Let us now open one last case file from the luridly lively, pulp-fisted, Bentley of Scotland Yard series from Pep Comics. And up to this point, all of the stories we've seen so far have been from the later Paul Reinman illustrated era... well now we're rollin' the clock way back for an even early entry, via the September 1940 issue of Pep Comics #8, where we find that the great Sam Cooper has taken over the art duties. Everyone seems to have enjoyed these posts, so don't be surprised if Bentley pays us another visit sometime before the summer's end. Stay tombed, lots more on the way!
6 comments:
This one was a bit odd due to the killer saving the detective instead of letting Bentley take the blame.
I for one liked these whodunnits on THOIA, the comic book murders fit in well with horror and the old dark house theme.
This was interesting. I got the bit about the fork being the murder weapon but was confused about the one suit changing colour from brown to white.
Interesting how everyone suddenly jumped to the same conclusion as to the killer's identity simultaneously. That would've been a laugh in an Agatha Christie mystery where as soon as Poirot declares the killer's identity everyone in the room jumps him.
I do think this should have been a few pages longer. The count and Lady Stowe needed further character building so we'd know one was insane and the other a hated old biddy.
I have to admit I enjoy the novelty of murder-by-roasting fork. I also really enjoy these older comics for the tactile colors printed on the page. Their saturation, or lack thereof on occasion, has a grain or static to it that the digital coloring used in contemporary comics doesn't even touch and it provides another level of depth to the art. Even when it's off register! While I enjoy Reinman's odd foreshortening methods (tiny hands to the foreground!) Cooper really knows how to stage a panel. Even the small second panel on page 2, with the candle and the wind-blown curtain, is an eye magnet!
The count being slightly deranged still doesn't excuse why he was trying to thrown that statue off the stairs on Bentley--I mean, he seemed pretty sane prior to all that. At first, I thought we weren't actually going to get a "guess the killer" since the count seemed to be the one who did it. I'm also a teeny bit disappointed that unlike the previous story with the Devil, the vampire wasn't a guy running around in a costume. The splash certainly made me hope for one! I did think it was Bacon at the end, although at first, I thought he was awesome, grabbing for the sword on the knight and then slaying the count. Well, never trust a man named Bacon when everyone's roasting marshmallows. Also, I'm amused that the count doesn't think vampires exist. Yet, you're conducting a séance in the hope of attracting some spirits?
I like to image Bentley is just sitting as his desk tapping his fingers waiting for that phone to ring so he can rush out!
We get something in this one we didn't in the others, a really blatant red herring. I immediately just guessed Bacon because he dispatched the red herring, which is usually the job of the real killer. So I guess on convention, not clues!
I do love how poor old Count Hassan gets so many panels, is just written off as mad (note he is the only one at the very beginning that says there's no such thing as vampires, he's about the sanest guy there!). He really get the short end of the stick!
Fun art here, but a bit cramped. Page 3, panel 6 is an example of a panel not leaving enough space around the figures and making the figures look doll like.
The great (IMHO he was one of the giants of comics, I was a huge fan of his) Jim Shooter just died, and it reminded me of his "roller skates" bit, where he says that you need to show full figures at least every couple of panels or else how do you know they aren't wearing roller skates?
Now I can't stop analyzing panels for that!
In my comment on the last story I said "I'll totally fall for it when the obvious killer is the actual killer after all" and was really hoping for that outcome this time: "Who can the "vampire killer be?" is a funny question when one of the suspects is literally a madman dressed like Dracula. How mad? Well, he just randomly picks a guy to attempt some murder on for no other apparent reason than to provide a red herring. That strikes me as pretty insane when the guy's a cop.
I dig the art here--the colors too--but not as much as I like Reinman's stuff. Usually I am not a goofy panel borders guy, but the rigid framing in this installment comes off as a little fusty after the moody witchspaces the last guy was was working in. In my opinion, Cooper does his best work here when he's busting out: That scaly woman-biting gargoyle in the splash is great and all, but the weird ass horror tree takes the cake. Really put the pedal down; cranks things to eleven. I want to see the rest of a story that hews closer to that image.
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