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!
(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.
Author
Topic: Reading Group #305 The stories and art of Jay Disbrow (Read 1927 times)
