Saturday, October 3, 2026

Escape from Hell!

The January 1954 issue of Fantastic Fears #5 features a couple of really hot numbers, including (as some of you may remember) the early Ditko classic, "Stretching Things" which can be found rather deep, deep down in the THOIA 2007 Archive HERE! Well, here comes another atrocity from this issue, with GCD believing this to be the work of joltin' Jack Abel. It's a quick little fearsome 4-pager that actually offers no real escape-- sorry for the spoiler, but OMG this is HELL after all! Yep, Satanic Saturday is back, --and don't be surprised if we hear more from 'Ol Scratch and his minions en masse before the month is out!

3 comments:

Brian Barnes said...

I always love the stories where the outright criminal is surprised to appear in hell. I mean, I'd be surprised that it exists, but probably not ending up there!

This is perfect for a little four-pager and I think the art does a really good job except at the height of the mountain. Being zoomed in doesn't quite give it the scale you'd want to make the torture that much worse. Judging pre-code comics, is, of course, the sin that would send me to hell!

I love the little devils. I love the one carrying the torch -- in hell -- already lit by fire everywhere! That's employee of the month material right there!

This devil seems nude with just a cape. That's the kind of statement a devil should make!

Caffeinated Joe said...

Well, that's a depressing one!

JMR777 said...

On the first page we find out that Richard Benton is evading the forces to bring him to justice, but we never learn what he did to face justice in the first place.
The only hint that Richard deserves punishment is from ol' scratch, saying it all began with his indolence, meaning idleness, laziness or slothfulness. If those things are considered unforgivable sins, then there are a lot of people in today's world who are in for bad time in the afterlife.

I really don't want to know how Jack Chick would have handled this tale.

I took a look on the web and saw Devil's Den in Oklahoma is now privately owned, so the new owners have their own private hell.
Kind of ironic or poetic, in a way.