Perry Chase.... Press Guardian

Perry Chase, aka The Press Guardian was yet another of the many fun, but largely forgotten 1940's back-up filler hero features from the early days of the ever popular Pep Comics series, via Archie. And while he doesn't really possess any SUPER hero powers, --as we'll be seeing in some of our other featured hero posts all this month, --he is one terrifically tough, masked reporter with those fists, threatening the bad guys with strangulation and torn throats, all the while saving the lovely damsels in distress in his endless pursuit of justice, and truth. The two stories I have for you today are unique to the series, because it appears to be the few horror themed examples of Press G encountering his nemesis "The Claw" in a pair of adventures where old house mad science and subtereanean monsters fit THOIA's bill rather nicely. Not to mention, Mort Meskin's old school art style really lends a wonderfully surreal, eerie quality to the all-out scrappy, beast battle action. Enjoy! From the Nov. / Dec. 1940 issues of Pep Comics #9, and Pep Comics #10. 

The Ugly Man

How about we finish up this Atlas Fest with another one from the October 1952 issue of Suspense #23. And similar to our previous post, it's another tale about lousy 'ol looks, looks, looks! But a story illustrated by joltin' Joe Maneely is of course anything but "lousy", because not only is this 4-page, mini-masterpiece of mad science also written by Stan Lee, it's got zombies, werewolves, ghosts, plus, a fantastically funny finale! Don't believe me, eh? Wanna bet?

Begin to Live!

Beginning a whole new madcap month of posts here at THOIA, so let's really live it up right out of the gate with this oddball, Ed Smalle, sci-fi horror mash-up from the August - September 1953 issue of Weird Mysteries #6. And to be honest, this feels like something goofy 'ol Ed Wood would've concocted, --and that is certainly not a bad thing! Also not bad at all is that murderously magical, brutal Bernard Bailey cover illustration!

Cagliostro Cursed Thee

I know that some of you are still trying to catch-up with our previous April Fool's Day post, but I wanted to get in this goofy great tale from Fiction House's "The Ghost Gallery", aka the September 1952 issue of Jumbo Comics #163 --you know, for a long awaited Werewolfery Wednesdayery installment, 'natch! Packed with loads of luridly beautiful Bob Webb artwork, this time our lycanthropy problem feels a bit weirder than usual, and when the wild mad science angle finally runs amok in the final pages, you'll be wondering when Santo or the Blue Demon will bust through the walls to save the B-movie day. Fantastic cover illustration as well, we even have a freaky lookin' Gomez-esque doctor that certainly seems inspired by the famous Charles Addams character. So fire up the serpent skull incense burner and dive into one heckuva chaotic monster mish-mashin' spook-a-rama!

Jane Martin vs. The Undead Nazis

After our Wings double blog-a-thon at the beginning of the month HERE and over at AEET HERE, a few of you wrote in asking to see more wild 'n wicked, war weirdness. Meanwhile, I always gets requests for more Lily Renee art, so here we go, killing two birds with one post! Jane Martin was a reoccurring back-up feature in Wings Comics, going all the way back to the very first issue in 1940, and thus, strutted her high flyin', long leggy stuff for well over 100+ issues. First appearing as a nurse, then a spy, and eventually a pilot over the expanse of her many appearances, Jane's adventures are always loaded with sexy fun, and were total diversions from the usual war stuff seen in the rest of this overly macho hero series. I especially like this story because we get one of the earliest comic book hints at Nazi's performing horribly nasty experiments by creating an unstoppable living dead army out of corpses! We also get plenty of great views of that little line running up the back of Jane's stockings, as only Lily Renee could draw it-- so there ya go! From the October 1943 issue of Wings Comics #38, and swiftly scripted by F. E. Lincoln.

The Metamorphs

How about another creature-feature from the March 1969 issue of Boris Karloff's Tales of Mystery #25 (see our previous post as well.) Sci-fi horror can sometimes be a mixed bag, but sometimes-- like today's post-- they can really give ya the willies! You long-time THOIA'ers might even remember a similarly freaky ACG Forbidden Worlds tale that I posted here waaaay way back in 2007 called "Nightmare for Two" --check it out after today's shivery story! And adios to January finally too. Stay tombed for lots more in February, where things are doomed to be diabolically romantical, as usual...

The Formula of Fate

If you're like me and a fan of Nina Albright's arresting artistic style, you'll find a lot to like about "The Formula of Fate" from the January 1944 issue of Terrific Comics #1. But this is also one heckuva crime horror / mad scientist hoot, with a tragically hilarious final reveal that actually made me LOL.

A Coffin for Carlos

We've discussed the 'ol "bury you now, dig you up later" scheme in these scary old precode stories many times in the past, and it'll come as no spoilery surprise to learn that it doesn't work out in today's post either. But this time there's a twist, and it barely makes sense, --and bah, who cares? This is the stuff that made Atlas horror so great in the foist place, ya lousy bums! From the Dec. 1952 issue of Marvel Tales #110, with art by Don Perlin and Abe Simon (cover art by Russ Heath.)