Originally Published In Issue 50
Reprinted In Issue 109
First published back in January of 1973, Issue 50 of the ‘Pocket Chiller Library’ comic series was titled ‘The Snake Woman’. The comic was later reprinted under the alternative title ‘Evil Fangs’ within Issue 109.
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 from issue 86 onwards, the publishers started reprinting the earlier stories. Of these reprints, the first 28 reprints (issues 86 – 113) retitled the story. As such, there were only a total of 86 different 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 the famous scholar-explorer, Professor Phelps, returned from Peru, Jack was keen to attend the professor’s dinner invitation to discuss the outcome of his adventures. Although Jack’s wife, Dora, wasn’t anywhere near as interested. But knowing the dinner might lead to her husband getting a job as antiquities professor in Barnham University, she couldn’t refuse.
Although the Professor would certainly have much to tell them about his time in Peru during the dinner. He claimed to have discovered a lost tribe in the Andes, and had supposedly brought back one of the tribe’s priestesses.
In fact, that wasn’t all the professor had brought back to England with from his expedition. He’d also managed to bring back a giant grotesque idol depicting the tribe’s evil god – Muchak – the bloodthirsty Snake God.
Despite the Professor having brought the priestess, Aiya, into his home and treating her as his own daughter, Dora still saw the true evil that lingered within the woman. Her primitive devotion for this evil snake god and her obsession with pleasing her god was evident from their very first meeting.
When confronted with the huge grotesque idol, Dora couldn’t hide her absolute fear for the obscene statue. A fear which caused great insult to Aiya. But Dora’s intuitive reaction to the image of Muchak was one which should not be ignored. For Aiya plans of her own. Sinister intentions to appease the devourer of the ungodly, the drinker of blood.
Evil plans for more human sacrifices…
Oh, this one doesn’t disappoint at all. Although, to be honest, the plot is pretty much a reworking of ‘Issue 42: The Dark Fiend’ (1974), only with the horror threat ramped up a good few notches. In fact, the setup of the story is almost identical, down to our hapless explorer bringing back a sacred artefact from a tribe’s sacred temple, and a priestess strangely accompanying the explorer, who invariably has her own motivations for following the explorer back.
However, where ‘The Dark Fiend’ only provided brief and short-lived moments depicting these evil intentions, here we instead have a wealth of horror-infused shenanigans. Furthermore, Muchak – the terrible Snake God – is able to transform people into man-sized snakes, to undertake his bloodthirsty wishes.
The end result is poor old Dora being terrorized by both Aiya (who she also begins to think her husband is having an affair with!), as well as the Snake God itself, who early on decides Dora will be its next human sacrifice.
Once the plot’s been established, which done in a mere handful of pages, those around Dora start transforming into our snake god almost everywhere she looks. Her reaction seems to be to desperately cling to the collars of any man in the immediate vicinity, whilst simultaneously threatening to faint.
Good old Jack is barely around for most of the ensuing action, instead choosing to be cooped up in the professor’s home, going through the great explorer’s notes from Peru. Luckily the professor’s sidekick from his expedition, a handsome moustachioed fella named Briggs, is at hand for Dora to cling on to in lieu of her sidetracked husband.
It’s all a wonderfully over-the-top story, with 1970s style cliches thrown into almost every plot development. But it’s great fun and an absolutely hilarious story. Furthermore, the illustrative artwork is spot on throughout. In particular the depictions of Muchak and those that transform into the man-sized serpent are magnificent in their B-movie-esque appeal. Even the grotesque idol, hidden away in a darkened room of the professor’s house, is depicted as an inherently menacing and blood-chilling statue. The wild horror is just depicted so damn well.
This is definitely one of the more wildly over-the-top PCL stories, and also probably one of the best.
The comic book runs for a total of 64 pages.
© DLS Reviews
