[MarkWarner]

This week we have something that I think may create a few sparks. The concept is a complete load of baloney even in the comic book world, but I think this will be fun!!!

Looking  at the GCD notes we have LOTS of Kirby, maybe some Simon, plus Bob McCarty and Mort Meskin!!!!
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=21428 and the story we are concentrating is the first one The Girl in the Grave!

[RickDeckard525]

I have already read this numerous times as I am our resident Kirby freak, so I guess I get the first post. I actually really like this series a lot. The concept is a little kooky, but it makes for some cool surreal art.

[crashryan]

This is a peculiar one. I'm accustomed to hearing how magazine publishers study their markets carefully and publish stuff intended for a specific audience. This seems more like someone said, "Eh, let's give it a try and see if anyone buys it." It certainly doesn't seem to be intended for kids. Not because it has adult material, but because the concepts are somewhat (pseudo) intellectual and not the sort of thing I imagine would spark a kid's imagination.

The only stories with plots are the two seeing-the-future yarns, which play out like lightweight post-Code weird stories. The dream-analysis stories occasionally have interesting visuals, but they're mostly humdrum. I didn't read the text story.

Kirby does an intriguing cover. I think it would have caught my attention on the newsstand, though the stories would have quickly lost me. The first Kirby story and the Meskin-Roussos story have the most interesting art. I never was a fan of the heavy cross-hatch lines many Prize artists used, though. I presume it was Joe Simon who started the style. It looks clunky to me.

Overall opinion: meh.

[Captain Audio]

Strange dreams were a staple element in 40's psychological dramas , "Spellbound" is a prime example.
Some times the dreams turned out to be jumbled memories of actual events, other times more symbolic or a premonition.

I've been lucky in always having been a lucid dreamer, when I dream I know I'm dreaming and can guide the way the dream goes.
Not very restful though.

[paw broon]

Having just finished reading this comic, the first thing that I thought was that the story, "I Lived 200 Years Ago", and now I think about it, "A Dream Saved My Life", seem like post code ACG stories. Then, quickly, that, could this comic be the basis for/precursor to/start of the idea for Spirit World?
The story we are asked to concentrate on is a load of old cobblers but I enjoyed looking at it. The art does lead the eye nicely through the story. But there is an odd image of Temple's forearm with pipe - p.5 panel 5.

And as I was reading this comic, the subject of the art of leading the reader through the story, and people who are comics blind came to mind.  That is, they seem unable to understand or interpret how a comic page runs.  Like trying to read a foreign language they are not familiar with and being confounded. And I often wonder, were they to be presented with a Jesse Marsh story or this one (only for the art, you understand) would they "get " it? 

Only my opinion but there are some disturbing nightmare images in this title.  But, had I bought it at the time, I don't think I'd have been back next month for another go. 

[twiztor]

this was an odd one.

decent little story, but not what i'd expect. cool imagery with the grave, and the steps leading into a tomb, and then it's paperwork. and actual dream reading. i feel almost like it was due to a bait-and-switch, although it's clearly not.

the artwork was top notch (go figure) and like paw said, it really does lead you through the story.
i also am not really sure who this would be intended for. comics was still a kids' medium, but as a kid i wouldn't have liked this at all.

[Captain Audio]

The first story artwork reminded me of story boards used to guide film makers.
Perhaps why the action flows smoothly.
Wonder if the artist worked on film story boards?

[MarkWarner]

This book has a really cool cover ... I have high hopes that the content will match it.

Our main story "The Girl In The Grave" starts with an amazing coincidence:

"Temple? The Dream Detective? Why ... I was going to call your office as soon as I left here! For an appointment tonight!"

First story done and I must admit it was very readable. Straight on to a dream that has been sent in by a reader (yeh right). I am beginning to think this might get a little bit tedious, which might explain the short run on this title,

The text story is beginning to confirm this theory ... it is drivel of the highest (or is it lowest) order!

Oh ... the next "Reader's Dream" is actually a bit better and Kirby's art in this is the best so far in the book. Here's hoping the improvement continues with the next story  ... which it doesn't ... it also includes a really incompetent accountant

"That last audit showed it, but I wanted to be certain! Now I AM! The figures in your books have been juggled! AND NORTON'S CANCELLED CHECKS fit those figures! To the penny!"

Well thanks for giving him a bit more time to rip me off further! The next "Reader's Dream" in a two word synopsis - Nice Dwarfes.

The text story confirms that Richard Temple must have some sort of sleep disorder as he's up at all hours.

I am sorry all you Kirby fans but the Television Bank advertisement is the best bit so far and I WANT ONE!!

At last the final story delivers a good laugh (unintended I guess) as Dad's explanation for the nightmare is:

"It's all due to your mother's apple pies ..."

Book done and I am afraid that it was not very good. BUT I think it could have been ... say if 1/2 the book had the dream stuff just like it is now .. and the other half with something DIFFERENT then it might actually have been ok. But as they stand I am not tempted to read the others we have.

[narfstar]

I go along with drivel in the highest order. Art OK.

[misappear]

I don't know if i'd have bought this comic as a kid, but I sure do like the cover.  Great color and a sense of balance that appeals to my obsessively symmetric mind

A couple of things I noticed about the stories that I think were done very nicely:  Both first and last stories depected people dreaming which, to me, showed a sense of realism to the way people actually dream. References to the absurd seeming normal, or the mention of continually shifting landscapes/settings adds a sense of telling an authentic story.  Other comic book dream sequences often shown characters having comic-booky long, deep, existential conversations. I think of Doctor Strange in this regard. 

I remember buying Spirit World by Kirby back in the day.  Seems that the dream theme stuck with Mr. Kirby.  I also have always viewed the Fourth World's travels through the Boom Tube as a flight into a dream world.

Also done well was the art in the last story by the "unnamed artist."  Check out page three, panel two. That's a very clever way of getting three characters into the same "shot".  Plus, some of the art, probably photo referenced, was nonetheless very effectively drawn. 

I was completely unaware of this series prior to this week. I find that all four volumes have been collected in a high-priced archive edition.  I'll stick to digital.

Until next week,

Dave

[Drusilla lives!]

We Will Buy Your Dreams!... And then sell them back to you. 

I actually was wondering just how much they were paying, then as I was reading the issue, I came across the ad at the bottom of page 23.  Twenty-five dollars!  Not a bad sum for 1952! 

All kidding aside, all I can say is, what a concept for a comic book!  Leave it to S&K to attempt to come up with some novel way to cash-in on both the horror and romance trends of the day I suppose.  I mean, this is what I think we have here at its core... an odd amalgam of "light horror" and romance.

Imo, it's sorta like reading a bunch of "Dear Abby" columns written by a mystical fortuneteller/astrologer, whose focus is on dreams... albeit with some marvelously surreal Kirby art sprinkled throughout.  But perhaps it's that very artwork (which I find so compelling as a Kirby fan) that might've limited the audience for this book and contributed to its brief run.  For aside from "A Dream Saved His Life," the rest of the stories (along with the host character Richard Temple) can, in my opinion, easily fit-in as backup features in a romance title. 

Love that cover with all its foreshadowing of what's to come later in Kirby's work... both stylistically in the physically rendered line, and in the imaginative creation of all those odd shaped creatures (any of which immediately bringing to my mind his 60s Thor and FF work).  Very appealing in my opinion, and so is his work on our featured story "Girl In The Grave," which I thought rather well written and amusing. But this is an opinion of an adult, and a Kirby fan at that.  Not exactly the one of a young boy, who in seeing this cover on the newsstand might expect more horror than romance... and certainly not one of a young girl, who might be looking for a romance comic and seeing this as a horror comic (based on the surreal cover).

I also thought this of most of the "You Sent Us This Dream" shorts... that is, well written with nice Kirby art.

Found "I Lived 200 Years Ago" weak but tolerable, with a "twist ending" that in retrospect seems hardly worth wading through the seven pages to get to.  "A Dream Saved His Life" is the real oddball among oddballs here... certainly not romance story, that's for sure... it's only the opening panels on the first two pages with their surreal Kirby(?) touches that lend an air of supernatural to the story... otherwise it's a straight war story imo.

The text story "The Bronze Goddess" was passible, "The Laughing Corpse" not so much... I found it somewhat muddled by the end for some reason (even by one-pager text fuller standards).

In brief... love the cover and enjoyed reading the featured story.  Overall, a nice, but weird, attempted "spin" on the romance genre imo.

Dunno why, but for some reason this makes me feel like reading an issue of Briefer's Frankenstein next.

[bowers]

Couldn't agree more with Drusilla- this genre does seem to be a bit of a spin-off of romance comics. Look at the ads for books advising how to get dates and how to write love letters. Sort of makes me wonder if some of the specialty niche comics were actually written for the furtive adult comic buyer of the GA. In our group's reading list, it seems to me that at least "Crime Does Not Pay", Danger", and possibly this title were  not really geared to younger readers. Anyway, I did enjoy most of this book, being somewhat interested in the subject of dreams. "The Girl in the Grave" was a well drawn and, for the most part, well written story. Easy to follow and brief! I find these type of tales are best if they can be kept short. The chance meeting was a bit much, but, hey, anything can happen in comics. GCDB gives Kirby script credits on most of the stories, and Meskin art credits for "I Lived 200 Years ago". This was also an interesting little tale, but pretty predictable. Meskin's art seemed a bit rushed and the inks awfully heavy. "The Bronze Goddess" wasn't a bad text story, but if Roslyn made an appointment for 10 a.m. the next morning did Temple show up at 1a.m.? "A Dream Saved My Life" would have been more effective by being shorter and , in the combat scenes, having the backgrounds simplified. They tended to overpower the main drawings. The two "You Sent Us This Dream" segments were good filler. Not a bad read. Cheers, Bowers