Wednesday, October 09, 2019

That seems like a damning indictment of the film version...


We filled up all of October with cheesy horror comics, so now we can start doubling up! Starting with Twilight Zone #61 from 1975, cover by George Wilson. "Coming Attractions," with art by Jose Delbo, kicks this one off: a late night movie buff sneaks into a show, only to find it a snuff movie film festival, with an audience of murderers competing for the "Pox Vobiscum" trophy. He escapes...for now.

Win Mortimer draws "School Spirits," wherein a young teacher runs afoul of a sexist administrator and is shipped out to the country. She's apparently too good to fire; so the plot reminded me of Hot Fuzz. And the class size is more manageable, even with some ghost students. In "The Candidate" a young woman fights a corrupt mayor and the political machine when they try to rig the election...ooh, far-fetched. (Art by Jack Sparling.) Feels like there's a missing section in that one: when the power goes out election night, the candidate realizes the fix is in and the results will be changed. So she lets the story break, and the public who voted overwhelmingly for her chase down the crooked mayor with the proverbial torches and pitchforks--seriously, there's a pitchfork in there, who has those in the city?

In "the Last Starship," when the elite abandon a dying earth and the rest of humanity, a blind girl accidentally stows away. When a space plague ravages the passengers, an alien ship offers to help, but only the girl will warn them of the danger of infection. Again, far-fetched: the elite of earth turns out to be murdering scumbags who would endanger anyone to save their own skins? Yeah...art by Jose Delbo.

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