Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The Garcon / Dream!

Today it’s a 2-for-1 shot of mysterious weirdness from the March 1954 issue of Weird Mysteries #9. And our first obnoxious tale is loaded with unintentional humor (as well as the completely intentional kind too.) I do declare---this is definitely THE zaniest story ever posted here at THOIA. Bon appetit!






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Our other tale today from the March 1954 issue of Weird Mysteries #9 has a truly nightmarish, lo-fi art style reminiscent of modern day indie cartoonists, (or even color quick storyboard roughs), and the plot pretty much goes exactly where you figure it’s going from the opening panel... but it’s still an interesting glimpse into the pre-code realm of sadistic torture and Lovecraftian demon cult horrors.






And starting tomorrow we finish out the week (and weekend too) with select stories from Atlas Comics’ Marvel Tales series, featuring timeless terror classics from Al Eadeh, Dick Briefer, and many more (some we'll need help identifying too!)

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW.that really was one of the craziest stories you ever posted(based on the husbands looks,i wonder if this is a long lost rejected story from DC.'s THE ADVENTURES OF BOB HOPE,never know.),and the most plausible too,i had a waiter once at a pizza joint who was just as bad.so im glad i'd never read this before;i would've eaten either myself OR the waiter if this had been on my mind back then,instead i did the best thing a guy in a shitty restaraunt could do:i left. I also gotta say i really liked the art in the second story,but the twist was kinda weak,unless he was a zombie or somenthing and not "simply" branded and disfigured.

Tim Tylor said...

Ia! Ia! The big scaly crow with Bullwinkle antlers, it comes! All due respect, but that's a new low in monster design. Not bad art otherwise, though - it does feel a bit dreamlike.

And the first story is stark realism. :D

AndyDecker said...

ookay... what a strange tale. Sure, it doesn´t make sense, the art doesn´t matches the dialogue and you fear every moment to be assaulted by the laugh-track, but still, crazy stuff.

The second one was quite atmospheric, even if I can´t decide if the bat with antlers is frightening or dumb. Maybe it was the Wolpire :-)

Mr. Cavin said...

Story one: she slaved away over a hot stove to make two weenies and coffee? Sheesh. I wouldn't look nearly so happy to be livid over that after a long work day. Starring Wink Martindale and one of the best "old Witch" style narrator badges I've seen.

Story two: I was digging the art here too, but have to agree that the scaly antlered Heckle and Jeckle bat monster was a little risible. I don't usually love the late eighties comic scenester chic. I find it too stilted for natural storytelling, its otherwise plausible artiness (viewed in static instances) a little too pretentious (or merely inert) as a graphic narration. Still liked this, though. And I even liked the typical "just a dream--or was it?" ending here based on what I took to be his denial of the disfiguring evidence. What a Dan Clowes pathetic-creepy molester vibe that had.

Thanks!

PS, I don't know if this is asking a lot, and please just ignore me it it is, but couldn't you make days like this into two posts? I know you are worried that we'll miss stuff since you've got us trained to look at one thing a day; but at the same time, it will be almost impossible to find story two in the archives a year from now without scrolling through everything. (As it's impossible to link it, from another blog say, without including both stories now.) Just a thought. Please don't think I'm being critical at all.

Wings1295 said...

Super-duper bizarre in that first story! I kept waiting for the twist, what made the restaurant so weird. But, it was just reaaalllyyy bad service! ha!

Dane said...

I haven't even had a chance yet to read the second story, but I had to comment on the first. OMG, that is some sick, sick, delightfully twisted stuff. Just disgusting.

Thanks for posting it! :D

Unknown said...

"Daffy" is the word that comes to mind. Of all the people to eat, each other? Bad manners.

Anonymous said...

REALLY LIKED THESE TWO STORIES, THE GARCON WAS CRAAAAZY! HA,, BUT THAT'S THE FUN OF THESE OLD COMICS YOU CAN DO ANYTHING AND IT WORKS. UNLIKE SOME OTHERS I WASNT A FAN OF THE ART IN THE SECOND STORY MUCH BUT IT WAS STILL COOL AND SPOOKY AND A NICE RIDICULOUS MONSTER MOOSE BAT.

THANKS FOR THE NIGHT GALLERY INFO TOO, THATS ESSENTIAL CLASSIC TV!!!!

Unknown said...

Love the gratuitous wolpire reference, as well as the weenies and coffee observation.

Patrick said...

Humans. The other white meat. Mmmmm, what a tasty little story that was!!

Mr. Karswell said...

>Humans. The other white meat.

And looking through the ribcages of the last panel, apparently they ate their own lungs too! Ewwww!

>it will be almost impossible to find story two in the archives a year from now without scrolling through everything.

Unless of course you use the search engine at the top of the blog Mr C. Try typing in the name of this story " Dream! " and see what comes up. Same with artist names, or publishers for any future searches. It's really quite handy.

Atlas Fest 2008 starts tomorrow.

8thRay said...

I vastly enjoyed Garcon. Particularly in page 3 panel 4, where the woman's chin has apparently been absorbed by her starving body.

Prof. Grewbeard said...

"Garcon" just made me hungry, but then everything makes me hungry...

Marc Burkhardt said...

"Garcon" was just ... wow.

Anonymous said...

"Garcon"... i used to see the world like that when i was smoking angel dust.