(CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT!!!)
Before you go, ask yourself: was 3 monster makers not enough? Maybe you need to go for 4? Or how about 5?!! Well, then CLICK HERE and HERE for *gag*choke MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MONSTER MAKERS!
Sunday, September 6, 2020
The Monster Makers
I've had a bunch of requests for more Bill Everett --and a couple for joltin' Gene Colan too--, so to kill two maniacal monster makers with one scary stone, here's a double feature actually made into a triple with the inclusion of a likewise titled old 40's horror film link! Whew! You'll be makin' like a monster yourself by the time you finish today's post! Our first story is from the August 1952 issue of Uncanny Tales #2, and the silly Franken-follow-up from June 1954's Wild #4.
(CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT!!!)
Before you go, ask yourself: was 3 monster makers not enough? Maybe you need to go for 4? Or how about 5?!! Well, then CLICK HERE and HERE for *gag*choke MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MONSTER MAKERS!
(CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT!!!)
Before you go, ask yourself: was 3 monster makers not enough? Maybe you need to go for 4? Or how about 5?!! Well, then CLICK HERE and HERE for *gag*choke MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MONSTER MAKERS!
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6 comments:
Story Number One was predictable, how many times have we encountered the Artist Loves His Creation trope, but good. Maybe our sculptor could have just, I don't know, shaved his beard and stood up straight, and then nobody would have called him *that* ugly.
Story Number Two was just hilarious. I love those as I've said before.
I'm not good at recognizing artists, and that includes doing it mistakenly, but I kind of thought the first one was by Basil Woolverton.
During the Atlas era, there's no doubt that Everett was Stan's superstar. Aside from Ghastly, I don't think there was a horror artist of the caliber of Everett anywhere (and Everett could do other styles just as well.)
Everything, every damn panel in this thing is worth pouring over. The "ugly" guy, every sculpture, and through all the horror art Everett pulls out a gorgeous piece of good girl art that frankly looks like it's winking at the readers half the time.
Page 3, the two middle panels back to back. What other artist can do that so well? A beautiful statue and then a bunch of horrible creeps. Everett gave 110% on this one.
The story, yeah, it's a little old but it's paced very well, and the twist ending isn't really the point, it's the descent into madness (and can you blame this guy?). Page 4 and 5 are great as a little mini story on the lengths he'll go to.
I take this as a happy ending, actually.
The Colan story is fun with a couple good gags and the photo reference Frankenstein, but I need to read the first story again so I don't have much to say :)
The first one is undeniably Bill Everett and it's fantastic. Quite frankly, Boris doesn't look so bad. Kind of looks like Rasputin if he turned to statue making. The plot itself is basically Pygmalion and Galatea. Man makes ideal version of his dream woman and falls in love with her, desperate to do whatever it takes to make her come to life. Of course, since this is a horror comic, we know this is not going to end well for him. Then again, maybe it did, as he's now alone forever with his beloved statue.
The second one is funny. While I'm not quite certain what pair of husband and wife detectives Spam and Terry are parodying, they do remind me a bit of Frank and Sadie Doyle from the podcast, Beyond Belief--They see ghosts! The only difference is that Frank and Sadie Doyle are actually good at their job as supernatural detectives despite being drunk all of the time.
I especially love the "Someone knocked?" panel and the joke about the monster not being able to find the bell.
One of the things I like about Everett is how he managed to be so good without being particularly flashy. There's no showboating going on here at all, just nice solid work pitched to tell the story at hand. Most horror or humor artists (and the way comics present horror, the categories overlap a lot) try to get out in front of the story, push a mood, make things really wild. Even my favorite artists did this all the time. But Bill knew just what was needed, and more often than not, stuck to that. He was very self-assured.
Colan wasn't as self-assured. The guy was a damn fine draftsman and a pretty good visual storyteller, but I don't think zany was really his forte. I mean, this is a lot of fun, and he acquits himself well, but after all that Marie Severin last week the cracks are showing a little. I like that he used Glenn Strange as the Monster, though. Strange doesn't get enough love.
I barely know Mr. and Mrs. North, but I know they were a wisecracking husband and wife detective team, just like Nick and Nora Charles in the "Thin Man" stories. You only have to know that to know that "Mr. and Mrs. South" are a pretty clever send-up of them.
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