Number 2199: See no, hear no, speak no...

The popular maxim, “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” often accompanied by three monkeys with hands over their eyes, mouth and ears, comes from at least the 17th century (Japan) and maybe even further back to the 8th century (China). It has different meanings based on one's interpretation, but for the sake of the two stories I am showing today, it is about people seeking evil.

It may or may not be clever to base a story on such a familiar trope, but it seems a natural for writers of horror or mystery stories. When in doubt, go to what is familiar. And, of course I chose the stories because they feature apes!

“Search for Evil” is from Harvey’s Black Cat Mystery #44 (1953). No scripter is listed by the Grand Comics Database, but the artist is Howard Nostrand. ”Hear, See, Speak Evil” is from Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #11 (1965), published by Gold Key. Again, no scripter, but the artwork is signed “AW” — Al Williamson.

Number 1805: Hooray for Halloween Horror: The Body Maker

Halloween is Saturday, so we have a week of Halloween stories ahead of us. First up is a story from Black Cat Mystery #39 (1952), about a Frankenstein type who is creating his perfect woman. Personally, I think I could make it easier just to kidnap Sofia Vergara (or substitute your own choice) for a perfect woman, but this guy does it the hard way.

The artist is Warren Kremer, who does a marvelous job with what is actually kind of a silly story. (She’s not a natural blonde? Well, just keep kidnapping and killing 'em until you find one!) Kremer (born 1921) had a long career as a comic book artist, starting in the 1940s, and going until his death in 2003. He is probably most famous for drawing Casper the Friendly Ghost, Wendy the Good Little Witch, Richie Rich, etc., for Harvey Comics. But his work for Harvey goes back to their pre-Code horror comics. He designed covers, and he did occasional horror stories. If nothing else, he might be one of the most versatile comic artists ever.

Number 947


The dead are with us always


At the end of April we had a tale of haunted love, the other day a funny story of Tubby and a ghost, today two stories of death and hauntings of an unusual sort.

In "Twice Alive" we have an imaginative setting for ghosts, our own bodies. We all know our genes live on beyond us, but what if all of our ancestors inhabited our body? Even such an outrageous idea works because of Bob Powell's masterful artwork. It's too bad Worlds Beyond #1, a Fawcett comic from 1951, wasn't printed better. My scans for this story are new. I showed the story a few years ago and my poor scans of the time made the bad printing look even worse. It has haunted me since. So to exorcise the ghosts of bad scans, I resurrected this eerie story and gave new life to the pages.

Harvey Comics' Black Cat Mystery #32, is dated December, 1951, one month later than Worlds Beyond, and has another eerie story, this time featuring "the ghost of death." Both stories are done by Powell with the assistance of Howard Nostrand, who worked his name into "Deadly Acres" on the side of the moving van.

Number 821


Octoman is here!


Let it be stated now: I am not down with octopi. I am not a fan of slithery 8-armed critters from the depths of the seas. My parents took me to see the movie Beneath The 12-Mile Reef when I was a kid, and Robert Wagner fighting with an octopus made up my mind for me. I let the octos stay where they are, and I stay away from them. I can't even look at them in an aquarium.

So they spook me, especially when, as in "Arms Of Doom" from Harvey's Black Cat Mystery #32, 1952, they have googly cartoon eyes and are attached to a human body. Ugh. This disgustingly tentacled tale is drawn by the master of disgusting, Rudi Palais.

Number 523


Rudy Palais pops a sweat!


Golden Age comic art by Rudy Palais can be spotted easily by looking for flying sweat drops. This past Monday I showed you a couple of stories by Johnny Craig, who also used perspiring faces to indicate stress or fear. But Palais used the type of sweat drops usually associated with funny animal comics. I'm thinking of Chad Grothkopf (Captain Marvel Bunny) or Floyd Gottfredson (Mickey Mouse). Both of those cartoonists drew characters with bullets of sweat flying from their heads. Sweat as Palais portrayed it wasn't usually used in more illustrative comic art, and I can think of no other artist who used sweat or tears in the bulbous and exaggerated way Palais did.

Here are originals for four stories by Rudy Palais I culled from the Internet, all of which show his signature flying sweat. "The Scarecrow's Revenge" is from Witches Tales #14. "The Clock Struck Doom" is from Black Cat Mystery #37, "Army of Scorpions" from Black Cat Mystery #33, and "The Man With the Iron Face" is from Witches Tales #12.

I also showed two crime comics stories by Palais here and here.