I'm always surprised to find a precode horror story that hasn't already made its way into the THOIA Archive at this point. Especially considering I collect vintage department store mannequins, and why looky here-- a good one on that exact subject, no less! From the August 1951 issue of Mysterious Adventures #3, and from the glorious 'ol Golden age era of when people apparently had no idea how to even spell the word "mannequin!" I'm sure some of you will find a wee bit of pleasure knowing that Mr. Karswell is seated here at the computer and indeed surrounded by multiple mannequins, blankly staring at me, errr him, as these scans are eerily edited and meticulously put together for todays post... piece by piece... limb by limb... ohh, careful not to slip now!
7 comments:
I always like these Hollingsworth stories he had this interesting style that had a lot of Wally Wood in it but also a lot of himself. Like the female face on page 2, panel 1, has a lot of Wood in it, but the splash (which I love) is kind of it's own thing.
I love the lighting, the pose of the "Manikin" maker, the gravestone/shovels framing, that's a really cool image. There's a bit more Woods like ladies on page 6.
This one is a bit different than your normal "manikin" (that is easier to spell, got to give them that!) tale, which is usually just the corpse itself layer in wax (or whatever.) Here he's actually a good sculptor and he mixes in the bodies with his paint, which, I suspect, in real life wouldn't make a great paint but then I'm not a genius!
I love the final ghost panel.
And man, you are just asking to get killed by possessed "Manikins" which that setup!
Yeah, I don’t know what they’re waiting for— come on ladies just get me over with already!
I think one of your Mannequins is a bit cold. Anyway, the story itself is pretty creepy but the misspelling of mannequin feels like some sort of cheap direct to video horror move of some sorts. I love the first panel of the fourth page with the shadowy figure of Regina along with the giant bat. It’s quite atmospheric. I also love the panel of Regina falling into the talic acid. (Is that even an actual thing. I tried looking it up to no avail.) what a glamorous looking way to die! I also love the fourth panel of the final page with Regina’s “ghost” haunting Conrad.
This is some of Hollingsworth's better comic book work, it isn't compressed or claustrophobic as can be seen in a few of his other stories.
It is a bit unusual for Hollingsworth to sign his work on the third page bottom left panel rather than on the splash page. Maybe he wanted that image to be the splash but his editor wanted something more sensational.
Mannequin--manikin, poh-tay-toh--poh-tah-toh, the reader knew what the store statue was, misspelling or not. I guess when you are paid to turn out a monthly mag for kids, checking the dictionary isn't in the job description.
This was a good one, story, plot and art wise. Thanks for the post.
"Mannikin" or even ("Lukundoo" by Edward Lucas White) "minikin" was often used in the first half of the 20th century, just like "cigaret " for "cigarette "; those old Alfred Hitchcock story collections have multiple examples.
Quickly, and just for posterity, I need to point out that "manikin" is not a misspelling. I mean, in English, we have come to use the word "mannequin", borrowed from the French, to mean a dressing dummy, and the word "manikin", with the same meaning of "little man" but borrowed from the Dutch instead, to mean the kind of dummy that we practice CPR on, or use in crash tests, etc. The distinction between these modern uses being about articulation and use. But in the past, these words have regularly been used interchangeably in the US--especially in those places that are Dutch- or Germanic-leaning, like New Amsterda-- ...ahem... New York. I'm sure it's easy to find many, many examples.
I love the splash! The electric pink, green, orange-on-white are like a black light diorama. It's got a fresh, immediate, energetic look that really sells the story. There are times throughout the rest of the story where the effect is similar, but it never really reaches this level again. The colors are still bold and insistent, but they are competing with all those flat, white dialog balloons that really water down the visual effect.
I like all the panels everyone else has mentioned, too. Especially the first one on page two. I love the Pre-Raphaelite--almost stained glass looking--depiction of Anna Tavlova, laid out palely in her coffin.
It's interesting to note that Hollingsworth clearly had a different method of coloring these panels in mind. You can see he put directions into the art that were just ignored by the colorist. Look at the lines on the faces in the last panel of page one, for example. That indicates just where he'd intended the highlights and shadows to fall moodily across the scene. But that was not to be; and now the men look all shiny for no reason. Meanwhile, the woman's face in splash was meant to be lit directly in one corpselike hue. But the colorist has decided to add a line of shadow here instead. He's done a great job of it, too--the line is just right--but since there is no black demarcation, you can see the chosen colors mixing into green where they have inevitably overlapped slightly.
Nice pictures of the Karswell lair. Your tenants are crowding you out, man.
It's fitting that Regina has a "Little Red Riding Hood" look thanks to that cloak when she wanders into Conrad's workshop.
Is that a common thing for "damsel in distress" characters in comics? I'm not sure.
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