First published back in March of 1974, Issue 77 of the ‘Pocket Chiller Library’ comic series was titled ‘Dead Man’s Eyes’.
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. This particular issue was one of the 33 issues which were not reprinted.
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).
During his time serving in South Africa, Hauser had made some good friends. Friends he’d stood by during the thick and thin of war. Friends who’d one by one, succumbed to the tragedy of jungle warfare. Each one of those friends, riddled with bullets, as they’d fought side by side with Hauser.
But fortunes change. Together with his comrade – Sands – the pair had a lucrative discovery. A heap of diamonds had been stolen from a South African mine, and been carried deep into the virgin jungle where nobody could ever find them again. Only they had been discovered. And the pair had stumbled across the small group of men in possession of these unearthed treasures.
However, greed will do funny things to a man. With the potential for a change in fortune, Hauser and Sands had robbed the group of the diamonds before heading off down the river with their new loot. But fortune is a fickle thing. As is greed. Which led to Hauser attempting to take the diamonds all for himself, but in doing so, crashing the boat.
Now alone in the jungle and desperately trying to make further ground away from those he robbed, Hauser happened across a native fleeing from another group of armed men. Why Hauser then chose to step in and save the desperate native, even he did not know. But that simple act of selflessness paved the way for another bout of fortune. An offering of unnatural voodoo. It appeared he would be blessed with good fortune once again, or so it seemed…
DLS Review:
This my PCL loving friends, is a frigging weird one! The above synopsis sounds elaborate, but honestly, the story in its entirety is even more wild than that appetite whetter. Yeah, PCLs are known for throwing in an abundance of twists and turns, but this one packs in those seemingly erratic changes in plot direction on almost every page!
For a start, the above synopsis barely touches the surface. We have Hauser then travelling to London, during which he’s followed by three strange men aboard his boat, all of which are wrapped up so nobody can see their faces. And they reek of rotting soil!
When in London Hauser changes his identity to that of Jacob Dilthey. Nevertheless, this doesn’t stop the guys from South Africa who Hauser had robbed, coming after him. But Hauser still has his voodoo protection. An amulet that seeks protection from the dead. Yep…zombies!
I kid you not, it’s all crammed in there! Absolute madness. But how this is achieved is unfortunately quite a haphazard affair, with a storyline that’s far from clear to follow. In fact, it’s almost as if the story has been conceived to fit in with the illustrations, rather than the other way around. Like the narrative has been conjured up and then shoehorned into the comic as best the writers can!
Furthermore, the dialogue is weirdly broken in places, with barely formed sentences really not helping the overall delivery of the story. Supporting narration is also sometimes written as an inner monologue for Hauser…sometimes not! It’s all very peculiar.
However, what the story lacks in concise and easy-to-follow narration, it more than makes up for in ambitious storytelling and wildly over-the-top horror. The latter section of the comic in particular delivering an abundance of gruesome zombie shenanigans.
Furthermore, we even have a nasty plot in which Hauser seeing tied to a corpse and buried in a coffin with airholes drilled into it, so the helpless bugger can spend his last days on earth succumbing to the dead body’s rot. Oh, isn’t it just so magnificently gruesome?!
The illustrative comic artwork is just as all-over-the-place as the storyline. Sometimes basic and verging on amateurish, other times highly detailed and intrinsically telling of the story. The zombies though are nothing short of top-notch gory depictions of our rotting undead friends.
So yeah, the very definition of a mixed bag. Weird and barely coherent in its delivery. But all the more fun for the highly unpredictable wackiness of the piece.
The comic book runs for a total of 64 pages.
© DLS Reviews
