Well, it's about time for another terrific tale told in beautiful black and white, wouldn't you say?
I agree completely.
Russ Heath is an amazing artist who has contributed some of the most wonderfully drawn comics since the Golden Age, and the last I heard, he is still drawing and painting. What a talented man! Whether he is depicting western action, the battlefields of war, beautiful women, or any other subject, his attention to detail and fine, realistic rendering have earned him the respect of his peers and fans around the world.
In this story he is joined by another favorite of mine, Bruce Jones, who wrote it. Originally appearing in CREEPY #83, 1976 , here is a grim little yarn that will hold your attention! Luckily, the original artwork is being auctioned on Ebay from Lewis Wayne Gallery. I present you with both -- scans of the printed version, and scans of the original artwork, where all the beauty and details come through with crystal clarity.
Here is a story about a man with something on his mind...something weighing on his concience. You'll discover what that is by...
PROCESS OF ELIMINATION!
Apocolyte: Amazing story and post! Way to come roaring back. I loved the artwork in this, and certainly Heath is great, but what an amazing story!
ReplyDeleteOne little fussy thing. Normally a ".45" designates an automatic (not the revolver pictured), and you certainly can't silence a snub-nosed revolver where it makes a "snik" sound - only automatics can be silenced to that extent. Revolvers make a boom, silenced or not, as the chamber is not fully enclosed as is an auto. OK, it's a fussy, little point. Sorry. I mention it only because Heath is normally so perfect in his research.
I wrote all the above, so I will leave it it, but re-reading it - who cares? Even I'm bored. The art and story is top notch! - Wow, that seen when the bullets exlodes through his wife's chest! Wow! -- Mykal
From now on, Young Man, no more disappearing for days and days unless you come back with high quality original artwork ;~j
ReplyDeleteExcellent story. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteNow-a-days,we fret over terrorist attacks on single cities, and forget that once we had to ponder the whole world being laid waste in a matter of days or of hours.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why they threw a sheet over Madge in the final panel of page 7.
What an amazing economy of line. There is nothing there in any panel that doesn't absolutely have to be there. The shading especially was INCREDIBLE! The story was top notch too...What writing!
ReplyDeleteAs an aside I will say it's just creepy that Mykal knows so much about guns :) Just kiddn'
But I'll tell ya what bugged me a little is that this guy was in the government,( right ) and they knew 12 hours or so beforehand we were gunna get nuked... I don't know... not sure I would say to myself " Ah well, guess the only thing to do is go home, eat dinner, murder my family, and bang my secretary." I mean.... that seems a little smarmy, but..... to each his own I guess.
Anyway it was still an artistic joy to behold, I especially appreciate the original to print version comparisons.
Thank you oh great and mighty Apocolyte!
Hmm...I just spent about 20 minutes typing out detailed replies to everyone here and when I posted it it disappeared!! Gone!! Nowhere to be seen!
ReplyDeleteBefore I spend another 20 minutes I need to post this and see if it works...
Well, let me see if I can capture the essence of what I tried to post before...where was I?
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for your comments! I really loved this story/art too!
Mykal, don't you dare stop nit-picking! That's what comments are for, in a way. I enjoyed the lesson in firearms (learn something new everyday)!
Lysdexicuss, I promise I won't run away from home anymore. Thanks for the chicken soup and doughnuts when they pulled me out of the well.
Trevor, the pleasure is mine. Thanks for taking the time to let me know you liked it!
oeconomist.com, you bring up two very good points, though I'll only address the latter. I'm glad you mentioned the censoring job Warren did on the couple in bed on pages 7 & 8. By the time this story was published, Warren mags had already been rife with nudity, both partial and full (Vampirella debuted in '69, and each issue was brimming with scantilly clad wimmens), so why Warren would shy away from a sexy yet tastefully done nude scene at this point -- I can only speculate. I doesn't really make sense. It does appear that Heath anticipated an issue by supplying the patches on the two panels in question, yet I'm not certain what the original state of the artwork was -- nude or covered. In any case, great catch, oe.
Mitchell, that's a great point, too! The government knows bombs are falling in a few hours -- let's keep it to ourselves and go commit some of those heinous acts we've been dying to do! Come on! We always wanted to, nows our chance! Seriously, I just resigned it to the supposition that it was the end of the world as we know it, and nothing could stop it.
Thanks again everyone for your comments! See you again soon.