We're heading back into the teeming, screaming jungle for another eerie, horror adventure encounter, and this time with the monstrously macabre maiden "REPTA" via the slithery, September 1953 issue of Horrific #7. And of course Marty Elkins art is always a welcome addition to the THOIA Archive, but just to further spice things up around here with something different, Mr. Karswell also welcomes the wild and wonderful work of master illustrator, Ruth Marten --see her incredible Alligator Girl painting at the end of this post! I also highly recommend her superb monograph collection, Ruth Marten: All About Eve, edited by Ina Dinter.
Some guys are the male versions of Pandora, they don't know how to keep their hands off forbidden objects, in this case it is a necklace.
ReplyDeleteShe saves his life, she is a beauty to his beast, she said don't touch the necklace, but she didn't say don't touch her, just marry the girl and live in the jungle with this jungle Jane, Jock.
The red gem necklace reminded me of the story "The Green Ribbon" both the ribbon and necklace hade a dark secret, a secret best left unsolved.
Great tale and great post as always, Karswell.
What does Repta want with Carver that she claims him as her man, anyway? She doesn't need him to help her hunt, she doesn't (obviously) sleep with him, she doesn't let him close enough to touch her ruby necklace, and she disposed of him without a second thought even though he didn't do a thing she told him not to (she never prohibited him from running away with the hidden jewels, just ordered him to not touch her rubies). Did she collect him as a pet?
ReplyDeleteThis is an innovative take on the Jungle Princess trope: the wilderness girl in the highly, one would have thought, inconvenient bikini in the forest is a magical predator instead of a White Saviour guardian. I like it!
Page 4, right bottom picture:
Long ago there was a series of adverts by a blade company where the hero is in danger of losing. For instance, he's in the middle of a Formula One race and behind by a lap, or he's chasing criminals and they're getting away. He's unshaven. His girlfriend calls to him to tell him to shave. He does a quick shave, is filled with immediate confidence, rejoins the chase/race, and, of course, wins. Carver could have done with those blades instead of whatever generic version he used for the shave in that one panel that grew his stubble back in the next.
Poor guy, he couldn't even see the snake lady watching him from the murky cross-hatching. I mean, that's a pretty good gimmick for a predator. When you get a glimpse of her in cobra form later on, you can see her camouflage markings mimic the environmental hatching perfectly!
ReplyDeleteI feel like twist endings are overplayed. I mean, very often these stories sink, for me, right at the point where they deviate from any sense, fair-play, or plausibility by trying to get all unexpected. So I like a story without a twist ending, sometimes. This guy works hard to convince himself that he's going to survive leaving the hut with all the jewels. But he wasn't particularly convincing was he?, and everything worked out just the way we all thought it would.
When my daughter is born I'm definitely naming her Repta. If she's twins, maybe I'll name the other one Serpa. Doesn't that sound nice?
Or Tillia. These are my daughters, Repta and Tillia
DeletePS: That Ruth Marten book looks fabulous. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteDig these too: https://unquietthings.com/currently-making-peace-with-place-or-a-florida-womans-lament/
DeleteYou know, some guys, even being criminals, just have no redeeming qualities. This guy was just aching to get offed. Up until page 5, I really thought she was gonna be a cat, especially the way she clawed him. And where's he getting the booze? Crazy good!
ReplyDeleteOne of the smaller funny things is the "crude hut."
ReplyDeleteYou don't see much of it, but it looks like some pre-fab one made from a kit!
"Jock Carver" has to be close to the ultimate macho-sounding name in these kinds of stories.
I'm with JMR777's second comment. Especially when Jock talks about "humoring" incredibly hot Repta. It's a little like those Sean Connery Bond movie scenes, where Bond beds the hot villainess, then later claims it was all about keeping her distracted.
Except that poor Jock doesn't even go as far as the first thing!
(Not even in some "off-screen" scene of that kind.)
Everybody already hit the good points so I'll again wonder if there isn't some editing on this one!
ReplyDeleteSo -- the art -- look at it page by page for the eyes. Elkins sells everything by the eyes, right from basically page 2 everybody is either wide-eyed in horror or wide-eyed in evil reptile transformation powers.
I'm not sure if the story was trying to say the rubies gave her transformation powers? It seems to hint at that, but we'll never know.