It seems hard to believe, but on this day 14 years ago in 2012, Haunted Horror (IDW / Yoe Books) was unleashed upon the world. Running 35 issues until its final breath in June of 2018, Haunted Horror wasn't just your typical, run of the mill reprint comic series. Nope, it literally captured the beating heart and blackened soul of The Horrors of it All blog, producing a scary spin-off series or two, as well as a handful of great hard and soft cover collections to boot. And the countless hours of gore, sweat, 'n fears in the 'ol horror hosting / editing processes be damned, because despite all of the headaches and soul crushing financial aggravations, it still feels oddly "worth it" today. Plus, it's still a blast to hear from the many collector fans out there who continue to write in asking what's next. I wish I had some answers for you, cuz apparently it's just this blog for now. Anyway, I thought I'd repost a few of the better stories from the landmark HH #1 here today, but ya know, why retread old ground? I mean, all of those stories are already in the THOIA Archive after all! Instead, let's meet a very different kind of fun, "Haunted Horror" from the July 1944 issue of Wow Comics #27. We haven't done a silly super hero story yet this month anyway, --so here goes! And once again, a big Happy Birthday salute to the very late, eternally great Haunted Horror series too!
Wow. I think that Mr. Scarlet might be the saddest "super-hero" I have ever seen. Broke, borderline incompetent, had to steal a police car to get anywhere. Just sad.
ReplyDeleteLOL, you nailed it. I knew a little bit about this pair, I just never realized that they were so good at stopping crime. Batman would be envious.
ReplyDeleteGet yerselves even more Cap Scarlet madness in the THOIA Archives here:
ReplyDeletehttps://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.com/search?q=Captain+Scarlet&m=0
ReplyDelete"Brian Butler was special prosecutor until Mr. Scarlet took over...Now his distinction is being 'specally broke."
From Mr. Scarlet and Pinky to Mr. Unemployed and Beggar Boy, how the mighty have fallen.
I like the last panel where the horror icon admits he is scared to death of 'those awful things'. Imagine if Lon Chaney Jr, Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi admitted in an interview that the monsters they portrayed gave them nightmares, what would a monster kid think of them?
Somehow I have a feeling Mr. Scarlet and Pinky were eventually defeated by their arch nemesis Senator Joe McCarthy, anything having red in its identity was a target for the head of the red witch hunt.
The "splash" oversells this a bit!
ReplyDeleteAnother fun little horror-based superhero romp with, again, pretty good action for 44. We've seen some superhero comics on this blog from the 40s that are incredibly stiff by artists who didn't seem to do a lot of comic work, but this has some interesting camera angles and the action flows well.
I like our sad sack heroes; they are always side by side which is the best way to get both of them shot, punched, or smoke bombed at the same time! I have to say one weird thing about the art is both the Robin stand-in and the Batman stand-in have the exact same super muscled body. And with mustache and the kid's hair showing it's pretty damn obvious who those two are. Being poor is the least of their concerns.
Yet, they have the brains and they solve the case. It's a little bit of what Stan would be doing with Marvel in the 60s!
I'd love to see the Batman comic in which the Dynamic Duo start decking each other in the dark like a couple of Stooges. These Mr. Scarlet yarns keep delivering the entertainment for sure.
ReplyDeleteI quite like the art at the top of page eight, which is energetic, brisk, and reminds me of the work in Sandman Mystery Theater five or so decades later. I like the wee little splash panel too, but I wish it was bigger.