Originally Published In Issue 54
Reprinted In Issue 113
First published back in March of 1973, Issue 54 of the ‘Pocket Chiller Library’ comic series was titled ‘Shadow On The Mind’. The comic was later reprinted under the alternative title ‘Mangled Mind’ within Issue 113.
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).
Eva Roberts didn’t quite know what to expect about the Sabine family before she arrived at the large family house in the middle of the beautiful countryside. The agency who provided the work to Eva hadn’t told her much about her new employers, just that she was required to be a companion for Mrs Sabine’s daughter, Ramona.
Upon arriving at the large house, Eva was given a short briefing from Mrs Sabine and her handsome son James. The pair informed Eva that Ramona wasn’t quite right in the head. Not that she was dangerous, but more that she had an overactive imagination. Something which drove her to fits of terrified hysterics at times.
However, when Eva speaks with the girl and the two talk alone, an entirely different picture of the situation is revealed. Ramona tells Eva that James in fact is the one who is mad. That he had an obsession with killing things. That he’d killed pets and animals and was now plotting to kill her.
Furthermore, they had a gardener called Rueben who’d attacked Ramona when she first arrived at the house following Mrs Sabine adopting her as an orphan. James had just stood back and laughed as the great brute of a man grabbed her.
Hearing all of this, and seeing the honest conviction in Ramona’s eyes, Eva didn’t know what to believe. Although she was beginning to think that maybe it wasn’t entirely Ramona who was the mad one. And if that was the case, then the situation could be very dangerous for both Ramona and herself…
I’ll be honest, from the cover art I wasn’t expecting this PCL to be one of the wilder or more action-packed issues. And I was correct. Instead, it’s very much a slow burner of suspense. A psychological thriller, with a whodunnit mystery to it. Well…not so much a whodunnit, but rather who’s actually the mad one!
For the most part we follow Eva around as she engages in quietly whispered conversations with Ramona about what’s apparently really going on at the Sabine household. If she’s not in secretive conference with Ramona, then she’s instead putting on a false persona in front of James, who she suspects is the real nutter here.
There’s a lot of back and forth between the three of them, with a canary dying supposedly from the cold, although Eva catches a glimpse of its mangled body to convince her that the pet had instead been killed. We also follow Eva as she goes out on a sort of ‘date’ with James, whereupon they go to a local fair and Eva visits a fortune teller…hence the cover art. However, most of the time the two of course chat about poor Ramona, during which Eva starts to question her previous judgements on James…keeping the mystery alive for a few more pages.
Aside from this its pretty much just back and forth finger pointing during closely guarded conversations. This of course doesn’t necessarily lend itself that well to a chiller comic. Although the last handful of pages sees a sudden turn in events, whereby the action suddenly gets underway for a dramatic finale to conclude the comic with.
Honestly, until the very end I wasn’t 100% sure where the PCL writer was going to go with the story. Was it Ramona or James (and his mother) who’s the mad one? To be fair, the moment of revelation is executed really well.
The ending is a surprisingly upbeat and actually a happy ending. Not your usual outcome for a PCL. The illustrative artwork is however, pretty standard PCL stuff. Well defined characters with a surprising amount of detail put into the backgrounds and surroundings too.
All in all not a bad read. Entertaining and full of suspense for who’s the mad one of the pair. Although definitely not the wildest or most chilling of PCL stories.
The comic book runs for a total of 64 pages.
© DLS Reviews
