Number 2596: The life (and death) of Riley

Does anyone still use the phrase “the life of Riley”? It indicates someone enjoying a great life. The story here is called “The Life of Riley,” to indicate a criminal named Riley who has his own life of Riley after a successful robbery.

It is a horror comic, so a good life can turn bad before the end of the story. At least for Riley.

The artwork is signed by Myron Fass, who drew comic books for a few years. Fass began living the life of Riley when he started his own magazine publishing business after his career in comics. Fass’s magazines were lowbrow, but successful. I don’t believe any comics fan who collects 1970s materials was not aware of Fass’s Eerie Publications, which covered the sleasy magazine market well during those times. Fass died in 2006.

From Beware #7 (1954):

Number 1792: Revenge of the hunchback

“The Horror of Gaul” is an oddball story; published in a crime comic, it has some crime at the center of it, but mainly it is about the “crime” of being ugly. Quartrino, who according to the splash panel, “ . . . could very well have served as the model upon which [Victor] Hugo penned his famous classic, The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” is a hunchback, bullied and insulted by his master. It takes place in 1527 in France. Crime comics often used historical settings for crimes. I have no idea whether this is based on truth or not.

It wasn’t uncommon for comics to have stories about pathetic characters who are ugly and treated horribly because of it. It evokes emotion in the reader, leading to a revenge ending. (“Hop-Frog” by Poe springs to mind as one of the best examples.*) There is a lesson in tolerance in there, somewhere, or at least a warning. If you are a bully and ridicule someone you may end up thrown off the battlement. You would deserve it, in my opinion.

From Atlas Comics’ Crime Can’t Win #43 (actual #3), 1951. Signed by Myron Fass.

*Henry Kujawa has been doing an exceptional job collecting all of the comic book versions of Poe stories, either direct adaptations or swipes, for his blog. Here is “Hop-Frog”.

Number 1418: Myron Fass and the dead woman’s swamp

Myron Fass, the king of sleaze, whose magazines included the line of Eerie Publications* and various other exploitation rags like Violent World, was once a comic book artist.

An issue of Violent World.

I like to imagine Charles Manson framing this 1969 killer-hippie Eerie Publications cover and keeping it in his cell to remind him of happier days.

Well, I qualify Fass’s comic artist label...I don’t know how much Fass actually drew, and how much he might have subcontracted out to other artists. The quality of Fass art can vary widely. In this particular story, the quality has swung toward the amateurish, or as I like to call it, “serviceable.” It serves the purpose of the story and that’s about it. But I decided to show it for a couple of reasons. One is Myron’s inscrutable signature in the splash panel. If I’m reading it correctly it says “Nuts” Myron Fass, with the second “s” placed sideways. I’m bewildered by that. The other thing about the story is it is another swamp creature story. There have been enough swamp monsters in comics, all of them descended from Theodore Sturgeon’s 1940 prose story,“It!” to make up a separate genre for swamp-creature lit.

From Crime Mysteries #12 (1954):

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*The Bloody Pulp!, a blog devoted to Eerie Publications, hasn't been updated in a long time, but is still an incredible resource for anyone wanting to check into the “miasma of Eerie Publications,” as the blog promises.

Click on the picture to go to the site.

Number 602


Do two half-men make up one whole man?


I noticed the title similarity to these Atlas Comics stories, but the titles are all that's alike. "Half Man, Half...?" is from Menace #10, 1954. "Half Man" is from Uncanny Tales #22, but my scans are from the 1970s reprint in Crypt of Shadows #9.

"Half Man, Half...?" is drawn by Robert Q. Sale, a staple of the Atlas bullpen. At one time Sale shared studio space at the Charles William Harvey studios with Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder, John Severin and Charlie Stern. This 1949 cartoon illustration by Severin is from The Art of Harvey Kurtzman, The Mad Genius of Comics by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle.

Sale is seated with his back to us, and is singing along with a radio commercial.

"Half Man" is an allegory about Jim Crow and the treatment of African-Americans in the U.S. after returning from World War II. They rightfully felt they'd be recognized for their service and given full rights as citizens. Even in 1954 when dealing with such subject matter as race, the main characters shown are white. It undercuts the point, but publishers tread a little more lightly in those days when they were scared of losing readers in areas of the country where segregation was the law.

"Half Man" is credited at the Atlas Tales website to "Fass?" which means Myron Fass, and the question mark means they aren't sure. I'm not familiar enough with Myron Fass' comic art to make a determination, but I know a bit about Fass's later life as a publisher of sleazy and exploitation magazines, including the Eerie Publications line. You can read about Myron Fass here.











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Say what?

I could take you more seriously if you'd stop wearing mouse ears.

From Atomic War #3.