*But were afraid to ask! And indeed, for many years now, we at THOIA have asked, answered, and even argued over what actually constitutes as "fear." Everyone has their own defining ideas on this subject matter of course, and no one is entirely wrong either. And this is exactly what makes us such a freaky little, tight-nit-wit family. But today, let's crack open the April 1972 issue of The Unexpected #134 and see what a very different kind of family has to say about all of this...
Pretty sure Jeeves fantasised about doing this to Bertie as well, at times.
ReplyDeleteDid Gault forget that he gave Chivvers the menu on Minday and so there shouldn't have been any surprise mushroom omelettes?
Aw, Mordred was so cute. Loved the panel of the closeup of Mr. Gault reflected in her eye. Although Mordred as far as I know is a male name, the one of king Arthur’s bastard son, or nephew depending on which legends you’ve heard. Perhaps Chivvers misgendered her? Not that uncommon with kittens. Anyway, I love the fourth panel of the last page of Chivvers and Griselda disappearing into the mist.
ReplyDeleteWith a little reworking this could have been how Morticia and Gomez met. Granted, Gomez wouldn't have been so upset dealing with the antics of Chivvers, the short Lurch, and would have welcomed the spooky and kooky relatives to spice up his boring life.
ReplyDeleteJohn Astin tried out for the part of Lurch but was recast as Gomez. I can only wonder how the show would have been received by TV viewers with John Astin speaking the lines "Youuu Rang?"
"Bad mushrooms are known to have that effect at times!"
ReplyDeleteNot to mention good mushrooms (depending on a person's wishes).
I'm always saying something like this, but I was halfway hoping for something like a light comedy ending, which this story doesn't have, even if no one dies either.
Instead of being part of the plot, I was hoping for Griselda to be a sort of "Marilyn Munster," where Mr. Gault has to put up with her relatives as houseguests just to be around her.
"NO...NOT GRISELDA!" says it all.
This one is a pretty interesting sociological mine. It's fascinating they way they have retasked the role of the gas light in a story that, at the very least, hovers on the edge of what we now call gaslighting. Definitely they were riffing on the play. It's also dizzying how they see-saw from the tired old trope of playboy bachelorhood to the idea that any beautiful woman is worth sacrificing yourself for. Yeah yeah, the readers are obviously meant to laugh at Gault's ultimate weaknesses (obviously they've read Atlas Shrugged, too), and yet I don't see any reason to assume he isn't just where he wants to be by the end of the story. Though I'm pretty sure I'd hate to live with in-laws willing to pimp their daughter out for room and board, well, it's certainly not unheard of.
ReplyDeleteBut speaking of unheard, it is sort of telling that the sex object in this story has literally no dialog, no agency and no character. Just some pretty face stirred into the proceedings at editorial convenience. Pretty sure this is exactly the sort of thing second-wave feminists were pointing out when lamenting the dehumanizing portrayal of women in media directed at growing boys.
I'm not always a sucker for excessive seventies art in postcode horror, but I think John Calnan's work here is super. Page two and the bottom of four absolutely bring all the possible old dark ride frisson to Gault's trajectory through the behavior modification plot of his new manservant. All of page five and the bottom of seven are just as amazing. And Calnan manages to do it all, all this groovy wildness, without once screwing with readability! It beggars belief; a Disco-era unicorn!