The Measure Of A Monster

Steven — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:51:58 +0000

Easily the least freaky of the Chilling Adventures In Sorcery, The Measure Of The Monster merits attention based solely on my love of giant bug movies and a strange resemblance to the travails of a particular superhero.

Again, while regular Archie comics are loaded with surprisingly kinky behaviour, there are certain ideas that are almost never explored. Last week was suicide and insanity, this week it’s domestic abuse.

Having created an anatomically-incorrect ant the size of a building, Professor Wingate has no choice but to use the same formula on himself in order to defeat the beast, transforming into a kind of ‘giant man’.

The Ultimate Cure

Steven — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:44:15 +0000

As I hope I’ve demonstrated over the past few months, Archie comics are loaded with unexpectedly disturbing shenanigans. One of the most bizarre Archie comics is the short-lived Chilling Adventures In Sorcery, Archie’s attempt at an EC-style anthology.

Narrated by an inappropriately chipper Sabrina, The Ultimate Cure gets off to a running start, with a sailor stumbling into Dr. Kingston’s office. When they’re unable to prevent the sailor’s transformation from man to beast, the sailor takes a concrete nosedive to end his suffering, but not before biting the good doctor and passing the curse along.

The Ultimate Cure would get rejected from any other horror anthology for being too tame, but the combination of visuals that are just a touch removed from typical Archie fare with a story dealing in madness and death creates a perverse atmosphere that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Worst of all is that final panel, with the doctor’s fiance convalescing in the Riverdale insane asylum. It’s like the Archie Comics version of Blue Velvet, peeling back the homey exterior to reveal the pallid underbelly underneath.

I was Ben » Chilling Adventures In Sorcery

The Measure Of A Monster

The Ultimate Cure