House of Wax!

APRIL FOOLS! It's not "House of Wax" at all-- it's "House of Whacks!" hahaha from the December 1953 debut issue of Mad #1! APRIL FOOLS! It's not from the December 1953 issue of Mad #1 at all either, it's actually from the December 1953 issue of Eh! #1 published by EC-- errr, April Fools uhhgain, --from Charlton. Eh! ran 700 issues... April Foo... ehhhh... that's to say, 7 issues total before calling it quits, just like I'm calling it quits with this rather annoyingly foolish gag o'my own! And if you think this intro is full of tired attempts at humor, wait'll you get a load of this vampire story, because it's incredibly funny, and totally unique and oooo boy... April freakin' Fools for probably the last goddamn time ever. Yeesh, even the Sam Spade Wild-Root hair tonic advertisment that I tossed onto the end of this post is somehow way sillier!

One for the Money... Two for the Show!

It's been a very long time since we ventured into the excellent era of 80's Eclipse terror-tory stories, so here's a fun little two-parter featuring the same story set-up in each, but with two brutally different, outrageous outcomes! Written by Bruce Jones (of course), and featuring some really great cartooning by Bill Wray, this short but sweet "Choose Your Favorite Climax" combo is still packed with plenty of meat, and is a real horror hoot for you giggling gore fans! From the December 1984 issue of Twisted Tales #10, and highlighted with a perfectly putrid cover painting by joltin' John Pound!

Snatcher

A funny little Charlton creature quickie, from the July 1976 issue of Scary Tales #6-- warning you to keep your greedy little mitts off of other people's property!

The Werewolf Takes a Wife / Her Other Face

Double Header Day again, and get ready for two of my all-time favorite loony tune Atlas tales, both of which can be found in the April 1954 issue of Astonishing #32. It's a duelin' dose of monster maiden mayhem featuring hilarious horror twists on two creeps the likes of which I'm not sure any of us have seen around here in a while, --if ever! And yes, Werewolf Wednesday is a day early because I'll be busy for the next few, but also because I want to give everyone a chance to read these before posting again. And one more thing: even though it's still technically incorrect, please read BOTH tales before screamin' "cover blurb mix-up!" haha, wtf...

Queen of the Mummies

Bill Ward's sexy 'n saucy masterpiece, Torchy, was a back-up feature in many issues of the super fun Doll Man series (check the last few posts for more on DM.) Everyone's favorite blonde with the legs for days even had her own series for a while too, and was also featured in many issues of Quality's Modern Comics series-- which brings us to today's post from the October 1946 issue of Modern Comics #54. This is a funny, frisky little story with some incredible art, and I really REALLY wanted to include it in my MUMMIES book (still available HERE --makes a great xmas present!), but unfortunately it just wasn't mummy material enough to work there, whereas I believe it's mummy enough material to absolutely work here at ever art-lovin' THOIA. Enjoy this weeks diversion, haha...













Wanna see more Torchy here at THOIA? Comment NOW!

The MC of Midnight Scare Theater!

Take it from me, being a horror host is hard work-- but sometimes it's downright MURDER! And you can take that tidbit from Jimmy Olsen! That's right, you groaners, today we have a Jimmy Olsen tale, but we're gonna put our own terror twist on this one because it's all about late night 50's TV horror hosts and monster movies... and yeah yeah, the meh-ending is dumb, but as most of these silly stories prove, without a doubt half the fun is getting there! (Also, Supe is barely even in this one so we have that going for us as well.) And I'll be the first to admit, if this yarn did have a better ending it might actually have made for a great William Castle movie because it really is a killer concept! So how about this-- everyone read the story and then let's all come up with a more THOIA-esque, appropriate ending, shall we? Make it downbeat and evil, extra gloomy, even suicidally sad. Or maybe keep it upbeat, but add a touch of deadly, icky irony! Or we can just bummeroo on the usual things associated with post code DC hero stuff, whaaaaatever ya's want. Personally, I think these bonkeroo Jimmy tales are a blast-- so let's have some fun with it! You guys like fun, right?! Afterwards, you can eat a big sandwich.

Originally presented in the July 1959 issue of Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #38.

Invasion of the Windsuckers from Beyond the Stars

If this blog ever starts becoming too predictable, please please please remember that I posted this 4 page pants splitter about far-out fart lovers from beyond the stars. How many of you even knew there was a Nation Lampoon-esque magazine called Apple Pie published by Lopez in the mid 70's anyway? Yep, 8 whole issues! Learn something pew every day...

From the gag-inducing March 1975 "Flatulence" (debut) issue of Apple Pie Vol. 1 #1

"Hack, Hack, Sweet Has-Been" or "What Ever Happened To Good Taste?"

Annnnnd here we go-- I promised you guys something different, and while I have delivered a few MAD Magazine posts in the past, I've yet to submit this kooky spoof that spearheads the Hollywood trend (at the time) of casting glamorous 1920's, 30's and 40's Golden Age actresses into B-horror film roles of the 50's and 60's. Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwick, the list goes on, and as film history has shown, while they aged gracefully and reached their own "golden years" in life, the youth obsessed film industry either turned their backs on them completely, or cast them in campy trash classics like Trog. Or, in the case of today's post, "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" meets "What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?" Some actresses actually prospered in this new age of horror cinema, while unfortunately, others did not. And while I'm not super fond of the stale arsenal of age jokes here that make fun of some of my all-time favorite leading ladies, I certainly do love the magnificent Mort Drucker artwork, as well as the very idea of all these wonderful women coming together for a murderous axe party in a dreary old house! Originally featured in the January 1966 issue of MAD #100, script by Larry Siegel. Enjoy, and we'll see you next month-- IN COLOR!