Saturday, March 19, 2016

Mystery Comics Digest Number 4: Ripley's Believe It or Not!

 Interesting cover art, a desperate man throwing a flaming torch at a giant chained man, with horns, while hooded men lurk in the background. "Wierd Eerie! Authentic!"

The table of contents.
This is a good publication. As I had mentioned previously, the same artist is featured in the Digest. Here, the artist creates a lot of detail in his art, and this makes for better comics. "The Shadow Men", "Death Comes Knocking", "The Red Knight of Germany", "Proof of a Ghost", "The Fated Plane" and (I *think*) "Hounds of Death" are all his work.
Another artist is featured as well. This one doesn't have the detail of the first, his panels are more open in that regard, but nevertheless the stories are good; "The Vampires"; "Phantom Hands of Vengeance"; "The Mummy's Hand"; and "The Flaming Scar" and "The Phantom Visitor".
The cover art refers to a text story, "The Fiend of Beachy Head", about a 16th century curse. Beachy Head is a dramatic looking cliff area of England with a reputation as a suicide spot over the ages, with the unfortunates hurling themselves off the cliffs.
http://www.beachyhead.org.uk/uploads/pics/home06_01.jpg
There are also several of the Ripley's Believe it or Not! single page cartoons.
The "Doctor Spector" artist also makes an appearance with several stories; "A Macabre Mystery - The Hug of Death"; "Midnight Mysteries - A Tree Grows in Transylvania"; "Tales of The Macabre - Where There's Smoke There's Fear".
The standout stories are mostly from the first artist. "Death Comes Knocking" is about a Filipino ghost story and tradition where three ghosts knock on the door of the dying. A very good tale. I also really liked the art and story of the Red Baron in World War One, "The Red Knight of Germany". The other standout is from the second featured artist, "The Flaming Scar". Interesting story.

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