Number 2282: Two from Uncanny Tales

Jack Keller was a longtime comic book journeyman, working in a variety of genres. He was definitely able to tell a story, and my opinion was also helped by seeing some of his Kid Colt western stories for Atlas/Marvel. I would bet Keller was a very dependable artist who got his work in on time. An editor's dream.

For today I have picked a werewolf story by Keller; the Grand Comics Database credits Carl Wessler for the script.

Speaking of scripts, the late Stan Lee showed his funny side with this Joe Maneely-drawn shorty of a horror comics editor who can’t seem to find a decent story from writers. I have mentioned before I like self-referential stories about the inner workings of the comics business. I wonder if Joe Maneely caricatured himself bent over a drawing board (page 3, panel 2). Obviously he didn’t caricature Stan Lee, who was too tall and slim to be mistaken for the fat and angry editor, Bradbury Bulldozer.

Both stories are from Uncanny Tales #4 (1952).

Number 1892: B-Movie on paper

“Death Was His Partner” reads to me like a synopsis for an old B-Movie. Gangster’s girlfriend has taken up with a young lawyer; lawyer was mentored by older lawyer who has been in the pocket of the aforementioned gangster. It is all packed into six pages for Crime Files #6 (actually #2, 1952) from Standard. According to the Grand Comics Database it was written by veteran comic book scripter Carl Wessler.

The story is drawn by Nick Cardy, who is a favorite of mine for the work he did at DC over many years. Cardy, whose real name was Viscardi, began his career at Eisner and Iger alongside artists like Lou Fine and Bob Powell. He spent a long time at DC, where he did covers and drew Aquaman and Teen Titans. He died in 2013 at age 93. “Death Was His Partner,” while melodramatic, is drenched in period atmosphere.

Here is a 1947 story by Cardy featuring the ever popular Señorita Rio. Just click on the thumbnail.

Number 935


Rubeny


When the Filipino comic artists were introduced to us American comic book readers nearly 40 years ago, I quickly came up with some favorites whose work I looked for. Ruben Yandoc, who sometimes went under the name Rubeny, is an artist I like. Yandoc had honed his skills for years in the local Philippine comics industry. The blog, PilipinoKomiks says, "Yandoc was at his best when illustrating fantasy and horror stories, the kind of which I consider Philippine gothic. It was a very popular genre in the early years of komiks in the Philippines." He includes a 4-page story by Yandoc from 1951.

These stories are some from copies of DC's mystery comics I had close at hand. "Fear Is A Nameless Voice" is written by George Kashdan and is from The Unexpected #143, 1973; "The Totem's Threat" by Carl Wessler and Yandoc, is from The Unexpected #147; "Over My Dead Body," also by Wessler, is from The Witching Hour #34. Kashdan also wrote "Blood Of Our Fathers," for The Witching Hour #42, 1974, which fits the description of gothic.

Number 324


Rat Man!


Today Karswell of The Horrors Of It All and I are running two versions of the same story: He has the printed version of Bob Powell's "The Rat Man" from Harvey Comics' Tomb Of Terror #5, and I am showing the original art. Wish I owned this art, but I stole…errrrrrrrr…I mean borrowed it from the Internet.

This is a good example of how Powell used blue watercolor to indicate to the color artist where he wanted color emphasis. You can compare these pages to the printed pages and see if he got through to that colorist.

*******

...and while we're showing original art, here are three pages I bought over 20 years ago at the San Diego Comics Convention, all hand-picked for their horror qualities, drawn by a couple of superfine Filipino artists.

"Beware the Snare of the Tarantula," from Witching Hour #54, is drawn by Jess Jodloman, written by EC Comics vet Carl Wessler. Love that Modred figure in the splash panel. Love the whole splash panel!*

Fellow EC vet Jack Oleck wrote "Way of the Werewolf," and here's a great page by Gerry Talaoc. A really nice werewolf tale, and this issue, House Of Mystery #231, has an incredible cover by Bernie Wrightson.

My thanks to best friend Dave Miller for doing the work of stitching the pages together via Photoshop.

*After posting this Karswell sent me this poster for The Fly, which obviously influenced the splash. Thanks, Karswell!