Thursday, November 8, 2012

Wings of Horror

It's Bram Stoker's 165th birthday today, and around here that means it's bloodsucker time! Wings of Horror, from the October 1951 issue of Adventures into the Unknown #24, is a simply told Al Camy tale of unleashed vampirism and lurking madness, and includes a rare and very welcome, non kissy closing panel finale that also proves the usual heavy handed ACG word balloons and intrusive narrative are sometimes unnecessary.











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5 comments:

JMR777 said...

From Bob the Builder to Bob the Vampire, neat tale. This story could have been turned into a Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode. We never know for sure if a real vampire or a vampire bat was the culprit. Even the ending leaves you wondering if Bob came back or another vampire bat flew in for a quick bite before bed.
A neat, suspenseful, real or imagined vampire tale.
Great find, Karswell

Trevor M said...

The two best parts of this story are the splash and the last panel, which really is pretty terrific! The rest not so much, though I admit to a perverse pleasure in seeing a weak artist draw himself into a corner with panels like number 4 on page 4.

Brian Barnes said...

I always love skeptics pre-code comics. Being a skeptic (of which I am one) doesn't mean you don't believe in vampires, it means you don't believe in vampires because there's absolutely no evidence they exist, and don't seem possible with the current laws of physics.

If skeptics are presented with evidence, then they investigate and change their opinions.

In these comics -- no matter what -- nothing shakes these guys! Intelligent bat attacks? Vampire bites? Missing body? Blood lost? Bah! Time to go to sleep without a care in the world!

Mr. Karswell said...

>A neat, suspenseful, real or imagined vampire tale.

I agree, it seems to me there was an obvious attempt made here in the storytelling to keep the reader guessing... why, it's downright refreshing!

Mr. Cavin said...

Exactly, Brian Barnes! I love the convoluted excuses people come up with in these things to sidestep the supernatural explanation. Perhaps you just lost all that blood, Bob. Where was the last place you saw it?

As for the art, it might have been a little old-fashioned, but it certainly shined here and there. I loved the Revolutionary vampire and the doctor jumping out of bed in his suit. I think page three really came up with a nifty way to keep the art and the egregious amount of exposition separate, even if the artist did turn around and blow it totally on page four.