Friday, October 29, 2021

Screech for the Creech!

Or scream, gurgle, gasp, swim for your life-- whatever it takes! Todays countdown to Halloween post is all about that infamously awesome gill-man from the blackest of lagoons-- The Creature! Absolutely my all time favorite 50's Universal monster, and he was also probably the very first one I was ever introduced to as a kid when flipping the channels on our tiny black and white tv set back in the early 70's-- stopping in a total mesmerized state on this incredibly fascinating looking scaly thing swimming across my screen! Not only that milestone moment of my youth, but also my first Aurora monster model kit was also The Creature from the Black Lagoon, painted by my Uncle and gifted to me when I was just a wee 5 or 6 years old. The pix below are not the one he made for me, but instead another recently acquired, fully built-up and painted version from my buddy Greg --though not painted by him either, but by the same person apparently who painted The Mummy (CLICK HERE if you missed it!) FYI I photographed him on the same day, and on the same beach, as The Mummy, for those of you with a keen eye for backgrounds! And of course, it wouldn't be an AEET Halloween 2021 post without a couple of vintage horror comics to accompany the monstery model kit madness, featuring a typically whacktacular Iger Shop love story from the November 1953 issue of Journey into Fear #16, about a fishy Creech queen and her peculiarly nasty need of a lonely lighthouse attendant! But first up, and a nifty little 2-page illustrated Creech bio from the August 1973 issue of Skywald's Nightmare #16

5 comments:

Wendy said...

After reading today's post, all I can think about is "The Alligator People" (it was even better than I expected it to be), which I watched for the first time a few months ago. There will always be something extra disconcerting about reptile mash-ups! Your model looks fantastic. Loving the colour choice on the snake.

Brian Barnes said...

That model is another wonderful paint job. I'm not sure how that dual color is done, maybe you paint it all in one color and then dab on the other color? That said, the lizard and snake seem sort of random, but the creature is beautiful.

Love the silly mermaid story. It builds this giant rule book of nonsense just to make the story work, and those kinds of tales are all fun to read because you always need some outlandish rule to make it work. "I must wed a mortal before the moon comes out" (and only starts looking a couple hours before!) It's surprising her race has lasted if she had to pull this off for a thousand years, every year!

Honestly, Seth probably couldn't do any better, he was right to take the deal!

Doc Briar said...

Life is funny. One lighthouse keeper mates with the queen of Atlantis who bears him a superheroic son. Seth meets a fish lady and becomes a Mrs. Paul's entree.

Wendy is right about the "The Alligator People". Lon Chaney is especially entertaining.

Mr. Cavin said...

I really dig the Skywald two-pager. It's kind of strange and extraneous and really, really well done. It kind of operates as a prequel to the movie, I guess--for copyright reasons!--and hey look: The lizard from the model kit is right there in the splash.

I love that Skywald cover, too.

Mr. Barnes: I believe the way to do that two-tone coloring is to paint the light color in as a base, very thoroughly. Once it's dry, then paint a slightly watered-down darker contrast color over it. Once the model is completely covered, wipe the wet color back off with a sponge. Only what has accumulated in the creases and details remains to dry there. With thinner paint, it might be necessary to do this a couple of times to achieve the necessary color density.

The mermaid story is damn hoot, of course. I think all stories with only one kooky old nutter for a witness should veer into a wild-ass Henry Darger wish fulfillment fever dream: "I wrote me a long letter to the ocean so a fish girl come along and made me a king. Who says she didn't!?! Write her and ask her yerself."

Mr. Karswell said...

>all I can think about is "The Alligator People"

GREAT movie!

>Seth probably couldn't do any better, he was right to take the deal!

Agreed, beggars can't be too choosey now.

>Wendy is right about the "The Alligator People".

I'll say it again-- GREAT movie!

>"I wrote me a long letter to the ocean so a fish girl come along and made me a king. Who says she didn't!?! Write her and ask her yerself."

LO! Of course lil Queenie could've just traveled to the amazon and got herself a gillman, everyone knows how hard up he is for some lady lovin'!

Got a real swingin' post up next-- STAY TOMBED!!!