Thursday, January 16, 2025

A Coffin for Carlos

We've discussed the 'ol "bury you now, dig you up later" scheme in these scary old precode stories many times in the past, and it'll come as no spoilery surprise to learn that it doesn't work out in today's post either. But this time there's a twist, and it barely makes sense, --and bah, who cares? This is the stuff that made Atlas horror so great in the foist place, ya lousy bums! From the Dec. 1952 issue of Marvel Tales #110, with art by Don Perlin and Abe Simon (cover art by Russ Heath.)

2 comments:

Bill the Butcher said...

What do you suppose the Hunchback of Notre Deathrow wanted Carlos to beat the chair for? Certainly not $500, that kind of pill would fetch him many times more if marketed (for instance think of the long distance passenger transport savings if you didn't have to pay for anything more than enough space to pack then in side by side). Maybe HoND is a mad scientist and wanted to transplant his own consciousness into Carlos' less repulsive carcass?

Brian Barnes said...

OK does the ending make sense? Nope, but it *works*. It works because it has the dark sense of humor that made a lot of Atlas stories tick.

Another good Atlas 4 panel transition. Early Perlin but he does a really fine job here. The hunchback is a great character; not even a necessary one but why not make him a one-eyed, sharp-toothed hunchback? It's fun to draw! Perlin also gets in some good camera angles that give the story a more off-kilter horror feel. It's really great work.

The title is kind of misleading, there's not a coffin to be found in this story!