Time for a trio of terrifyin' tricks 'n treats, (also don't forget to check out AEET today too!), and we're kicking things off here with a nightmarish Dickens-esque twist by Sanho Kim-- a spooky Samhain holiday horror hit from the September 1969 issue of Ghost Manor #8. And it just wouldn't be Halloween without a visit from 'ol ever reliable, Edgar Allan Poe, with not one, but two legendary classics courtesy of The Master: "Telltale Heart" via the February 1955 debut issue of Charlton's Win A Prize #1, (sorry, no artist info available at the moment), plus, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" from the April 1945 debut issue of Debbie Dean Comics #1, art by Chad Grothkopf. My ultimate plan has always been to archive all comic adaptations of Poe here at THOIA, and it's amazing to stumble upon older illustrated variations such as these that I was previously unaware of. Hope everyone has a hellacious Halloween, and we'll see you again very soon in the coming month with lots rots more. Stay tombed...
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
ReplyDeleteEvery time some text mentions Samhain, all I can think about is all the discussion around Danzig's second band and the correct pronunciation, and I'll have to stick with what Danzig wanted!
The Poe adaptations are good, but I love the Ghost Manor story. Sure, it's a much kinder story but it absolutely reminds me of the first episode of Tales from the Darkside, a TV show I absolutely adored, but with a much more wicked witch and much more damning Lucifer. The TV show is dark and vengeful and this is a lot more hopeful. Both have their places and I like them both!
I like calling the witch Sarah, which I assume is Sarah Good from the Salem Witch Trials,
The witch in the witch mask is a fun little ending.
Does November 1st count as Hallow-day? Might as well squeeze the last bit of Halloween fun before Thanksgiving and Christmas.
ReplyDeleteSanho Kim's work here is a bit scratchy, similar to some of the work found in Underground Comics, nothing wrong with that of course.
The Poe tales were well done, though the Tell Tale Heart looks more like a 1930's comic than one from the fifties.
Great stories and ads. Great finds once again Karswell.
I really like Chad Grothkopf's art on the Murders in the Rue Morgue. I mean, it's really simple. It shows us what we need to know without much in the way of those gothic textures and tones we are used to seeing from horror art. It's all really brightly lit. And yet, there's a freehand nature to the finished work that makes me think much of what we are seeing came right off the brush, without a whole lot of planning. I like the urgency of that. All the panels with architecture--that title card (hardly call that a splash), the exterior of the murders house at the bottom of the same page--are wonderful. But nothing is better than that panel of the ape with a razor blade at the top of the last page. That's a wild freakout, especially compared to the staid nature of the other pages. Flipping the page and seeing that must have been eye-popping.
ReplyDeleteDoes it look to anyone else like that panel was changed? My theory is that Chad originally had the ape in a tighter close-up and the editor suggested he back the POV up to include the razor. It looks like they did this via photostat reduction with new details drawn in around the original image. Why do this instead of just redrawing the frame? Who knows!
I like the moodier art on the Tell-Tale Heart, too, but the story feels like it was pared down too much. Still, I really dig how we don't see a sound effect for the heartbeat. That strikes me as an unusual choice. Its fair to say that much of what we are seeing, and all the narration, is sifted through the perspective of Poe's unreliable character. And yet, the artist here has made the decision to keep the visuals rooted squarely in the omniscient third person, where these sounds cannot be heard. I think that's really neat.
I like the panel at the bottom of page three where the cops are all, like, "this guy's nuts!"
Sanho Kim is an artist I don't ever really know how to react to. In this case, his odd big-headed cartooning feels out of place for the story. Combined with the very designed backgrounds here and there--real or pretend brush strokes, crazy angles, high contrast semiotic details--this starts to feel like a UPA cartoon. I do really like that big red devil springing out of the tombstones in the middle of page five.
I like the Origin of Halloween one-pager a lot. Especially that groovy puddle shaped panel where the boys are running around with jack-o-lanterns on sticks. And I'm gonna have to look up the artist for that Ben Gay ad. Might be Don Heck? It's totally super. That's definitely the way to draw a Halloween party. But sheesh, dad, way to get your crippled wife up and doing your bidding again. You can pick up a grocery bag, too, you know.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Even in a tiny picture, the wife is kind of well-built. And I guess rubbing on Ben-Gay qualifies as a massage. So, maybe he has other selfish reasons.
DeleteI know a decent number of advertising mascots, but "Peter Pain" is new to me.
Thanks for extending my Halloween fun a bit, and for all the comic book stories. Enjoy reading them!
ReplyDeleteHope everyone had a great holiday-- and yes, consider Halloween extended here at THOIA for the next 365 days too!
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