If you're suddenly overcome with a creeping sense of deja vu, it's because yes, just last month we had another post also called "The Perfect Mate" (Atlas had a thing about re-using story titles!) But you have my word that this "perfect mate", from the August 1952 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #12, is quite different than the last one! And as mentioned in our previous post, today's Double Header is also a double shot of Marty Elkin eeriness, two atmospheric entries from the glorious, golden era of comic book shock spookery! Now, "Once Upon a Corpse", from the June 1952 issue of Journey into Unknown Worlds #11 might leave a few of you less imaginative fiends scratching your head in the end. But I like to think that 'ol Marty simply delivered one of the more original supernatural tales-- featuring a vampiric grave with an appetite all its own! Oh, did I just spoil it for you? Too bad...
7 comments:
The first tale takes WTF up to level infinity.
I do love the sequence of Grace removing her makeup to show Henry who he really married. What I'd like to know is how Henry managed to keep his head on his shoulders all this time without it falling off. That would explain why his home is so creepy looking. Also, the second story is creepy, but not because of the reveal where the would-be kidnapper gets eaten alive in a graveyard. It's the plot itself that a helpless child is about to get kidnapped. The constant shouts of "Don't touch me!" from Buddy is haunting. And let's be honest here, most often in real life, we don't get deux ex machinas where the graveyard completely destroys the kidnapper or the child is revealed to already be one of the undead.
For the First story-
The gloves she is wearing is great artwork. It reminds me of the fishnet type gloves that are somewhat popular today among the Goth crowd and those who like a look of lingerie for their hands. I can't recall seeing anyone draw gloves like that before. It is a standout feature in the first two pages. It is a shame wearing gloves to accent an outfit has faded from fashion. Sort of the way fedoras are rarely seen today while baseball caps have taken over. Fickle fashion I guess.
The reveal from beauty to beast made me think of The Fake! featured here in THOIA's archives back in Aug 21, 2008. Now comes the Challenge, who wins the prize (prize nightmare) for Miss Medusa 2025- Agnes from The Fake or this nameless bride in today's story?
Last detail, seeing the husband's reveal, visions of Wes Craven's Re-Animator and its most infamous scene came to mind.
The second story, I thought the kid's dad would be a vampire, werewolf or maybe a ghoul. Being a ghost that drains the life out of someone through a touch was a twist I didn't see coming.
Great double-header today, Karswell, thanks for the Shivering Sunday!
Somebody is going to post that first one to the dumbest areas of the internet, i.e., incel forums. This is the exact kind of nonsense they think really happens!
The story plays it very fairly, though, he really isn't concerned with her being ugly, he's just shocked, but quickly recovers and is happy with his new bride. I mean, it's really kind of a sweet ending, I suspect in the end they will both have a hardly laugh and go on with their Munsters life!
Nice job with the foreground elements in the art; the cobwebs and the trees fill out the frames.
So, ending of the second one aside, I have to agree that the kidnapping is really creepy, so whatever happened, I'm happy that Monk got his wasting away end. I love the staging on the last panel!
You know, when I first read these last night, I thought the art was weirdly varied between the two stories. I was going to say something to the effect of "I'm glad you told me it was the same guy." But then today the differences seem more related to the various printing qualities and color moods of each story. I was halfway through this comment before I realized how similar the the two works actually are, visually: All my favorite panels are about hands.
The stinger at the end of the first story is a bit strange, and I wonder if they batted different ideas back and forth for the panel. What's a weird enough ending after demonizing skin-deep age and beauty remedies for five pages (and also subtly knocking conservative moralities vis-a-vis premarital sex)? A detachable head is a pretty oddball choice, frankly; but they had an oddball problem to solve. I super love those green hands, though. I kind of wish that Mrs. Darling had been presented as green from the middle of page three. Push this idea way out there.
In the second story, my favorite panel is that final one in the four-frame progression at the bottom of page three. I love the way the kid's defensive hands rhyme with the offensive shadow of his attacker. It evokes the idea that it's maybe actually the kid's shadow, and throws into question who the predator here really is after all. Quite literal foreshadowing. Also it looks neat, what with the repetition of shapes.
Fun stories!
"The Perfect Mate" is more than a little like an Atlas-Marvel story called "The Fake" (which I know from a BW reprint in "Monsters Unleashed"). Though if anything, that one has an even more far-fetched ending.
You can read The Fake (in color) in THOIA’s 2008 Archive, here:
https://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.com/2008/08/fake.html?m=0
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