Originally Published In Issue 14
Reprinted In Issue 137
First published back in July of 1971, Issue 14 of the ‘Pocket Chiller Library’ comic series was titled ‘Doctor Satan’. The comic was later reprinted under the same title within Issue 137 forming the very last PCL issue.
During the 1970s the ‘Pocket Chiller Library’ was a pocket-sized mainstream horror comic which ran for a total of 137 issues between 1971 and 1977. Each month, two issues of the comic were published, amounting to a total of twenty-four issues of the comic published each year.
However, it should be noted that issue 83 and then from issue 86 onwards, the publishers started reprinting the earlier stories. Of these reprints, the first 29 reprints (issues 83 and then 86 – 113) retitled the story. As such, there were only ever a total of 84 unique stories within the series, despite there being more titles.
Unfortunately, each issue was undated, making it difficult to be sure of the date for first publication of each issue. However, it is widely understood the comics were monthly publications, with two publications released simultaneously each month, with the original stories running from January 1971. Therefore, the above date of publication is a relatively reasonable assumption.
Additionally, each issue was unfortunately uncredited to either the writer or the comic artist(s).
When a Paris resident spotted thick black smoke pouring from the nearby chimney of a small hotel in Rue Le Sueur, the resulting call to the fire brigade set in motion a discovery which would shock all of France.
Upon entering the hotel, the fire fighters found human remains burning within the raging fire of the hotel’s boiler. When the police arrived, their search of the hotel revealed further remains within many of the hotel’s empty rooms. As they made their way through the hotel of horrors, two further corpses were found dumped on the kitchen floor. In the cellar, more gruesome discoveries were unearthed, with multiple human remains found dissolving within a huge pit of quick lime.
The hotel was known to be owned by the G.P. Doctor Marcel Petiot. Superintendent Massu and Inspector Petit continued their thorough search through the rest of the building. In the right wing they discovered a fully furnished waiting room where the Doctor would bring his patients. At the far end of the room was a door leading into a hidden cell. It was within this chamber where the victims were bound by rope and tied to two hooks secured to the wall. On the floor of the empty cell, a gas mask lay abandoned. A lingering scent of gas still detectable in the stale air of this horrific death chamber.
A peephole cut out from the adjacent wall was also found. It was from this small window that the sadistic Doctor had observed the agony of his victims’ last breaths. A trapdoor in the chamber floor, which lead to the basement and the pit of quick lime, told the rest of the despicable story.
However, the killer responsible for these heinous crimes was still at large. Doctor Petiot would be revealed as one of the most diabolical murderers of the century. Dubbed by the media ‘Doctor Satan’, Petiot would eventually admit to a total of sixty-three murders. This is his story…
DLS Review:
The early PCL issues were often retellings of real-life stories involving notorious crimes and other horrors. This one is the true story of French serial killer Marcel Petiot.
The comic starts out with the discovery of the remains of twenty-three of Petiot’s victims in a small hotel he owned in the Rue Le Sueur. Following the discovery, the leading investigators on the case – Superintendent Massu and Inspector Petit – piece together the diabolical events which took place within the hotel.
For the most part, the comic then takes us through Marcel Petiot’s life story, leading up to his eventual capture. This backstory takes us through the main body of the comic, until Petiot is eventually captured and set to trial. The comic ends with Petiot’s inevitable execution by guillotine at 5am on the 25th May 1946.
The comic is certainly an interesting, and dare I say, gripping read. If you’re not familiar with the story of Marcel Petiot (like I wasn’t), then reading the story in this fast-paced format will likely keep you engrossed in the entirety of the unfolding story.
That said, if you’re principally after a wild and over-the-top B-movie style horror, as many of the latter PCL issues delivered, then you’ll find this comic distinctly different. Furthermore, the illustrative artwork is unlike other PCLs too. It’s probably the least accomplished artwork from the PCL series. Verging on amateurish in places, the illustrations are sketchier than any of the other comics, with bulk black used rather than any form of shading.
That said, the comic as a whole is still enormously gripping. The pacing with the story’s delivery and indeed the framing around Marcel Petiot backstory, with the gruesome discoveries at the start and then his capture, trial and execution at the end, works perfectly. Therefore, despite the lack of there being much in the way of ‘action’ within the comic, and despite the rather weak illustrations, it’s still a damn good PCL.
The comic book runs for a total of 64 pages.
© DLS Reviews
