Hey! I said I'd be back, and I actually am! Don't get used to it!
As the title of this post has already informed you, this time I'm letting you know my opinion on the second issue of the new Gold Key Comics "Boris Karloff Gold Key Mysteries" series.
I wasn't all that impressed with the debut, so let's see if things get better in the follow-up, eh?
Kicking things off, here's our cover:
It's a wee bit similar to its predecessor, and I do hope that the series starts refraining from emphasizing Mr. Karloff's mug so much on future covers. The original series had his image built into the logo itself, and there's even some "shelf space" for his noggin to rest on right atop the "OFF" of his surname in the new logo.
To be fair, Boris's glowing eye socket and the eerie ocular orbs of the crowd below his visage DO tie into one of the stories beneath the cover, but still.
Speaking of the stories, let's get to one of them, shall we?
As indicated in issue #1, we begin with another chapter of "Where House," this time with a flashback to William's (later "Boris") childhood in 1893. He befriends two women who live alone in a strange house, telling them stories to entertain him, while at home, his family barely has time to notice him.
Superstitions build in town, and one night, two angry drunks burn the strange house down with the two women trapped inside.
William's life goes on, and he's performing in Canada under his more famous pseudonym when it happens. He sees the strange house appear before him, standing tall in the aftermath of a cyclone in a country that the women never lived to see.
The house continues to haunt Boris, reappearing to him again and again, with the voices of the two women reminding him that their "door is always open." In 1941, Boris witnesses two men enter the house, only to watch as the house slams its doors behind and disappears in a swirling vortex of ravenous force.
We are told that the tale continues on Page 26...
As you may have guessed, what follows are two short stories.
I'm gonna be brief: they are both disappointing. Maybe not as much so as the two tales from issue one, but the frustrations they share are similar.
The art is great in both offerings, but the stories read more like introductions to stories than full stories on their own.
"Where House" can get away with this, since it's obviously going to be continued in every issue of the series.
These short stories, however, need to have beginnings, middles, AND endings. So far, none of them really do. They have "revelations" at best. Also, each of the supporting stories in this issue say that they will be continued on Page 26, but they are not. That page simply brings us the continuation of "Where House."
Mind you, that continuation of "Where House" is really cool; bringing us to 1969, the year of Boris's death, and also the year that he petitions to be reborn in the House. His true mission in the House is made clear, as is his plan to finally contact the outside world in the "present day."
So, once again, I am intrigued by the tale of Boris and the Where House, but utterly frustrated by the barely-written supporting stories.
I will give this series one more chance, but that's probably gonna be it.
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