The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2263: Slow Death #2, 1970

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 I really love Dave Sheridan's work. He illustrates the first tale in this issue and, if I'm to be completely honest, it's the way he illustrates naked women that really gets me. They're just really well...rendered.

As with yesterday's Skull, this issue, and perhaps series, takes a good deal of inspiration from the old EC horror comics. I continue to be amazed at the influence that this relatively short-lived run of horror comics has had on the industry even to this day. Amazed, but not surprised. I've read enough of them to know that, literally, they're some of the best comics to have been produced in the West, despite their subject matter which might not sit well for all readers. Apparently it did sit well for the creators of these underground comix.

Further to that, the undergrounds themselves are hugely influential, highlighted in R. Crumb's dubious recognition as an American artistic icon. For my own education, then, I wonder if it behooves me to find out what it was that was influencing the writers of the old ECs. I've tried going back and reading some of the venerable newspaper strips of the time, but they don't really do much for me. It could be that the comics of 100 years ago don't speak to me the way they did to the artists they influenced, I guess.

Of course, I ought to mention Richard Corben, or Gore, whose story in this issue contains his trademark large boobs and disgusting revenants. A neat little horror tale that looks a little too close to home if I think about it hard enough.

More to follow.

Further Reading and Related Links

 As I was searching for links, I found out that Mr. Corben died in December of last year (2020). As if it wasn't a bad enough time. Check out his official website, the digital ghost that lingers from his passing.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2262: Skull #5, 1972

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  When I picked this comic up, I had no idea that it was a collection of adaptations of Lovecraft's tales. Though I'm having a bit of a tough time with old HPL these days, given that his work is just brimming over with disgusting racism, but it's undeniable the influence he's had on writers and artists in the 100 or so years that his work has been in publication. And, in the fifty or so years since this comic was published, the ways we think about, and recognize, racism have become much more sophisticated.

That said, not many of the gross parts of Lovecraft's stories, ideologically speaking, show up in this comic. In fact, they're all pretty excellent adaptations, the Larry Todd "Shadow Out of the Abyss," an adaptation of "The Shadow Out of Time," is definitely the stand out. I've always liked that story. It also turns out that, potentially, the previous issue of this series is the first appearance of Cthulhu in a comic book. That basically immediately shoots it to the top of the hunt list. Always a good feeling.

For those, like myself, who may be wrestling with Lovecraft's racism, here's one way of doing it. I find such attitudes thoroughly repugnant, so when I read one of his stories, because it is undeniable that there is something brilliant and incredible about them, the layer of racism actually ads a level of horror for me. Rather than simply being scared or titillated by the actual events of the story, the added inflection of racism, when it becomes apparent, makes the stories even more horrifying. The excellent Internet critic hbomberguy does some cool stuff with Lovecraft, including talking about being queer and liking HPL's work. In the final analysis, he suggests also that it would thoroughly piss off the old racist to know that we're reading and talking about his work the way we are. And that's what racists deserve.

More to follow.

Further Reading and Related Links

Check out the rest of hbomberguy's stuff on YouTube.

Unsurprisingly, Lovecraft shows up quite a bit in my writing. Shocking, I know.