Vintage Comics: Man in Black, Issue No. 1: The Fly in the Ointment, Trouble in the Night, Going Back, The Weaver (14-end)

Finally a story set in a fantastical time period. I've always been fascinated by the glitzy-glam of 40s-50s Hollywood interpretations of various ancient worlds, garishly inaccurate sequins and all. But what's this Arabian Nights sort of story doing in a horror comic? Ah well, I think we've all figured out they painted with broad brushes back then. It's probably my favorite in the issue, and the theatrical dialog manages not to drag the story down...though I think the setting choice helped with that. The remaining stories are charming in their own way, but 'The Fly in the Ointment' is officially one of my favorites...

Vintage Comics: Man in Black, Issue No. 1: Brush Strokes, Second Chance, The Hanging Thread (Cover-13)

Here's an interesting little number, kids. This one features a character you might say was a routine host of spooky radio shows as well as a few of these vintage comics. The Man in Black. Your typical moral tales come alive in this interesting little number. What strikes me as unique about Man in Black isn't really the stories themselves, which are fairly cut and dry...it's the fact that there really isn't one host, but three, all on separate occasions depending on the story.

The first one is about your typical artist, always wanting to be or create more than what he's capable of. Then, of course, he curses fate...and really, does that ever turn out well for anyone? The following story is short, and...well...not scary in the least, but it does make me reconsider double-checking my drafts before I publish. After all, wouldn't want a little typo destroying the world, would I?

The third story featured today actually intrigues me mostly because of the art choices. Fate and his associates remain in gray, while the real world acts as a colored portrait below them. In film, that can be a brilliant device. My favorite bit, of course, is seeing the man in black riled up...