All the shorter stories below (and some poems) are vintage Poe-etic reflections on love and death and how the former is not hindered by the latter, but that neither is the latter respectful of the former. They appeared in different issues of Dark Horse Presents though Corben's efforts with Poe only rated one cover mention and that was a corner shot.
"Spirits of the Dead" (1827) is the poem that kicks off the collection and is presented in text form only.
"Alone" (1829) introduces the reader to Mag the Hag, Corben's EC-style ghost host. She's one-eyed and bends on a staff quite often, though she's still able to insert herself into many if most of these stories. "Alone" tells us of a fellow named Solomon who gets lost between this world and the world of his dreams.
"The City and the Sea" (1831) gives a tale about slavers who find justice if not mercy when they discover the titular city.
"The Sleeper" (1831) is classic Poe and shows us an adulterer and murderer who has a hard time enjoying the fruits of his crimes.
"The Assignation" (1834) is a truly disturbing yarn about a chap who ends up married to a mad woman and seeks a measure of solace.
"Berenice" (1835) gives us a tale with some gender-bending when the titular character turns up help a chap who is lost in readings and has no time for practical things.
"Morella" (1835) offers up a dash of incest which turns into something stranger and even uglier.
"Shadow" (1835) gives us the grim tale of a Roman military unit which seeks shelter from a plague in a catacomb which turns out to be no shelter at all.
"The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839) is masterfully adapted in two self-titled issues and takes the famous Poe story we all know and twists it into something even creepier. And that's doing something to one of Poe's most vivid yarns.
"The Man of the Crowd" (1840) is the new story added to my version of the collection and has a man chase another who eludes for reasons which are mysterious and strange.
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841) adapts the great Poe detective story and gives it that little jigger of grotesque and pungent horror it's been needing but didn't know it needed.
"The Masque of the Red Death" (1842) by Corben gives us a party full of revelers who try to escape the plague only to discover weirdly that it's come to visit.
"The Raven" (1845) is a second adaptation by Corben and this one takes the most famous of Poe's work and well and truly adds some surprises.
"The Conqueror Worm" (1843) is about as gross as a story can get, but it's still compelling stuff about a chap who murders and then realizes that his prideful retribution was only the beginning of his suffering.
"The Premature Burial" (1844) is a zany tale of burials and resurrections which keeps the reader guessing even past the final page. I immediately read this story over again.
"The Cask of Amontillado" (1846) takes the classic tell of revenge and wine and offers up a frame story which allows us to see some cosmic justice take hold.
This is as good as horror stories get. I found Corben's robust artwork more than up the challenge of offering us insights into Poe's cracked-up universe. Poe's work has always been something I access better through the lens of creators who take the stories and adapt them, either to film, television or as in this case comics. Corben and Poe are a perfect match. This collection is highly recommended.
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That looks like a genuinely excellent collection of Mr Corbens later work. I picked up a few of his strips that appeared in Dark Horse Presents ( and a couple of one shots) but not many of then so I may look for this collection in my local comic store . Thank you for showing this .
ReplyDeleteI only learned about this when I decided to research Corben for this month, but it's been the surprise highlight for me this month. I loved how he twisted the tales to offer up fresh surprises.
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