Almost forgot that I had a weekly weird wedding theme planned for June! So here's another one then finally, from the April 1973 issue of DC's The Unexpected #146, highlighted by one of Ernie Chan's coolest 70's title treatments ever! I'd also like to make a challenge to everyone here today to see how many of you can actually leave a comment without mentioning anything about the maid's name from this story. Good luck to all you Captain's of the obvious!
4 comments:
The story is good for the limitation of post-code, which in a lot of DC mags left a lot to be desired. This is pretty much a crime piece that wouldn't be out of place in Crime Suspenstories, so good job all around (yes, the story is unrealistic but that's fine!)
The art is, as almost always in DC pre-codes, incredible. There's so much work in every panel, and some very clever ideas. If you skip the intro and start the story proper on page 2, it starts with Letita growing old in 3 panels, closing in on her face, and bookends on the last page with our unknown con artist doing the exact same, with a bit worse results.
Page 5: I always like to call out really good uses of paneling. Top 3, the characters reverse in panel 2, and on the bottom 3, the guy breaks the talking head action. That's right out of the Wally Wood playbook (yes many others did it way before him.) That's a way to make a page really interesting, even if nothing too exciting happens.
Fine, I'll lay off mentioning the rather unfortunate name of Letitia's maid. Party pooper! 🤣 On a more serious note, the title of the story is more exciting sounding that the actual story itself, as there really is nothing supernatural going on in this tale. It did throw me for a loop in the beginning though as I was wondering why the tattered remnants of clothing on the skeleton we're first introduced to don't look very much like a dress. Okay, you got me there plot twist. I am a bit amused by the male fortune hunter being relieved that the maid is not actually the woman he's trying to con his way into. I'm also amused at him finding Letitia to be really ugly, when he himself is no great prize. Letitia honestly has aged well and really isn't that bad looking. What amuses me the most is that fake Oliver really didn't think this one through too well as apparently the real Oliver was also courting Letitia for her fortune and the reason why he ran away in the first place. I'm also wondering why the fortune hunter didn't try jumping out a window all this time. I mean, only the door was locked, right? Eh, never look at a comic book story with logic, I always say. Also, it's somewhat touching yet sad that Letitia's maid never revealed that the actual Oliver died years ago, so all her hopeful waiting for him to return was in vain.
The twist ending is something one would expect to read in an Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.
I like the character of the conman. His internal dialogs are not particularly noble, but feel realistic. His appraisals of the other characters, his self recriminations--all of it seems pretty fresh. I miss thought bubbles, one of the many things I find lacking in modern comics. The stalwart maid also feels very fresh. I wonder if she knows her employer is broke?
As for Leticia, well, I always dig a gothic romance hero. Anyone who sits in a window til they they (nearly) ossify is really keeping the faith, baby. That she has the wherewithal to alter course at such a late stage may also be something I've never seen before: A true believer impervious to sunk cost fallacy. Anybody scouting the paranormal element here need look no further.
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