Greetings, my ghoulish Groove-ophiles! We're here today to dig on a classic horror/mystery tale by two of our favorite Boys from Derby, Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo! From The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves #8 (May 1968), here's..."The Mist"!
We grew up on Charlton Horror comics as a kid.... You have a great blog of these wonderful 70's comics .... Looking forward to reading over your many past posts.... ... a great day to you, and thank you for giving us a "Smile" for the day... (by reading over some of the comics of my youth)
Despite horrible production values and a lot of subpar talent, Charlton turned out quite a few gems in its publishing history. This is one of them. They were also good at developing talent that would go on to produce great things at Marvel and DC: Steve Skeates, Jim Aparo, John Byrne, Joe Staton, Mike Zeck, Bob Layton.
This is a story that isn't quite horror, but it could be considered a variation of the Girl On the Bridge story with the girl hoping to find the guy instead of find a way home. The girl was hoping to pick up where she left off with the guy, but realizing to her regret that too much time had passed for things to be as they were.
Had the story been written as a haunted romance the guy ride off with the girl into eternity, but in this instance they both realize they must go their separate ways.
An interesting story with a melancholy ending. Thanks for the post.
Yes, the key to the story is that he "doesn't remember" what they planned together. Physical change is unimportant, what matters is that he is a different man now, for worse or for better. Whether he has lost or gained something at the end of the story, this remains to be seen. Very melancholy story yes, in a TZ mood, with Graves posing as Serling. And did you notice the old "Coleridge flower" trick?
I simply adore Aparo art from this early period, it's so exceedingly crisp and precise. His work got more energetic after he moved to DC, but I think he lost a tiny bit of atmosphere.
Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!
Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.
All other commentary and insanity copyright GroovyAge, Ltd.
As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!
That is one beautiful Jim Aparo cover I had not seen before. I think I may have to explore more of these Charlton comics for my collection.
ReplyDeleteShane G.
We grew up on Charlton Horror comics as a kid....
ReplyDeleteYou have a great blog of these wonderful 70's comics ....
Looking forward to reading over your many past posts....
... a great day to you, and thank you for giving us a "Smile" for the day...
(by reading over some of the comics of my youth)
This one seems more Serling-like than most. There's a Night Gallery-ish vibe to it.
ReplyDeleteDespite horrible production values and a lot of subpar talent, Charlton turned out quite a few gems in its publishing history. This is one of them. They were also good at developing talent that would go on to produce great things at Marvel and DC: Steve Skeates, Jim Aparo, John Byrne, Joe Staton, Mike Zeck, Bob Layton.
ReplyDeleteThis is a story that isn't quite horror, but it could be considered a variation of the Girl On the Bridge story with the girl hoping to find the guy instead of find a way home. The girl was hoping to pick up where she left off with the guy, but realizing to her regret that too much time had passed for things to be as they were.
ReplyDeleteHad the story been written as a haunted romance the guy ride off with the girl into eternity, but in this instance they both realize they must go their separate ways.
An interesting story with a melancholy ending.
Thanks for the post.
This one seems more like a Twilight Zone episode, eh, Anthrax2525?
ReplyDelete- Mike from Trinidad & Tobago.
Yes, the key to the story is that he "doesn't remember" what they planned together.
ReplyDeletePhysical change is unimportant, what matters is that he is a different man now, for worse or for better. Whether he has lost or gained something at the end of the story, this remains to be seen.
Very melancholy story yes, in a TZ mood, with Graves posing as Serling. And did you notice the old "Coleridge flower" trick?
I simply adore Aparo art from this early period, it's so exceedingly crisp and precise. His work got more energetic after he moved to DC, but I think he lost a tiny bit of atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteRip Off