If you just finished the other weird camera post that we developed over at THOIA HERE, well hold on to your tripods because you're in for another! And yeah, it's kind of odd that this particular issue of Strange Tales contains two stories featuring creepy cameras imbued with strange powers-- and I'm not talking negative, because we're all better for it now with two great posts, aren't we? To make things even more amazing, we get an eye poppin' glimpse of Atlas / Marvel fan fave artist, Gil Evans, and his frisky mastery of the female body. I'm sure all of the young comic book reading lads in 1953 were very pleased with this one! (Cover art by Sol Brodsky.)
5 comments:
2 in the same issue, some staff writer just started a new hobby, I see!
I like this one; yeah, it's the old battle ax plot where her own curiosity gets her killed but it's less mean then you'd see in other publishers and more a kind of funny dark humor.
I suspect a lot of this was traced or copied from pinups of the day. There's a number of poses that don't quite fit the action and page 2, panel 5 (the one with the stripped top) is something I swear I recognize.
Another thing that is entertaining about this is how sexless it really is. Heck, he gets hugs, some kisses, and then unloads on them like they are his psychiatrist. It's really wholesome, actually!
Everybody is going to focus on the models but that is a great lion illustration.
Note that Evans actually keeps all the pin-ups straight from the first 2 pages; he doesn't just draw random women.
These photogenic ladies are quite accepting of their fate, exist for a little while in our reality and then "Poof" back to being a photograph.
They said they can only exist as long as Harry wants them to, so they are the ultimate example of 'your thoughts create your reality'.
Now Harry was a bit short sighted concerning this miracle developing fluid- he should carefully bottle up some of this chemical mix, find out how it is made, then have it recreated and sell it to wealthy patrons who want to have a deceased loved one returned to them (a photo of a photo taken previously) or have their own version of their favorite starlet. Then again, maybe Harry will do just that now that his battle axe of a wife is a lions lunch.
What happens to Sophie isn't murder, Harry himself survives and he evidently gets to keep using his magical developer. Those are three surprising things in a story of this kind.
It's a little like the comical TWILIGHT ZONE episode "A World Of His Own."
The lion was GREAT! especially when you compare them to the usual rat-wolf and suchlike monstrosities that pass as animals in the comics of those days.
The women were great, too, though Sophie looks a bit like a grumpy middle aged drag queen.
Yeah the stiff, photo-referenced pin-ups are a perfect look for this story. A tangible and tactical way to underline the motif while staying playful. Combined with a strong first page--leading off with a four-panel progression that culminates in the splash is my favorite Atlas trick--and that amazing two-panel denouement, makes this a really great package. I'm impressed.
Sophie certainly does look like somebody. Danny Aiello, maybe? Or some other Italian with bouffant hair.
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