Like our previous post, here's another weird Fiction House entry, this time from the Winter 1953 issue of Ghost Comics #9, and with art by Bill Discount. It's a kooky circus freak tale that quickly devolves into a time-warped tale of prehistoric cavemen and cavewomen gone wild! Prepare yourself for--
I love how in caveman stories the women are always perfectly coiffured modern females of standard attractiveness, no matter what the males look like. At least she didn't speak English!
ReplyDeleteThis was a rather fun tale.
The good girl art is a bit off putting here but that's comics!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if the gist of this tale is that he was *originally* a cave man and got caught in a time rip and found his way back or was not but he was genetically a cave man and found a better home. Either way, the best part of this is the whole carnie thing.
It's more horrible then the time rip! They find the guy, they basically kidnap him, ply him with drinks, and then stick him in a cave! And unlike the normal vampires and werewolves, that's super believable and probably happened numerous times!
Nice art in this, some strong shadow work in the cave.
Daamn, apparently I have a "sluggish brain" and am "so ugly" that I "have no friends." And I'm German. I can't remember another comics story that has come at me hard. Care to step outside, Throwback?
ReplyDeleteThe only other Bill Discount story I can find in the archives is from nine years ago, and also has engaging and inventive art. I gotta learn more about this guy because this is the second story in a (loong) row that I thought looked dynamite. The splash, the second panel of page two, these are excellent work. The spooky-doo time warp on page four is amazing--and not for nothing, the colorist's scheme for communicating subjectivity by coloring the story-within-the-story panels to be consistent with Dyker's pupil in the lead-in was just genius.
Happy Christmas Eve Eve!
Honestly, our protagonist isn't even that "ugly" by modern standards. He has a kind face to me. I love how these carnies decide "Hey, this guy would make a great caveman!" and come up with the shtick to get more publicity for their carnival. The idea that the cave paintings come to life on the wall to bring him back with them is kind of charming. I'm also amused that the cavewoman is of course this gorgeous looking pinup model with perfect hair while the men look like--well, Neanderthals. I don't know why the narration seems to paint it like a bad thing. At least he's somewhere where he's accepted and liked.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to the story is basically 'Huh? What?' with stuff like the carnies threatening to get the police--for what? backing out of a hoax?--and that ending. They captured him to have dinner with him? I feel like there's some missing cannibalism not going on.
ReplyDeleteThe art is pretty impactful, though. I like the oddity of it all, but it's also really clear and vibrant. I think the coloring really adds to it as well. It's great. It's got character.
By the way, best wishes to all in the holiday season.
I know I'm not the only one, but I almost assumed she was some kind of captive in a "primitive" cave people vs. "civilized" cape people story. So it really surprised me that she's just one of the group (except for the reason everyone mentions, that's she's the female character).
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that the com men have to add a little hair to him. Even if it's only a little, most stories about people like him - including comedies - would automatically provide that.
It's also funny that they threaten him with the police. Maybe they're "only" con artists, but you halfway expect them to pull guns on him when he seems uncooperative.
The ending is nice, but of course I can't help wondering how the caveman hoax part of the story would've gone.