The blood screaming image at the bottom left of page one below contains another panel I've seen taken out of context and shared all over the www for the last few years, so if you were ever curious about where it originally came from then look no further, --or look in the April 1941 issue of Blue Ribbon Comics #11. This is also another weird war era hero vs. horror tale that we've occasionally been looking at here at THOIA to variety things up a bit, annnnd if you're not familiar with spooky supe "Mr. Justice", then CLICK HERE to find out what his actual deal is. But this is a fun, fast paced frolic of fear with vampires and nazis, plus a 40's style musical dance number even! Maybe we'll look at another Mr. Justice story before the month is over, stay tombed...
I love how Mr.Justice really doesn’t need to have a civilian guise as everyone seems to know who he is and he doesn’t even have a civilian name. The fact that he actually is a spirit makes him more interesting than a lot of superheroes around this time period who don’t have any powers but still don capes and tights for justice—or just an excuse to go punch some Nazis. Love the design for the vampire though the monocle makes me think of the Count from Sesame Street. I like the twist that the South American vampire can still be turned back into human. Couldn’t help but chuckle at the poor guy being unable to help out during the fight because vampires apparently can’t fight other vampires in this universe’s rules. Couldn’t help but laugh at the King of the Vampires smashing a chair across Mr. Justice. That’s less vampiric and more wrestler.
ReplyDeleteThis must be the first vampire laugh I've heard or read that went "Ho! Ho!"
ReplyDeleteSo a favorite past time here is noticing all the random rules that get made up in their early stories without a lot of other comics to follow behind them. Vampire can't fight vampires, you can choke the spirit form of a vampire, etc. But this one, oh I love this I'd almost want it on my gravestone:
ReplyDelete"Only knives fashioned of pure gold ... take at the stroke of midnight from the tomb of the Egyptian king ankhaman II ... are capable of killing beings of the spirit world."
Man I don't think I'll ever be able to kill a spirit that's a lot of work!
I love these old horror/super-hero titles. The really static layout if very 40s, and I'm glad we don't see a lot of 4 row layouts in modern comics that is way to constrained. This thing goes real Dr. Strange in the 60s for a page or two!
November is green vampire month! I was delighted when the Vampire Waltz kicked-off and the costume was green. Little did I know just how accurate that was going to turn out being. The King of the South American Vampires oughta sue.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the Waltz: I love little Shakespearean touches like these in comics. I mean, this was right out of Hamlet, yeah? The play forces the hand of both the vampire and the hero all at once. The play's the thing!
Speaking of that vampire: I like the way his hair doesn't change when he turns into a wolf. That's pretty dang rockabilly! Definitely my favorite panel here (though page two, panel six is also solid gold).
(Speaking of solid gold: So I don't know about you, but whenever I'm in a ghostly knife fight with some weirdo and he surprises me by turning back into a socialite, well, I go ahead and stab him, anyway. Because solid gold Egyptian tomb daggers work on socialites, too.)
No matter how much of a pawn he is, I'm a little surprised that Hubbello ends up being saved, after having even one victim (the anonymous girl on the deck).
ReplyDeleteI mean, no matter how much of a victim a vampire himself / herself is, in most stories there's "only one way out" for them. At least, after it's gone that far. (If you never saw ANY victims, his happy ending would be less surprising.)