Hazel
19th April 2009, 09:05 AM
I have often cited my love for comics beginning with a horror compendium I owned when I was younger. It featured traditional 'horror' stories in comic book form: Frankenstein, Dracula, Jekyll & Hyde...and so on. What I remember most is the vivid colours, ridiculous monsters, B-movie feel, curvy female victims, and silly dialogue. Not being able to remember the the title of this book or even where to start looking for it, The 13th Son is a small reminder of it.
Legend has it that the 13th son is the only 'thing' able to conquer monsters. A young, nubile virgin, 13 years old, is married to a much older man. Miscarriage after miscarriage follows until her 13th pregnancy results in a healthy but monstrous boy. The father tries to drown him but the mother rescues her boy and the two of them begin a solitary life. Until much later the son betrays the mother and she vows to hate him for ever. By now she is a horned, warty witch and she summons up monsters to go after him.
Meanwhile the 13th Son goes through a succession of wives, who unable to carry his child, die in various ways. His main aim is to have a wife (that survives) and a child of his own, but the warning of 'only the 13th son of the 13th son can kill him' hangs over his happy ending.
This is absolute nonsense, C-Movie horror if the worst kind. But Jones, writer and artist, must have had a lot of fun creating this comic and it shows. It is bright, vibrant, and takes its schlocky horror seriously. And it made me a little happier having lost my childhood horror comic to the sands of time.
Legend has it that the 13th son is the only 'thing' able to conquer monsters. A young, nubile virgin, 13 years old, is married to a much older man. Miscarriage after miscarriage follows until her 13th pregnancy results in a healthy but monstrous boy. The father tries to drown him but the mother rescues her boy and the two of them begin a solitary life. Until much later the son betrays the mother and she vows to hate him for ever. By now she is a horned, warty witch and she summons up monsters to go after him.
Meanwhile the 13th Son goes through a succession of wives, who unable to carry his child, die in various ways. His main aim is to have a wife (that survives) and a child of his own, but the warning of 'only the 13th son of the 13th son can kill him' hangs over his happy ending.
This is absolute nonsense, C-Movie horror if the worst kind. But Jones, writer and artist, must have had a lot of fun creating this comic and it shows. It is bright, vibrant, and takes its schlocky horror seriously. And it made me a little happier having lost my childhood horror comic to the sands of time.