Zero, Ghost Detective was another in a long line of fun supernatural back-up filler crime horror heroes, this time found in the pages of Quality's Feature Comics (home to Doll Man, among others.) Though Zero lacked any real magical abilities, his extensive knowledge of the occult helped him put an end to the terrifyin' evil shenanigans plaguing mankind, as you'll see in today's Saturday Matinee Double Feature Dance Macabre, where cult creeps in graveyards can be one hellva nuisance! The first story comes from the January 1943 issue of Feature Comics #64 and is illustrated by wild man Witmer Williams who really knew his way around a grinning skull, --not to mention a fine form fitting cloak on a female figure! Followed by the somewhat similar second tale going back a few years to the earlier days of Zero, all the way in fact to the August 1940 issue of Feature Comics #35, and this time colorfully brought to life by Dan Zolnerowich. Don't be surprised to see more Zero in the coming New Year as well...
4 comments:
I like Zero. In the first story he assures Vern that it's just his imagination that his sister would come back from the dead to kill him. Yet he immediately decides to go visit him that night anyway because he's certain that's not the case. There's no mention as to who killed Ann or why. It seems unrelated to Vern getting this Death Emerald. We also don't know why Ann is tasked to kill for this emerald instead of simply, I don't know, politely asking her brother for it? Nice art though, especially on the ghostly Ann and the spirits dancing round the graveyard. Also, I need to nitpick that introduction. Danse Macabre was written by Camille Saint-Saens. Edward MacDowell seems to have made an arrangement/transcription of it though.
The second story is great. The little ghost dog is the true hero of this one. I love how he beats up a rooster to make it crow early!
His name may be Zero but his ghost fighting actions are anything but. His actions remind me a bit of Grimm Ghost Doctor and Werewolf Hunter, investigators into the paranormal who aren't afraid to mix it up with spectral menaces.
In the first story I had expected Zero to ignore Vern's concerns and later find out about Vern's death, then search for the spectral killer. Instead, Zero went to Vern's home and stopped the spectral slaughter. This is one of the rare times where a comic book investigator followed his hunch.
The second story was kind of colorful, instead of dark or grey outside scenes the backdrops were bright and cheery, not something you see in a ghostly tale.
The dog, returning from the beyond to protect their owner, is a ghost tale that has been mentioned in horror comics before and works well here.
I also liked the ad for the detective cap and wallet. I wonder how many kinds sent away for both items back then.
It's interesting how there isn't a lot of "story bible" for these 40s comics; in the first one, Zero acts dismisses the sister coming back but then has a hunch, but just a couple years earlier was punching skeletons. He should really expect a ghost!
... skeleton ghosts which he could not actually harm in the future but could grab their robes!
It is very cool you put these two together because they show how fast comics were evolving in the 40s. In the second story, the paneling is cramped, there's a lot of explaining the art in the captions (I adore "It is a beautiful girl in the arms of a hideous skeleton"), and it's not the best idea for coloring for a spooky tale. Just a couple years later the paneling breaths, the color is better, the action speaks for itself. Its night and day.
Add another sexy ghost to the pile, but this time we get a hero ghost dog!
I think I may have liked the earlier story best today. I love the seemingly random canine "meet cute" that kicks things off, and I was bemused by Zero's attitude that whatever it was the dead were doing in that cemetery, well, it must be stopped at all costs. Yeah, yeah, then the story goes on to include their nefarious plot and the motivations of the dog--the regular-people characters in this one were just pawns in a much vaster game, after all--and then at that point story became a wee more pedestrian. But in that first half it was still totally wild and unpredictable.
The later story was a hoot for all the reasons others note. I can't believe we never find out how--or why--Ann has died; and it's also totally obvious that nobody really seems to care, either. This story is all about a woman desperately working to return for the dead, perhaps even over her own beloved family's dead bodies, and she is thwarted at every turn by people who, uh, don't even really know they are thwarting her--which makes the dialog in the denouement rather blithe: "Welp, your sister's still dead. Good riddance." "Yeah, I feel better already!" I mean, wasn't Vern planning on burying her with that emerald anyway? Dodged a bullet there, I guess.
I do like the way Ghost Anne has television lines running through her spectral image, like her reception is iffy (I'll say!), and the way she abducts Zero to the boneyard to strap him up and dance at him. As a story element, that's got a real Ed Wood feel to it.
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