It's King Ward Werewolf Wednesday here at THOIA, and yeah, I've decided that we'll just spend the rest of this week looking at some of Ward's weirder horror output for ACG --see our previous post as well, in case you missed it! And speaking of weird, this might just be one of the weirdest, graverobbin' werewolf stories ever! King's art is absolutely astounding, as always, and he can absolutely draw a menacingly slinky, wicked wolf pack like no other! But as beautifully drawn and written as some of the narrative is, Charles Verral's scripting here is oddly shoddy, ridiculously packed with illogical details that would make even Ed Wood laugh out loud. So if you can forgive all of that stuff, and still try to have fun with today's entry (from the August 1951 issue of Adventures into the Unknown #22), then you might just etc etc... uhhhh... well... okay, yes, that's right-- sometimes a story can leave even poor 'ol Mr. Karswell at a complete loss for words. AAARGH!
6 comments:
Normally these are the kind of stories I would say "needs some editing" but I think it's pretty hard to fix this one in editing.
That said, if I was to scrap it, I'd have the fathers soul inhabit the teddy bear, and what he found (graveyard magic from the wolves victims) would allow the teddy bear to become a real werebear and tear up all the wolves. Then I'd give it to Eerie Pubs and every page would be drenched with wolf guts and flying limbs.
BTW I think cyanide is a pretty damn good solution to getting rid of ... about anything!
I love all the good girl art from a women that has ... been locked up with werewolves since she was a child. Who is styling her hair? I mean, I know it's a weird thing to ask with all the other nonsense but for some reason that really bugged me!
Art is awesome. The charge through the graveyard and the dumping of the cyanide (that much in the air would have probably killed her dead outright, though) and the lolling tongue wolves running for the hills: great.
One detail that might have made this tale work (and only just barely) is if the story introduced the concept of King Werewolves- the leader of Werewolf packs. King Werewolves have to feast on the deceased in order for all werewolves to maintain their ability to transform from human into wolf and back.
This story has the weird logic that would make even Plan Nine look and sound reasonable, though this tale would not have been out of place in a poverty row horror.
Werewolf Wednesday, a great way to prepare us for the big day when we wolf down turkey and the like on Thanksgiving (or is it Fangsgiving? Only Karswell knows for sure.)
Oh, I remember reading this one. The thing that stood out the most to me wasn't the bizarre storyline or the fact that Jim works for a police department that actually believes in werewolves. It was that very last panel that didn't age well after all these years and is hilarious out of context. Jim remarking, "Could be, honey-except that I've got an idea that you, me and that teddy bear would make a perfect threesome!" 🤣🤣That is the "Joker's Boners" level of immature humor thanks to the changing of meaning of a word after all these years. Also, that head werewolf's human design is a lot of fun. He's a very well dressed werewolf, that's for sure in his suit and tie. I also do like that dad was smart enough to hide his secret inside that teddy bear.
Maybe it's a little early for that kind of story, but I almost expected Enid to forget Jim and go off to join the werewolves, as some kind of "true calling."
Not to be depressing, but it's kind of a coincidence that cyanide is evidently being used right now on wolves, and evidently poisoning a whole lot of other things.
(At least, that what's I read in petitions against it.)
I'm thoroughly charmed that everyone is willing to go to such heroic lengths to protect dead bodies. I mean, when it comes to helpless victims, dead bodies are about as helpless as they come. And these damn werewolves--quite unbeknownst to most living bodies safely going about their day-to-day activities--are really taking advantage of that. So I'm delighted these folks are stepping up. And when they realize werewolves aren't the only scavengers polishing off the dearly departed, well, it's a cinch the sacks of poison will take care of the rats and worms and bugs and things that are also snacking away down there. It's gonna take out all the cats and dogs and birds and cattle and neighbors and heroes too, of course. But the best thing is, it's gonna eventually save all of them from the werewolves, too. That's planning ahead!
There are lots of things that are charming about this story. It's impressively oddball in that dream logic kind of a way that feels like it was shouted out by an excited toddler so sugar-baked that her eyes are rolling around like a spooked horse.
There is so much to mine here, but I am especially attracted to the central idea: That a pack of ghoulish werewolves attack and kill a family during some targeted home invasion and must then raise the surviving daughter for years. That's so great. Who cares what else happens? That's a magical elevator pitch, half the Company of Wolves, half the Addams Family, and half Spider Baby, and I want to see a three-hour Claire Denis art film about it right now, dammit.
My favorite frame is page four, panel four. I want to read a book so cool that it has that cover.
My favorite part of this story is that an entire pack of experienced werewolves can't find Enid and her policeman friend in the nearby closet because they apparently have no sense of smell and can't hear very well either.
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