Wednesday, January 9, 2019

The Devil's Bride / The Vampire Moth

Finishing out our Werewolf Hunter Fest with my two favorite Prof tales-- I mean, you all know that I love devil tales of course (still available HERE!), but I also have an incredible attraction to sexy moth girl stories, (they're like a flame, I tell ya!) --so how can you go wrong with today's diabolical double feature?! First tale is from the August 1944 issue of Rangers Comics #18, and the second is from the August 1945 issue of Rangers Comics #24, amazing art on both by the forever and ever fabulous Lily Renee!



























And for even more moth girl monster horror, check out the classic film, Blood Beast Terror (1968) --just click it!

11 comments:

  1. The first story is outstanding. I especially enjoyed the close-ups and irregular panel structure. Wonderful coloring. Looking at the written narrative, I am reminded of change. Cursive is becoming foreign to the young. Though I never quite understood why there were the two forms of penmanship anyways. AH, the sign of frika. Raise one arm and cross your chest with the other. I must use it some time upon entering a room and watch evil scatter. Thank you Mr. K.

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  2. Second story, That Prof. is so expletiving sure of himself that it turns humorous/wacky. The final page of these werewolf hunter stories wrap things up so quickly that it amazes in abrubtness. Thank you Mr.K.

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  4. Brian Barnes will be pleased to know that in both of these stories, the Professor actually does something rather than merely play the part of a spectator.
    I love how we never get much explanation out of what the heck is going on in these stories--once the craziness hits the fan--it really starts to spin!
    I guess the first tale is a lesson to never rent house 13--as the landlady may be a member of a cult that likes to throw wild parties in their cellar during the blood moon--and plan to make you the Devil's bride.

    The second tale is splendid. I love the unique and beautiful design of Vera the sexy vampire moth--although I'd also dearly love some backstory on how the heck she became one to begin with.

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  5. You're right @glowworm2 ... and in the second story he basically bulldozes his way through it, screw anybody's agency, he's doing what he wants!

    I like these for their victorian feel but I'm still not sold on the journal entries. Seen it done in many comics and it doesn't need to take up entire panels. Show, don't tell, but that's IMHO. Still fun tales.

    Let's round up Lily's fashions: Trude (??) has a nice coat/dress combo, and a sexy devil's costume (I especially like the hair.). The moth costume is just fabulous!

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  6. Oh man, the second story here was the cat's pajamas. I love that art nouveau night monster. And hey, look, another transformation dial! Let's crank this story all the way up to moth girl by page two! That circle is such a satisfying infographic.

    I wish somebody out there would collect these Werewolf Hunter stories into a fat hardback.

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  7. It's nice to see a scene of French characters clashing with Americans BEFORE that became such a huge cliche. I mean the "You stupid Americans!" or the "We saved your asses in the war!" kind of cliche.

    It's also interesting to see a character resembling a huge moth quite some time before the West Virginia Mothman story.

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  8. These tales have a fever dream quality to them, a bit like Gallio before Gallio films existed. Their logic and storytelling reminds me of Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, subtle surrealism, a reality all their own.

    One possible excuse for these tales different kind of storytelling- These two tales were from Werewolf Hunter's past, maybe he is remembering the stories as he relates them rather than what really happened. When we remember things from our past we occasionally leave out details or misremember details, recall details that didn't happen exactly as we recall them. Memories get fuzzy after a few months, years or decades.

    Either way, these were great tales from the middle to late end of the golden age of comics.

    Thank you Karswell for brining a near forgotten comic character to our attention and enjoyment, and for letting new comic fans appreciate Mrs. Renée's artwork, she had true talent.

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  9. Two stories AND a link to one of good old Peter Cushing's (maybe not one of his better, but still) movies? Huzzah!

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  10. The first story makes an interesting pairing with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #s 102 & 103 (July & Aug 1970).

    For the second story, glowworm2, just picture Vera in Dr. Page's place a week or so ago.

    Thanks for the Werewolf Hunter stories! The GCD lists 38 of them, so there are 222 pages for that book Mr. Cavin proposes, or a lot of future postings!

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  11. If only they were all winners, Darci! Unfortunately, I've read quite a few of them that are not very good.

    Thanks for the comments! And real glad to see everyone enjoying these WH tales o'terror! Something different up next-- oh wait, nope, not different. It's more Prof!! I tricked yee all! ;)

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