Another Atlas/Seaboard offering that lasted no longer than Devilina or Thrilling Adventure Stories, despite the high level of quality contained therein.
Following the spiffy cover by Boris, comes "The Bog Beast":
The Bog Beast was a character from Atlas' color line, given a harsher, grimmer look, thanks to the moody art of Badia Romero and the black and white format. I always thought BB looked a tad silly in the color books, but he looks suitably icky and spooky here.
Second is "Dr. Mercurio's Diary", an icky (there's that word again) story about a guy and some rats:
It's not bad, if a little wordy. The grim ending is a bit undercut by a sort of comical sound effect ("BLOW-IE"?).
Third is "Carrion of the Gods", written and drawn by the underrated Pat Boyette:
Second is "Dr. Mercurio's Diary", an icky (there's that word again) story about a guy and some rats:
Third is "Carrion of the Gods", written and drawn by the underrated Pat Boyette:
More sci-fi than horror, it ends on an oddly entertaining note, with the main character staring at a naked woman, planning to use her to pass the time. This seems somewhat less disturbing thanks to Boyette's gentle style, but when you think about it...
Speaking of disturbing, the fourth story, "Who Toys with Terror!" is my favorite of the bunch. Drawn by one of my all-time favorites, John Severin, its about a cruel father who can't stand his son's obsession with monster toys:
Featuring a wonderfully nasty ending, WTWT is a great little story, perfectly executed by Severin.
Rounding out the issue (and the series) is "The Staff of Death" by Leo Summers:
This is the covers story, about the persecution of a woman who everyone believes is a witch. Slightly comical, with a nice art job by Summers--all his people are grotesques in one way or the other, giving the whole thing a cartoony yet still unpleasant feel.
I said this earlier in the week when talking about Devilina, but its a damn shame that Atlas couldn't hold out longer. That's true in a number of respects of course, but in particular their magazine line was pretty good (if a tad derivative) and they certainly had an amazing line-up of artists. It would have been really interesting to see where this and the other titles might have gone if they had had the chance.
R.I.P. Weird Tales of the Macabre!
Speaking of disturbing, the fourth story, "Who Toys with Terror!" is my favorite of the bunch. Drawn by one of my all-time favorites, John Severin, its about a cruel father who can't stand his son's obsession with monster toys:
Rounding out the issue (and the series) is "The Staff of Death" by Leo Summers:
I said this earlier in the week when talking about Devilina, but its a damn shame that Atlas couldn't hold out longer. That's true in a number of respects of course, but in particular their magazine line was pretty good (if a tad derivative) and they certainly had an amazing line-up of artists. It would have been really interesting to see where this and the other titles might have gone if they had had the chance.
R.I.P. Weird Tales of the Macabre!
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