I had planned to do a weird Werewolf Wednesday this week but ran out of time (you got Huckleberry Hound instead), so let's just roll out the fuzzball freakage for another full-goon Friday Frights edition today. And boy oh boy, Bernard Baily and Bill Draut really knock it out of the park with that sensational splash, and they keep it pretty lively throughout all 10 pulse-pounding pages of this terrific DC terror tale --the bottom of page 6 in particular! From the December 1972 issue of Secrets of Sinister House #8, script by Sheldon Mayer.
Now that's a stuffed story! Werewolf VAMPIRES, 5 of them by the end (if I'm counting right!), leisure suits, multiple werewolf-vampire transformations, then, suddenly, Weird short guys! Labs! Hot robots! Demons under glass! Giant steaming vats! Just when you think it's over -- a racket plot!
ReplyDeleteBaily and Draut must have had a ton of fun on this one! Every wacky thing they were asked to draw, they did it with gusto, even turning in a super busy splash.
This one is pretty crazy, I really enjoyed it.
Favorite panel: Poor toothless werewolf-vampire!
Yep. This one had everything but the blood-filled kitchen sink. Wasn't Sheldon Mayer the writer of Sugar & Spike? I never knew he did horror.
ReplyDeleteThe splash page is worthy of EC.
Remember: Always wear an ascot when fleeing from werewolves. You'll still crap yourself from fear but you'll look groovy doing it,
Fantastic! Ever since the Howling, I've been stoked whenever I've run into female werewolves that weren't designed to look cuter and pinker than usual. Claire becomes a wild, atavistic beast just as monstrous and horrifying as the boy versions. So kudos! I love her curly little smile as she begins to transform: I got a big surprise for you, Johnny Law. My only complaint is that I wish they'd laid page nine out so that Myron's own progressive three-panel wolf-out, and subsequent attack on the Mercedesbot, were all in a line along that middle row of panels. That way it would mirror the earlier transformation scene a little better. Pretty nitpicky!
ReplyDeleteHappy Howlidays!
Wow. That's what I call a splash page! You nailed it, my friend. Baily & Draut put it over the fence. I am pleasantly surprised to see Mayer doing such fine work in the story. I always associate him with the great DC kids' comics. I see I have some catching up to do!
ReplyDeleteGlad everyone enjoyed this story, it is definitely one of my favorites as well! And thank you for the comments-- our upcoming Friday Frights fest next week will be a little more holiday themed, so tombed, my lil sugar plums...
ReplyDeleteNext up: there's a liiiiight...