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Tags: Saturday Night Shivers Review – Tower of Shadows #9 (Marvel, 1971)
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to Saturday Night Shivers, a weekend feature at Paint Monk’s Library. In the spirit of Elvira, the Ghoul, and other horror movie hosts, we’ll be featuring a review of one classic horror comic each week. All horror stories we review are from books approved by the Comics Code Authority. This installment is written by Wally Monk.)
Sadly, our friend “Digger” doesn’t show up in this issue. The gaunt, pasty-faced mortician who served as narrator of Tower of Shadows and its successor Chamber of Chills doesn’t appear in this issue. For those of you unfamiliar with “Digger,” he appeared to be Marvel’s equivalent of the Crypt Keeper, who served as narrator in many of the EC Comics horror titles in the 1950s.
This issue, instead, opens to the narration of writer Roy Thomas and artist Tom Palmer. They’re illustrated on the opening splash page, ready to introduce the reader in first-person to their adaptation of a famous HP Lovecraft short story called “Pickman’s Model.”
Three other stories round out this issue. The second story, called “I Dared to Enter the Haunted Room!” was a reprint from a story in Tales to Astonish #17, written and illustrated by Don Heck. A third story – “The World That Was Lost!” – was drawn by Jack Kirby with inks by Christopher Rule, reprinting a story from Strange Tales #69.
Finishing up the book was another reprint from Strange Tales #69 called “The Threat From The Fifth Dimension,” scripted and drawn by Steve Ditko.
For the purposes of this edition of Saturday Night Shivers, I won’t be reviewing the reprinted stories, only the original material by Roy Thomas and Tom Palmer.
Review: Tower of Shadows #9
WARNING! SPOILERS FOLLOW
Story #1 – “Pickman’s Model”
Story by Roy Thomas – Art by Tom Palmer
Eliot meets his distraught friend Thurber on a street corner in Boston. Thurber is terrified and upset. He makes it clear that he’ll be very happy if he never sees a subway or a cellar ever again. Eliot expresses concern for his friend, offering to take him to a bar where he can get some food and calm himself down. The last time Eliot saw Thurber was leaving a New England art club with famous artist Richard Upton Pickman.
At the mention of Pickman’s name, Thurber bristles and tells Eliot never to mention the artist again.
In the original Lovecraft work, Thurber is working on a monograph of sorts detailing unusual artists; in this story he appears as an art critic or admirer, who has taken an interest in Pickman’s work.
Once at a local watering hole, Thurber begins his tale. He doesn’t want to talk, but if he doesn’t share what he saw, he’ll lose his mind! Cautiously and nervously, Thurber begins to describe events from earlier that night. .
Arriving at the art gallery, Richard Pickman decided to share his newest work with Thurber – a creepy drawing of a robed, eldritch monstrosity in a cemetery. Quickly, Thurber learned why the gallery was deserted – Pickman’s new work was just too frightening.
Thurber tells Pickman that he’s got to be careful, as his extremely grotesque and terrifying drawings will get him removed from the art society. But Pickman scoffs at the suggestion, haughtily explaining that the other artists cannot appreciate real inspiration or his artwork.
He tells Thurber that there is more to show him, and ushering him out of the art gallery and into the back streets of Boston, Pickman plans to show Thurber his personal gallery and the source of his inspirations.
The duo winds through the back streets of Boston en route to Pickman’s studio; Thurber remarks that the old buildings in this old quarter of the city probably stood before the time of the puritan Cotton Mather. Pickman scoffs, indicating that there are things beneath the city that existed long before Mather’s time.
Entering an old, dilapidated manor home, they climb some crumbling stairs and soon arrive at Pickman’s studio. Much of his recent artwork is even more grotesque than the photo he had just premiered at the art club.
Thurber says that these pictures are offensive, yet show a realistic quality – he says, “You’re quite right, Pickman. For there’s such detail…such stark realism in these anguished faces – as I’ve never seen surpassed!“
Pickman explains that he uses many photographs for his artwork and then offers to take Thurber to see the studio where he completes his paintings. Before they head to the studio, Thurber notices a realistic drawing of a terrifying creature – and on the painting is a crumpled up photograph, which he examines and inadvertently puts into his pocket.
As they descend the stairs, down to the cellar beneath the home and the artist’s studio, Pickman warns Thurber to be quiet. There are rats in the cellar, and they do not like to be disturbed. Pickman repeats this multiple times, but soon he says that Thurber has drawn their attention. Suddenly, as if in panic mode, Pickman tells Thurber to wait while he walks alone down a dark corridor with his gun in hand. He fires a few shots, then returns to Thurber.
The gun has scared off the vermin, he says, but they must now leave and return another day.
At the bar, Thurber reveals the real reason he is upset. The crumpled up “inspirational” picture he took from Pickman’s painting shows a real, living demon as the inspiration for Pickman’s painting. The “vermin” in Pickman’s cellar were not rats, but rather the stuff of nightmares!
CAPSULE REVIEW: The saddest part of this review is that “Pickman’s Model” is an excellent story by a talented team crammed into a comic book full of reprints. The other stories, while good, have already been told and were typical classic fare. You can’t be too harsh with the fantastic teams involved with them, but by the same token, they’re tales already told and effectively “filler material” for what would be Tower of Shadows last outing. It becomes Creatures on the Loose with the next issue, and it’s a shame Marvel didn’t close out Tower with a bang instead of a whimper.
Roy Thomas, in typical style, weaves a fantastic adaptation out of one of HP Lovecraft’s more popular short stories. The build-up to the end of the tale is fantastic, as Thomas’ narrative and Tom Palmer’s artwork take us through the old quarter of Boston and eventually into the dark basement that leads to supernatural horror. The drawings of the Lovecraftian horrors are dated, having that 50s horror comic book vibe, but are still things I wouldn’t want to see late at night as a kid reading comic books!
Pickman is drawn here as an evil version of Doctor Strange – a compelling character that Thomas’ could easily have built into stories of his own. Imagine what Roy Thomas could do with Richard Pickman as a recurring villain in a series of horror stories!
On a scale of 1-10, I’d rate this issue an 6.5 – if the other stories were original or as good as “Pickman’s Model” this issue would be a contender for an 8 or higher.. On eBay, copies in ungraded condition could be purchased for $9-20 in most low to mid grades with higher grade copies carrying an average buy-it-now of $25.
As always, I am – Wally (AKA Paint Monk)
