Originally Published In Issue 41
Reprinted In Issue 100
First published back in May of 1974, Issue 41 of the ‘Pocket Chiller Library’ comic series was titled ‘Nightmare Curse’. The comic was later reprinted under the alternative title ‘Powers Of Darkness’ within Issue 100.
During the 1970s the ‘Pocket Chiller Library’ was a pocket-sized mainstream horror comic which ran for 137 issues between 1971 and 1977. From issue 86 onwards the publishers simply started reprinting the earlier stories, the first 28 of these reprints retitling the story. As such, there were only a total of 86 different stories within the series.
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 the original stories running between 1971 and 1977, therefore the above date of publication is a reasonable assumption. Additionally, each issue was uncredited to either the writer or the comic artist(s).
1942 and the Egyptian Campaign was at another crucial turning point. Major Hubbard was in the thick of battle when the sand suddenly opened beneath his feet. Whilst the war raged on above ground, Hubbard found himself alone within an underground Ancient Egyptian tomb. It was clear no one had been there before. Within the massive chamber, countless ancient artifacts of gold and precious stone could be seen. A Pharaoh’s fortune.
On the tomb wall, inscribed in hieroglyphics unreadable by anyone but an expert in Egyptology, a terrible warning for those who enter the tomb of the Son of Set the Destroyer. A legend vowing “His followers shall never rest until those who plunder this holy place have been totally destroyed, and their children visited by a thousand evils”.
1949 and with WWII thankfully over, Major Hubbard returns to Egypt. Over the course of following five months, Hubbard smuggles the many precious artefacts into the United States. But the lengthy effort was worth it. At the auction houses, Hubbard sells off many of the items, bringing him and his family a vast wealth.
For years the Hubbard family enjoyed the Major’s ill-gotten riches. Then in 1963, the Major’s son, Eric, is brutally murdered by a maniacal cult. Within thirty-minutes of learning of his son’s death, Major Hubbard himself is dead.
Fearing there is truth to the dreaded curse, the Hubbard’s spread themselves across the globe. But after eight long years, the late Major’s wife has had enough. She wants her family back.
She’ll do whatever to takes to get to the bottom of the recent string of deaths in the family, and hopefully, finally prove there is no curse…
DLS Review:
This one’s an interesting blend of horror and mystery, with a large proportion of the story playing with the possibility of the curse being nothing more than superstitious mumbo jumbo coupled with a series of coincidental bad luck.
In fact, it’s almost got an air of Agatha Christie about it, with the character of Private Investigator Vincent Vance brought in as a sort of younger, cockier Hercule Poirot. Although, let’s be honest, being a Pocket Chiller Library story, we know it’s more likely to dark forces at work!
Essentially, what we have is a wealthy family that’s in fear of the Curse of Set, who’ve spread themselves across the globe to try to hide from the maniacal cult – The Followers of Set. However, every now and again, one of the Hubbard’s meets an untimely end, invariably in some tragic accident or other.
P.I. Vincent Vance is incredibly sceptical about the curse but is nevertheless chasing the hefty reward from Major Hubbard’s widow. So, we have this young, overconfident private investigator tracking down the family members and generally getting their backs up.
However, one of the most entertaining aspects of the comic, is the outrageously outdated way in which Vance treats his attractive young personal assistant. She literally does all the hard work of pulling together all the pieces of the puzzle, whilst Vance swans off around the world to meet with the Hubbard family members. Yet he treats her likes she’s painfully naïve.
Anyway, only in the final handful of pages does the ancient evil make itself known. This is of course through a wonderfully dramatic finale, which Vance walks away from clueless as ever. The writers absolutely had their tongues firmly wedged in their cheeks when they wrote the story. The characters are superb, the dialogue absolutely hilarious, and the zig-zag course it takes to arrive at the dramatic reveal is mindboggling. Which just makes it all the more entertaining.
The comic book runs for a total of 64 pages.
© DLS Reviews
