Time now for a creepy Atlas classic by Bob Powell, from the May 1954 issue of Menace #11 (love those ghastly ghosts) and highlighted by a menacingly iconic cover by Harry Anderson.
8 comments:
Last page, panel 5 is a incredible image. Those are some really, really haunting ghosts. The sly smiles, the wizened bodies, and then they dissolve into a swirling acid trip of leering faces. That is some *fancy* work. Atlas could really churn out some wonderful art, on par with the greats.
It's nice to see Powell just tearing through a great little tale; he was so talented, and while Bill Everett was probably the star of Menace, Powell was certainly up there right next to him.
I love the random old timer, BTW, was that in the script or was Powell just entertaining himself? BTW, the wacky candle holder with cobwebs is a great detail on the splash.
Now this one is fun. It goes from what appears to be a woman with a strange obsession with rich hermits to the reveal that she's actually been searching for her missing husband all this time after they literally made a killing. Love those ghosts at the end. Also, that one skeleton of the rich guy in Phoenix with his dog looks a lot like Ronald McDonald.
The cover is great.
"If he's been...paying cash with no visible means of support he's flesh and blood."
Maybe he's a ghostwriter. You ever thought of that, Jenny? Huh? Huh?
Along with the previous Hand of Glory, this is another delightful tale whose plot twist was genuinely surprising. Well done!
The ghosts on the last page were unique to say the least. Only Al Eadeh or Lou Cameron could have come up with phantoms as eerie as Powell's work.
I would never have noticed how weird the images on Page 5 are if Brian Barnes hadn't mentioned it. They're like something Jose Bea might've done in a Warren magazine.
It's not just the ghosts. Page five throws the reader into a fully realized (surrealized?) empathy with our haunted protagonist. Up till now, things have made at least some sense to most everybody involved. But by the end of page five the world's all different now, gone thoroughly subjective. I love the ghosts, but the really gutsy move is that final image of Jennifer Marlow, seeming to melt into the terror as she clutches her money. It's an amazing last panel.
I love the set up here, too. I was totally engrossed, arguing and sympathizing along with the characters at each new set-piece. I mean, the dead hermits, with dead families and pets, were already worth lingering on. I didn't see the plot turn coming at all--but then again, the twist here is the whole last act, not just the finale, and that seems to me a much more mature storytelling formula than usual.
I have to agree this was a fun one. Loved the art here. Thank you Karswell.
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