Thursday, March 14, 2013
Random Reads: "Lafferty's Luck" by Oleck and Milgrom
So, it's a sunny day in May, 1975. You've got some change in your pocket goin' jing-a-ling-a-ling, so you slip into the nearest drugstore to check out what's on the spinner rack. Ah, there's the latest House of Mystery (#234, to be precise). That's always a cool mag. Dependable. A little creepy. Nice Ernie Chua (Chan) cover. Cool looking lead-off tale by Michael (the Spectre, Jonah Hex) Fleisher and Jess Jodloman. Then the back-up feature captures your eye. A supernatural western yarn by (birthday boy) Jack Oleck. Now that's gotta be good. And the art looks extra far-out--hey, it's Al Milgrom, the cat who's been killing it over on Marvel's Captain Marvel! And is that Cain, our horrifying host himself, in the story? Okay, dude-behind-the-counter, here's my quarter! And here's today's random read for you, Groove-ophiles: "Lafferty's Luck"!
Al Milgrom may be credited with the art, but to my eyes this story was pencilled by Jim Starlin, then inked by Al Milgrom.
ReplyDeleteDavid Simpson
I think that, even though this story was published in 1975, it might have been drawn earlier in Milgrom's career...maybe as early as '72 or so, because by '75, Milgrom's art was better than this (even though this is still pretty nice). I seem to remember reading in some fanzine of the day that DC had a huge inventory of stories, so this one might have sat on the shelf for awhile. I am torn on the possible Starlin involvement: on the one hand, yes, this looks like early Starlin layouts with Milgrom finishes, but early Milgrom art tended to look a little Starlin-ish anyway. In any case, thanks for uncovering this neat little gem. - Jeff Clem
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