Tuesday, May 9, 2017

The Footlight Furies

Another gem from the August 1952 issue of Web of Mystery #12, highlighted by sexy female blood sucker art by Chic Stone. An interesting, underlying theme behind this tale too, in regards to naive people reaching for fame and fortune...













11 comments:

Nequam said...

Interesting that the vampire bite is shown on Inez's wrist and not her neck. While it does make it a lot easier to conceal, I wonder if a neck bite from a female vampire was seen as too Sapphic...

Brian Barnes said...

"Who sold her soul to become a great star" ... but she didn't! The vampire just bit her, turning her into a sexy Miss Gene Simmons. OK, now instantly regret typing that!

This is a fun story. Obviously written around "vampire" and "floodlight" concept, it's got a speedy little story, the vampires have a great look (how it transforms clothes we'll never know), you can imagine a lesbian context (take that as good or bad), and somebody suddenly becoming human and falling to their death is relatively unique for a vampire story.

Last page, panel 4 is an example of bad coloring. I had no idea there were cops in that panel until I looked back over it.

Guy Callaway said...

I think there's a number of interesting levels to this one, though I wonder if they were intentional. I'm getting an Icarus vibe from the denouncement with the klieg light...
A most unique story.

BTX said...

Hmmm... "Lez" be friends?

Glowworm said...

This one is a fun read. I love how the original vampiress is brazen enough to sit up front in the audience on the opening night of the play.

Glowworm said...

I also love how two of Olga's hairs stick straight up on her head like ears.

Morbid said...

I agree with the positive remarks on this story. Lots of levels as Guy notes. It's like a vampire All About Eve with lesbian overtones and an Icarus twist at the end to really make it psychologically complex. And I always get a kick out of 1950's vampire stories where they give the vampire actual giant bat wings. I wish there were some vintage B movies when that happened -- that would be so entertainingly silly it would be amazing.

Thanks a lot for posting this one, Karswell! A great start to my day as I often read THOIA while I eat breakfast.

Guy Callaway said...

BTX:

"Hmmm... "Lez" be friends?"

Not only that, I bet Olga (note name) is a lousy Commie lesbian vampire!

Mr. Karswell said...

Glad you guys liked this one... I think you'll enjoy the final story from this issue as well-- COMING UP NEXT! Thanks for the comments :)

Mr. Cavin said...

I certainly liked it. So many excellent panels--a devil mask charm necklace! Lightning bolt stare-downs! A skeleton sprawled head-first in a Klieg light! I love the end and the wild second act trip to the taxidermist. I don't know what's kookier, the idea that some hapless understudy would attempt to mount a creature of the night she'd accidentally lifted from the local boneyard, or that the squeaky-clean Ralph Bellamy-type taxidermist would take advantage of the resulting weird bat attack to finally put the moves on his old crush. There was just something in the air that night....

I am always very pleased with vampires who assume a special paranormal form when hungry or agitated; and the conceit here, that without feeding they continue to morph past the point of no return, is particularly nice.

Grant said...

For a horror story version of Eve from ALL ABOUT EVE, Inez isn't exactly a violent one. She doesn't try to harm Gilda physically, and she isn't even expecting the bat itself to get beaten up or killed! And when she becomes a vampire, she resists it in that Larry Talbot tradition. So for a character who "brings things on herself," she isn't exactly a terrible one.

Like Mr. Cavin, I found the "celebrity crush" idea worked into THIS PARTICULAR story about actresses pretty entertaining.