Had ourselves a tough turkey decision to make this Thanksgiving, so now we're heading out for some seafood instead! Yep, things from the darkest depths make for a most delectable dish, but what if that thing from the deep wants to eat you back?!! A.C. Hollingsworth is in way over his head with this high seas horror hottie who's ringin' up the dinner bell on some modern day Ahabs that are literally beggin' for their just deserts and holiday desserts. From the October 1954 issue of Dark Mysteries #20. One more November helping up next...
5 comments:
The only thing about this tale that slightly bothers me is calling an octopus a “Devil fish”. That’s actually a nickname for a manta ray theses days although apparently it was also used earlier for octopi as well, despite them being neither devil nor fish. As for this story, it’s obvious where it’s going from the beginning but it’s still fun. Kind of funny how Eban never questions where Myra came from. That’s lovestruck men for you. I’m amused that Myra still has the bandage on when she transforms.
I absolutely adore the random skulls, especially with their jaunty little hats!
I always like the stories where the people that get killed really, really deserved it, and this story goes out of the way to make them deserve it. Dumping barrels of cyanide into the sea? How do you even get a barrel of that stuff! Not that it would actually work, the ocean is vast and even a barrel isn't going to really do a lot aside from a really localized area!
But still, I like this better than when a bunch of innocents get killed by the supernatural. That always feels a lot more evil and scary; these tales feel a lot more like cheering on the monster.
I wonder if they lost a page? The splash is really weird with the tight panels smashed under it.
As Myra's arms and legs turn into tentacles, where does the other 4 tentacles come from? Question of the ages!
That strikes me as a pretty strange plan. His party is getting offed one by one by some creature that's cruising the sea for opportunities. So his strategy is to trade his big ship, with enclosed rooms and apparently well-stocked with harpoons and poison, for a wee little rowboat? How's that gonna help? Might as well swim.
These comics creators had a lot of weird ideas about venomous octopuses. A lot of weird ideas about the English language, too. Much of this is thunderously overwritten, but that block of impenetrable word jungle at the top of the splash is so egregiously, willfully cray-cray that I had a difficult (but rewarding) time trying to read it out loud.
Your intro, on the other hand, was fabulous! So horror host!
That's no exaggeration. This could be called an anti-whaling story, long before most people think of those stories as being around. It would make a good "eco-horror" movie.
Of course, at the same, it sort of helps along the stereotyped image of the octopus. Except that this one is supernatural.
Haha thanks! Sometimes I give it the ‘ol creepy college try :)
Post a Comment