Number 2464: Joe Sinnott could draw horror

Joe Sinnott, comic artist, died this year at age 93. Despite his advanced age, it is still a bit jarring when I see the death notice for someone I admire, no matter how old. I admire Joe Sinnott’s art, and have enjoyed it for over 60 of Joe’s 93 years.

For Halloween I’ve got four stories Sinnott did for Atlas horror comics in the early '50s. The stories are well drawn and effective, especially one of my favorites, “The Witch in the Woods.” It retells the story of Hansel and Gretel as a comeback to enemies of horror comics. We can assume that horror stories have been told to children around the campfire probably as far back as early humans telling their kids tall tales of monsters and ghosts. I have shown these before, some years ago. They're just as fun to read now as they were then.

From Menace #7 (1953):

From Dead of Night #1 (1973); reprinted from Adventures Into Weird Worlds #6 (1952):

From Uncanny Tales #13 (1953):

From Uncanny Tales #16 (1954):

Number 2311: “Your Name is Frankenstein!”

I like the old Atlas stories written by Stan Lee. His issues of the horror comic, Menace, are good examples of his skill and style. It helps that he had top illustrators to do the artwork. In this issue, besides the stories being written by Lee, the comic has artwork by Syd Shores, Joe Sinnott, Russ Heath, and the illustrator of today’s offering, Joe Maneely. A stellar lineup of talent.

Menace #7 (1953) was one of the first pre-Code horror comics I owned, thanks to Bill Thailing of Cleveland, Ohio, a very early comic book dealer. I think it cost me 50¢.

I showed the Frankenstein story in the very early days of this blog. I had only my own copy to scan and present, and it was in bad shape when I scanned it. Today I am showing much better scans from a copy I found online.

Number 2249: You’d have to be crazy not to like horror comics

 I have a couple of cute horror stories from 1950s Atlas Comics. “Cute horror” may sound like an oxymoron, but these have a light tone, and are also amusing.

I love stories from comic books that are about comic books; artists, editors, anything that makes me feel I am getting a look inside the busy atmosphere of a comic book publishing company. In “Raving Maniac” from Suspense #29 (1953), drawn by Joe Maneely, an irate critic of comics invades the office to complain about showing monsters, and the editor refutes his criticism. Frankly, if this is a poke at those who were publicly criticizing comic books at the time, then it would bounce off any comic book hater. As I have found out, it is nearly impossible to get past a prejudice with examples, facts, or even humor. Whoever wrote the story was preaching to the choir about comics; no one who hated them would be dissuaded from their hatred. They might also be upset about how the title is a pun on the resolution of the story, “Raving Maniac.”

I showed Stan Lee and Joe Sinnott’s “The Witch in the Woods” in a blog post from 2007, so I made some new scans. It is a funny story about a dad angry with his son for reading comic books when he should be reading “good” books, like Grimm’s Fairy Tales. I always thought “Hansel and Gretel” was a gruesome story, not that it bothered me. My mother regretted taking me to a puppet version of it when I was six or seven. Like the story, she didn’t think fare that included parents abandoning their children in the woods and having a cannibal witch was wholesome enough for me. Ha-ha. Little did she know how bent I was toward this sort of horror, even at such an early age.

From Menace #7 (1953):

Number 1901: Russ Heath is a Menace!

Of the Atlas horror comics, of which there are dozens, if not hundreds, of individual issues, the series I like best is Menace, with stories by Stan Lee, and drawn by some of the best talent at the company. Of that talent, I have showcased several in this blog, including Bill Everett, Joe Maneely, Joe Sinnott, and the very talented artist featured with two stories today, Russ Heath.

Heath had stories in nine issues of the eleven-issue run of Menace, and his style was perfect for horror comics. As Dr. Michael Vassallo says in his introduction to the hardbound compilation of Menace: “Heath was nearly unsurpassable in his ability to depict dark, brooding and grim hopelessness.” That certainly describes the last story in issue #1, “They Wait in Their Dungeon,” which Dr. V. describes as “ . . . a shockingly violent tale about abused inmates finally getting revenge on their brutal warden.” The second story we show today has a totally different subject matter, but shares with the first tale a totally unlikeable main character. Both Stella Stevens (!!) and Warden Drury share in common Pappy's First Law of Horror Comics: “The main character shall be as unpleasant and unredeemable as possible.” That is done to make the reader very happy when they come to their inevitable end.

Menace was published during the horror comics boom, and was cancelled in 1954, when the fiery heat of the critics was licking around the ankles of comic book publishers.

Three more of my favorite Russ Heath postings. Sea Devils, GI's and dinosaurs, and the Living Brain! Just click on the thumbnails.