Notes on Tales from the Crypt #1

As both a comic reader and a (secret) horror fan, nothing pleased me more than to read the comic, Tales From the Crypt--a collection of scary stories meant to delight, disgust, and terrify! And I simply loved it.

The basic structure is as follows--our frightening and disfigured narrator promises to tell us the most bone-chilling story, before revealing it to us in dramatic fashion. In this case, the first story is "The Maestro's Hand"--a story guaranteed to scare the reader.

And terrifying it is--the comic's style was typical for comics in the 1950's. It used fairly realistic drawings, while utilizing flat color and blacks for the shadows. After all, printing in color is not cheap, and the style lends itself to not only being noir-esque, but also very efficient.  Also, the style helps to evoke a sense of dread in the readers through its use of exaggeration for the beasts and creatures, while retaining the human quality in the heroes.

Out of the stories, I'd say that "Maestro's Hand" was my favorite. Rather than be a story mainly told in present time, the story is told through the past events of a man named Dr. Hollman. The doctor is a vengeful and regretting man--this is told to us by our wonderful narrator, and it just so happens that the character agrees. In fact, there are a few moments when the narrator foreshadows the miseries the main character will endure down the line. In particular, the narrator mentions how Hollman's demise will occur due to a maestro falling in love with his woman. Powerless to his own story, Hollman must go along with what is planned.

Tales from the crypt is an interesting take on horror comics. Not only does the narrator control the story, but the way the stories are drawn and written are entertaining without being too gruesome. Makes me wish I had an original copy of one of these...

Notes on Peanuts Visit The Des Moines Register and Review

Usually when I read Peanuts comics, I tend to expect the usual gang in roughly three to six panels. However, much to my surprise, I found one of the comics I was given to read was the gang breaking the fourth wall and going into a real life newspaper, printing company.

As the comic starts out, we find the characters in their typical place (within square confines, in black and white). As they journey along, they come upon the last panel, when suddenly they find themselves growing bigger and in a world of color. It is to symbolize the "other side", much like how Dorothy finds herself in the colorful land of Oz (only in this case, it's our world).

Now, what fascinates me about this comic is that it places characters who are more iconic than the characters designed for the tribune. It makes sense to do this, since the Peanuts characters are not of this world. But, in this case, the real world just doesn't seem that relatable to me. Whenever I read the comic that included a panel with the Peanuts characters, I always found myself drawn to them. I wanted to know what they had to say, because to me they were the most interesting characters in the comic. I guess it goes to show that simplicity really allows for the audience to not only relate to your work, but get into your story, as well.