As an eight year-old comic book rookie, I wasn't familiar with either horror comics or the eerie vignettes of shows like The Twilight Zone (having only three TV stations in my hometown). Of course, that didn't stop me from jumping in with both feet and buying The Vault of Evil #13 from Falk's Pharmacy in the summer of 1974. Sure, compared to all of the other Simply the Best covers I've featured, this one may not be an artistic classic for the ages...but it's certainly a sentimental favorite of mine as I recall that vaguely "naughty" feeling of buying something with the Devil so prominently featured. And, yes, this is a scan of my well-worn personal copy (click to enlarge):
So, since the cover was the primary reason I bought it, what was awaiting me inside? As it turned out, quite a nice variety of weirdness...and my first real experience with the concept of irony-laden "twist" endings.
A summary:
Tale #1: "The Heat's On", a dark tale of cruelty, spousal abuse, marital infidelity, a scheming she-devil, and going straight to Hell! Perfect for an eight year-old! Note the mysterious, looming presence of Satan in the final panel.
Tale #2: "The Telepathic Typewriter", a weird morality tale of a writer who discovered a truth-telling typewriter, but is later overcome with greed.
Tale #3: "The Madman", featuring a nurse who was actually a murderous spy for a race of four-armed subterranean invaders. A very odd and unsettling story at the time.
Tale #4: "Contents: One Human!", a quirky sci-fi story in which people are shrunk to a height of six inches and mailed in packages to save on travel expenses...a program secretly operated by a Martian!
As the years went on, the sci-fi/horror anthology format became a familiar and favorite experience, whether from old time radio, TV, or comic books. But, for me, that great tradition started with Vault of Evil #13 and its collection of surreal, supernatural tales.
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Note the mysterious, looming presence of Satan in the final panel.
Sorry, I was distracted by the looming presence of something else in the first panel...the devil has a huge rack!!
Posted by: Brian Disco Snell | October 29, 2008 at 04:52 AM
"...the devil has a huge rack!!"
Sung to the tune of Mitch Ryder's "Devil in a Blue Dress".
Posted by: Mark Engblom | October 29, 2008 at 07:36 AM