Iron Man?!! But I thought Kars said we were done with hero stuff for a while! Annnnd indeed we are, as this is not a Marvel post, --but a wild robo Atlas classic from the January 1953 issue of Mystery Tales #7. Carl Burgos even delivers a hairy-scary dash of lycanthropy to the first page, making it eligible for a Werewolf Wednesday post as well! Yes, today's perfect post is all about the fiendish fake-out!
7 comments:
The story in this one is interesting and weird at the same time, not exactly the norm for Atlas.
We start with a cool werewolf and vampire fight, a wild looking werewolf and a super cool kind of robot vampire (it's a hint!) Then it's a play (good job with the fire effects) and we get into a standard plot of the ugly guy goes nuts around a beautiful woman and pays for it, and then a bit of "as it turns out" thrown in. It's fun, it's not the best effort story wise, though.
The art is ace, though! As said, the werewolf and vampire -- I'd love a full story on those guys! Zero is an absolutely awesome robot, and page 4, especially the last two panels, is a great piece of artwork.
Julia standing behind Zero, being menacing, is also a really cool image. No Atlas 4-panels, though!
This is one where the art completely outshines the story.
I know it's easy to see Maria from METROPOLIS every time you see a female robot, but I think there's a real resemblance in that final panel. All of you have to do is imagine Maria before and after she's human-looking and mash both things up. (And there's also at least one photo of Brigitte Helm without the robot head that easy to find.)
The only question is, was METROPOLIS even easy to see when this was written, since it wasn't such a cult film yet? Or is Julia's appearance just a coincidence?
This story is sort of the reverse of Basil Wolverton's story "Robot Woman" found here in THOIA's archives. Had the comic been made in this day in age, Alonzo would have just tried to make a clone of Julia, only to find out about her iron constitution, among other things.
The werewolf and vampire shown here are impressive, this is what a Bela Lugosi/Lon Chaney Jr. mashup should have been instead of what was delivered in the Abbott and Costello movie.
A lost opportunity/future idea for a horror comic story- a movie studio produces horror movies starring a werewolf and vampire, but they are not mere roles for the actors, the actors are the real thing!
Thanks for the howling great Werewolf Wednesday.
> what a Bela Lugosi/Lon Chaney Jr. mashup should have been instead of what was delivered in the Abbott and Costello movie
Whaaaat?!! What on Earth is wrong with Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein??!! It’s seriously the greatest movie ever
The only problem was the battle between Dracula and the wolfman was too brief. Dracula turning into a bat and the werewolf grabbing said bat and falling down onto the cliffs below wasn't really much of a fight. I know it was a horridy/horror comedy, but the vampire/wolf man action could have had both of them wrestling each other, with a stunt double subbing for Lugosi doing the action.
Paul Naschy in The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman had the werewolf and the female vampire in a brief a wrestling match in the finale.
Anyway, that is just my opinion, strongly disagree if you want to, thats fine with me. I'm here to read horror comics, not start a fight.
Nobody thought you were starting a fight… I’m just always surprised to hear comments against anything that I seriously consider to be perfect, —and A&CMF is absolutely that. No worries :)
It's fun to see how far people can run with a golem story. This one's an irreverent hoot to be sure. I don't know what to read into the fact that this comic, drawn and written and published by Jewish people, riffing on classic Jewish mythology, opted to name the murderous automaton after a famous Jewish actor who was, at the time, blacklisted and struggling in the crosshairs of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Stan Lee was a liberal for sure, though not really a lefty, and it's interesting to consider what he might have meant to convey here. Because this was certainly no coincidence.
I like the art too. There is something very modern looking to me in the spidery lines and big, inky black shapes (well, "modern age" at least, since I think of it as a nineties look). Like everyone else I think page one is wonderful. I think the robot design is wonderful too. I dig the lab at the top of page three, and think the forth panel of page four is amazing. The final panel too. I also really love the color job, though it's a little rumpled here and there by the printing. I really like how it starts out so flamboyant on page one, and then settles into a bluey nightscape for the rest of the story, punctuated by puddles of yellow light. Then, bang, it goes out in a slash of startling, sickly green at the end. Neat work.
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