Vampire Castle

As promised, another handsome, non-costumed hero versus ancient evil horror tale, also from the July 1940 issue of Slam-Bang Comics #5. And similar to the previous post, it's a wildly fun, but somewhat stiffly stilted written / illustrated mix of action meets vampires, with early artwork by Gus Ricca that looks strangely simplistic and empty, though at the same time sort of adds an enjoyably weird surrealness to everything. Also similar to the Mark Swift story is the inclusion of a couple surprisingly eerie moments mixed in with the overall light hearted, colorful look of things vibe. I especially love the castle to graveyard transformation at the end, but less successful are the occasionally cuddly lookin' teddy bear demons. And what's Diamond Jack's deal, you ponder? Well, he seems to possess a vast array of plot convenient powers that all stem from an old magician's ring. If you wanna know more about DJ, just click HERE for the brief lowdown. Enjoy!

Witches of Salem

Satanic Saturday's at THOIA sometimes happen on Sundays --especially when Mr. Karswell can't quite get his atrocity act together-- and today we have what might possibly be one of the oldest stories ever posted around here. It's a wild 'n wicked Mark Swift (and his unfortunately named time machine) tale, from the July 1940 issue of Slam-Bang Comics #5. Yep, another bizarre adventure into witchery and the supernatural, and yeah its VERY old-timey, and very yellow, and OMG WTF is up with putting narrative blocks at the bottom of panels?! Yet despite all of that, this is a highly entertaining, two-fisted, slam-bangin' adventure into eerie evil, with a few surprisingly sinister moments, and one super, laugh out loud bit towards the end (first panel, last page.) Have fun, fiends!



















There's another great yarn from this same issue too that I might post next, stay tombed...