Number 303
2 x Everett
Karswell of The Horrors Of It All is showing Bill Everett stories the first week of May. I've chosen a couple by Everett from the Marvel reprint comics of the 1970s, a Venus pre-code story from Venus #18, 1952, and a postcode story from Astonishing #47, 1956. The thing that ties them together to me are the walking plants in Venus and the spacemen in Astonishing are both drawn in a cartoony style. More cartoony than Everett's usual style, which could get pretty cartoony.
"Hey Venus, Goddess of Love that you are! Surely the things I ask...can't be too great a task..."
ReplyDeleteLoved these stories, and especially loved the wild expressive lettering in the first tale. There's a little of it in the second, but not to the same extent. And that Venus...she's no Gale Allen, but I wouldn't throw her out of bed for eating crackers...
Great stuff, Pappy! Now I'm going to have to see whether you have any more Venus stories up...
And by the way, where was Venus packing that KNIFE, I wonder? I don't see any pockets on that dress...
ReplyDelete"SEE HOW YOU LIKE THE TASTE OF COLD STEEL, YOU...YOU CREEP!"
Girl of my dreams...
Loved the Venus story, especially the part where the Sheriff tells the townsWOMAN to "carry Venus" down to the house (he's obviously got much more important, manly things to do like making a phone call to carry her down himself.) Also, I think I'd have to punch someone in the head if they ever said "airyplanes" in my presense.
ReplyDeleteVenus should get a nice hardbound collection someday, especially when you look at those last few covers from the series which are graced with some of the most horrific Everett masterpieces of all time.
Spaceship in the Barn wasn't bad, kind of typical lightweight post code SF Atlas but still terrific artwork of course. What the farmer didn't tell the reporter though is that communicating with the aliens by grabbing the rod on their head also gets them off. Oooooo...
The Venus story is much apreciated, Pappy.
ReplyDeleteI agree that they are worthy of a collected volume.
Now, if we can only convince the powers that be currently occupying the former House of Ideas.
Vicar, I finally added your fine blog to my links list. Everybody go to Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies and see.
ReplyDeleteI think sometimes that Marvel would like to forget the period between their golden age super heroes and 1961 and Fantastic Four #1 (which I bought off the rack, incidentally). I'm surprised they don't issue volumes in their deluxe series, or even their black and white phonebook series' reprinting their fine short stories, both post code and precode. I guess if you've got billion $$$ franchises like Spider-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, you don't even have to think about a bunch of horror stories from the 1950s.
As for where Venus got the knife, it's probably where all comic book characters got their magically appearing stuff, in the gutters between the panels. That's the only place they could find it at such short notice without us seeing.
MY BAD. After writing that Marvel was ignoring its old horror comics with its reprint volumes, I was checking out Karswell's old posts and found a plug for Marvel Masterworks, reprinting the first ten issues of Strange Tales. So sue me. I don't keep up on this kind of comic book news...
ReplyDelete