Time to wrap up the month of February 2024, as well as our Vampi Horror Host Fest! And this one is also from another early issue of the great black and white Warren series, the November 1962 issue of Vampirella #2 to be exact! Dick Piscopo's art has both good and not-so-good moments visually, but it's a fun story none the less, taking place on various horror movie sets featuring mummies, vampires, werewolves, and even a Creature from the Black Lagoon type swamp monster! THOIA will return in March for mucho more macabre horror hits-- stay tombed!
6 comments:
Maybe I'm the only one, but I think this story does something a bit original with the "imitation monster becomes a real monster" idea. For one thing, Penworthy finds her in a nightclub, not trying to find victims, but actually trying to "unwind."
"Gorry Hackerman". Ha!
For those not in the know, this is obviously Forest J Ackerman who was a co-creator of Vampirella (and part of Warren's publishing empire.). I really like the movie in a movie bit of where part of the story is about making movies and another is a fun parody of one of the editors there.
The art is a bit weak but works for the story. Vampi, at least at the beginning, was kind of home for the weaker artist at Warren. Not that Warren paid any artist, anyway! :)
I really like the dark blacks on the last page, with the moon/transformation. I also like how (paging Dr. Wertham, who always claimed this) that a lot of the art was done sans clothes and then worked in later with the tones.
Yeah, some of the art is a little off at times, such as Penworthy's face in panel 1 of both page 6 and page 9.Yet I do really love that panel of Penworthy tripping over the director's chair on page 3, panel 3. In fact, the running gag of him tripping over things greatly amuses me. That and the line about suicide no longer being necessary. (I've got a dark sense of humor.) The twist is fun at the end. You see it coming but it's good.
Katzman could have just cast Penworthy as the Incredible Klutz. That would have saved him from the (very telegraphed) wifwolf.
But why should a wifwolf be able to play a mummy and a vampire without makeup?
Lord help me I actually laughed out loud at that last word balloon.
I also think the real-world spoofing works pretty well here. Name dropping galore! I really like the werewolf movie the real (Sam) Katzman made, and would love to imagine what he might have done with a woman in the lead. Mara Corday I presume.
At one point or another both women wear the same kind of top. I wonder why? Product placement? It kinda felt vampirish? Easy to draw?
Happy Leap Day!
Horror films mentioned IN horror stories are nothing strange, but CRY OF THE WEREWOLF might be one of the least famous ones to be mentioned in a story.
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