Comic Book Plus Forum
Comic And Book Related => Comic Book Plus Reading Group => Topic started by: K1ngcat on September 04, 2023, 01:23:37 AM
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Hi everyone
This week I've chosen to focus on Jay Disbrow, a writer and artist in the 1950s. Although he's probably better know for his "horror" work, as seen here, he also worked in other fields like romance and war. As his stories were often the only original works in comics containing reprints, I've had to pick four comics to show the breadth of his style, but feel free to comment on the other contents if they spark your interest.
I was first introduced to him through good old IW comics so it's only fitting that my first pick is from that range.
Strange Mysteries #9,
Creeping Death. https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=62215
Blue Bolt Weird Tales of Terror #119
The Demons of Doom. https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=7065
The Horrors of War #11
Spirit of War. https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=56784
Popular Teen Agers #12
Portrait of Love https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=39699
And for those who want to know more about the man, here is his page from Lambiek
https://www.lambiek.net/artists/d/disbrow_jay.htm
Looking forward to hearing your comments.
All the best
K1ngcat
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Should be a good fortnight!
cheers!
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Strange Mysteries #9 - Creeping Death
Well, that was an interesting one, K1ngcat. I hadn't heard of Disbrow before, and he has an interesting style. A lot of things happening in those panels, and some original panel placements. Though I did get a bit confused about the order in which to read the panels on p. 4. I read a couple of them in the wrong order to start with. Gale certainly has an interesting running style. Is she escaping or is she posing for a fashion shoot? And when will the slimy monsters re-emerge to take over the world? If it was a movie, it would be firmly in the B-movie schlock category. That's why even though it's technically horror, I could read it without wincing. It seemed more funny than scary.
Cheers
QQ
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Strange Mysteries #9 - Creeping Death
Well, that was an interesting one, K1ngcat. I hadn't heard of Disbrow before, and he has an interesting style. A lot of things happening in those panels, and some original panel placements. Though I did get a bit confused about the order in which to read the panels on p. 4. I read a couple of them in the wrong order to start with. Gale certainly has an interesting running style. Is she escaping or is she posing for a fashion shoot? And when will the slimy monsters re-emerge to take over the world? If it was a movie, it would be firmly in the B-movie schlock category. That's why even though it's technically horror, I could read it without wincing. It seemed more funny than scary.
Cheers
QQ
Thanks QQ, very quick off the mark there! Most of Disbrow's horror isn't actually horrifying, just strange and bizarre, I don't think you'll find his stuff too intimidating. :)
All the best
K1ngcat
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Strange Mysteries #9
Creeping Death
Nice art. Okay story. I do wonder why the publisher decided to add a new story, or was this an unpublished story that the publisher got the plates for?
Death Dance
Interesting, although I thought he would use the magnifying lens to burn his bonds. Given his arms were tied the sun would have to be low for him to burn the natives.
The Monstrous Madmen
2046? Wow! A story set in the future that's still the future! ;)
What's with all those giant planets we see when he's going to Mars? Even Jupiter and Saturn shouldn't look that big.
Weird, but fun, little tale.
Jade of Death..!
Beach Blanket Jungle. Except for the jungle setting it does look like a beach movie. Otherwise an okay jungle girl story.
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I have never heard of Jay Disbrow. But I'm curious to learn about his storywriting and drawing styles.
(1) Strange Mysteries #9 - "Creeping Death"
This story is more of a Sci-Fi than pure horror story. And that's fine for me, as I don't care for "Horror" merely for its own sake. His artwork on this one is decent,; but his staging is too limited. The panels seemed to full of objects, and thus, cramped. My main complaint, however, is related to the storytelling, with a classical mutant "monster" species threatening to take over our home planet, Earth. A large-scoped story like that deserves room to provide enough background to learn about the lead character(s), so we can identify with them, and "live" in the story through feeling their emotions as events unfold. In addition, it would be nice to have more room to learn more about the setting. But most important, to have enough page and panel room to pace the story properly, with a normal (calm) state-of-life beginning, and a pace building up speed and suspense, first slowly, then faster, and finally, racing towards the story's climax, and even have more than one tiny panel for the epilogue, ESPECIALLY in cases like this in which our planet's, and all its more advanced creatures' futures depend on the repercussions of this story's events. It is impossible to identify with the lead character, and build up the proper suspense for the reader to live in such a story and feel the fear for the lead characters' own lives and existence, and their worries for the future of Mankind, cramming the story into a paltry 6 pages.
This is a typical "Blob" type plot, (actually almost an identical basic plot, just with different characters and occurring in a different location. For THAT reason, it isn't as interesting as something new to the reader would have been. It held my interest almost to the end; but the ending was easily guessed by me way too early. But that didn't have to be so. The author could have had an unexpected ending like Basil Wolverton's "Brain Bats of Venus".
Was "The Monstrous Madmen" also written and/or drawn by Jay Disbrow?
(2) Blue Bolt's Weird Tales (of Terror) 119 - "Demons Of Docar"
This is a variation on the Greek myth/legend of Pandora's Box. The protagonist thinks the turban-headed South Asian man who bids against him for the ancient Middle Eastern box is a Hindu. But the tuban-headed man speaks Arabic, and the current name of the land of the box's origin is called Mecca (which implies Saudi Arabia). There were demons in ancient Arabian pagan lore. I wonder if the Idumaeans of Petra adopted the idea of the basis for this story from The Greeks after Alexander The Great conquered northwestern Arabia, and The Arabs of Petra and Idumaea became Hellenized, learning of The Greek myths and legends (including Pandora's Box)? Why did the Spirit of The Docarian priest who originally captured the demons wait until after the chest was opened 11 times, when, conceivably, he had the ability to come back and destroy the box after 1 opening, or even before the first? He certainly was capable of throwing it into a fire, even right after he trapped them in it.
Since about 5,500 years ago, when the entire Arabian Peninsula other than The Levant east coast of The Mediterranean Sea turned to waterless desert, that land's inhabitants have had to struggle for life every day in the harsh conditions. It's no wonder that their traditions blame demons for any and all manifestations of bad fortune.
(3) Blue Bolt's Weird Tales (of Terror) 119 - "The Image"
A typical ghost encounter story, with a surprise ending. The non-believer in the supernatural/paranormal dimension actually existing, is for some reason, NOT killed in a horror story. This follows the correct moral path, because the potential victim was NOT introduced as a bad person, committing crimes against Man or nature, and thus, not deserving of such retribution (punishment for his sins). But, maybe this story had only one page of room to include the entire plotline AND also any background on the potential victim to prove he was deserving of that fate. So, he just gets a warning to NEVER use his basement! ;D
(4) The Horrors of War 11 - "Spirit Of War"
The "Specter Of Wickedness" as a demon devoted to destruction of Humanity is an interesting concept to place on a dramatic story opening splash panel. Mentioning that a soldier and a wounded Chaplain (priest or reverend) learn the secret of the specter provides a lot of curiosity to the readers, and will make them want to turn the pages and find out what it is. On a dark early
, 1945 night, A German man trying to escape a destroyed city is shot and killed by a US soldier. His Ghost rises from his body, scaring away his pursuers. The story's location moves to Palestine in summer of 1948, where we see that ex-Nazi's specter hovering over a battlefield pitting Arab locals against Jewish locals and recent immigrants. Just after that, the horrific specter was viewed by French and North Vietnamese soldiers fighting over a military outpost. One year later, The vengeful Spirit, in its invisible form, planted the seeds of aggression in The North Korean military leaders' minds. That sparked the beginning of The Korean War. On many dark nights The Ghostly Specter was seen laughing in sadistic glee seeing the death and destruction he caused.
I think it is an interesting concept to blame one of USA's enemies and the main one blamed for World War II atrocities by implying that the Ghost's life was spent as a German Nazi, who may have taken part in atrocities against Humanity.
A company Chaplain is wounded and carried to the safety of a cave by a young soldier. Going deeper inside, the pair encounter The Spirit of War Specter, who threatens to kill them. He proceeds to choke the soldier, but the Chaplain demands that he stop, which The Ghost did. The Chaplain demanded that The Ghost reveal his identity in life.The Ghost - faced with guilt, could not control himself, and he showed himself to have been Adolph Hitler. The soldier threw a hand grenade at the figure, and a rock wall collapsed on the specter. When it was over, the 2 men saw that the Ghost was gone. The soldier says: "Now no one will have to worry about seeing his ghost again." - implying that the grenade destroyed his spirit. But, The Chaplain thinks that the evil men do lives on after them. (So true, because it spawns desire for revenge.)
A VERY deep story message. I also find it interesting that the wormy, little excuse for a man that was very messed-up, could become such a large and powerful-looking specter. But THAT is because the specter is a manifestation of the great size of his self-hatred and hatred for Mankind for rejecting and mocking him, when he was a child (as probably reflected by the attitude of his parents, the other children, and the other adult authorities in his young life (his teachers).
(5) The Horrors of War 11 - "Survival Of The Fittest"
Another Korean War story. Naturally, the US soldiers are the heroes, fighting for a good cause. And The "Reds" are characterised as "Bloodthirsty". If I were Korean, or Chinese, I'd be offended, realising that my family members who fought in that war on EITHER side(for the Koreans), the soldiers were just pawns of military and political leaders whose agenda was NOT really in the basic population's interests. The North Korean soldiers were told they were fighting for freedom from foreign domination. They were soldiers either because they were drafted, when refusal would have meant prison, or were in such poor economic straits that having a military career was the only way to adequately provide for their families. Then, they are fighting to preserve their own lives, and the lives of their friends. That is really no different from the bulk of the soldiers on ANY side in ANY war.
The story starts out with a company of US soldiers trapped and surrounded by Communist troops (no indication of whether they are North Korean or Chinese). A scouting patrol is sent by a potentially relieving company, to find out the strength of the enemy. Among that group is our protagonist, Private Nolan. He was afraid that he'd be wounded or killed, so after several men in his troop were killed, he didn't continue crawling forward with them. Instead, he went away from their direction. In a sense, deserting his unit. He planned to desert.So, coming upon a dead comrade, whose whole face was destroyed, he swapped dogtags with him, so The Army would think he had died. Then, they wouldn't look for him. Moving forward at night, he came upon a different company's troop, heavily shot at by the enemy. He grabbed a fallen soldier's rapid repeating rifle (light machine gun) and started killing enemy troops, one by one. Finally he was severely wounded, and woke up in a hospital, where a high officer tells him he was a hero, and will win The US Congressional Medal of Honor. The great ironic(although not unexpected) ending, is that because Nolan exchanged dogtags to commit a crime worthy of a military prison sentence and/or, at least, a dishonourable discharge, and so, the dead man's family gets the glory for their son's heroism, rather than he, himself, and HIS parents.
Moral: one should always buck up when scared, and do one's duty to God and country, because EVERYONE is scared of death or being maimed and forever crippled, one never knows when he or she may rise to the occasion.
Popular Teen-Agers 12 - "Portrait Of Love"
Very early in this story I notice a TERRIBLE inking and colouring error. The male lead's face, in a close-up, is depicted in shadow in only a thin line across the side of his face - making it look like there are light sources both in front, and behind him. the front is a bright yellow, and the narrow shadow make the front area look like the man is wearing a brass or yellow plastic mask. The shadow in the next panel side view is also wrong, making it look like he's wearing a black rubber mask. Broke, and down to only enough money to spend one one more meal, he passes a theatre marquee showing a photo poster with the show's star(Gale Saunders). He spends the money on a ticket, and thinks she's the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. He goes home to paint her portrait from memory, but fails to remember enough. That tells me that he's not a very experienced artist. Furthermore, almost every fellow artist I know carries a drawing pad and pencil, just in case something visual inspires him or her. I've seen artists at various events or shows, sketching individual people with interesting faces, or sketching the action.
I find it interesting that after describing him as a "starving artist", down to his last meal money, who spends it all to see that show for the first time, goes on to tell us that he went to that show night-after-night. He must of pawned his flat's furniture to get the money to do that. Finally, he had her face emblazoned upon his memory. And his painting of her was the best work he'd ever done, by far. Amazing what happens when some is inspired to do something. The artist's gallery owner takes the picture on consignment, and, of course, the woman he painted sees it and buys it, and gets the artist's name (Scott Winton) and address. First, she takes the portrait to well-respected art critic, who is also a dealer, who wants to get hold of others of Winton's paintings. The Saunders siblings give the art dealer's card to Winton, and Winton ends up selling his earlier paintings through his gallery, and now has a large amount of money, and a name in the business. He starts dating Gale. When Scott asks Gale to marry him, she tells him she loves him but can't marry him for 5 years because her planned European tours mean too much for her singing career. He thinks she's rejecting him because he's still not on her social level despite his becoming noteworthy (soon to be famous), and now has a decent amount of money, and is likely to become reasonably well-to-do, if not wealthy, eventually. At the story's end, Gale returns to Scott, telling him she'll marry him and give up her career, and sing only for him. How sweet. Very 1940s. These days, the budding artist would move to the first city where her tour is booked(Paris?), and set up his studio there. Each time her tour has appearances in cities too far to commute by speed train or airplane, he could move to her next major booking stop. A tour of 5 whole years implies staying at each major venue for at least a few months. A painter can paint anywhere, and a famous new talent would be welcomed on the art scene anywhere. He could rent a different studio for a few months in each of her "ports of call".
This story suffers from shortness. It is almost all champagne and roses, with no thorns after Scott sees Gale's face. There's no tension, and almost no suspense. The only negative situation is a bit of worry about how he'll get the money for his next meal. Only 6 pages, with a giant splash panel taking up most of the first, with a scene depicted again in a later page, is by FAR too little space to provide much background detail to be able to identify with the two lead characters, and pace the story decently, so it moves more slowly at the beginning while the reader is learning about the characters, and we can see where motivation comes from, then moves faster towards the climax, and it is not a straight line of ALL successes, one after another, and a setback or two can make the final success more appreciated, and there is at least a seed of doubt that all will turn out well, at least one or two times in the story. It's the same situation as the spoiled children of super-wealthy people. If they get everything they want, all the time, nothing means much to them.
I can tell you from experience that the fabulous ski run down from near the top of the mountain after climbing the mountain all day, is much, much, much MUCH more appreciated and valued than taking a lift up to the top any time one wants.
This story isn't worth reading for entertainment. It is more like a simple plot outline. It is the answer to one's friend asking him or her "What was the movie about?" The answer: "A starving, but talented artist sees a lady whose face fascinates him, and he wants to paint it. He attends her show every night for a few weeks to be able to paint it well by memory. She sees it in his regular gallery, and buys it. She goes to see him and her brother refers him to a well-respected gallery owner who buys all his paintings, and he becomes an instant success. He and the woman start dating, and he falls in love with her and propose marriage. She tells him she has to wait 5 years because of her European singing tour. He is dejected, but before he turns around she is back saying she loves him, will marry him and give up her career. Really there is not much more than these "facts" thrown at the reader.
Reduced to a few "headlines"! There is NO identification with the characters so their emotions can be felt. I don't feel for them at all. I don't really care about them or pull for their welfare, sharing their fears and sorrow, and relief, and happiness, like do in a well-written 20+ page comic book story.
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Strange Mysteries #9
Creeping Death
Nice art. Okay story. I do wonder why the publisher decided to add a new story, or was this an unpublished story that the publisher got the plates for?
SS. Lambiek tells me Disbrow was working for L B Cole at Star comics, and was employed to add original stories to what was otherwise a comic full of Fox reprints. Cole seemingly did covers based on the Disbrow originals.
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I have never heard of Jay Disbrow. But I'm curious to learn about his storywriting and drawing styles.
Was "The Monstrous Madmen" also written and/or drawn by Jay Disbrow?
Hi Robb, no. According to GCD, The Monstrous Madmen was drawn by Lou Ferstadt, who if I remember correctly drew the earlier part of the Star Pirate series for Planet Comics at Fiction House, where his sidekick was a one-eyed guy called Trog. No idea who wrote it though.
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I have never heard of Jay Disbrow. But I'm curious to learn about his storywriting and drawing styles.
Was "The Monstrous Madmen" also written and/or drawn by Jay Disbrow?
Hi Robb, no. According to GCD, The Monstrous Madmen was drawn by Lou Ferstadt, who if I remember correctly drew the earlier part of the Star Pirate series for Planet Comics at Fiction House, where his sidekick was a one-eyed guy called Trog. No idea who wrote it though.
Thanks Kingcat,
You've listed 4 books. I don't want to review EVERY story in all 4. Can you please identify the stories written or drawn by Disbrow, so I can just review and compare those? That would be appreciated, as credits aren't always listed by GCD.
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SS. Lambiek tells me Disbrow was working for L B Cole at Star comics, and was employed to add original stories to what was otherwise a comic full of Fox reprints. Cole seemingly did covers based on the Disbrow originals.
Thanks!
According to GCD, The Monstrous Madmen was drawn by Lou Ferstadt
Actually the GCD has changed that since the original publication was signed by artist George Appel (and since the story wasn't redrawn for the reprint... ;) )
Can you please identify the stories written or drawn by Disbrow
I'm not Kingcat, but the GCD shows these stories.
Blue Bolt Weird Tales has 2, Demons of Docar & The Image.
The Horrors has 2, as well, Spirit of War & Survival of the Fittest.
Popular Teen-Agers has Portrait of Love.
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I have never heard of Jay Disbrow. But I'm curious to learn about his storywriting and drawing styles.
Was "The Monstrous Madmen" also written and/or drawn by Jay Disbrow?
Hi Robb, no. According to GCD, The Monstrous Madmen was drawn by Lou Ferstadt, who if I remember correctly drew the earlier part of the Star Pirate series for Planet Comics at Fiction House, where his sidekick was a one-eyed guy called Trog. No idea who wrote it though.
Thanks Kingcat,
You've listed 4 books. I don't want to review EVERY story in all 4. Can you please identify the stories written or drawn by Disbrow, so I can just review and compare those? That would be appreciated, as credits aren't always listed by GCD.
Hi Robb, I did name the lead stories in each comic. But thanks to SS for pointing them out.
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According to GCD, The Monstrous Madmen was drawn by Lou Ferstadt
Actually the GCD has changed that since the original publication was signed by artist George Appel (and since the story wasn't redrawn for the reprint... ;) )
Can you please identify the stories written or drawn by Disbrow
I'm not Kingcat, but the GCD shows these stories.
Blue Bolt Weird Tales has 2, Demons of Docar & The Image.
The Horrors has 2, as well, Spirit of War & Survival of the Fittest.
Popular Teen-Agers has Portrait of Love.
Hi SS, thanks for the info. So that tells me George Appel was the early Star Pirate artist? The style seems pretty unmistakable. When GCD update stuff, does it not affect the info we see here on CB+??
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According to GCD, The Monstrous Madmen was drawn by Lou Ferstadt
Actually the GCD has changed that since the original publication was signed by artist George Appel (and since the story wasn't redrawn for the reprint... ;) )
Can you please identify the stories written or drawn by Disbrow
I'm not Kingcat, but the GCD shows these stories.
Blue Bolt Weird Tales has 2, Demons of Docar & The Image.
The Horrors has 2, as well, Spirit of War & Survival of the Fittest.
Popular Teen-Agers has Portrait of Love.
Hi SS, thanks for the info. So that tells me George Appel was the early Star Pirate artist? The style seems pretty unmistakable. When GCD update stuff, does it not affect the info we see here on CB+??
The notes are completely set when the book is first uploaded. There's no automatic revision on CB+ when the GCD information is updated. Someone here on CB+ has to notify Mark, or one of The Mods who have access to modifying the Book information pages to make that modification.
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The notes are completely set when the book is first uploaded. There's no automatic revision on CB+ when the GCD information is updated. Someone here on CB+ has to notify Mark, or one of The Mods who have access to modifying the Book information pages to make that modification.
Thanks Robb, it is logical that things would be that way. Just a little disappointing! I checked out Planet Comics and lo and behold a Star Pirate story in #25, though it's credited to George Vincent, bears a tiny Appel signature and looks exactly like the art style on The Monstrous Madmen so Lou Ferstadt is off the hook! My bad, though, his Cyclopean sidekick's name is Trody, not Trog. How soon we forget. :(
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The notes are completely set when the book is first uploaded. There's no automatic revision on CB+ when the GCD information is updated. Someone here on CB+ has to notify Mark, or one of The Mods who have access to modifying the Book information pages to make that modification.
Thanks Robb, it is logical that things would be that way. Just a little disappointing! I checked out Planet Comics and lo and behold a Star Pirate story in #25, though it's credited to George Vincent, bears a tiny Appel signature and looks exactly like the art style on The Monstrous Madmen so Lou Ferstadt is off the hook! My bad, though, his Cyclopean sidekick's name is Trody, not Trog. How soon we forget. :(
I had noticed that it didn't look, at all, like Ferstadt's work. Now I know why.
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Robb, I enjoyed your review of The Demons of Docar, and the details you went into regarding the link between the Arabian demons and the Greek tale of Pandora's Box. I'm surprised that you didn't mention Jeff Barton's conclusion that his demonic experience was caused by our old friend Radix Pedis Diaboli, a poison invented by Arthur Conan Doyle for a Sherlock Holmes adventure. I'm not aware of any connection between this imaginary substance and hemp or hashish, but from my experience of smoking hash in my hippie days, I have to say that if it'd conjured up dreams like that, I'd never have taken another puff! ;)
All the best
K1ngcat
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Strange Mysteries #9,- Creeping Death. [1958]
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=62215
Unusually for an IW reprint, the cover is a pasted mashup of at least 3 drawings. It works well, tho.
I was not familiar with Disbrow, had seen the name, but has no clear idea of his work, so thanks Kingcat.
I checked the dates on these books, two are '53 and one is '52. I don't know the original date for 'Creeping Death' tho. I wanted to get an idea of his progress as an artist.
There are two types of artists for visual stories.
The best are the ones who integrate words and art in such a way that one doesn't work without the other. And the whole is more than the sum of its parts. So, Barks, Kirby, Ditko, Eisner.
Then there are the illustrators. They draw from the script and the art delineates what's written. The best make the script live, Most just give us what is there already.
Jay Disbrow is an artist and a scripter, but clearly not immediately a visual thinker.
The first paragraph on page #1, reads like an introduction to a radio show.
Looking at these golden age books, I have come to realize how big an influence Radio serials would have been on comic book creators.
Also, science fiction magazines.
The idea is reminiscent of Theodore Sturgeon's short story 'it', the father of all protoplasmic and swamp monsters, published in 1940.
The girl is clumsy and caused the problem?!! ::)
The thought that comes to my mind is, what did the protoplasm consume to gain the mass it attains? It's got to come from somewhere.
The story is pretty standard and has few surprises.
The reason I looked at the years of publication was because I wondered if this was an early effort by Disbrow.
He is not very creative with faces in this story.
Look at Gale's face [Page 1 panel 1] He repeats this from roughly the same perspective in Page 2 panel 2, page 4 panel 1, all four depictions of Gale on Page 8 vary only slightly.
Just why would blowing up the house necessarily kill the 'Horror?'
An interesting one.
The Monstrous Madmen
Just got to make a quick comment on this one!
We have just finished looking at Shock Gibson [thanks to Ehowie60], in a story that was Bat%|@\ crazy and had more cliches than you could count. This story is right up there with that one and even less coherent!
A sheer bonkers delight!
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Strange Mysteries #9,- Creeping Death. [1958]
The first paragraph on page #1, reads like an introduction to a radio show.
Looking at these golden age books, I have come to realize how big an influence Radio serials would have been on comic book creators.
Hi Panther - Yes I've been thinking similarly about the influence of radio serials on comic books, especially the narration and 'stay tuned' features of some of the comics we've been looking at. One reason might be that it was an established method of storytelling at that time. Another reason may have been that some radio serials worked in conjunction with comic books (e.g., some of the Superman ones). I guess it was an easy habit to get into.
Cheers
QQ
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Robb, I enjoyed your review of The Demons of Docar, and the details you went into regarding the link between the Arabian demons and the Greek tale of Pandora's Box. I'm surprised that you didn't mention Jeff Barton's conclusion that his demonic experience was caused by our old friend Radix Pedis Diaboli, a poison invented by Arthur Conan Doyle for a Sherlock Holmes adventure. I'm not aware of any connection between this imaginary substance and hemp or hashish, but from my experience of smoking hash in my hippie days, I have to say that if it'd conjured up dreams like that, I'd never have taken another puff! ;)
All the best
K1ngcat
I'm SURE that SOME kind of natural hallucinogen hashish, mushroom, or herb was the cause of Paul seeing the resurrected Jesus along the road to Damascus, or Jacob seeing the Angel with whom he struggled, or Joseph Smith seeing The Angel Moroni talking to him. I'm sure Timothy Leary saw some incredible visions, too. And yes, Hashish can cause "bad trip" hallucinations. I was once at a party where people were tossing large pieces of furniture out of 4th story apartment windows. I'm not sure what they were on, but I left immediately. That kind of situation was one reason why I left The Music Business.
That's from where the stories of the Arabian and Persian jinns and demons come. Those deserts have lots of poisonous plants that can affect how one's brain will work (or not work).
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Blue Bolt Weird Tales #119
Demons of Docar
Jeff is a lot more forgiving than I am. Someone tries to kill me I wouldn't trust them at all. And yet he goes with the guy to his apartment. Yikes! Otherwise okay story.
The Image
Saying "evil" disperses the ghost because... it's "live" backwards??? Oh, help me Dog. *shakes head*
Die a Weird Death
Okay for 1950s scifi. Although why couldn't they use Helmut's ship to go to Mars now that he's dead? Was he a lode-bearing boss? All of his inventions stop working when he dies?
The Ghostly Tiger..
Eh, okay, but predictable.
Weird City
Rushed. This is a story that would be better fleshed out and longer. Was that giant mouse the only such creature the mad scientist created? And yet it only seemed to be a bit of filler in this story.
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Hi
We use a snapshot of GCD data. So every few months I run some jobs and we have their latest information. In other words (just like everything else on CB+) it will happen, but in its own time
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Nice selection of Disbrow’s work, Kingcat. That last panel of ‘Ultimate Destiny’ that’s re-printed in his bio made me stop and LOOK at it the first time I saw it way back when. Never forgot the style or the name. Folks, if you get the chance track down a reprint and enjoy the full colours in the proper comic book dimensions.
I was always pleasantly surprised he got away with hanging his shingle on the splash panel below the titles. No detective work to figure out who drew it...as if the style alone left any doubt! All hell breaking loose in the first panel and the male hero wondering in the last panel if ‘we’ve really seen the last of it’. (Love OR Hitler) And yes, you just had to love the dialogue heavy panels. As if everybody was on a caffeine jag and just jabbering away at 90 miles an hour.
Really very enjoyable, and you could have gone further with his western work, if you wanted to. But thanks for these.
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Hi
We use a snapshot of GCD data. So every few months I run some jobs and we have their latest information. In other words (just like everything else on CB+) it will happen, but in its own time
Duly noted, boss! Never a word of complaint here! ;)
All the best
K1ngcat
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Nice selection of Disbrow’s work, Kingcat. That last panel of ‘Ultimate Destiny’ that’s re-printed in his bio made me stop and LOOK at it the first time I saw it way back when. Never forgot the style or the name. Folks, if you get the chance track down a reprint and enjoy the full colours in the proper comic book dimensions.
I was always pleasantly surprised he got away with hanging his shingle on the splash panel below the titles. No detective work to figure out who drew it...as if the style alone left any doubt! All hell breaking loose in the first panel and the male hero wondering in the last panel if ‘we’ve really seen the last of it’. (Love OR Hitler) And yes, you just had to love the dialogue heavy panels. As if everybody was on a caffeine jag and just jabbering away at 90 miles an hour.
Really very enjoyable, and you could have gone further with his western work, if you wanted to. But thanks for these.
Glad you've enjoyed it, Morgus. Yes, wordy ain't the word, I often wonder if Disbrow did his own lettering too, there was always so much dialogue to fit in. If anyone's game for it, narfstar put a little art archive of Disbrows stuff together and you can find it here: https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=38786
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I have never heard of Jay Disbrow. But I'm curious to learn about his storywriting and drawing styles
(4) The Horrors of War 11 - "Spirit Of War"
The "Specter Of Wickedness" as a demon devoted to destruction of Humanity is an interesting concept to place on a dramatic story opening splash panel. Mentioning that a soldier and a wounded Chaplain (priest or reverend) learn the secret of the specter provides a lot of curiosity to the readers, and will make them want to turn the pages and find out what it is. On a dark early
, 1945 night, A German man trying to escape a destroyed city is shot and killed by a US soldier. His Ghost rises from his body, scaring away his pursuers. The story's location moves to Palestine in summer of 1948, where we see that ex-Nazi's specter hovering over a battlefield pitting Arab locals against Jewish locals and recent immigrants. Just after that, the horrific specter was viewed by French and North Vietnamese soldiers fighting over a military outpost. One year later, The vengeful Spirit, in its invisible form, planted the seeds of aggression in The North Korean military leaders' minds. That sparked the beginning of The Korean War. On many dark nights The Ghostly Specter was seen laughing in sadistic glee seeing the death and destruction he caused.
I think it is an interesting concept to blame one of USA's enemies and the main one blamed for World War II atrocities by implying that the Ghost's life was spent as a German Nazi, who may have taken part in atrocities against Humanity.
A company Chaplain is wounded and carried to the safety of a cave by a young soldier. Going deeper inside, the pair encounter The Spirit of War Specter, who threatens to kill them. He proceeds to choke the soldier, but the Chaplain demands that he stop, which The Ghost did. The Chaplain demanded that The Ghost reveal his identity in life.The Ghost - faced with guilt, could not control himself, and he showed himself to have been Adolph Hitler. The soldier threw a hand grenade at the figure, and a rock wall collapsed on the specter. When it was over, the 2 men saw that the Ghost was gone. The soldier says: "Now no one will have to worry about seeing his ghost again." - implying that the grenade destroyed his spirit. But, The Chaplain thinks that the evil men do lives on after them. (So true, because it spawns desire for revenge.)
A VERY deep story message. I also find it interesting that the wormy, little excuse for a man that was very messed-up, could become such a large and powerful-looking specter. But THAT is because the specter is a manifestation of the great size of his self-hatred and hatred for Mankind for rejecting and mocking him, when he was a child (as probably reflected by the attitude of his parents, the other children, and the other adult authorities in his young life (his teachers).
(5) The Horrors of War 11 - "Survival Of The Fittest"
Another Korean War story. Naturally, the US soldiers are the heroes, fighting for a good cause. And The "Reds" are characterised as "Bloodthirsty". If I were Korean, or Chinese, I'd be offended, realising that my family members who fought in that war on EITHER side(for the Koreans), the soldiers were just pawns of military and political leaders whose agenda was NOT really in the basic population's interests. The North Korean soldiers were told they were fighting for freedom from foreign domination. They were soldiers either because they were drafted, when refusal would have meant prison, or were in such poor economic straits that having a military career was the only way to adequately provide for their families. Then, they are fighting to preserve their own lives, and the lives of their friends. That is really no different from the bulk of the soldiers on ANY side in ANY war.
The story starts out with a company of US soldiers trapped and surrounded by Communist troops (no indication of whether they are North Korean or Chinese). A scouting patrol is sent by a potentially relieving company, to find out the strength of the enemy. Among that group is our protagonist, Private Nolan. He was afraid that he'd be wounded or killed, so after several men in his troop were killed, he didn't continue crawling forward with them. Instead, he went away from their direction. In a sense, deserting his unit. He planned to desert.So, coming upon a dead comrade, whose whole face was destroyed, he swapped dogtags with him, so The Army would think he had died. Then, they wouldn't look for him. Moving forward at night, he came upon a different company's troop, heavily shot at by the enemy. He grabbed a fallen soldier's rapid repeating rifle (light machine gun) and started killing enemy troops, one by one. Finally he was severely wounded, and woke up in a hospital, where a high officer tells him he was a hero, and will win The US Congressional Medal of Honor. The great ironic(although not unexpected) ending, is that because Nolan exchanged dogtags to commit a crime worthy of a military prison sentence and/or, at least, a dishonourable discharge, and so, the dead man's family gets the glory for their son's heroism, rather than he, himself, and HIS parents.
Moral: one should always buck up when scared, and do one's duty to God and country, because EVERYONE is scared of death or being maimed and forever crippled, one never knows when he or she may rise to the occasion.
Deep messages indeed, Robb, and I'm glad you enjoyed these two tales, thanks for putting so much energy into your interpretations. Why is it that now, almost eighty years since the end of WWII, the little paperhanger still has so much power to conjure up the worst example of man's inhumanity to man? Nazis are still used in movies as a byword for the ultimate in villainy, far scarier than all the Darth Vader's you can shake a stick at, simply because of the reality of their careless inhumanity, and the dedication to a cause that allowed otherwise ordinary men to do unspeakable things as long as they were "following orders."
I think the chaplain was right, we never know long the spirit of evil will live on. The tremendous surge of far right groups in many European countries, including the UK, and of course in the post-Trump USA, shows that the spectre will not be destroyed by a simple grenade.
What's almost as scary is the fact that I totally failed to notice Survival of the Fittest when I checked this comic out. Another great story line, though the art seems a little more heavy handed than usual, I wonder if perhaps it was inked by other hands? I doubt if we'll ever know.
Appreciate all your comments, thanks for taking an interest,
All the best
K1ngcat
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The Horrors #11
Spirit of War
Sooooooo... every war after WWII was caused by the ghost of Hitler??? What about earlier wars? Who was responsible for those?
The K-9 Killers..
Okay.
Lightning Death..!
Okay, slightly more interesting than the previous story.
Paratroop Patrol...
Interesting.
The three True Tales really don't seem to match the horror element of the book title.
Survival of the Fittest
The title seems to be a bit of a stretch for the actual story. Otherwise okay.
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Popular Teen-Agers #12
Hey! Don't the popular teens get enough attention? How about Unpopular Teen-Agers? The outcasts, the loners, the picked upon, where are their stories??? ;)
Art Instruction ad
"You are in demand if you can draw!"
Ah, the good old days, before AI art came along...
Portrait of Love
What's so special about Gale's face? She looks like every other woman Disbrow draws. ;)
Maybe this should have been the first story we read, after the horror and war examples I kept expecting her to reveal she was a ghost or this was a dream a soldier in a foxhole was having. ;)
My Summer Romance
Poor Nancy. Hope she doesn't mind being cheated on by her cad of a future husband.
He Didn't Want Me
The early part of this story had me wondering if Henry had murdered John and was lying to Lynn about him going away. ;)
My Hungry Heart
Eh, okay.
Love's False Dream
I wonder how the story would have run if Marcy realized it was really his money she was in love with?
At the end Marcy marries Phil and they move to Chicago. So, uh, what happens to her father? "Sorry dad, just like mom I'm leaving you and you'll starve to death. Bye!" (Probably a good idea I never tried writing romances. ;) )
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Dude, that would be such a GNARLY COOL comic book.
“Rancid Romance from Super Scrounge”
“Super Scrounge Romance; Heart ache and Despair for the Unpopular Teenager’”
Are you picked on in high school? Alone? Can’t find a date? Round out the experience with SUPER SCROUNGE’S RANCID ROMANCE. Because it could only be worse in a comic book.
I would pay for that...
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LOL! Thanks, Morgus! That cracked me up! :D
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Blue Bolt Weird Tales of Terror #119
The Demons of Doom. https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=7065
Demons of Docar
Spectacular cover on this book, but actually I like Disbrow's opening panel on the story a lot better.
This is a variation of the legend of 'Pandora's box. The box is drawn well, I enjoyed the story-telling.
It jarred a bit when the priest came out of the chest. Did he lock himself in the chest with the demons? If so, why did he wait till the box was opened 11 times before acting?
The Image (1 page)
Also a Jay Disbrow work.
This is a plot that has been used for whole stories and also whole storylines.
Not a bad effort to tell the story in one page and fill us the space in the book, which is what one-pages are for.
Die a weird death.
The first thing that struck me is that on panel 1 page 1, the villain is wearing a dead-ringer for Lex Luthor's first Orange and Green costume.
I think this story was originally printed elsewhere and the title has been changed
Moving right along,
Weird City.
It seems to me that there was a lot of cynicism involved in producing this particular book.
The book is 'Weird Tales' and two stories have the word weird in the title.
This one is a Jo-Jo story - a Fox features character and obviously the title has also been changed.
There is also at least one page missing, as the jump between pages 2 and 3 is too great, and Jo--Jo would have been introduced earlier, I think.
That said,
This is an interesting idea. Taking a Jungle character out of the jungle and placing him in a post-apocalyptic environment. The only other example of that, I think, is Gold Key's Mighty Sampson'. Although Kamandi is a variation on that idea. Planet of the Apes? There is a lot more you can do with that concept.
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Jay Disbrow isn't a name I'm familiar with, but looking at page 1 of The Creeping Death I see why you want to highlight him. That's one heck of a monster! I gave the biography a read, and I think he's gotta be one of the only artists on this site who published a webcomic!
On to The Creeping Death: like I said, that's one cool monster. And I love the little tiny version in the microscope, it's kinda cute. Not the best idea to just leave a chemical spill around even when there's no monster involved. I love the dialog and captions, they're very 50s monster standard. Though Disbrow is still on the wordier side. And of course in the end our monster is destroyed...but was it alone?
Not much to say about the rest of the issue, aside from the fact that Monstrous Madmen really should have stated on page 1 that it's set in the future. The first two pages look like they're from the 50s and then it's all spaceships and telepathy!
I'll see if I have time to get to the rest of the books. Might not though, I'm on vacation this week!
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The Horrors of War #11
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=56784
Spirit of War.
Spectacular LB Cole cover.
The Title font is almost blinding if you look at it too long.
Excellent first page. Hooks you in straight away.
He creates an intensity that never lets up.
Adolph Hitler made sense at the time this was drawn and written.
The K-9 Killers.
I love stories of the Canine Corps.
Lightning Death..!
A well told true story. Some nice details.
Survival of the Fittest [Jay Disbrow]
Another dynamic first page.
And this story is certainly 'Horrific'
Highlights the craziness of war very well indeed.
It's a pity that we only have two issues of 'The Horrors'
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Are you picked on in high school? Alone? Can’t find a date? Round out the experience with SUPER SCROUNGE’S RANCID ROMANCE. Because it could only be worse in a comic book.
I would pay for that...
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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The Horrors of War #11
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=56784
Spirit of War.
Spectacular LB Cole cover.
The Title font is almost blinding if you look at it too long.
Excellent first page. Hooks you in straight away.
He creates an intensity that never lets up.
Adolph Hitler made sense at the time this was drawn and written.
Spectacular is the word, Panther. The title font has almost a psychedelic effect, like the colour-changing visuals from the Beatles Yellow Submarine animation movie. The intense colours on the cover for The Demons of Doccar also have incredible visual impact. They'd certainly both stand out in a rack of comics.
Maybe that was the plan? Hit the kids with an eye-grabbing cover, follow it up with a previously unpublished story, and they wouldn't be asking questions about the rest of the contents ?
Anyhow, glad to see you found something to enjoy.
Morgus has got me worried now...he suggests Disbrow also did Westerns? I'm gonna try and track some of them down!
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Firehair Comics 7
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=69838
War Drums at Buffalo Bend (11 pages)
Inks: David Heames; Jay Disbrow?
Firehair Comics 8
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=69836
Raid of the Red Arrows (10 pages) Inks only?!
Blazing Western 5
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=64480
Law of the Lash (6 pages)
Pencils: Jay Disbrow (signed) | Inks: Jay Disbrow (signed) [Script?]
:) :) :)
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Morgus has got me worried now...he suggests Disbrow also did Westerns? I'm gonna try and track some of them down!
In addition to Panther's list, Bails' http://bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=DISBROW%2C+JAY indicates he had some work in Fiction House's Cowgirl Romances, Firehair, and Long Bow (no specific issues listed though.)
The list at the GCD have some additional links. (https://www.comics.org/searchNew/?q="Jay%20Disbrow"&selected_facets=facet_model_name_exact:story&sort=chrono)
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My list came from using the searchbar on CB+ top right. Undoubtedly we have some of the others on Jerry Bail's list but they are not indexed for the search bar.
Also sounds like a project for an artist/creator archive! ???
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“Super Scrounge Romance; Heart ache and Despair for the Unpopular Teenager’”
I remembered a cartoon I did back in 2018 that would fit in with that.
Warning! Very cynical & dark, contains cartoon violence and blood. If that's not your cup of tea, probably don't click the link.
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_KAMics/5560720/
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https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_KAMics/5561699/
Says it all!
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Heh, heh, heh, Super Scrounge.
By the way, forgot to mention. Remember that last page of “Ultimate Destiny” that they published in the Lamiek profile? The one with the monster filling the room saying ‘Hello Howard’? JVJ liked to point out the publisher blew the suspense. it was a six page story that they put out with page 5 and 6 FACING each other.
Anybody with a lick of sense would have put it out with the reader having to turn the page to get to it.
But, we ARE talking about publishers...
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Heh, heh, heh, Super Scrounge.
By the way, forgot to mention. Remember that last page of “Ultimate Destiny” that they published in the Lamiek profile? The one with the monster filling the room saying ‘Hello Howard’? JVJ liked to point out the publisher blew the suspense. it was a six page story that they put out with page 5 and 6 FACING each other.
Anybody with a lick of sense would have put it out with the reader having to turn the page to get to it.
But, we ARE talking about publishers...
Hi Morgus, yes here it is in Crime Detector #5, with it's last page printed sideways... What, you couldn't afford to give it one more page to get the art right? :o. https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=21301
Panther, thanks for the link to Law of the Lash, interesting to see Disbrow doing a Western. Even there he couldn't resist a twist in the tail. Appreciated.
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Popular Teen Agers #12
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=39699
Portrait of Love
Terrific L.B. Cole cover.
Robb wrote,
This story suffers from shortness. It is almost all champagne and roses, with no thorns after Scott sees Gale's face. There's no tension, and almost no suspense.
It is definitely short and straight-forward.
But they have produced movies with no more complicated plots than this.
I read this in detail. So probably read it at the pace the writer intended.
From the beginning, this could have gone anywhere, which kept me interested.
A number of horror stories start with a similar situation. It could have gone all 'Portrait of Dorian Grey' or a variation there-of.
There is also something unhealthy about Scott's obsession, he is clearly a stalker. I was half-expecting him to go over the top or Gale to be repulsed by him. But no, this is a Romance comic!
Trite, but enjoyable.
On Disbrow,
R.I.P. JAY DISBROW
https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/37466/r-i-p-jay-disbrow
2000, Disbrow took to the Internet to share Aroc of Zenith, a weekly adventure comic in the vein of Flash Gordon. Disbrow completed 312 strips for Aroc, which wrapped in December 2005.
Anybody know where I might get hold of that?
Thanks Kingcat.
QQ is back on monday!
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Hi Panther
Thanks to everyone who contributed, I hope you all found something to enjoy in Disbrow's very individual writing and art style.
Looking forward to seeing what the Quirky Quokka has in store for us on Monday
All the best
K1ngcat
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2000, Disbrow took to the Internet to share Aroc of Zenith, a weekly adventure comic in the vein of Flash Gordon. Disbrow completed 312 strips for Aroc, which wrapped in December 2005.
Anybody know where I might get hold of that?
http://www.marvelfamily.com/aroc/aroc.asp?ep=1
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Thanks Superscrounge!
Not an easy one to download I think, and a hell of a long-term reading assignment!
Hasn't changed his style much!
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The thing that struck me was the Sunday comic look, which was actually common in early webcomics. I'm not sure if it was done that way with hope of being picked up by the newspapers or just it seemed traditional to do it like a newspaper comic.
Heck, some webcomics (Melonpool, Sinfest, I think) even tried doing the 6 horizontal strips followed by a Sunday size comic.
Eventually webcartoonists started experimenting with how they present their comics, I went simple with switching to a vertical strip as people prefer scrolling down rather than across, others like Damonk began experimenting with the infinite canvas, and others began adding sound and animation.