Number 1517: Giant zombie and dead husband walking

I like these two pre-Code horror stories for various reasons. The first, “Was He Dead?” from Avon’s Eerie #3 (1951), is a murdered-spouse-returns-from-the-dead story. In a few days I will show a Graham Ingels story where I will expound further on this theme, but for now suffice it to say this is a not-untypical example of that type of horror comic story, with nice yet derivative art by Moe Marcus and Rocke Mastroserio. It’s derivative in that some panels are borrowed from the style of Johnny Craig and Craig’s dripping sweat, as well as some inking inspired by Wallace Wood. A big plus is it’s got a bikini-clad babe!

“The Walking Dead” appeared in Web of Evil #12 (1954), and the artist is unidentified. You’ll recognize immediately that it is a zombie story with a borrowed twist: the zombie is a giant because the story is inspired by King Kong. That classic movie was re-released to theaters in 1952 and was a big box office success all over again, so it was aped (ho-ho) by several comic book scripters. (See the link below today’s two stories.)

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More on the 1952 King Kong re-release in this posting from nearly two years ago:

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Number 1010





The Eerie Mirror Of Isis





Joe Kubert's dramatic early '50s artwork highlights this horror tale, saving it from its major comic book sin, speech balloons in some panels that nearly crowd out the drawings. As always Kubert did the best with the material he was given. In "The Mirror Of Isis" he even got to draw a babe in a brass bra.



From Avon's Eerie #3, 1951:

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Number 847

Henpecked Harry

Fred Kida, a true talent who came from the Golden Age, and who could work in various styles and genres, drew this little tale of a murdering spouse in Eerie Comics #1, dated January, 1947. Avon published this one-shot, which is reputedly the very first horror comic book, predating Adventures Into The Unknown #1, dated Fall, 1948, by over a year. Avon did a second series of Eerie after horror comics became popular.

"The Strange Case of Henpecked Harry " is more O. Henry than horror; it has a murder, but there's a twist.

Kida, who celebrated his 89th birthday last December 12, was active for a long time in the field. He drew the Spider-Man comic strip until the mid-'80s.

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