THE HORRIBLE ENTITY

A lot of discussion about pre-Code horror comics focuses on EC (of course) and other publishers who had the talents of artists such as Lee Elias, Warren Kremer, Bob Powell, Bernard Baily and others illustrating outrageous covers and stories for them. But one artist seems to often elude those praised for their work: Jay Disbrow.

Disbrow concocted some of the most vile and hideous monsters in the pages of Star Comics' STARTLING TERROR TALES. This story appeared in their second time around with the title (Vol. 1, No. 10, August 1954) with a cover by L.B. Cole. 

In this story, a mysterious fluid morphs into something both terrifying and deadly. "Finally, it resolved itself into a horrible entity of titanic proportions, with rippling tentacles, and an extremely grotesque head protruding from its enormous mass"!

See more Jay Disbrow monstrosities HERE.

YOU CAN'T JUDGE A HORROR COMIC BY ITS COVER!

After reports that EC Comic's horror titles were becoming profitable, numerous publishers were tip-toeing their way into the field, reluctant to go all in for an as-yet, largely untested new subject. As a result they used an interesting, but misleading "bait-and-switch" tactic.

A number of publishers mimicked EC's strategy of introducing horror stories into their crime titles (CRIME PATROL and WAR AGAINST CRIME), as well as swiping cover design ideas.. Thematically, it seemed like a fairly good fit and it was a cautious way of finding out how readers would react.

There was one problem with that: the cover images were as far as they went -- the interiors were still comprised of the usual crime stories that they had been using all along.

Shown here are a few examples some of the other publishers who experimented (such as it was) to test the blood-filled waters.

This is not an exactly a horror story, but it is definitely a weird tale (STARTLING TERROR TALES #13, art by Jay Disbrow).

Perhaps the most blatant come-on of all was Hillman's MONSTER CRIME, cover-dated October 1952. Behind the cover of the 52-page, 15-cent book were nothing more than crime stories from their overstocked inventory. The closet thing to horror was one story's title, "Another Hallowe'en".

A JAY DISBROW CLASSIC

The monster depicted in the last panel of this story gets my vote for the most hideous creature that ever showed its ugly "face" in a Pre-Code comic -- and it wasn't even in a horror comic -- it was in a crime comic!

The story, "Ultimate Destiny: A Study in Suspense and Horror" appeared in the last issue (#5) of CRIME DETECTOR (Timor, September 1954), with a script by an unknown writer and drawn by Jaw Disbrow. It's a typical tale of being granted eternal life with unexpected consequences, but the last page is a doozy. A true Disbrow classic who outdid his Pre-Code horror contemporaries with this monstrosity.

Don't peek!

THIS IS GHOSTLY WEIRD!

After acquiring characters and art from Novelty Press, Golden Age great L.B. Cole formed a partnership with publisher Gerhard Kramer they called Star Publications, Inc. with the imprint Star Comics. Their first title was BLUE BOLT, a superhero comic. When horror began to get popular, Cole threw his hat in the ring and changed the name to BLUE BOLT WEIRD TALES OF TERROR with issue #111, then to BLUE BOLT WEIRD TALES. Again the title changed to GHOSTLY WEIRD STORIES, which took over the numbering from BLUE BOLT WEIRD TALES with issue #120. It lasted for five quarterly issues until it was lights out in late 1954.

This issue belongs to Jay Disbrow, who wrote and illustrated all the stories except for one. Disbrow had a way with drawing some crazy-looking monsters and his various creatures are the highlights of his Pre-Code horror stories.

Jayson "Jay" Disbrow studied commercial art and illustration from the Famous Artists School. The "school" was a correspondence program formed in New York in 1948 that was well-known for it's "We're Looking for People Who Like To Draw" one-page ads seen ubiquitously in comic books after adding a cartooning course. He cited Alex Raymond, Hal Foster, Burne Hogarth and Edgar Rice Burroughs' stories as his inspirations. He worked for the Iger Shop as an inker for Fiction House titles and freelanced for Cole for Star Comics.

While this issue isn't necessarily as violent or gory as a number of other Pre-Code horror comics, it was nevertheless called out by Dr. Fredric Wertham in his inflammatory book, "Seduction of the Innocent".

GHOSTLY WEIRD STORIES

No. 120 (no Volume indicated)

September 1953

Star Publications Inc. (Star Comics)

Editor: L.B. Cole

Cover: L.B. Cole

Pagers: 36

Cover price: 10 cents

CONTENTS

"Night-Monster"

Script: Jay Disbrow

Art: Jay Disbrow

"The Mummy's Hand" (one-page story)

Script: Jay Disbrow

Art: Jay Disbrow (as Jayson)

"Ghostly Idol" (reprinted from Jo-Jo Comics #22 (Fox, December 1948)

Script: ?

Art: Bob Webb (and others, possibly Matt Baker)

"The Vengeful Phantom" (one-page story)

Script: Jay Disbrow

Art: Jay Disbrow

"The Djinni of Bazra" (one-page story)

Script: Jay Disbrow

Art: Jay Disbrow

"The Garden of Horror"

Script: Jay Disbrow?

Art: Lee Loeb