Number 1311: Two Aces

Ace Horror is a blog in English which comes from Germany. It spotlights pre-Code horror comics from Ace. Ace is the comic book company from publisher A. A. Wyn who simultaneously published the fantastic and collectible Ace paperback books (including Ace Doubles, a special love of mine). Ace's comic books have grown on me over the years as I've seen more of them. The Ace Horror website is an invaluable resource for anyone studying Ace comics, or just interested in 1950s horror comics.

I’ve shown both of these stories before, and the Ace Horror website links to both of my original postings. If you check them out you can see the differences in my scans, then and now.

Both are from Web of Mystery #13 (1952). First up, a werewolf tale illustrated by Lou Cameron, from a time in his career when he was still finding his way artistically, and before he began signing his work. Next, Lin Streeter drew one of my favorite Ace horror tales, “Syr-Darya’s Death Song,” which is well illustrated, and contains one of my favorite single comic book panels. You can see it at the top of this page. As someone pointed out to me years ago when I created a privately printed postcard of the panel, "It's kinky without being real kinky, y'know? There’s a chick whipping a guy, calling him 'Dog' but they both have all their clothes on.” Ohhhh-kay. Sounds about right to me.

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Number 1310: Cleopatra turns on her headlights...and in turn, turns on Julius Caesar!

It's been only a short time since I showed you the most infamous headlights cover of Phantom Lady #17, and here I am again, to blind you with headlights set on high beam.

This Stuart Taylor tale from Jumbo Comics #41 (1942) is sexually suggestive, especially in its depiction of Cleopatra. Yet beyond its fictional framing, it’s essentially the story told in history books: Cleopatra's seduction of Julius Caesar, and after Caesar's death, Marc Antony. But told Fiction House-style makes history so much more entertaining.

Lee J. Ames is credited with penciling and inking. It’s been a while since I showed anything by Ames. He was a journeyman comic book artist who went into book illustration, and then into instruction books with titles like Draw 50 Animals, Draw 50 Famous Faces, etc., which taught many kids they could draw by taking the steps Ames showed them. The last thing I showed by Ames in this blog is the 1951 Avon adaptation of King Solomon’s Mines in Pappy's #919.

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Number 1309: Taking Hitler to hell

I don't think I can adequately describe this incredible, crazy tale from the obscure Great Comics #3 (1942). The best I can do is say it's beautifully illustrated, but it’s like a fever-dream. An invisible man from the future, Futuro, guides his fellow invisibles to Bavaria to kidnap Hitler, then take him to “Hades.”

“I can eat toads and Japs, but...UGH!! Not that rotten dictator!” proclaims a winged demon. Everyone involved with this story certainly made their feelings about Hitler known. The artist is unidentified.

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Number 1308: Jungle horrors!

Voodoo was an Ajax/Farrell title, which in the past I've confused with comics from Superior, a Canadian company. And why not? They both used stories provided by the Jerry Iger Studio, which meant their horror stories had much the same feel (and appeal) to them. In Voodoo #3 (1952), none of the stories feature voodoo, but three of the four stories in the issue have jungle settings.

I'm only showing two today because if I read too many jungle stories my brain gets jungle rot. The second of our duo, “Plantation of Fear,” I am proclaiming a crazy comic classic. I love murdering-plant stories, and these plants are definitely murderous. Anthropomorphic, too, with cartoonish human facial expressions. You'll see what I mean.

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