I have waxed lyrical about Bruce Jones' ability to tell a great short story while I was reading the sister title to today's comic, Alien Worlds. The stories in today's comic are a little darker, and much more brutal, and really, really remind me of the EC horror stuff I've been reading over the last little while. I get the suspicion that the similarities aren't coincidental. Mr. Jones and his collaborators are definitely of the age that they would have know much more about the pre-Code horror titles than someone of my generation. I didn't recognize the influence when I was reading the science fiction comic, but now that I'm a little more elucidated, the influence is clear.
I can't even decide on a favourite story in today's issue. The lead tale, illustrated by Mike Ploog, has an excellent ending that I didn't see coming. The final tale, drawn by the fabulous Rand Holmes presages Crash (the one about sex in cars) by quite some time. I think, really, only the Ken Steacy-illustrated "Nightwatch" fell a bit flat for me. A neat little tale, but I feel like I've seen it all before.
More of this tomorrow, perhaps. I always balk at reading horror comics so early in the morning. I worry that it's going to inflect my day.
More to come...
No comments:
Post a Comment