The second half of the 28 Years Later film saga, The Bone Temple, opened in theaters this weekend, and we're going to see it this Tuesday night, in fact. Now, not to get "a-head" of ourselves here for anyone else who hasn't seen it yet, (though I'm sure the posters, trailers, and scenes from the first half of the previous movie hath etched the towers of chilling skull totems into everyone's gasping eyeballs already anyway), but that brings me to this: I've been hanging onto Werner Roth's rather savage, "The Grinning Skulls!" from the January 1953 issue of Strange Tales #14 for about a year now, patiently waiting for just the right occasion to post it, and now you will see EXACTLY why. And not to be outdone by one juicy jolt of jungle jitters, but I also have a god-damned (get it?) Stan Lee / John Romita decap classic via the January 1953 issue of Mystery Tales #7 that will really flip your lid! If that ain't enough, I've also included an old WW2 photo with a back story that's even more macabre than either of today's Atlas Tales combined. Click HERE for it if you dare... ugh!
6 comments:
I first saw that Japanese soldier's skull photo in a Best of Life Magazine album in 1988. It didn't even have the slightly apologetic tone of the link you provided; it just presented the photo and caption as though it was nothing out of the ordinary. Of *course* American soldiers regarded the Japanese as Untermenschen, the American propaganda industry worked overtime to make sure of that. Ironically the Japanese were just as vile to the Chinese as the Americans were to them.
How big were those heads the skulls came from in the first story?!?
Both tales are a bit predictable, except that in the second I thought it would turn out that the tribe ate their gods. The villains in born are very well drawn. Villains just about oozes from every pore.
I was relieved to see that in the first story, Dr. Henrik Vandeever, remained unscathed in the end. I was worried he was going to get murdered so that Morgan could carry out his wicked scheme. I like the splash page with the blue colored framing of the jungle. It's quite pleasing to the eyes. I like Skipper Eddie's line on page four about whether Morgan will get a slug of rye or just a slug for his troubles and that in the end, he's decided to go for the deal. Don't know why, just like the conclusion to this bargain where Morgan is declared his partner. I also like how Morgan doesn't even get too far with his scheme. Most of the time, the desecrater manages to leave with his treasure only to be haunted by it later on. He gets the consequences right away here! The second story got a chuckle out of me with how the antagonist, whose name we never even get, proves to the natives that he's a god. One thing's for certain here though, the law will never catch up with him here!
"The Grinning Skulls" is quite an effective story, art and story wise. Morgan isn't portrayed as someone who will kill anyone who gets in his way in his pursuit of money, he is the sly conman who will bide his time before lining his pockets. His thought "Okay for now Doc! But, just for now!" a bit of planning until the time is right, he is one of the more intelligent antagonists in stories like these, though Morgan didn't realize that plotting and planning have no effect on the supernatural.
I will agree that some of those skulls on the first and last pages are enormous, were the headhunters taking the noggins of Goliath and his kin?
"The Man Who Was a God" was a three pager that gets the job done. While the natives speak in broken English their appearances are realistic, though they could be slightly caricatured. At least they are not exaggerated or stereotyped, or maybe that is just how I see it. Anyway, the second story has that great twist surprise ending that is so satisfying for horror comic fans.
Good lord, that Romita splash is a beast! I've been a JR Sr. fan since the seventies and I'm plenty used to his brawny energetic action as well as his fluid and lovely romance. I've even gushed over his gnarly precode horror output here before. But this brutal punch-in-the-face of an art style is new territory for me. I thought early Ditko was an aesthetic bludgeon, but he's got nothing on John, does he? That whole first page is a doozy. And so is panel five of page two; and so is panel three of page three. Everybody in this whole thing is trying to out crazy-eye one another.
I really like all the character work in the first story. The faces on all three men are really personality driven and well maintained across multiple panels. I wish the colorist had done a better job of keeping up with Dr. Vandeever's pointy little beard, though.
The unknown cover artist of Strange Tales #14 delivered a truly wild image. Horrible Herman's peek-a-boo bug-eyed skeletal hand pose belongs on THOIA merch.
> The Grinning Skulls
A bit predictable, but the art is gorgeous. The skulls are beautifully rendered (even though the perspective is slightly goofy in places.) The professor is a good character (and nice to see him escape any fate, he treated the totems properly) and Morgan has the kind of wild villain look.
All the panels are dripping with atmosphere, even the ones in bright daylight. I understand sometimes, in horror, it's best to not show anything, but I would have loved to see a skull chomp down on his hand and the whole totem wrap him up!
> The Man who was a God
Page 3, panel 3, that is a wonderful piece of horror art. More than the gotcha ending, that kind of puts the explanation point on the whole story.
Every panel of this thing is just great from some early Romita work. Inking is a little janky but the whole thing is awesome. All the close-ups, the coloring, etc.
Love the Lee script, too, I love the criminal throwing away his gun. I know to a lot of people that seems dumb (it was) but it's a fun sign of hubris and hubris is what brings this guy down.
"Chop down? We're here to photograph, take measurements!"
Anyone who's heard more than a little about early archaeology would find Professor Vandeeven a breath of fresh air, with his "We mustn't damage anything" attitude.
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