Saturday, September 29, 2012

Comics are Magick: Daddy and the Pie


While I try to smack some sense into my life I thought it would be a good time to return to The Source, the initiation place of my younger days. Over the years I've written about the late, lamented Valles' News and the great Mysteries of the paranormal that I encountered there, but I realized that I haven't shared those Mysteries with you as much. 
 

I can't think of a better story to begin with than "Daddy and the Pie," an alien encounter story from 1975 written by the late Bill DuBay (himself a student of the Kabbalah) and drawn by the late Alex Toth (himself an art god). This story is sublime in so many ways but is remarkable in that it serves as a classic initiation narrative and leaves off at a point before the narrator reaches his ascension to occult mastery, which is obliquely- and ominously- referred to in the final paragraph.

Toth's art is beyond cinematic- beneath his trademark ruthless economy, you know that this drama exists fully formed within his mind. If you don't see the reality of his vision at first, just give it a bit of time. Once your eyes adjust you will be stunned by the poetic reality of it all. Note that Toth depicted the alien as a classic Grey type years before they became cliche.

Both DuBay and Toth would have influence far beyond the cloistered walls of comicdom- DuBay was a top figure for Marvel Animation in the 80s and Toth was the main designer for Hanna-Barbera's superhero cartoons, including Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, The Herculoids, Super Friends and many, many more.

Click images to enlarge.