Sunday, May 25, 2008

The Collector

If you read alot of pre-code horror then you probably already know how a typical story about a mean spirited, ruthless big game hunter usually ends (seems they all wind up with a similar-ish fate in the end.) But in typical Harvey fashion, I guarantee you’ve never seen a jungle scenario played out quite like this.

From the May 1953 issue of Chamber of Chills #17





12 comments:

T. R Xands said...

Haha, wow that was great. The chase & capture on the last couple of pages was just amazing and really creeped me out (HE DIDN'T RUN FAST ENOUGH! caught me off guard, seriously).

Gosh...I don't know if you enjoyed/watched much of Rod Serling's Night Gallery, but this reminded me of this one episode I think called Clean Kills or something like that...not really in terms of plot, but just the ending like "the hunter is the hunted/trophy" and like that. I mean, not like that's an uncommon theme or anything but while I was reading that just came to mind. It doesn't help that I'm literally jonesing for some Night Gallery eps.

But, uh, I'm rambling and I apologize, its early and I should really be in bed! Nothing better to go to sleep on than great horror tales & comics you know.

Unknown said...

Deftly executed ending. Wow!

Anonymous said...

some scary sh*t.
awesome!!
horror!!!!

The Vicar of VHS said...

You're right, Karswell--I expected the "bastard becomes trophy on the wall" ending, but they way they got there was awesome!

Thaddeus does indeed own a keen mind in order to deduce from one observation that the pool contains THE ESSENCE OF LIFE ITSELF! Of course if that's the pool all life arose from, it explains a lot...at least we know where all the 2 a.m. bar patrons and midnight 24-hour-Wal-Mart Shoppers come from! I just assumed they were mutants...

I wonder if the pool got polluted somehow, which is what causes the terrible copies it makes. A little red-green-blue adjustment, and maybe it'd be good as new!

Wonderful stuff, Karswell.

Anonymous said...

PREDICTABLE JUNGLE ENDINGS ASIDE, THIS HAS AN INCREDIBLE STORY TWIST! HALF THE FUN IS GETTING THERE. LOVE THE WEIRD ALTERED ANIMAL ARTWORK TOO. TOO COOL!

Anonymous said...

Love how he reacts to the cheetah kitten as if it was just a rambunctious housecat,funny as hell.so the pool creates warped evil copies of things eh?,why do i have the feeling that this is where Gus Van Sant's version of PSYCHO came from?

Anonymous said...

very cool story

thanks!

Tim Tylor said...

Neat story, and the artist clearly had fun with the trophies. Reminds me of a James Thurber cartoon of a woman showing a guest three fever-dreamlike mounted heads, with a caption on the lines of "My husband shot these in Kenya just before he went mad."

Mr. Karswell said...

>jonesing for some Night Gallery eps.

I've done a couple Night Gallery posts, check the archives... if you need a quick NG fix try watching them FREE online here:

http://www.nbc.com/Vintage_Shows/Rod_Serlings_Night_Gallery/

So once again, great batch of comments here today. Sundays used to be so dead too!

Everyone have a safe and happy holiday tomorrow, see ya then with a chilling Warren Kremer classic!

Anthony said...

Geez, I almost missed out on a Harvey post! Unforgivable!

Great fun. I love how the pool of life is even able to copy Thaddeus's clothing. With the pools tendency to warp what goes in I was almost surprised that the monster version didn't come out wearing a tie-dyed hunting ensemble or possibly a tutu.

The last page is a beauty. Does anyone know if there's a term for full page art like that at the end (since splash pages, I believe, technically have to be at the beginning)?

Chuck Wells said...

Weird, weird, weird!

T. R Xands said...

Holy f--er, gee golly, thanks for that NBC link Karswell!

Gah, I might have to switch to satellite TV soon, as that's where my new-favorite channel, the NBC-owned (if I'm not mistaken) Chiller is. They're teasing me...