Cultural siftings from the land beyond beyond. Weird stuff. Strange stuff. Cool stuff. Hot stuff. "What-the-hell-were-they-thinking-when-they-did-this?" stuff. Gee they don't make 'em like that anymore kinda stuff. Stuff and more stuff. My own personal soapbox and a vehicle for me to insult people.....
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Horror Art Of Dick Ayers!
Dick Ayres is another one of those journeymen artists who gets short-changed when fans talk of pencillers of note, which is a pity. Most fans probably know him for his inking of Jack Kirby, but I think his "eye-popping" art for Myron Fass (as well as his Pre-Code Western work for Magazine Enterprises and his horror work for Atlas) show how good a penciller/inker he was. These two issues show that he still had what it takes many years later. Enjoy!
Well folks, your old pal Hyper Dave is finally starting to feel like his old self again, but i'm not gonna push my luck. Still takin' it easy with lots of home-made chicken soup and fresh juice sounds pretty good. Here's some western-style re-post to keep you happy while I get some convalescence, with ads! Wyatt Earp 65
Here's some Atom-Age weirdness with some nice Bob Powell art. Mr Hyper's feelin' better, but he's still gonna get in the bed and take it easy just the same. Thanks to anyone who sent me their home-made remedy recipes, but in some cases I feel the cure would be worse than the disease! Maybe i'm an old-fashioned guy, but plenty of fluids and plenty of rest seems to work the best for my tired old bones..... You kids today.... I dunno....
Art is always informed by, influenced by, and ultimately springs from the environment that creates it. New York in the early 70's was a pretty crazy place... if you don't believe me, get a hold of a copy of "Taxi Driver" and watch it again, viewing the crowd shots and street scenes of Times Square, 42nd St. and such as historical documentary footage. With that in mind (not to mention the political upheaval going on in America at that time) It's easier to understand why the Skywald books were as extreme and nihilistic they were....
Either i'm coming down with something, or i'm fighting something off, but I slept 12 hours (!?!) last night and my energy level is still too damn low for snappy patter.... Therefore, I have a heavy date with my bed and a large amout of orange juice and chicken soup.
Once again I find myself too pooped to come up with snappy patter, witty badinage or groan-inducing puns (which may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your personal taste). So, while I attempt to re-charge my batteries, please enjoy these... and do feel free to talk amongst yourselves... just make sure it's not about me.
I know there's some great pun or fabulous observation or some kind of "Days of Future Past (or Passed)" thing lurking in here, but it's been a long day and i'm just too pooped to see it. Suffice it to say that these are two really good comics, with great art and interesting stories. Korg has story and art by the under-rated Pat Boyette, while Nicola Cuti and John Byrne do a swell job with the Gerry Anderson adaption. Many people seem to have a low opinion of Charlton Comics, but these two books are pretty darn enjoyable (in my humble opinion). Read 'em and see!
The Michael Fleischer / Jim Aparo Spectre is something else again. This short but memorable run in Adventure Comics features a much more vengeful depiction of the character, more consistant with the Golden Age Spectre. Here The Spectre turns crooks into various inanimate objects before dispatching them as "Judge Judy and executioner" as it were. The grim tone was apparently set by EC alumni, Joe Orlando.... who said at the time while recounting the various features he tried in Adventure while editor: "And then I introduced The Spectre, I had just been mugged in broad daylight on upper Broadway, where I was living at the time. The feeling of helplessness and anger and loss of manhood (my wife was with me at the time). As I watched the two muggers strutting away with my wallet gave me the Walter Mitty idea of fantasy revenge. "That's what i'll do to you bums, i'll bring back The Spectre!". The Spectre will rid the world of the evil vermin that preys on upstanding hard-working middle aged comic book editors." - Joe Orlando [Amazing World of DC Comics #6 : May '75] He then goes on to gush about Aquaman (who replaced The Spectre), but statements that Orlando made later, however, showed a somewhat more bitter, cynical and world weary point of view about the series cancellation, and indicated that DC was somewhat uneasy with this new "Blood and Guts" version of "The Spectre" (which is, in reality a return to the characters' roots) and were only too happy to replace him in Adventure with Aquaman: "Something clean, in water" quipped Orlando. Well at least he was replaced entirely, rather than having the character demeaned by the likes of Percival Popp. But for a while there, particularily when it was "Weird Adventure" The Spectre was the most extreme of superhero/vigilantes in comics. Just like the criminals he stalked in the funnybook pages, it seems that DC and the Code were scard of The Spectre... or perhaps just what he represents.
Fleischer (one of the more innovative comic scripters of the time) was well aquainted with the original 1940's stories, and mystery-line editor Joe Orlando was more interested in pushing the horrific aspects of the character. When you add art by Jim Aparo, who was really hitting his stride at DC, this short run seems to have been remembered by many folks, even to the point of DC reprinting the run (in Wrath of The Spectre 1-3) and then having Aparo illustrate 3 scripts completed by Fleischer before the plug got pulled in the 70's.
Since then, The Spectre has kind of bounced around the DC Universe in one form or another, but to me, this 70's incarnation was the character's high point.....
Yes, I know, i've been the KING of re-post of late (not apart from a couple of weekends off) but what can I tell you? Contrary to the opinion of some, i DO have a life, and a very rich and enjoyable one it is too. There's some great art in this Fawcett Movie Comic, and the script (by Otto Binder?) actually makes WAY MORE sense than the movie does - which i watched when i was scanning the book way back when... now how's that for devotion! Man from Planet X!
PS. This one comes from many and diverse materials, so you have my apologies for any "funkiness" with the pdf... it's what i had to work with... OK?
PPS. Tomorrow, i'll finally finish up with THE SPECTRE!
War from the "Big C" - with excellent art by the usual suspects, Pat Boyette, Tom Sutton (cover to #116), what looks like an inking job by Wayne Howard, and surpisingly, a cover by Marvel Comics stalwart Dan Adkins (for #118). Enjoy - just don't forget to keep your head down!
And in the interest of equal time ("The Great Debate" and such) here's a bunch 'o' longhairs with another viewpont!
Tom Lehrer - Send the Marines
When someone makes a move Of which we don't approve, Who is it that always intervenes? U.N. and O.A.S., They have their place, I guess, But first send the Marines!
We'll send them all we've got, John Wayne and Randolph Scott, Remember those exciting fighting scenes? To the shores of Tripoli, But not to Mississippoli,
What do we do? We send the Marines! For might makes right, And till they've seen the light, They've got to be protected, All their rights respected, 'Till somebody we like can be elected.
Members of the corps All hate the thought of war, They'd rather kill them off by peaceful means. Stop calling it aggression, O we hate that expression. We only want the world to know That we support the status quo. They love us everywhere we go, So when in doubt, Send the Marines!
Elvis Costello - Oliver's Army
Don't start me talking I could talk all night My mind goes sleepwalking While I'm putting the world to right Called careers information Have you got yourself an occupation
Oliver's army is here to stay Oliver's army are on their way And I would rather be anywhere else But here today
There was a checkpoint charlie He didn't crack a smile But it's no laughing party When you've been on the murder mile Only takes one itchy trigger One more widow, one less white nigger
Oliver's army is here to stay Oliver's army are on their way And I would rather be anywhere else But here today
Hong Kong is up for grabs London is full of arabas We could be in palestine Overrun by a chinese line With the boys from the mersey and the thames and the tyne But there's no danger It's a professional career Though it could be arranged With just a word in Mr. Churchill's ear If you're out of luck you're out of work We could send you to johannesburg
Oliver's army is here to stay Oliver's army are on their way And I would rather be anywhere else But here today
And I would rather be anywhere else But here today And I would rather be anywhere else But here today
Midnight Oil - U. S. Forces
U. S. Forces give the nod It's a setback for your country Bombs and trenches all in rows Bombs and threats still ask for more
Divided world the C. I. A. Who controls the issue? You leave us with no time to talk You can write your own assessment
Sing me songs of no denying Seems to me too many trying Waiting for the next big thing
Will you know it when you see it High risk children dogs of war Now market movements call the shots Business deals in parking lots Waiting for the meat of tomorrow
Everyone is too stoned to start emission People too scared to go to prison We're unable to make decisions Political party line don't cross that floor L. Ron Hubbard can't save your life Superboy takes a plutonium wife In the shadows of Ban the Bomb we live
Sing me songs of no denying Seems to me too many trying Waiting for the next big thing
Presented as an artifact of it's time, for your edification is G. I. In Battle #2, probably the nastiest Pre-Code comic i've ever laid eyes on. Full of venomous Cold War era propaganda, racial slurs and mindless violence, this chills me to the core more than any over-the-top horror or crime books of the the same time period. If this offends you - GOOD! If this repulses you - EVEN BETTER! This IS offensive and repulsive and a whole lot more besides. The fact that Wertham never mentioned WAR comics in SOTI should tell you ALL you need to know about that charlatan.... And they said that I was the one who was crazy.... Sheesh!
This issue features for your "enjoyment", an AMAZING gore-fest from "Darling" Dick Ayers (who has stated in print that he enjoyed the work) - "A Corpse for the Coffin", plus the chilling "Thing in the Cellar" by Chic Stone and a choice Pre-Code reprint "The Tiger's Paw" : ".... it was a Voodoo sign and it meant CERTAIN DOOM!" Witches Tales Aug. '70
The February issue from earlier the same year feature 2 stories by Mr Ayers, in fine form (he was apparently known around the Eerie offices as the "eye-popping artist"!) plus some other nasty work by unfortunately unknown hands. Grim and gritty, we will never see their like again, and yet they are too strange to remain buried! Witches Tales Feb. '70
But let's not forget the ubiquitious Chic Stone, who was penciling and inking all over the place in the late 60's and 70's - Marvel, Archie, Tower, DC plus magazine and advertising work, you name it, he did it. Plus he did about half a dozen stories for these guys, and Terror Tales from September 1970 features one of his most notorious "The Slimy Mummy".... again - WHO WRITES THIS STUFF? WHAT ARE THEY ON? This piece of weirdness is backed up with a nice Pre-Code story, "Experiment in Terror". Bizarre, yet thrilling! Terror Tales Sept. '70
Plus selections from these two of Stanley Morse Horror rags! Chilling reprints "Creekmore Curse" which features Pre-E.C. art by Al "Stiff-Figures" Feldstein and Shock features reprints from AGC's notorious "Clutching Hand" 1-shot! Eeek!
