tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.comments2024-03-18T23:20:42.023-05:00THE HORRORS OF IT ALLMr. Karswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15889717828895556186noreply@blogger.comBlogger21148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-43434718045172512982024-03-18T13:44:15.735-05:002024-03-18T13:44:15.735-05:00On a few panels, Hunk looked somewhat like Peter L...On a few panels, Hunk looked somewhat like Peter Lorre.JMR777https://www.blogger.com/profile/03538238702295526065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-65111308298586170562024-03-17T22:10:27.043-05:002024-03-17T22:10:27.043-05:00It's too early a story, but Hunk's appeara...It's too early a story, but Hunk's appearance seems almost modeled on the actor John Davis Chandler. <br />And if there were a filmed version of the story, John Chandler would actually be pretty right for the role.Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09603892208775996594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-60149666799674685452024-03-17T19:49:58.610-05:002024-03-17T19:49:58.610-05:00I thought for certain that the money would be in t...I thought for certain that the money would be in the bookshelves that Creeze ordered our villain away from. But a villain so stupid as to imagine money would be hidden in a fireplace in use probably didn't think of that either. Bill the Butcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08436195659154078021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-12195182735586748372024-03-17T12:42:41.293-05:002024-03-17T12:42:41.293-05:00As I repeat: Maneely dying before the silver age r...As I repeat: Maneely dying before the silver age really changed things. He would have been up there with Kirby and Ditko and super hero comics would be very different. It's an amazing shame.<br /><br />Two 4 panels: Page 4 which is very cinematic, but on page 7 has to be one of the most gruesome ones I've seen from Atlas. You can really feel the guy burning to death, and the twisted hands in the end -- followed by the great face of Creeze, is really effective.<br /><br />And that last panel, how it's framed is awesome.<br /><br />This really feels more like a crime comic. I love there's really no twist; just greed and it's results.Brian Barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15737535617796413548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-61051730867636868862024-03-17T09:10:32.022-05:002024-03-17T09:10:32.022-05:00Since the movie Sunset Boulevard, a “Dead Man Tell...Since the movie Sunset Boulevard, a “Dead Man Telling A Tale” has been a staple of horror for years. What I like about the twist is that there really isn’t any…. Nothing supernatural, just a very smart Geezer and a very dumb crook….BTXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12285624914733389197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-86521425875344224872024-03-17T01:50:34.867-05:002024-03-17T01:50:34.867-05:00I feel like if you're going to kill your best ...I feel like if you're going to kill your best friend for money, you should hold out for more than a hundred pounds.Toddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05975987736875644328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-74528314341429023572024-03-15T20:30:13.689-05:002024-03-15T20:30:13.689-05:00Was this tale swiped from EC? It has all the hall...Was this tale swiped from EC? It has all the hallmarks of EC madness.JMR777https://www.blogger.com/profile/03538238702295526065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-11144097319705247232024-03-15T01:57:44.160-05:002024-03-15T01:57:44.160-05:00Well it had either be this or the game warden'...Well it had either be this or the game warden's corpse holding him under swamp water while he tried desperately to breathe. Since unexpected aliens stole Riggs' ghostly vengeance, I wonder what that corpse will do to while away his waterlogged afterlife? Think he'll just revenge himself on poacher after poacher till they give up and do something else for a living?<br /><br />I like to see Everett in his "Atlas mode," synced nicely up with the looks of Maneely and Heath and Sinnott here. It's not worlds away from his "heroic mode," but it's fun to see how the bullpen just naturally gravitate toward genre-related house styles.<br /><br />Nice cover on this ish, too. Mr. Cavinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01634994342702518448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-90435286370170018182024-03-14T18:37:22.754-05:002024-03-14T18:37:22.754-05:00Thanks to the game warden's murder and the mot...Thanks to the game warden's murder and the motive for it, I keep hearing the song "Amos Moses."Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09603892208775996594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-86687481812713188272024-03-14T09:23:39.248-05:002024-03-14T09:23:39.248-05:00A lot of comic people talk about Stan during the s...A lot of comic people talk about Stan during the silver age and how much belonged to what creator and some really pillory him but here's the counter argument to that.<br /><br />In pre-code he was doing a lot of stories every month and he could go from snark to comedy to outright vengefully brutal stuff like this. He saved the best for the "commies" though!<br /><br />You can pretty much see where this one is going; the setup -- and it's pretty horrific -- is where the gold is.<br /><br />Oh course Everett just pencils a beauty here. The fish are realistic; the guy is cartoony in the most evil way, the deep blacks of the splash are crazy good for pre-code, and the aliens, well, you have to love them. BTW: I love all the sfx here -- lighting bolts, smoke, ray guns. Bravo to the colorist, too.Brian Barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15737535617796413548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-18028412119107343942024-03-13T09:29:39.376-05:002024-03-13T09:29:39.376-05:00I've always kind of wondered the same thing.
...I've always kind of wondered the same thing.<br /><br />One partial exception is Boris Karloff in THE WALKING DEAD. I don't know if I understand it correctly, but if I do, "something" is using him to get revenge for what happened to him whether he wants it or not.Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09603892208775996594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-44886686157929025982024-03-12T02:10:03.413-05:002024-03-12T02:10:03.413-05:00"OK, Pop! This is a stick-up! Hand over your ..."OK, Pop! This is a stick-up! Hand over your cash!"<br /><br /><br />So suave.Bill the Butcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08436195659154078021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-30063411034456541042024-03-12T00:30:20.515-05:002024-03-12T00:30:20.515-05:00In light of recent events around here, it's ha...In light of recent events around here, it's hard not to look at mummies like they are just more mannequins, modelling jewelry and handicrafts, constructed from dead bodies by the mad artisans of an ancient age. And here they are moonlighting once again as avengers. You'd think dead bodies would have a fairly blasé attitude toward fate, what with their advanced experience in the subject. But no, they are always presented as rigidly, stubbornly driven by a black and white code of mortal justice. Sorta like Steve Ditko.<br /><br />The art is curious. I'm not sure the floating eyes work, either. It was a great idea, but somehow the artist(s?) seemed to think that one way to effect a subliminal aspect of the frame was the draw it poorly. The rest of the art is certainly much better. So at first I actually thought the eyes were a mistake, or maybe some ballpoint defacement idly scribbled by someone whiling away a boring class lecture or tedious phone call.<br /><br />The last panel is indeed solid gold. One for the hall of fame. Mr. Cavinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01634994342702518448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-83453445125522685292024-03-12T00:15:03.227-05:002024-03-12T00:15:03.227-05:00Was this partly inspired by Karloff's THE MUMM...Was this partly inspired by Karloff's THE MUMMY? The second panel of Page 6 definitely suggests the famous "He went for a little walk!" scene.<br /><br />Speaking of subtle, when it comes to gloating over finding a treasure, Brogan makes Daffy Duck in "Ali Baba Bunny" seem almost low-key by comparison!Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09603892208775996594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-62319872548700337232024-03-11T16:23:23.415-05:002024-03-11T16:23:23.415-05:00"Of all the incompetent witches!"
She a..."Of all the incompetent witches!"<br /><br />She also advertises herself a little too much with a name like "Mortalla."<br />At least Morticia Addams is a comedy character, and a really innocent one, so calling herself by the name is very "ingenuous."Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09603892208775996594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-23440395332262052262024-03-11T09:24:50.634-05:002024-03-11T09:24:50.634-05:00There's twists in horror stories. Some are su...There's twists in horror stories. Some are subtle, sneaking up on your like a dark, eerie, blood covered moon of subtle (in 50s horror speak), some tear through the ancient blood covered stones of the temple of evil (in 50s horror speak), and some ... are this!<br /><br />Never would have guessed this nutty ending in a million years. What's even better is the last panel with the sly smile and wink, and for absolutely no reason but his own entertainment, "Business as Usual." This thing is a wonder to behold.<br /><br />I love the mummy on the splash and it's otherworldly length. I'm not super sold on the constant mummy eyes, but it works within the story (as they appear after the shop keeper dies.)Brian Barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15737535617796413548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-66315007764190481042024-03-11T02:08:10.986-05:002024-03-11T02:08:10.986-05:00It always interests me when they've attempted ...It always interests me when they've attempted to tone down the violence by sanitizing its effect. I mean, I'm assuming, but that's what seems to be happening on page two, when all of the blood on Carlotta's corpse has been colored out. They wrote the violence into the story and they feel free to show it. But then they get queasy about visualizing the aftermath. I feel like this works to make the act of violence feel more acceptable, which was unlikely to have been the intent. Anyway, just thoughts. I liked the story well enough. I think the bright red blood covered corpse of Carlotta would have been a freaky and show-stopping image, though. (And a great Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black song!)<br /><br />The art here pulls a look that I often love in precode comics and completely dislike in modern ones. Where the artist(s) mark out all the detail--hair, facial lines, clothing folds, etc.--without any nod to shadows or light, letting the colorist add whatever is necessary to keep it from flattening out too much. Ogden Whitney and Dick Briefer excel at this sort of thing. So did Moebius (but then he was usually his own colorist, so it hardly counts). I feel like the deadline may have loomed between page two and three which is a shame. The Carlotta's death scene is an amazing page--gritty and detailed, with a sort of rumpled élan--but the last two pages feel hurried and a little slapdash. It's by no means egregious, but it's a good reminder to finish your important pages first (here I'd say the middle two, plus the splash), so if you run out of time (or interest) you're only rushing through the filler.<br /><br />I love it when fortune tellers use regular playing cards, by the way. That feels like poverty row magic, and that's always the best kind.Mr. Cavinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01634994342702518448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-34333758390563345922024-03-10T04:10:16.931-05:002024-03-10T04:10:16.931-05:00Of all the incompetent witches! Couldn't she h...Of all the incompetent witches! Couldn't she have read a few horror comics to find out the pitfalls?Bill the Butcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08436195659154078021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-38153005139309691002024-03-09T23:56:48.811-06:002024-03-09T23:56:48.811-06:00I kinda thought the same things as Grant. Because ...I kinda thought the same things as Grant. Because that snake has to be slinking slowly around at night too. I guess it's just a walking stick during the day.<br /><br />I like this atmospheric story, but yearn to see the second half, in which the mannequins start serial killing all over the US ("Looking at the pattern of thumbtacks in this crime map, our killer must be operating out of Macy's!"). I don't know whether the newly murderous victims of Steven's mad science would be able to infect their own victims (or how: Their infectious dummy bite? They recreate the dummy serum in the department store lah<i>boor</i>itory?), but I really like the idea of mannequins as an epidemic: The increasingly lonesome Main Streets and silent coffee shops and commuter trains as the human population gives way to a crowd of clothes dummies filling all the seats and spaces of every place. The ghost town as diorama. Mr. Cavinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01634994342702518448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-10256300112160468202024-03-09T23:09:06.522-06:002024-03-09T23:09:06.522-06:00I like the art here. It's scratchy and a litt...I like the art here. It's scratchy and a little weird in places but it gives the entire tale this swampy grisly feel. I also love Lotta's ghost, sort of this weird swamp thing/scarecrow! I also like how beast like Chuck is portrayed, it's a little on the nose but that's something that gives you a quick and interesting read in comics.<br /><br />I did get a good chuckle out of the ending; the tale already works but then to drive it home with the "this card smells like a corpse was holding it!" kind of thing is so 50s horror comic.<br /><br />I like the short, too, that's a fun one pager with some great art, but the whispy and screaming smoke witch. She really had it out for that guy!Brian Barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15737535617796413548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-31926470466415419092024-03-08T08:30:34.788-06:002024-03-08T08:30:34.788-06:00Except for the fangs, the snake resembles a Tyrann...Except for the fangs, the snake resembles a Tyrannosaurus drawing.<br /><br />Even if it's reaching, I almost expected the attack by the HUMAN mannequins to end with the snake biting Stevens. Which would be fitting, since it was his first victim.Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09603892208775996594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-27474006125356756592024-03-07T23:25:53.517-06:002024-03-07T23:25:53.517-06:00I didn't even know it was possible to smoke a ...I didn't even know it was possible to smoke a pipe upside down, JMR777. Maybe Stevens was just trying to quit?Bill the Butcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08436195659154078021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-63730590034508135512024-03-07T17:28:29.382-06:002024-03-07T17:28:29.382-06:00On the right hand side panel of THOIA, under Fifti...On the right hand side panel of THOIA, under Fifties Horror, there can be found a mannequin horror tale by Steve Ditko titled 'The Night People'. <br />That Ditko tale should get an honorable or horrible mention during March Mannequin Madness Month.JMR777https://www.blogger.com/profile/03538238702295526065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-84136150495304446882024-03-07T17:18:48.203-06:002024-03-07T17:18:48.203-06:00We all knew Stevens was off his rocker, smoking hi...We all knew Stevens was off his rocker, smoking his pipe like that. <br />While some smoke their pipe upside down during a rainstorm there was no need to do that indoors.<br /><br /><br />JMR777https://www.blogger.com/profile/03538238702295526065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-983171239671909762.post-61008305112688852682024-03-07T11:44:11.718-06:002024-03-07T11:44:11.718-06:00Lots of fun face close ups -- page 2 and 5 have so...Lots of fun face close ups -- page 2 and 5 have some real winners.<br /><br />OK, this tale has the real horror in them. First, the "victims," while they get their vengeance, will live on forever as murdering monsters. The real horror is in the unfairness of that fate!<br /><br />Sure, there's a lot you could quibble about this story and things that make little sense, but it really works as a horror story that gives you the shivers; not the ending, but *that could happen to you!*<br /><br />Also: I love that snake!Brian Barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15737535617796413548noreply@blogger.com