Review: Art Bee
Horror has
been a genre close to my heart since I was about 11–years old and watched the
original Amityville Horror. Though I
don’t get terrorized by such things anymore, my appreciation of the feeling is
still well into the high side of, “loving it.” When I was
older my fascination for “witty horror” (my own label) skyrocketed with the
HBO series, Tales from the Crypt.
For those
not familiar, these types of stories have a short plot followed by a witty
punchline from the narrator.
What’s funny
is talking about it makes it sound a little dumb, but assuredly it is not.
DC’s The
House of Secrets #127 has three such short stories in it. Each has a tragic end
for the main character of the story worthy of each, as they all have less than
desirable personality traits. Enough jabbering! On with the…review.
“The
Headsman of Hell”
Art: Abe
Ocampo
Story: Marv
Wolfman and Len Wein
This little
story opens with a hooded executioner using a guillotine to loose the cranium
of a man into a basket. This
Headsman works for the Committee of Public Safety in France during the year
1793. Within the
crowd gathered to witness the execution is a silly man by the name of Andre
LeBlanc, who happens to bad mouth the Headsman and the regime. Over and over he
exclaims the wish to know the identity of the Headsman while ridiculing the
character of the man. Can you guess where this leads?
That’s
right! Andre is a wanted man and representatives of the regime begin a man hunt
for the loose-lipped critic. Wait a sec! I am a critic…
Better be
nice just to be…NONSENSE!
The truthful
opinion shall reign here!
This story
is cute but not the issue’s best. During this era of DC (Jan 1975) standards
were the norm and they knew you were going to save the best for last. In
today’s standard-less DC harlotry they put their best at the front to keep you
going or to inspire you to buy before finishing.
“A Test of
Innocence”
Plot: Mike
PellowskiArt: Mike Sekowski and Bill Draut
This tale of
treasure hunting horror is brought to you by deception and murder. Two friends
meet up to talk. George asks Harry for help in finding a treasure of emeralds
as shown by a recently acquired map. The trek would lead the friends through
the thick of the Amazon rain forest (it really existed back then) and the pair
set off for an adventure in finding riches…
Did you
forget the first of the paragraph? Of course, they didn’t.
Harry stabs
George and takes the map for himself, stumbling through the thick, steamy
jungle for days until he passes out. He regains consciousness in a village of
Indians and, after being nursed back to health, Harry looks to head back home.
Thinking the map is false, he means to depart but one of the natives begs him
to stay for their big feast that night.
During the
feast the natives carry out their god, Zactal, a statue encrusted with many cut
emeralds. Harry’s greed is rekindled, and he plots to steal the gems. Let’s say
the crafty Harry doesn’t run, but the natives have a clever, infallible test to
prove guilt or innocence.
Will Harry
pass the test and be rich, or will he fail and have something horrible happen
to him?
“Death on
Cue!”
Story: David Micheline and Russell Carey
Art: Rubeny
This little story is the best in the issue and is so simple. A young man, Eightball O’Brian, loves the game of pool but he has one major flaw to his game: he has about as much talent as pavement.
For instance, I had this one friend…
That is not important.
Eightball
O’Brian is as much a loser in his life as he is at pool (the story is
elaborates about it). One day Eightball sees an old man playing a game by
himself with a fancy-looking pool cue and challenges him to a game.
Whereupon he
gets beat down like a stuffed toy in the jaws of a Rottweiler...
The old man
reluctantly lets Eightball try the pool cue and the magic of the cue is
revealed.
As you can guess, Eightball kills the old man,
takes the cue, and sets his sights on building his fame and fortune. Needless
to say, things don’t go quite the way O’Brian hopes.
When I was
at my LCS looking through the boxes of back issues, this gem glistened at me
for $4, and I said, “Sold.” My olfactory cells were wonderfully aroused when
the bag for this comic was opened and the scent of ink and paper wafted to
them. How I love that smell!
I am weird.
Sue me.
The House of Secrets #127 is the first of the
series I’ve acquired, but I have been looking for them. So glad to finally have
one added to my collection.
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