Status Updates From Four Color Fear: Forgotten ...

If Thomas Ligotti, Robert Crumb, and, I dunno, Philip K. Dick, maybe? If these three got together and wrote a horror comic, it might be "What Happens at 8:30 PM". This one is very different than the rest and shows the breadth of horror comics in the 1950's. Not all of them were cookie cutter. I'd like more oddballs like this in Four Color Fear.

"Reefer Madness" meets a hybrid between a flying squirrel and The Creature from the Black Lagoon in "Nightmare World". The only thing terrifying about this story is its predictability. But the art is distinct, I have to give it that.

"The Wall of Flesh" was predictable, to say the least, but the unique premise and use of a flesh wall absorbing its victim, superimposed over the image of a clock was absolute brilliance. Time is running out, indeed. If only 1950s plots weren't so dumb and predictable, this would have been something rather masterful. Still, it sets a high aesthetic standard for horror comics.

"Here Today" is a unique, capital "W" Weird story. The plot is simple, but so bizarre that this tale seems ahead of its time. Another Twilight Zone-esque offering. One wonders how much Rod Serling read these comics as a kid! Or as an adult, for that matter.