Tales of the Zombie #4Issue(s): Tales of the Zombie #4 Review/plot: ...but she herself has a Devil Doll which allows her to control him. This is interesting because if you look back to the Zombie's first appearance in Menace #5, you will see Gyps was using a very similar voodoo doll to control the Zombie. This is despite the fact that the framing story in Tales of the Zombie #1 showed Gpys receiving one half of the pair of Amulets of Damballah to control the Zombie, and those amulets continue to be a plot point in this series, including the main plot for this issue. So when i saw that, i sort of fan-fixed it in my head, assuming that Gyps had sewn his half of the Amulet into the voodoo doll. But it seems that Gerber had in mind that the doll was something different, a power unto itself. After defeating Garth, Katanya has him thrown into the sea. And that works out well enough because last issue we saw Phillip Bliss find Gyps' Amulet of Damballah, and in this issue, after hearing about what the amulet is supposed to do by Jeanette, a nervous waitress at the local (Savor-It) diner, Phil jokingly summons Garth. Also in the diner are college goofs Steve Bergen and Gene Gretch. I don't know if it's just a coincidence that "Bergen" is almost an anagram of "Gerber". Phil has a thing against lawyers after having gone through a divorce and subsequently being taken to court by his former employers after a temper tantrum resulted in property damage, so he spends his days on the courthouse steps railing. This results in a meeting with Mr. Six, the mastermind villain from two issues back, and it turns out that Phil's wife is now with him. Mr. Six recognizes Phil's amulet. But Phil is driven off by the police, and winds up in an alley when Simon Garth catches up with him. The obsessed Phil uses his ability to control Garth, sending him to go and disrupt a court trial (a trial which really has nothing to do with Phil except that Mr. Six was on trial for some kind of crime and may have been sent to jail if the trial hadn't been disrupted. Ah, the sweet, sweet vengeance). The issue ends with Phil being buddy buddy with his his new pet zombie. Things will take an interesting twist next issue, though. Also in this issue, Donna Garth recovers from having seen her father as a zombie, and begins to get close with Bruce Mason, who lost his wife to the voodoo ceremony last issue. This issue also had a review of the James Bond film Live And Let Die (since it had some voodoo elements), a text piece on Witchcraft by Lin Carter, and four non-Marvel Universe horror stories, all of which seem to have been original instead of the usual mix of originals and reprints: "The Drums of Doom" by Gerry Conway and Rich Buckler Quality Rating: C Chronological Placement Considerations: This issue begins 24 hours after the previous issue. Note that we're still ahead in publication time due to the Tales of the Zombie #1 / Dracula Lives #2 connection, but thanks to the bi-monthly schedule of this book plus the fact that it's only been 24 hours since last issue, we're getting closer to publication time. References:
Crossover: N/A Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: Essential Tales of the Zombie vol. 1 Inbound References (1): showCharacters Appearing: Anton Cartier, Bruce Mason, Donna Garth, Gene Gretch, Jeanette (Savor-It), Katanya, Lois Bliss, Mr. Six, Phillip Bliss, Steve Bergen, Zombie (Simon Garth) 1974 / Box 8 / EiC: Roy Thomas CommentsJohn Albano's presence here is strange; he was the co-creator of Jonah Hex and was almost 100% a DC guy. Posted by: Mark Drummond | January 24, 2015 4:59 PM Comments are now closed. |
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