Wednesday, January 20, 2010

When a Vampire Dies

Sid Greene's turn to tackle the blood thirsty, evil vampire menace today, this time from the November 1954 issue of Marvel Tales #128. Shar? Hmmm, an interesting name for a vampire, and an even more interesting hair-do... wait, and he likes to play checkers, and what exactly does he do with those sheep?!!







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Vintage AD (vampire killin' stake not included)

12 comments:

Cindy M said...

What's this, I'm the first to comment?

Shar is the pudgiest, ugliest vampire I've ever seen. :-\ He looks like a doofus. He needs to drink low-carb blood!

Okay, and he plays checkers. Can't get a date huh? Is Shar a virgin?? Wouldn't surprise me (for a number of reasons).

Hmmm, the vintage ad doesn't include a vampire killing stake? I'll pass then; did have my credit card ready...but nope.

Trevor M said...

This is a fun story. It's got a lot of echoes of the corporate world or politics. Good art, too.

Anonymous said...

HAAAA!!!!!!!! TOTALLY SILLY BUT A COOL ENDING. I GUESS ITS WHY I LOVE ATLAS THEY WERENT AFRAID TO DO STUFF LIKE THIS

Anonymous said...

Interesting design choices on Shar (snicker). Apparently most people in this little pseudo-Transylvanian village have had a close encounter with the old ugly stick ... wait, no, ugly telephone pole - a mere stick wouldn't do it.

I was really expecting that Shar was secretly guarding the village from something absolutely horrific (a monster like the replacement vampire would do nicely)living inside the cave, barring it from leaving and destroying the town. Upon Shar's death, the significantly worse monster would be loose having been freed from the only one who could hold its leash. The secret that vampires replace their dead isn't quite the "pop" I was hoping for, but certainly a nicely freaky way of telling a "You don't know what you have 'til its gone" sort of tale. Thanks, Karswell!

KW said...

Wonderful and fantastical! thanks for the post!

Wings1295 said...

That's one way to climb the ladder!

Anonymous said...

I have just sent away for my Six Handy Tools in One Tool Set as stated in the ad you have posted. I mailed 1.49 in cash to the address provided and will wait patiently for my tool set to arrive shortly. I will be very pleased when my tool kit arrives.It will be delivered to me by my friendly postman. This is not a Toy so i will be very careful with my new toolkit. I'm hoping to meet a real girl like Ann (she is featured in the Ad) and that we will have a liitle son like Billy. My friends look up to me because i can fix things. So get out your toolbox boys.

Mykal Banta said...

Karswell: Foolish townies - they had it coming. They were lucky enough to draw the most docile, nerdy vampire in the history of vampires, and still they rocked the boat. I mean, c'mon! This bloodsucker was named Shar, had a bowl haircut, and liked boardgames and sheep blood. And these dumb asses pushed the envelope? Screw them. They deserved that huge devil vampire that corporate headquarters bumped up the ladder. -- Mykal

Mr. Karswell said...

And Jerry Lewis as Shar the Vampire! Thanks for the funny comments, some of you are most definitely hilarious. I'm still trying to decide whether or not to drag out another vampire tale this week or do something else, I do have another theme in mind... we shall see, check back tomorrow, same vampire bat time, same vampire bat blog channel.

Mr. Cavin said...

Think I'd rather see Sammo Hung as a spry, and hopping, Shar. I never was much of a Jerry Lewis fan. Plus, the politics of paranormality here seem distinctly Chinese countryside to me.

The reporter can be an official tax man in the new version, threatening imperial sanction if some of those sheep are not turned over to Peking. And the bearded dude can be the local Taoist priest, whipping up his old fashioned good-vs-demons fervor. The final fight would be a whole lot better, too. Assuming Sammo does not manage to beat up the whole town, then the final panel could maybe be played by Bolo?

Mr. Karswell said...

>Sammo Hung as a spry, and hopping, Shar

Haha, I guess this would translate easily into a hopping Chinese vampire story... hell the other dude with the bowl cut could even be played by Yuen Biao! All we need are a couple fart jokes and we're set!

UP NEXT: Monsters at Sea!

Prof. Grewbeard said...

well, trying to get back in the swing of things Kars and really liked this one, the vampire's look might be inspired by Charles Addams with that Gomez-ish hair...