Sunday 29 November 2020

Tomb of Darkness #13.

 Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.

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Tomb of Darkness #13
When I think of Code-approved horror in monthly slices, I always think of DC and Charlton.

Marvel was for super-heroes. Even their big horror titles, like Dracula, Frankenstein and Werewolf by Night, were super-hero yarns in everything but name.

But even the House of Ideas sometimes dipped its toes in the waters of full-colour anthologised horror, and Tomb of Darkness was one of those bouts of splishing.

As far as I know, #13 was the only issue of this mag my younger self ever owned. So - reacquainted with it - when I open it, what do I get? Will 13 be lucky for some?

First, there's The Man in the Tomb. The town's most exclusive masonic lodge has a problem when the local gangland big cheese shows up and demands it let him join, so he can impress his girlfriend with how classy he is.

As the lodge's initiation ceremony involves convincing new recruits they're about to be decapitated, I'm not sure membership of it really suggests classiness.

Tomb of Darkness #13
Nonetheless, undeterred, he's determined to join and, having the sense not to threaten to behead a man who's holding a gun, the members, instead, lock him in a local tomb, telling him he can free himself, with a key, any time he wants to but he has to stay overnight if he's to complete his initiation.

Their genius ploy is that, while he's entombed, they can flee to another part of town where he'll never find them and they'll be rid of him.

Unfortunately, in his escape attempt, the gormless gangster manages to drop the key and now has no way out. With the lodge having fled to another part of town, there's no one to liberate him, and his doom is surely set.

Tomb of Darkness #13, Alone
Next, 
Alone sees a famous actor become so fed-up of constant adulation that he wishes he could be left alone.

For no good reason, his wish is granted and he, indeed, finds himself alone in a world in which he's unable to see, hear or touch the people he knows must be there.

This is an odd one. Clearly, we're supposed to see him as a jerk who deserves everything he gets but, in truth, he comes across as suffering from a massive dose of social anxiety; and needing professional help, rather than salutary lessons.

Tomb of Darkness #13, Stop the Presses
Third, 
Stop the Presses delivers us a journalist who endures as much bullying from his editor as he can before he murders the man.

But not until after he's written up the story for his newspaper.

Finally, the comic delivers The Gal Who Talked Too Much. A long-suffering husband, whose wife never shuts up, agrees to slip her a Mickey Finn, so she can be entombed, alive, in a time capsule, for future generations to know what a human being was like.

Sadly, for the husband, it turns out the scientist who arranged that also arranged for her to drug him, and now he's trapped in the time capsule, for the rest of his life with, his nagging wife.

How terrifying are these tales?

Not muchly.

Tomb of Darkness #13, The Gal Who Talked Too Much
Even by the standards of 1970s horror comics, they're mild, being reprints from the 1950s when restrictions on mainstream comics were even more stringent than they were twenty years later. These are definitely tales for the very faintest of hearts.

And, unlike those DC and Charlton books, there's no host to tie the stories together, giving a sense of half-heartedness to the venture that contrasts with the more involved efforts of those other two publishers.

Egads, there's not even a letters page!

The longevity of many of DC and Charlton's books - and the sheer quantity of titles - would suggest there was a healthy market for such things. So, why Marvel lacked the will to seriously pursue it is anyone's guess.

13 comments:

Redartz said...

Interesting subject, Steve! Marvel did produce some 'new' horror tales in such books as "Tower of Shadows " and "Chamber of Darkness ", and even had some in the mid'70's "Giant Size Chillers ". But largely they stuck with the 50's reprints you mentioned. Kind of a shame. DC and Charlton really filled that niche. And although, as you noted, the stories weren't all that terrifying, they did feature some nice artwork. It would have been fun to see some mystery tales from such Marvel stalwarts as John Byrne, Gil Kane and Jim Starlin.

Actually, back then I generally ignored the horror comics. It has only been in the last couple of years that I developed an appreciation and desire for them. And of course so have many others, apparently; if the increasing prices for such comics is any indication. Once upon a time you couldn't give those books away, they would sit in dusty boxes alongside war and romance comics. No longer...

Anonymous said...

That does sound like a rubbish comic Steve. Thanks for reading it so we don't have to.

Redartz, here you go, a classic old House of Mystery short drawn by Gil Kane, from just before he went to Marvel -
https://thebristolboard.tumblr.com/post/75953303011/forgotten-masterpiece-his-name-is-kane-by-mike

-sean

McSCOTTY said...

I also petty much ignored most of Marvel and DCs colour horror reprint books at the time. However, it has to be said that they had some amazing covers that whilst promising so much more than what was inside the actual comics, are worth picking up just for the covers alone. Of course some of these books have excellent stuff like Fear 3 that is chock full of some lovely Ditko and Kirby 5 to 7 page tales .

Redartz said...

Sean- many thanks for that link! Odd little tale, to say the least. Makes one wonder how Gil's relations were with the DC editors. Then there is the nice bonus of Wally Wood inks. Looks incredible over Kane's pencils...

Anonymous said...

Cool beans! I do enjoy these one-issue, deep-dive reviews of yours, Steve.
I agree that Marvel's attempts at short-story horror anthologies never really got off the ground. I dunno why. When they did horror comics based on a single character, like Tomb of Dracula or Werewolf by Night, or even Frankenstein's Monster or the Man-Thing, they put out some pretty good stuff.
Even the Mummy and Morbius were interesting. And TOD was consistently one of of the better if not the best comic of any category Marvel put out for a decade or so.
I think Charlton Comics, despite having the reputation of being the retarded younger cousin of D.C. and Marvel, put out the best horror comics, TOD not withstanding. That was their bread and butter. They got fairly good at it.
(Speaking of retarded cousins, at my family reunions everybody is thinking the same thing. It's somebody else and not you)

M.P.

Steve W. said...

Thanks, MP, McScotty and Redartz. :)

Sean, thanks for that link. That is a truly bizarre story.

Anonymous said...

Steve, you mentioned the lack of a horror host in this comic.
I agree, that's a serious oversight! Sometimes the horror host is the best part of the dang comic. It's a long-standing and respected tradition.
I've always been partial to Winnie the Witch, myself.
Didn't Marvel have a horror host named the Grave-digger, or something like that?
I think it was a brilliant move when Marvel made the Watcher the, ah, master of ceremonies on the What If comic.
Like with Rod Serling, an ironic introduction from a disturbingly creepy host is the best way to start off these tales of the macabre.

M.P.

McSCOTTY said...

The Gravedigger appeared in Chamber of Darkness although from memory he didn't host all the stories I seem recall another character did that as well (and a few Marvel staff like Stan and Don Heck)

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Steve - As always, I love these single-issue, in-depth, profound reviews you treat us too! Thanks!

I did have a few of these, or perhaps I simply read them at the spinner rather than plop down the pesos lol.

But that is a good question, whoever asked it, "why didn't marvel try their hand in a serious way at horror comics?"

Anonymous said...

Charlie, you cheapskate!
The local drugstore ain't a library.

M.P.

Anonymous said...

"Why didn't Marvel try their hand in a serious way at horror comics?"

When they were expanding in the 60s the "Marvel method" probably didn't lend itself well to anthology titles - it was probably a lot easier for Stan Lee to get good results leaving plot details to the artists with long underwear types hitting and zapping each other over twenty pages.

By the time there more writers at Marvel in the 70s it would have made more sense to do character based stuff like Tomb of Dracula. Why spend money on competing with, say, House of Mystery which did ok but I don't think was one of DC's best sellers, and was maybe starting to look a bit old fashioned?

I don't think Redartz' comment - "back then, I generally ignored the horror comics" - is that unusual.
Personally, I liked them, but then I even enjoyed war comics. The Losers, Haunted Tank, Enemy Ace... c'mon Steve, when are you finally going to review a war comic? (Brave & the Bold with Sgt Rock doesn't count)

-sean

Steve W. said...

Sean, at some point, before the end of this year, I shall force myself to read a war comic and review it.

Anonymous said...

Good man Steve. I'll be honest with you, that wasn't the answer I was expecting - I look forward to reading your thoughts.
Hope you pick a good one so it isn't too much of a chore for you (;

-sean