shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,812
|
Post by shaxper on Oct 26, 2015 19:31:00 GMT -5
"Death of the 80th Victim" (from Nightmare #14, August 1973) art by Ricardo Villamonte (note: his first published work in American comics) my grade: C+ Plot synopsis: Someone is attacking Indian women in London, slashing off their left hands, and leaving them to bleed to death. A representative of the Indian community is working with the police and pressuring them to act faster. When his own wife becomes the 78th victim, he takes a more aggressive tone with the detective in charge of the case, only to discover the detective is the slasher himself. The slasher kills him and then decides to write a confession and kill himself, revealing to the reader that he was, in fact, half Indian.An issue I'm becoming increasingly aware of at this point in Moench's career is that he was sending publishers work faster than they could publish it. Thus, when Doug leaves for Marvel in just two months' time, Warren will still have so much unpublished Moench work that his stories will continue to see print in their pages thru 1976. And, in fact, nearly all of his work for the Marvel/Curtis black and white mags will be produced over the course of only two weeks. I bring this up now because, while published fifteen months later, this work has an uncanny resemblance to "The Midnight Slasher", another Moench story published by Skywald. Maybe Moench sent Skywald one or two big stacks of stories rejected by Warren all at the same time, and they're just slowly publishing them over a longer course of time. Several times in the past, Moench's Skywald stories have felt reminiscent of styles, tones, and themes he'd tried earlier on at Warren. Could be they were similarly old material just being published later on. So, like "The Midnight Slasher," this is an atmosphere piece about a Jack the Ripper type preying upon women in the middle of the London night with no supernatural presence involved. Both times, the drama hinges both upon the intensity of the murders and the mystery to be unraveled. What makes this story different is largely the importance it places upon race. The killer is preying upon Indian women, and Moench and Villamonte work this in as a surprise revelation, initially introducing a woman who feels relatable and universal to us, obscuring her in mist so as not to make it obvious until after she has gained our sympathy that she is "foreign". A similar surprise is executed once again at the end, when we finally get a good look at the slasher's face (also somewhat Indian-looking) only to discover in the last panel that he hated himself for being half-Indian. These surprise revelations seem to be the visual premise at the core of this story, and, if Moench is relying on a visual premise once again, that's probably another clue that this is an older work. I suppose that the ultimate message is something about not judging based upon race, or that hating others is just a way of hating ourselves or something. The odd part of all this is the decision to tell a British story exploring racism against Indians. Doug is an American author writing to a largely American audience. Why not make this about African Americans, Japanese, even Vietnamese (what with the war going on)? Any of those would have been likely to strike home far more eloquently. For what it's worth, this marks Ricardo Villamonte's first work in an American comic book (he receives a written introduction welcoming him to Skywald in this very issue). I'm not familiar with his work, but he did a nice job here.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,812
|
Post by shaxper on Oct 26, 2015 19:36:04 GMT -5
Minor Detail: Whoever colored this (I don't feel like it was Bea) occasionally changes the color of the murderer's hair. It's jarring in an otherwise seamless piece. If Bill DuBay edited this issue, I'd say it's him coloring. It looks similar to other stories he worked on. DuBay was, in fact, Managing Editor of that issue. Nice call.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,812
|
Post by shaxper on Oct 27, 2015 19:48:46 GMT -5
"The Way of All Flesh" (from Creepy #56, September 1973) art by: Jose Bea my grade: A Plot synopsis: A young man is concerned for the old blind vicar in his village who continues to hold mass even though no one comes to church anymore. The man returns home, discovers his wife has died mysteriously (as have many others in the community, all at one time), and prays for God to bring her back while the old vicar prays for God to bring his congregation back. The young man ultimately gives up on God and turns to Satan, even going so far as to pry open his wife's casket in an effort to resurrect her. Upon doing so, he discovers the body missing and a tunnel burrowed from beneath the coffin. He follows the tunnel and discovers all the newly dead propped up in the church while the vicar delivers his final service, dying at the conclusion as the souls of the corpses fly up to redemption. Seeing this, the young man has his faith restored.For a long while now, Moench has been churning out scripts as quickly as possible in an effort to pay the rent and keep the heat on. In the process, some of his signature style has been lost -- his tendency to drive his stories via a unique visual device, to offer a shocking twist ending straight out of Atom Age horror, and to offer truly eloquent narration that reads almost like poetry. Amazingly enough, ALL of that comes back for this story, which proves to be one of Moench's best to date. For one thing, Moench resurrects a visual premise he's used twice before of telling a story from the perspectives of two different characters in parallel (first tried in "Plague of the Wolf"). It's used a bit differently here though, drawing stark contrast between the two characters being observed by having them start in similar places and end in very different ones: But even more than that, there's the brilliant twist ending which is both incredibly original and highly disturbing. I absolutely did not see this one coming. And, while Moench has largely held off on the heavy narration in this tale, he piles it on for that powerful climactic moment, ending a page later with even more surprises as we learn that the vicar wasn't some twisted, grave-robbing ghoul. Essentially, the story offers us four twist endings in only four panels: Twist 1: What the he..! The vicar has been digging up these bodies and holding mass with them??! Twist 2: Oh wow! He knew he was going to die and did this in order to go out on a bang! Twist 3: Oh double wow! His real purpose was to save these people's souls (and he succeeded)! Twist 4: Oh tripple wow! He saved the young man's soul as well, turning him back to God and away from sin through his example. Add to all of this awesomeness Jose Bea turning in some truly fine work (as he always does), and you're left with a damn powerful story that packs a whole lot into the ten pages its been allotted. Really, the only thing I felt this story was lacking was characterization. The Vicar and the young man felt like archtypes more than characters in an otherwise jaw-dropping story.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,812
|
Post by shaxper on Nov 5, 2015 7:53:30 GMT -5
"In My Father's House" (from Creepy #56, September 1973) art by: Rafael Aura León my grade: A- Plot synopsis: A detective is investigating the brutal murder of a man found in a graveyard. He soon discovers that the man's many girlfriends are all in strange trances. As the murders continue, he also finds his apartment routinely ransacked as a warning to him. Finally, he figures out that all parties involved were part of a cult; the first murder victim being their leader. Upon meeting their patron demon, the detective is selected to be the next cult leader, ultimately finding himself murdered in the same way as the original victim in the story.Moench has made several previous efforts to employ a Noir style in his writing, but, in those past efforts, he always only borrowed bits and pieces -- either introducing a jaded down-on-his-luck protagonist or a murder mystery that leads to twists, turns, and double crosses, but this is the first time he's written a true and solid Noir story from beginning to end. He captures the elements perfectly, from the 1st person narrative voice, to the harassment and warnings that ensue as the protagonist continues to pursue leads, and finally to the resolution that refuses to right the world by the close. That Moench seamlessly intertwines this with the horror genre is quite impressive. I'm not sure it's an amazing story in its own right; the mystery isn't all that clever, and (that panel with the dangling cat aside) the horror isn't really anything to write home about, but it's an impressive and successful experiment in genre-mixing all the same.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,812
|
Post by shaxper on Nov 7, 2015 8:14:15 GMT -5
"Damsel in Dragon Dress" (from Grimwit #2, September 1973) art by: Richard Corben (as "Gore") my grade: B- Plot synopsis: An evil knight is about to have his way with a fair maiden when a dragon comes to her rescue. Revealing himself to be a man under a curse, she kisses him in order to lift the curse, finding herself turned into a dragon instead. They both seek out a wizard who, himself, has managed to turn into a dragon, and he promises them a spell that will make them like everyone else. Of course, it magically whisks them away to a world full of talking dragons. They then meet a hippie who promises to transform them via another kiss and then cut to another Hippie, waking up to discover all three as dragon toys on the bed he has been sleeping in.Okay, so Moench's strong point might not be humor, but this is a fun contrast from the bulk of the work he has been turning in thus far. Corben was last paired with Moench on The Slipped Mickey Clip Flip" an incredibly strange, deranged, and (yes) silly piece that no doubt inspired Corben to seek out Moench for this, his own publication. We see a lot of that silliness again here, though (for once) there's no expectation to apply any aspect of horror to the story. Instead, Moench goes with two other topics that are of interest to him: fantasy (his favorite genre to write for prior to getting freelance work with Warren) and making fun of Hippies (something he's now done on three separate occasions in his stories). The entire fun of the piece lies in inverting expectations. The knight is the bad guy and the dragon is the hero, kissing the monster should turn him human, but instead it turns the damsel into a monster too, etc etc. But I think the most fun element in this story is the contrast in dialects. Sometimes, they speak in some garbled mockery of Elizabethan court-speak, and sometimes their dialogue is just plain earnest. The contrast is quite endearing. Not a great story in any respect, but a fun break from the heaviness that permeates the bulk of Moench's work at the time. Perhaps a fitting conclusion to Moench's freelancing era.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,812
|
Post by shaxper on Nov 7, 2015 11:30:50 GMT -5
A Plethora of Moench (1973-1980)
By October of 1973, Moench was already at Marvel (1), and yet new Moench freelance stories continued to see print (predominately at Warren) up through 1977. As Moench explains about his work for Warren:
And this is not exclusively true for Warren. Moench was churning out an impressive number of scripts in 1973; far more than publishers could print, and (as a result), at the time that he tentatively accepted a position at Marvel, there were at least thirty freelance Moench stories still out there that had been purchased and had not yet seen the light of day. Thus, from late 1973 through 1977, there were essentially two Doug Moenchs in comicdom -- one working for Marvel, and one still freelancing for Warren, Skywald, and even DC.
For the purposes of this thread, we're going to look at the remaining published freelance material first since it was produced by Moench first. We'll backtrack to October 1973 again when it's time to explore Moench's later output with Marvel.
(1) "Dracula Lives #3 (October 1973)." Grand Comic Book Database. Web. 7 Nov. 2015.
(2) Cooke, Jon. "The Peruvian Connection: Confessions of a Horror Writer." The Warren Companion. Vol. 1. Raleigh: Twomorrows, 2001. 118-125. Print.
|
|
|
Post by Warmonger on Nov 7, 2015 12:01:22 GMT -5
Awesome review thread
Just picked up a very fine copy of Eerie #50 after reading shaxper's review.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,812
|
Post by shaxper on Nov 7, 2015 12:02:55 GMT -5
Just picked up a very fine copy of Eerie #50 after reading shaxper's review. "Genesis of Depravity!". So worth the read!!
|
|
|
Post by Warmonger on Nov 7, 2015 12:05:16 GMT -5
Just picked up a very fine copy of Eerie #50 after reading shaxper's review. "Genesis of Depravity!". So worth the read!! Definitely going to get to it by the middle of next week. Finishing up the newest Epic Collection of Moench's Moon Knight run right now.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,812
|
Post by shaxper on Nov 7, 2015 12:08:47 GMT -5
Finishing up the newest Epic Collection of Moench's Moon Knight run right now. Believe it or not, I've NEVER read Moon Knight, and it's absolutely killing me. My ridiculous obsession with reading Moench in order has pretty much prevented me from reading any of his later stuff out of order, so I've read only a very little Master of Kung Fu, and absolutely none of either Moon Knight or Aztec Ace. Hopefully, I'll be getting to Master of Kung Fu and Moon Knight in a few months' time! I just need to get through the thirty remaining freelance stories Moench did and then spend some blissful time with his work on the Curtis/Marvel b/w magazines. Truly, all the best stuff is still ahead of me in this thread
|
|
|
Post by Warmonger on Nov 8, 2015 12:19:09 GMT -5
Finishing up the newest Epic Collection of Moench's Moon Knight run right now. Believe it or not, I've NEVER read Moon Knight, and it's absolutely killing me. My ridiculous obsession with reading Moench in order has pretty much prevented me from reading any of his later stuff out of order, so I've read only a very little Master of Kung Fu, and absolutely none of either Moon Knight or Aztec Ace. Hopefully, I'll be getting to Master of Kung Fu and Moon Knight in a few months' time! I just need to get through the thirty remaining freelance stories Moench did and then spend some blissful time with his work on the Curtis/Marvel b/w magazines. Truly, all the best stuff is still ahead of me in this thread Trust me, you'll love it. I've always genuinely thought that Marc Spector is easily one of the most entertaining and underrated characters. The multiple personality angle is awesome. Classic Moench with some great art from Perlin and Sienkiewicz. I'm really digging the Epic Collections that Marvel has been putting out. Best bang for your buck in terms of trades IMO considering the quality and what you get for your money. Moon Knight: Bad Moon Rising www.amazon.com/Moon-Knight-Epic-Collection-Rising/dp/0785190961/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447002655&sr=8-1&keywords=doug+moench+moon+knightCollecting: WEREWOLF BY NIGHT 32-33; MARVEL SPOTLIGHT 28-29; DEFENDERS 47-50; PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN 22-23; MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE 52; MOON KNIGHT 1-4; MATERIAL FROM HULK MAGAZINE 11-15, 17-18, 20; MATERIAL FROM MARVEL PREVIEW 21 (MOON KNIGHT EPIC COLLECTION VOL. 1) Moon Knight: Shadows of the Moon www.amazon.com/Moon-Knight-Epic-Collection-Shadows/dp/0785198105/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447002976&sr=1-1&keywords=moon+knight+epic+collectionCollecting: MOON KNIGHT (1980) 5-23 (MOON KNIGHT EPIC COLLECTION VOL. 2)
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Nov 11, 2015 14:53:08 GMT -5
Shax, as a completist, you may want to try to find an article that Moench published in some late 70s men's magazine (can't remember which it was, I'm afraid) in which he wrote about a sexual assault on his wife. IIRC, she was raped, but the memory of the article is hazy,so I can't be completely sure about that. I do remember that I was struck by his vulnerability and the honesty with which he wrote about his emotions in the wake of the event.
I was working full-time in a book and magazine store from 1978 through 1979, and I probably noticed his name in the Table of Contents. (I doubt it would have been on the cover.) His Wikipedia bio shows he did write for lots of those magazines, but I didn't associate any of the titles with his story. I keep thinking it might have been Oui magazine, but I didn't see that listed.
I found no mention of it doing a few Google searches, but maybe you can find something.
PS: Sorry, I hadn't been reading this very fine thread, so if you've mentioned this, I apologize.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,812
|
Post by shaxper on Nov 11, 2015 20:15:15 GMT -5
Shax, as a completist, you may want to try to find an article that Moench published in some late 70s men's magazine (can't remember which it was, I'm afraid) in which he wrote about a sexual assault on his wife. IIRC, she was raped, but the memory of the article is hazy,so I can't be completely sure about that. I do remember that I was struck by his vulnerability and the honesty with which he wrote about his emotions in the wake of the event. I was working full-time in a book and magazine store from 1978 through 1979, and I probably noticed his name in the Table of Contents. (I doubt it would have been on the cover.) His Wikipedia bio shows he did write for lots of those magazines, but I didn't associate any of the titles with his story. I keep thinking it might have been Oui magazine, but I didn't see that listed. I found no mention of it doing a few Google searches, but maybe you can find something. PS: Sorry, I hadn't been reading this very fine thread, so if you've mentioned this, I apologize. I'm wondering if that was the piece that won him the Chicago Newspaper Guild Award. All I know about it is that it was a "stream-of-consciousness reflection on violence in the Chicago subway system". I've been trying to track down the articles Moench wrote for the Chicago Sun Times and Midwest, but they'are all on microfilm at the University of Chicago, and, with neither the ability to get there nor even a clear knowledge of the dates and titles of the articles I'd be looking for, I have no means of getting a crack at them. Thanks much for the heads up. Wish I could do more with it.
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Nov 11, 2015 20:44:37 GMT -5
Shax, as a completist, you may want to try to find an article that Moench published in some late 70s men's magazine (can't remember which it was, I'm afraid) in which he wrote about a sexual assault on his wife. IIRC, she was raped, but the memory of the article is hazy,so I can't be completely sure about that. I do remember that I was struck by his vulnerability and the honesty with which he wrote about his emotions in the wake of the event. I was working full-time in a book and magazine store from 1978 through 1979, and I probably noticed his name in the Table of Contents. (I doubt it would have been on the cover.) His Wikipedia bio shows he did write for lots of those magazines, but I didn't associate any of the titles with his story. I keep thinking it might have been Oui magazine, but I didn't see that listed. I found no mention of it doing a few Google searches, but maybe you can find something. PS: Sorry, I hadn't been reading this very fine thread, so if you've mentioned this, I apologize. I'm wondering if that was the piece that won him the Chicago Newspaper Guild Award. All I know about it is that it was a "stream-of-consciousness reflection on violence in the Chicago subway system". I've been trying to track down the articles Moench wrote for the Chicago Sun Times and Midwest, but they'are all on microfilm at the University of Chicago, and, with neither the ability to get there nor even a clear knowledge of the dates and titles of the articles I'd be looking for, I have no means of getting a crack at them. Thanks much for the heads up. Wish I could do more with it. Again, my memory is hazy on this, but I seem to recall that this event took place in Pennsylvania, which is where Moench lived, so the Chicago connection doesn't sound right. Wish I could remember more, Shax.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,812
|
Post by shaxper on Nov 11, 2015 20:52:04 GMT -5
I'm wondering if that was the piece that won him the Chicago Newspaper Guild Award. All I know about it is that it was a "stream-of-consciousness reflection on violence in the Chicago subway system". I've been trying to track down the articles Moench wrote for the Chicago Sun Times and Midwest, but they'are all on microfilm at the University of Chicago, and, with neither the ability to get there nor even a clear knowledge of the dates and titles of the articles I'd be looking for, I have no means of getting a crack at them. Thanks much for the heads up. Wish I could do more with it. Again, my memory is hazy on this, but I seem to recall that this event took place in Pennsylvania, which is where Moench lived, so the Chicago connection doesn't sound right. Wish I could remember more, Shax. Makes sense, considering both that you indicated it was for a men's magazine and that it was about his wife. You also said 1978-1979. Here I was, thinking in the context of 1970-1973 (where I am in the reviews right now), where Moench was neither married nor writing for men's magazines. Sorry for not being a better listener! Maybe I'll have more luck tracking down these later articles. I haven't tried yet.
|
|