Friday Double Feature time again, and it's the return of ZERO Ghost Detective too! (See more ZERO HERE!) This time around, our favorite golden age ghost dick really has his hands full with a variety of supernatural evil! First up: "The Man Nobody Loved" finally, and unfortunately, finds himself a gal, from the February 1943 issue of Feature Comics #65, --followed by a super spooky "Mission to the Spirit World" via the November 1940 issue of Feature Comics #38.
6 comments:
The first one has a haunting atmosphere and a somber ending. I like how Zero isn't freaked out by Amos face, just sympathetic towards him. Not to mention, there's an actual reason for his unfortunate looks. A burn victim, rather than going with the old comic trope of "born ugly". I wasn't expecting the girl next door to be a vampire though. I mean, he is called "Zero the Ghost Hunter". Guess there's always an exception to the rule though. Love how he keeps calling Amos "Trentie" and the random disintegrator at the end he uses to destroy the vampire. I like the look of the crazy spirit world in the second story and the ring of the moon used upon the giant ghostly hand. Where does he get these cool gagets from? A cereal box?
The artwork and storytelling are both top notch in these two tales.
The first tale reminded me of "The Village Graveyard" both featuring a mysterious, beautiful but deadly woman. The second one was horror/adventure, which is never a bad thing.
Zero is anything but, A Plus would have been a better name for him.
I love these posting, especially when it is the same superhero (it counts!) from a couple years apart. I know I always point this kind of stuff out, but the 43 one has better pacing, better panels, doesn't feel as claustrophobic and keeps the gimmicks to a minimum. That's a lot of improvement in 3 years!
Both tales are fun reads but "Nobody Loved" is a much, much better written (and drawn, though it looks like the same artist) -- I really like to see development like this in these early days of comics.
I will give the second story props for being over-all inventive; the wizard of oz trees, the ghostly heads, the fire imps, the whirlwind hand ... lots of imaginative stuff.
That medium needs to go to supernatural jail, by the way!
Also, what a horrible ending on "nobody loves" ... the guy has a terrible life, finds a little happiness, and it's a vampire, which gets original ghost-busters dissolved. Yeesh. Poor guy!
I have more ZERO lined up for next month too, glad everyone likes these stories... stay tombed!
These were both very entertaining. The writing in the first one is a hoot, with plenty of of overheated dialog balloons that go absolutely nowhere.
"But why won't you marry me, sweet? is it my... my..."
"No, my poor dear! Not that! You see, dear Amos, I'm not free to...."
End of scene.
It's so totally fun to read this kind of soapy, overwritten prose out loud. I also love the line from the intro that reads "this is a tale which will caress your spine with chills!" And I love the bit when he confronts the vampire: "I can't hurt her, but maybe my gun can!" I'm gonna try to work that one into my next showdown at high noon.
The second story gets props from me (too) for its effectively ghostly world of spirits. This is definitely a precursor to Ditko's extra-dimensional freakouts, and feels a lot more cosmic than the usual precode hellscape. It's especially effective on page three, what with the ghosts of petrified trees, floating Communion-head kites, entranced femme, and fire sprites. I also like Madame Aura, and her lighting, who probably deserves her own title.
Lastly I want to call some attention to the rainbow-colored castle Sylvia and her family live in. That thing looks like it's been handcrafted out of the finest Starburst by a coven of German witches. If I was a ghost hunter I'd have turned right around when I saw that place on the horizon.
"Communion-Head kites" is a very good name for them.
Maybe I'm nitpicking, or maybe I missed something, but how did the spirits "betray" her? Maybe her wanting to join them was the wrong decision, but that's a whole other thing.
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