If our previous post HERE left you feeling a little repossessed, then maybe it's time to get re-repossessed! And while I'm not exactly sure if what I just said actually makes any sense, I do know this terrifically twisty tale of rotten romance, via the May 1975 issue of Ghostly Haunts #44, is absolutely loads of freak-deaky fun. Winnie the wanton Witch re-materializes once again to host the chillin' chain of horrific events, and ohhh my, how spooky is that superb Sanho Kim cover painting?! Plus: Blondes! Brunettes! A redhead! It's funny! It's frightening, --and every bit exciting! Did I mention that a distant cousin of The Creech even swims by for a creepy cameo? Damn, this crazy story really does have everything..
Sanho Kim was one of the greats of Charlton horror as can be seen in THOIA's archives.
ReplyDeleteThe reactions of men when seeing Beatrice reminded me of The Three Stooges short 'Scrambled Brains'
Larry to Moe, "Hey, you know, I think she's uglier than you are."
Larry- "I'd better have another drink I can still see her face."
On the first page, bottom panels, they could have been titled
Image on the left, what she looks like after one beer
Image on the right, what she looks like after six or more beers.
Dodd, of course, didn't consider his non lethal options, if he was loaded with loot, why not hire a plastic surgeon and improve Beatrice's looks? Either that, or ask Beatrice if there were some spell or potion to change her appearance to avoid rude comments? If Winnie can look like a fashion model, why couldn't Beatrice conjure up a potion to do the same?
This was a twist on the tale Beauty and the Beast, first with Dodd marrying the beast, then turning into a beast after he is single again.
This was one of the better tales from Charlton, and Fred Himes drew some nice eye candy in this one.
I love how whenever Beatrice makes Dodd think she's beautiful, she shamelessly makes her outfit appear sexier to him as well. On the first page, her little red dress becomes much more revealing, leaving very little to the imagination. Then the last panel of page three, we see quite a bit beneath that oh so sheer negligee. I do love the bit where the drunk even thinks something weird is going on here. I love that Beatrice casts a spell at that point and Dodd doesn't even notice. Honestly though, people really need to watch their mouths. It's nobody's business who someone falls in love with-even if that someone happens to be a witch whose a bit of a cougar. Besides, she could easily cast a spell on all the naysayers. At least this one seems to have a happy ending.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it's weird, I've seen at least two other Charlton stories that are similar in which a older woman manages to bag a younger man by literally bewitching him like that. They all end on a surprisingly sweet note though.
I like the Ditko version of Winnie better; Kim's is super cute but Ditko has that weird kind of other worldly vibe to it. I mean, that's part of Ditko's charm. It doesn't affect the story but it's interesting to see how a different artist makes a pretty different Winnie.
ReplyDeleteI love this story because if anybody felt like searching through my numerous comments I've mentioned more than once that having an ugly witch wife isn't all that bad as many of these horror stories have witches using glamour spells. First, she can turn into anybody beautiful for you and you get her magic to help you out in business, etc.
Side note: You've got an internet full of incels that have seemingly never seen a woman without makeup on and they pretty much believe it's exactly like this!
BTW, this is the second story in a row where there isn't really any great evil going on. Sure, Beatrice is about pulling a con and I guess, kind of catfishing in a magic way??? but she's not exactly murdering people or doing vast evil, and ends up on frankly not that bad of an ending. "Oh, Boy!" indeed!
Ditko often gave Winnie the Dolly Parton treatment, though truth be told, that's how he drew most of his women. Come to think of it, Wally Wood drew like that too. I wonder how Bill Ward would have drawn Winnie?
DeleteI know how Bill would have drawn her shoes, that I can be sure of!
DeleteThese Winnie the Witch Tales from All New Ghostly Haunts have such a bizarre vibe. Clearly they are supposed to be peppy froth of quirky dialog and lighthearted spooky-doo, but the fit feels awkward to me. I mean, it matches up better with the Filmmation visuals here than the somewhat darker look of the last story, but it still clashes. Like they don't have the recipe just right yet.
ReplyDeleteThis story did make me have all sorts of thoughts about the nature of authenticity when it comes to beauty, which is never particularly permanent in any event, and what that authenticity might be worth in the short time it exists. We have very few objective rules governing what beauty must be--some standard of lateral symmetry, visible indications of health, and the absence of malformations spring to mind--and all kinds of subjective aesthetic fads to distract us. About body parts and age and the color of hair and skin. That sort of thing. Most of these attributes boil down to money and privilege. But generally speaking, if you can make a person look beautiful in certain situations, on film for instance, that's considered good enough to cash in. Super models are typically people who look quite amazing from one angle, after all. And who's to say what percentage of makeup, lighting, a spell, crosses that line of authenticity? I guess whoever is paying?
Anyway, I didn't pay too much attention to story itself. I do feel like the ending did not try hard enough to undo the general misogyny of the rest of the story, the concept that women without authentic beauty lack worth. I do appreciate that it tried, though.
I love Winnie the Witch. She's so mod and wild. Those groovy yellow hippie sunglasses and the McDonald's belt are the best! I'd like to see Frazetta do one in his best Vampirella style.
Charlton might not have invented this for comics, but one great thing about Winnie is how she walks through scenes and seems to hang out with the characters without REALLY doing that. A little like Rod Serling in those TWILIGHT ZONE openings.
DeleteThe accident made me expect much worse things for Dodd. Even though it is an accident, for that reason it reminds you of the one in the movie TORMENTED.
ReplyDeleteAnd it does have Beatrice haunting him, especially when it comes to other girls, but obviously with a happier ending for him than Tom gets in TORMENTED.