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Post by killercrab on Feb 4, 2011 15:03:58 GMT
suspect the artists were European because the Commando artists could apparently onlyy draw rugged battle-scarred men as opposed to the delicate young ladies to whom horrible things happened in these little books. >>
You'll find alot of the Commando stories were drawn by Europeans too.
KC
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Post by Johnlprobert on Feb 4, 2011 17:23:43 GMT
suspect the artists were European because the Commando artists could apparently onlyy draw rugged battle-scarred men as opposed to the delicate young ladies to whom horrible things happened in these little books. >> You'll find alot of the Commando stories were drawn by Europeans too. KC You may well be right - I was just quoting what they said in the BBC4 Comics Britannia series a couple of years ago. Apparently Italian artists had to be drafted in to draw appealing-looking ladies for the girls comics. Although I'm not quite sure why the girls in comic strips with titles like 'Slave Girls of War Orphan Farm', 'Cleopatra Spiteful' and 'The Cruel Adventures of a Downstairs Maid' needed to appear appealing None of those titles are made up, btw - apparently early 70s UK girls comics had a battle on of 1980s tabloid newspaper novelty bingo proportions to provide the cruellest and most spiteful stories to their teenaged readership. And the only reason I'm mentioning them at all (honest officer) is because some of that cruelty may well have bled over (sorry) into the Pocket Chillers.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Feb 4, 2011 18:23:55 GMT
None of those titles are made up, btw - apparently early 70s UK girls comics had a battle on of 1980s tabloid newspaper novelty bingo proportions to provide the cruellest and most spiteful stories to their teenaged readership. And the only reason I'm mentioning them at all (honest officer) is because some of that cruelty may well have bled over (sorry) into the Pocket Chillers. Cruelty really should be its own genre, separate from horror. Just imagine proudly proclaiming to your friends that "I like cruelty stories!" With none of the taint associated in the public mind with horror.
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Post by weirdmonger on Feb 4, 2011 18:28:13 GMT
Cruelty really should be its own genre, separate from horror. Just imagine proudly proclaiming to your friends that "I like cruelty stories!" With none of the taint associated in the public mind with horror. There was a genre called CONTES CRUELS (Guy de Maupassant, Charles Birkin). Sounds so much more acceptable?
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Feb 4, 2011 19:10:06 GMT
Cruelty really should be its own genre, separate from horror. Just imagine proudly proclaiming to your friends that "I like cruelty stories!" With none of the taint associated in the public mind with horror. There was a genre called CONTES CRUELS (Guy de Maupassant, Charles Birkin). Sounds so much more acceptable? I know. My joke fell flat. But it was the first time I ever attempted anything like that, so do not be too harsh on me.
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Post by weirdmonger on Feb 4, 2011 19:14:13 GMT
I know. My joke fell flat. But it was the first time I ever attempted anything like that, so do not be too harsh on me. Sorry, but many of us, I reckon, find it harder to appreciate jokes when we don't know the identity of the joker.
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Post by David A. Riley on Feb 4, 2011 19:48:18 GMT
I know. My joke fell flat. But it was the first time I ever attempted anything like that, so do not be too harsh on me. Sorry, but many of us, I reckon, find it harder to appreciate jokes when we don't know the identity of the joker. I thought you loved anonymity, Des. You've virtually founded a publishing empire on it. David
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Post by weirdmonger on Feb 4, 2011 19:51:34 GMT
Sorry, but many of us, I reckon, find it harder to appreciate jokes when we don't know the identity of the joker. I thought you loved anonymity, Des. You've virtually founded a publishing empire on it. David That was facilitating the late-labelling of by-lines for authors that wanted to do so, i.e for for their fiction. Forum discussions are quite a different kettle of fish, I'm sure you will agree.
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Post by killercrab on Feb 4, 2011 19:54:48 GMT
You may well be right - I was just quoting what they said in the BBC4 Comics Britannia series a couple of years ago. Apparently Italian artists had to be drafted in to draw appealing-looking ladies for the girls comics. .. Too right ! I was just adding that some of the very best Commando stories from the 1960's were drawn by Italian artists like Gino D'Antonio and Renzo Calegari who sound like spag western directors! Checkout this blog if you've a mo' John : cloud-109.blogspot.com/2011/01/prions-war-library-reprints-and-couple.htmlKC
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Post by Johnlprobert on Feb 4, 2011 20:50:21 GMT
You may well be right - I was just quoting what they said in the BBC4 Comics Britannia series a couple of years ago. Apparently Italian artists had to be drafted in to draw appealing-looking ladies for the girls comics. .. Too right ! I was just adding that some of the very best Commando stories from the 1960's were drawn by Italian artists like Gino D'Antonio and Renzo Calegari who sound like spag western directors! Checkout this blog if you've a mo' John : cloud-109.blogspot.com/2011/01/prions-war-library-reprints-and-couple.htmlKC Ah - splendid fun! Thanks KC!
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Feb 4, 2011 21:45:22 GMT
8p they cost. You'd have got the first hundred for less than a tenner :'
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Feb 4, 2011 21:57:39 GMT
You may well be right - I was just quoting what they said in the BBC4 Comics Britannia series a couple of years ago. Apparently Italian artists had to be drafted in to draw appealing-looking ladies for the girls comics. .. Too right ! I was just adding that some of the very best Commando stories from the 1960's were drawn by Italian artists like Gino D'Antonio and Renzo Calegari who sound like spag western directors! Checkout this blog if you've a mo' John : cloud-109.blogspot.com/2011/01/prions-war-library-reprints-and-couple.htmlKC There's something very apt about that. I can see the plucky British artist gritting his teeth as he rushes off another chisel jawed hero, blushing with embarrassment at the suggestion he inks in one of those 'ladies' only to mention later in a hushed tone at the smokers club that a seedy job has been passed to some questionable Italian waiter.
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Post by valdemar on Apr 8, 2012 19:27:44 GMT
I always wanted these as a kid, but our local newsagent wouldn't stock them. I have read a few since, and yes, there are a few 'factual' [in a fairly sensationalist way] titles: 'The Monster of Rillington Place' is the loathsome John Reginald Christie: 'The Vampire Of Dusseldorf' is the terrifying psychopath, Peter Kurten, [who, shortly before he was guillotined, asked someone if he would be able to hear after he was beheaded, and when asked why, replied:''To hear my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck would be the pleasure to end all pleasures.'']. 'Doctor Satan' is Dr Marcel Petiot, who helped Jewish citizens in Paris 'vanish' during WW2, with the aid of his custom-built death chamber in his basement. The bodies were dismembered and burnt, along with old tyres to mask the smell. As the war progressed, the supply of tyres ran out, and he was found out. Initially, he conned the local Gestapo into believing he was killing Resistance and Maquis personnel, but the Germans had catalogued all the Jews in his area, and were surprised to find them gone when they came to round them up. The SS broke into Petiot's home, but he had wisely done a runner, and it is reported that even the Germans were alarmed at the extent of his 'work'. Petiot was caught, tried, and guillotined after the war. 'To Kill For Kicks' would be those two rich friends [Their names escape me for the present], who kidnapped and killed another boy simply because they were bored, and they were too stupid to understand that wealth and privilege does not put you above the law. Nice people about, aren't there? I'm really quite envious of this collection. ;D
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Post by valdemar on Apr 8, 2012 19:37:01 GMT
Just looked at the cover of 'Dead Man's Eyes' - the main figure is Lon Chaney Jr. from 'Man-Made Monster' [1941], wearing a fright wig! Dynamo Dan, the electric man!
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Post by doomovertheworld on Apr 8, 2012 21:39:06 GMT
I always wanted these as a kid, but our local newsagent wouldn't stock them. I have read a few since, and yes, there are a few 'factual' [in a fairly sensationalist way] titles: 'The Monster of Rillington Place' is the loathsome John Reginald Christie: 'The Vampire Of Dusseldorf' is the terrifying psychopath, Peter Kurten, [who, shortly before he was guillotined, asked someone if he would be able to hear after he was beheaded, and when asked why, replied:''To hear my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck would be the pleasure to end all pleasures.'']. 'Doctor Satan' is Dr Marcel Petiot, who helped Jewish citizens in Paris 'vanish' during WW2, with the aid of his custom-built death chamber in his basement. The bodies were dismembered and burnt, along with old tyres to mask the smell. As the war progressed, the supply of tyres ran out, and he was found out. Initially, he conned the local Gestapo into believing he was killing Resistance and Maquis personnel, but the Germans had catalogued all the Jews in his area, and were surprised to find them gone when they came to round them up. The SS broke into Petiot's home, but he had wisely done a runner, and it is reported that even the Germans were alarmed at the extent of his 'work'. Petiot was caught, tried, and guillotined after the war. ' To Kill For Kicks' would be those two rich friends [Their names escape me for the present], who kidnapped and killed another boy simply because they were bored, and they were too stupid to understand that wealth and privilege does not put you above the law. Nice people about, aren't there? I'm really quite envious of this collection. ;D from your description it sounds, to me, that you are talking about Leopold & Loeb who killed a teenager in the 1920s
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