"It is said that the ghost of a man long dead paces the house-- paces in silent fury-- while the wind howls dismally..." is not only some of my favorite precode horror comic narrative ever scripted (thanks again to fab Frank Belknap Long), but it also accompanies one the absolute best ever Max Elkan panel illustrations of the 1950's (see bottom of page 4.) And that's why we're treading more Adventures into the Unknown waters, because not only do we have a familiarly fantastic, centuries spanning murder curse mystery scenario here, but also some of Elkan's finest shadow and silhouette work, plus dripping, seaweed covered undead shambling up the shore, --and don't forget a healthy, delicious dose of gorgeous good girl art too! Top notch ACG entry right here...
OK this is certainly interesting. Same issue -- and two stories with basically the same plot -- somebody pretending to be a ghost gets killed by a real ghost!
ReplyDeleteLike the previous story, the art is on fire in this. I love the last panel on page 3; the lighting (with the blood red moon lighting the sea and the face) and it's a good plot point to see somebody who would murder for money being smarter than most other characters in a horror story.
As mentioned, the shadow on the car is a great image.
The good girl art is where the colorist was really taking a chance here, trying to see how far s/he could get away with the skin color.
The think the art in the previous entry was a lot more dynamic but it's great here, too, that's a lot of good art for a comic that old.
It's nice to see this issue -- which is pretty famous in pre-code horror comics, presented here.
Whoa, the mechanism of revenge is pretty complicated in this one. The angry ghost of a long-dead relative exacts revenge on the descendant of the long dead relative who killed him in revenge back the past, thus saving his descendant in the present. Of course, I originally thought Roger was one of those two-fisted grooms who simply won't fall for all this ghost hogwash. But now he's found himself on the front lines of some ageless feud between clans of vengeful relatives, one of which is seeking vengeance against him, the other ready to recruit. Pretty sure I'd get the heck out of Dodge if I was that guy.
ReplyDeleteI really love the impressionistic coloring on Sylvia's nightie. Actually, I think the colors are really good all the way through the story. Page two is probably my fave, but the greenly seaside spooky-doo of this whole bit comes through with these colors in spades. Nothing wrong with the art either, of course. Page eight is a real banger.
Is this an adaptation of a Frank Belknap Long story? In that case, is there any comic book adaptation of The Hounds Of Tindalos? I would love to read one.
ReplyDelete[Can you imagine what a gay wedding in 1750 would have been like?]
I love it when a horror story goes into rated R Scooby Doo territory (where the supposed "ghost" murders a few people) and not only does it turn out that the "ghost" is just a person in a costume, they get done in by the real ghost!
ReplyDeleteThe splash page for this one is great and there's some really good art in this one. Page three has some great panels such as the first one, fourth one and 6th one. Page four has those last two panels of the "ghost" lurking about. I also really love that panel of the real ghost choking out the fake one! Though I must admit, it feels pretty fast how Stephen Carew just appears halfway in this comic and then just two pages later is revealed to be the "ghost" running around. Probably also shouldn't have admitted that he was the last of the Arams. The ghost most likely already knew that but still.
Always had a soft spot for ACG horror comics. Even when the censors kicked in around 1955, they were still able to come up with some interesting Sci Fi stories instead.
I like the artist portraying the ghost in its human form instead of a skeleton or rotting corpse. Those who report seeing ghosts say they are either transparent images of human beings or white smoke that appears for only a few seconds before vanishing.
ReplyDeleteA horror tale featuring an old house, vengeance, and a ghost from the sea. Its a real winner.
I guess it had as few exceptions in comics as in movies and sitcoms, but it would be nice to see this story get around the "separate beds" tradition. It's their honeymoon!
ReplyDeleteThe panel of Sylvia at the bottom of Page 7 has an especially good Gothic horror story look.
I'd also like to hear about any comics versions of "The Hounds of Tindalos."
It's one of the pretty few Frank Belknap long stories that I know.
You can search Frank's name on the GCD website to see all of the comic book stories he contributed to. I'm digging around for more to possibly post closer to Halloween.
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