["Evil Monsters" is in fact a remake, not a reprint-- the original story was called "The Evil Ones" and can be viewed here. -- Nequam.]
Monday, November 22, 2010
Death Strikes Four / Evil Monsters
We're celebrating the release of Mike Howlett's long-awaited book "The Weird World of Eerie Publications" (in case you thought for a second that you had accidently stepped into Mykal's Bloody Pulp!), and to show Mike how awesome we think his book is, today we have two wild, reprinted weirdies from the July 1970 issue of Terror Tales V2 #4. Get Mike's book NOW!
["Evil Monsters" is in fact a remake, not a reprint-- the original story was called "The Evil Ones" and can be viewed here. -- Nequam.]
["Evil Monsters" is in fact a remake, not a reprint-- the original story was called "The Evil Ones" and can be viewed here. -- Nequam.]
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9 comments:
For anyone keeping score, "Death Strikes Four" was originally published in the Oct 1953 issue of Strange Fantasy #8, while "Evil Monsters" was originally published as "The Evil Ones" in the Sept 1953 issue of Weird Terror #7 (original art by Don Heck.)
PS: check the THOIA archives for "The Evil Ones."
You are too kind, my good sir! Two great stories!! The redraw art on the second is by Larry Woromay!
Great post. Great book. More on the same topic you-know-where!
'Death Strikes Four' was just completely bonkers and I loved every single panel of it! I've been visiting this blog for about two and a half years now and I've seen quite a lot of ridiculous and insane stuff in these pre-code comics, but a man-eating clock? That takes the cake! The best thing was how the clock tower chased his victims, like the masked maniac in a slasher flick. Seriously, somebody ought to make a movie out of this one. It could be the inofficial sequel to 'Death Bed: The Bed That Eats.'
Ok, so you own a vampire clock tower, and survived living next to it for years. So, you must know something about battling it.
You think that you might write this information down in your will, instead of blurting out "kill the clock" right before you die!
The artist had a lot of Al Feldstein in him (or her), right down to the "headlights" (and their distinctive sweater patterns) and the very static figures.
When I was a little kid, every time I watched a movie or TV show with a scene set in a clock tower, I was always deathly afraid I was going to have to witness one of the characters fall into the gears and get ground, shrieking piteously, into perforated mess of wet rags. I would hide my eyes. Even in comedies and things.
I assume that's the sort of thing that inspires a writer to write this sort of thing here.
And I don't know if I've told you this, but I'm really happy you've started scanning the covers sometimes. I don't mind looking at them over at the GCD, but your scans are a lot larger and more satisfying.
(cue dirty jokes)
I absolutely love "Death Strikes Four." Those Eiger shop faces are so distinct it always seemed to me that a particular artist must have done them.
I would love to see this in color and, I am guessing, but without the black splat added around and on the fellow who was meeting his end in the infernal clock's crunching gears.
I prefer, though, the irreplaceable Don Heck's early version of the second story. The '70s layouts were just too chaotic and the art not up to par for my tastes (or Turok's, either...okay, so labradors love gore, too, especially when it's from squirrel or rabbit).
The early stuff had the character that later versions just did not.
Death Strikes Four seems to be the obvious fave of this double post, and understandably so... the whole concept is so over the top and amazingly rendered by the Iger Shop crew that it's definitely one of the most inspired bits of pre-code horror insanity ever published.
Thanks for the killer comments, and I just decided that we'll continue honoring Mike's book by finishing out the month with more Eerie Publication stories! Got another double header on the way!
The artwork in Death Strikes Four is superb. But Grandpa must have either hated his grandson or been a coward to send him to his doom that way!
The second one was interesting but I was disturbed by the safe crushing the child. I guess it's the parental instinct--I don't like when bad stuff happens to kids.
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