Number 331
The bloody eyeball
The Thing #16, a Charlton horror comic from late '54, is notorious for having some sort of gory violence in every story: a spear through a guy's throat, a guy stabbed in the chest, a spike through a guy's cheeks. Kind of a one-note comic book! This story, "The Mentalist," drawn by Bill Molno, has a spear thrown into a guy's eyeball. It's what Doc Wertham called "the injury to the eye motif." Whatever, this is one gruesome comic book.
Yuck!
ReplyDeleteOne would think that if they were of a mind to show the spear impacting so graphically with Menlo's eye, then the very least that they could have done is also show the shark beginning to chow down on its victim.
I mean, that's no time to withhold the shock & gore.
Clever little switcheroo at the end as only The Thing could provide. Cool tale, I do have to wonder though who was in charge of the sound effects for this story cuz "CRUNCH!" doesn't seem like the appropriate sound for a spear entering someone's eye. I also sometimes ponder how REAL policemen felt about alot of these stories, seems there's always an ending with two cops standing around summing up a situation with something doofy and unprofessional to say to one another.
ReplyDeleteSo do you have this whole issue Pappy or is it another one of those tear-sheets? Curious about the Ayers story in this one called "Nothing He Couldn't Do!"
Speaking of shock and gore...or is it shock and awe? I love your new picture, Chuck.
ReplyDeleteKarswell, I ran "Nothing He Couldn't Do" in Pappy's #291.
What is the sound of a spear tip entering the soft white of an eyeball? SPLORRRRP...?
SHLUUURRRP...? It's gotta have the slushy, squishing, squirting sound to it. You're right, CRUNCH doesn't do it.
>Karswell, I ran "Nothing He Couldn't Do" in Pappy's #291.
ReplyDeleteHa ha, dumb 'ol me, I even commented on that story! A couple times! Totally forgot...