THOIA has the Devil in the details with today's double-doomed dose of Gold Key grimmess. A hot new party plan produces some rather unexpected results in, "Something Very Special" from the March 1976 issue of Grimm's Ghost Stories #29 --and features a truly amazing cover painting by the great George Wilson. It's one of my super sizzlin' Satanic 70's favorites, for sure! But first up, let's visit another perplexing party, via the September 1975 issue of Grimm's Ghost Stories #26. No spoiler here as they're attempting to do the exact opposite of the gaslit gang featured in the other story, (sort of), --but with no less deadly, endgame consequences! And similar to the plot point in our previous post HERE, this one also has an interesting "projection" angle. Yep, if the Lord (of Darkness) moves in mysterious ways, then so can science! ::SHIVERS::
8 comments:
There are no credits for "The Anti-13"? Something about that art reminds me of the John Celardo work for "Bride of the Brujo". (For those who want to compare: https://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.com/2024/08/bride-of-brujo.html
Not sure what you mean by no credits… just click the link in my intro.
> The Anti-13
I *had* that comic as a kid, and I always remembered it, and it's cool to see it again. The club in the masks was an image that stuck with me (I was 8 or 9?) I instantly recognized it! So thanks Karswell, that was a real treat, I don't have much to say about it other than it was neat to suddenly remember it!
Also: Grimm is really a prick! The poor guy died *by accident* not by any supernatural means and it was following what the group was about but nope going to cackle away about it!
> Something Very Special
I love the scratchy, heavily inked shadowed art in this one. Just perfect for a ghostly little devil tale, though I don't know any self-respecting devil that would show up if somebody said "tay-tay!" Sounds like how you call your dog in!
That said, the story is a little odd. What is happening? Is the devil taking Ransom straight to hell? Why summon the devil if that happens?
I do love our dapper devil, though, and his wicked smile!
"Murray, I'm not reading you. Are you skeptical -- or frightened?"
That's a good set of lines. In these kinds of stories, the obvious "skeptic" often ends up more scared than anyone else.
Speaking of that, I guess "Mardini" is an updated Houdini, including his being a debunker but also promising to come back and give everyone a sign if he could.
I have a lopsided reason to like "Something Very Special."
There's something about "idle rich" characters (like this fraternity seems to be) and jet-setters and so on getting mixed up in the occult that always interests me.
That's true whether it's characters who are actually bad and really asking for trouble - like in TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA - or ones who aren't especially bad - like in the NIGHT GALLERY episode "There Aren't Any More McBains."
Murray was a bit of a wet biscuit from the start; wonder why he ever joined the club at all.
Might have been more interesting if Mardini really *did* come back from the dead... only to find that his own hologram prank made it impossible for anyone to believe in his return.
I thought both of these stories were pretty ambitious. The first one really pulls off a complicated idea. The dialog was natural and character-building. The ending was elegant and tragic. The second story started off at much the same level, but the end felt truncated and had little in the way of ramifications, especially with regard to Ransom's motivations. One more page might have settled it nicely, though.
Questions linger: Was the devil's coachman a skeleton? He's a little small in the frame to tell exactly, given this spidery art style. Was Satan himself supposed to look just like Ransom? If so, what does that even mean?
I kind of wonder what Mardini died of. His gravestone shows that he was only 63 when he died. This one has a rather somber ending to it where the skeptic literally dies of fright due to a non-malicious prank set up by a dying man. I'm somewhat reminded of an Irish funeral, where the dead man in question purposely set up an audio to sound like he was still alive and wondering what was going on. It was legendary! 🤣🤣The second story is less someone being actually curious in the beyond and just some very bored individual who decided that he wants to raise hell--literally. Maybe it's just me, but that setup in the background with the Devil's head on a circle looks like a spinning wheel game at a carnival or casino. The ending is cute with the Devil showing up later on, but does that mean that Ransom gets to go on a one way trip to Hell? I mean, I don't think he really deserved it or anything. He was just bored.
That's what I meant. So many of these characters who "dabble" in occult things are just bored. They're reckless as opposed to bad, and that's about it.
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