Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Moving pictures. What a marvellous diversion from the stresses, strains, indignities and vicissitudes of life they can be.
But just what was offering to divert us, should we deign to enter our local movie theatre in this month during 1975?
I must confess that, after much consideration, I would plump for Escape to Witch Mountain from that list, if I had to re-watch one of them, even though I recall seeing the trailer for Tommy in Mansfield Road's now demolished Rex Cinema, as a child. It was the cinema in which I ate my first Curly Wurly.
But, as we all know, not all pictures have to move in order for them to move us.
Some of them can be static.
And printed upon paper.
In the format that mankind knows as comics.
I do always wonder if the makers of Short Circuit read this strip before creating that film.
Next, we find an interview with Alfred Bester.
I do believe that nearly all the tales featured in this issue will later be reprinted in Marvel UK's Planet of the Apes weekly.
Next, there's a story in which someone called Dr Harris discovers an agency that supplies zombies for all your needs.
Then we find a chiller in which a voodoo priestess inflicts vengeance upon a judge who likes to kill his prisoners.
And we finish with one in which the dead take revenge upon the robbers of their graves.
Then again, perhaps they're not. As far as I can make out, this epic sees Diablo abduct Valeria in a bid to force Doom to partner with him. I predict this is not a move that shall end happily for the alchemist.
And how Subby fits into all that, I cannot say.
He must also battle the Thing when the Leader and Kurrgo have a bet as to which of the two bruisers would win a scrap.
There is, too, his first encounter with Doc Samson - and a Marie Severin drawn clash with the Sub-Mariner that involves the Puppet Master.
But, of course, the biggest struggle for Jade Jaws is he has to fight almost every foe he's ever encountered, when the Leader creates mental projections of them and unleashes them upon our hero.
Needless to say, it all backfires disastrously for the big-bonced bonkers bounder.
Having said that, it turns out not to be quite enough, as the patchwork protagonist defeats it with ease.
Probably of more immediate concern to him is someone called Cardinal who seems to work for a criminal organisation called ICON and has his very own warehouse. Never underestimate a man who has his own warehouse.
We also encounter a Yellow Claw adventure reprinted from 1956's Yellow Claw #2. It seems to feature a group of mutants, which is a very modern thing for a comic book story from the mid-1950s to feature.
It also features a tale in which an actor who despises his fans gets his wish to be left alone, when he loses the ability to see other human beings.
Next, a reporter's driven to murder his editor, in order to create a great news story.
And, finally, a scientist looking for volunteers to spend the rest of their lives buried in a time capsule settles upon a husband and his overly-talkative wife.
Given that this is a 1970s colour Marvel horror anthology, you may have guessed that all of these morality tales are reprints from the early 1950s.
4 comments:
Charlie dug Shadow #9 out of the long boxes last night. The Kubert cover will have to serve as both the sizzle and steak.
Robbins’ art is often cartoony, not just quirky. Large panels have no background drawn, just blank… in a hurry?
And the story seems to just wrap itself up in a hurry to get to the dramatic ending of the villainess falling off a tightrope , whilst fighting the Shadow, into Niagara falls. Kind of like a Spectre story in Adventure comics in that sense.
Why couldn’t they put Aparo on Shadow???
Lois Lane Niagared herself to flush Chris Reeves' Clark Kent out, as Superman.
Pig monsters in Frankie? Marvel nicking Moorcock's tropes again!
Phillip
Steve:
For me, the most notable thing about the last issue of TALES OF THE ZOMBIE is that it lacks an actual tale of the Zombie.
Also, “cranially committed crooks” — (chef’s kiss)
Phillip:
It’s possible that Moorcock nicked the pig monsters from William Hope Hodgson…
More in a bit.
b.t.
b.t. - I've no excuse for missing that one. 'The House on the Borderland' is one I like, too - well spotted!
Phillip
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