Monday, August 12, 2019

Terror at Midnight

Last tale from the August 1952 issue of Suspense #21, and that makes it official-- another FULL ISSUE PRESENTATION here at THOIA (check out the last 5 posts for the rest of this issue in case you missed anything!) Nice artwork in today's post too-- and especially during this awful summer heatwave, these snowbound stories of wintery weirdness are very much welcome to help cool things down with some shivery chills up 'n down our 'ol spooked-out spines!













More Atlas on the way too-- stay tombed! (And while you're at it, head over to my other blog for some Monster News and Monster Hit Parade fun too! CLICK HERE!)

8 comments:

  1. "I'm like a Cat...I like warmth and ease." That describes me pretty well, and rest assured I'm no werewolf or werecat, though if there were such a creature as a weresloth…

    Neat trick ending, it reminded me of the 1974 film 'The Beast Must Die'.

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  2. Is the artist Jerry Grandenetti? Looks like it esp. at the end.

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  3. This one strain credibility a good bit!

    So Eva fought a werewolf and then ... went to bed? I don't care how injured I am I'm not climbing into bed with a werewolf out there!

    What was Myra's plan? She could have killed Peter anytime she was out alone with him and then sneaked in and killed Eva. That's one convoluted werewolf plan!

    I like the time taken with the snow artwork, with the heavy whites and blacks and the solid shadow/snow coloring (like page 2, panels 1 and 2.) I really felt like a windy, snowy wasteland.

    Page 3, panel 6, I like the look through the snowbound window.

    The last panel is great, with the paw gripping him! You can just hear Myra going "sucker!"

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  5. Ooh, monster mash! The age-old clash between progressive culture and conservative tradition, between the rural and urbane. Between cat people and dog people. In this story, the dog people had to cheat a little bit. Gang up.

    Man, Eva got a raw deal. According to the story, she was seduced by a smooth operator who only let the mask drop once he was safely hitched, confined in a secluded hinterland under his imperious control, separated from from her friends and family--even his own company--only to be shot in bed for the crime of trying to rescue his sheep from a monster. Lordy. This story has quite a lot in common with the last one, doesn't it? At least Helen Roy had an understandable evil design. She was a villain because she was selfish. Peter Morgan, on the other hand, was just a wanton jerk, who lied his way into a lady's favor and then ticked all the other boxes associated with domestic abuse, too. A much more usual villain, to be sure. For poor Eva, the monster had come along way before the full moon, alas. Rest in peace, cat person. Hero of sheep.

    I zeroed-in on the very two panels Mr. Barnes mentioned for the very same reasons. It's fun to see a story that successfully relies on color for all the contrast. Maybe it looks a little cartoony, but it leaves all the line work free for texture and detail.

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  6. Thank you Mr.K., for me the terrific art, design, and panel use make up for the anticipated/foreshadowed ending. I liked this offering.

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  7. I agree with everything Mestiere wrote.

    This story works only if Myra has some more diabolical plan for Peter, to keep him alive for whatever reason. If she wants him for her own, then it makes sense. But then I remind myself a lot of these writers were on deadline and paid so little, they likely did not anticipate our literary criticism sixty-five years later.

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  8. Actually, it should be wifwolf. The "were" in werewolf means "man".

    As a cartoonist myself I found something interesting in the last panel on Page 1. Eva says "there will be no someday if you don't watch the road" but Peter didn't say "someday". Sounds as though his speech bubble was changed to emphasise that they're married but he still hasn't asked for her background.

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