Number 2232: Revenge of murdered men

When Fawcett quit the comic book business in 1953 the Captain Marvel universe disappeared for two decades until DC picked it up, and some of their non-Captain Marvel comic book line went to Charlton. That includes a horror title, This Magazine is Haunted. Before the Comics Code was implemented Charlton was able to use unpublished inventory from Fawcett, and also material which had been published, but could be reprinted. Two horror stories today have similar themes. Both of them are about guys who commit murder, and the dead come back to wreak revenge. That is Horror Comics 101; one of the most basic plots of all.

I am not sure if they were written to appear in the same issue, but they both appear in This Magazine is Haunted #15 (1954, Charlton). They are drawn by the same artist, Bob McCarty. (McCarty’s name is sometimes written as McCarthy.) McCarty’s artwork is usually identified by the eyes he drew, which are sometimes confused with distinctive eyes that George Evans drew; but where Evans’s style is slick and unique to him, McCarty’s can sometimes (as in these stories) look cobbled together from different artists’ styles. McCarty worked for the Simon and Kirby studio, and drew various features for comics until at least the mid-fifties. He looks to me to be another comic book journeyman whose work in those days was mostly anonymous.

Number 2195: Satan has no b*lls

EH! was another Mad imitation, published by Charlton, from the early '50s. The indicia reads “Designed by Al Fago Studios,” so we know to whom we can assign the blame. When I first read “Paradise Gained” I had some hope for it based on the Dick Ayers artwork, but after a couple of pages hope died. I wonder — rhetorically, since I don’t believe anyone is still alive to answer my question — if it was designed by someone who used other Mad imitators as a guide, rather than Mad itself?

In the story you see Satan in a department store. You see Satan is very popular with women. You see Satan appears to be nude under his cloak and cowl, yet without genitalia (page 5). Make of that what you will.

From EH! #2 (1954):