Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Search for Evil

Your own search for evil is what brought you to THOIA in the first place, so let's see what additional darkness is in store for us today as Howard Nostrand conjures up a wild and wooly classic from the June 1953 issue of Black Cat Mystery #44. Seriously, this one has it all: a mad scientist, a haunted house, a creepy old witch, black magic, killer gorillas, and more!







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Bonus Harvey Page Fillers
(both from Black Cat #47 and also by Howard Nostrand)


10 comments:

wiec? said...

from the first story: panel 2 page 3.

wouldn't everyone be an "unwilling subject" if a gorilla snatched you up in the middle of the night?

a cool story just the same.

Trevor M said...

Search for Evil had kind of a vintage Mexican horror movie vibe. Fun! But, wow, Nostrand in the 50's had to have been the biggest Jack Davis "tribute artist" of all time! LOL

Horror pariah said...

I wonder if seeing this stuff ever put Davis in an existential meltdown.

Mr. Karswell said...

I'm glad someone else around here agrees with the Jack Davis similarities... I made this comparison on a previous post and someone actually had the audacity to say they didn't think Nostrand's style was anything like Davis. This is of course completely ridiculous.

Prof. Grewbeard said...

i was thinking this would have made a great pre-production-code-era film with Lionel Atwill ala Murders In The Zoo. except the Crypt-Keeper wouldn't have been around then to grant his wish- or would he have?...

"i can't see or hear the Evil but i know it's around here somewhere- i can smell it!..."

Davis rip-off regardless, this was a good'un!

Vampire Sighs said...

Search for Evil - whatever else - it was brilliant (Argh - did I just sound like Harry Potter?).

Anonymous said...

HIS CLOSE-UP IN THE LAST PANEL IS HILARIOUS AND BLOOD CURDLING AT THE SAME TIME......... EXCELLENT POST TODAY!!!!!

Cindy M said...

Search for Evil!
Search for Tomorrow!
[The] Search for Spock!

The Search for Evil Spock, Tomorrow! [could be a sequel to "Mirror, Mirror"] :-p

Oh cool -- the Solar System in Black Cat #47. And Pluto's still a planet.

"Your own search for evil is what brought you to THOIA in the first place..."

Nah; neither it nor trouble is anything I need search for as both have an unpleasant tendency to find me. :-\

Anonymous said...

I really like the Bonus Harvey Page Fillers you found Karswell.

Sneaking a little education or wisdom in a comic book may have seemed like a dirty trick to the kids back then, but at least it can be claimed that you can learn something useful in the comics

(besides the fact that these pre code horrors were in many cases more entertaining and scary than the 1950's B movies Hollywood was cranking out.)

Anonymous said...

Total Jack Davis "tribute." Isn't that the Crypt Keeper on page 2?