Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Rebirth!
Okay, enough with the hairy scaries for a while, how about something more slimy and formless? Maybe a tale of extreme cuckoldism + blobs from the deep (courtesy of the January 1953 issue of Beware #13) adds up to something weird and different? You'll soon find out, as we sink deeper and deeper into our Valentines Massacre 2020 love affair of freakish frights 'n doomed delights this month...
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Can't get over how many Ye Olde castles were around in '50's America.
The blobs are the greatest!
Well I got my wish. You posted something on my birthday. Awesome.
Anyhow, I couldn't help but notice two typos in the midst of this tale. The first being on page 2 in the last panel where Melissa says to Larry "Oh you don't him!" I'm certain she meant "Oh you don't know him!" The second one is on page 6, panel 2. I think Larry and Melissa's word balloons are mixed up. The mocking use of the word "Dear" sounds more like Melissa, while "Goodbye,little man!" sounds more like Larry.
Anyhow, as for the story itself--there are so many tropes floating around--there's the henpecked, meek, obedient husband who's married to a much younger, and gorgeous wife who only married him for his money and can't stand the sight of him. There's the younger, good looking man that she's having an affair with behind his back and they plot to kill him without running afoul of the law. Finally, there's the old chestnut of the relative who dies and leaves behind a creepy old castle that promises treasure, but may also have a curse as well.
There's no trope for the haunted toothpaste monsters though. That part is rather novel--and fun.
It's interesting that there seems to be some subset of the American Ideal that is all about a man overcoming his hesitation to do violence. This is yet another story in which a man is ultimately reinvented (it's been literalized here) into an elevated version of himself, characterized by his new ability (and willingness) to kill somebody. See Al's story in Die Hard, or BA's in that ridiculous A-Team reboot. There are so many examples. For people like Clarence, there is no respect in being a mature and successful member of society; no, it's this very socialized maturity that will earn him cuckolding and a killing--the hostility of a world aligned against peaceful men. Luckily this is fiction, and for Clarence fatality is just a second chance. You, dear reader, will have to improve much faster than that in the real world.
Happy Birthday, Glowworm.
When I get more ancient I'm knocking out a couple of teeth, developing a hump, and hanging out in old castles just to throw threats of doom to anybody that enters!
Like Mr. Cavin said, this one has a kitchen sink of regular pre-code horror elements and then, out of nowhere, the peace loving ... things! Going to make a better world from all the murders and gold diggers! It'd like to see their further adventures. Of course, the very first thing the peaceful creature does is kill somebody, but I love that element. It's so strange, so seemingly unnecessary (any explanation could have had the guy come back) and yet so cool!
Some good stuff in the art but not a lot of action. Bottom panel, page 4 is a really nice panel, I especially like the coloring work on the sea. I would have liked to see some slightly bigger panels in the ... lab? ... I think that's what was happening! Still, lots of great stuff, a fun one!
He still wants her after all that‽
Thank you Mr.K., for these doe-eyed marshmallow treats. A belated Happy Birthday to Glowworm!
I can't help liking the "New Age" thinking in the story, but I agree with Mr. Cavin and Brine Barnes about the ending. The fact that Clarence kills Larry in such a "dispassionate" way (with that talk about "no ill will" and the "destiny" of his kind) is somehow WORSE than if he did it in a vengeful way.
Happy Birthday, Glowworm, sorry the birthday wish is a bit late.
This was a fun little tale with Clarence turning into a peace loving creature who wants happiness for all (except for the guy who tried to kill him, you can't blame Clarence for holding a grudge. It must have hurt falling from so high up.)
I can't help feeling that if the writer had taken a different path this could have been turned into a Lovecraftian type tale. Instead of a peaceful, loving white ghost blob, Clarence and his ancestors had turned into flesh eating slime creatures bent on bloody world conquest, all the while building their numbers until the day of judgement.
A wild tale that made fifties horror comics so much fun.
Thanks Karswell.
Happy birthday, Glowworm, belatedly.
Glad I could post a story called REBIRTH on someone's birthday-- hurrah! Happy birthday GW, and thanks to all who commented. Let's see if we can get some really fiendish comments on the next post-- COMING SOON!
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