(Edgar Allen Poe's) Morella and the Murders in the Rue Morgue

Published by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: June 11, 2014
Writer: Richard Corben
Artist: Richard Corben
Cover artist: Richard Corben
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Dark Horse delivers some more comic book ecstasy with their newest one-shot featuring the legendary Richard Corben adapting Edgar Allen Poe's tales of the macabre. The last one-shot, The Premature Burial, covered that story as well as The Cask of the Amontillado, with horror host Mag the Hag to walk the reader through. This time around, Mag the Hag is back with her disgusting navel nipples and no doubt a stench that would bring tears to the eyes. The stories she has to offer: “Morella” and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” just as the comic title states. And she's has an acting role this time.

This is perfect Corben material, a man whose art style is instantly recognizable and insanely gratifying. His Poe adaptations drip with dark humor, are short and sweet, and would be a scream to have them all collected in a big volume. One can't ever get enough of his work, even if you don't read the words. Just staring at his pages, black and white or color (these here are in color) is gratifying in its own right. The stories covered in this issue are over 150 years old, and most probably anyone interested in this comic already knows the tales from one form of publication or another, but just in case the endings will not be revealed.

“Morella” is the story of a fellow who loathes his wife, Morella, who practices magic with Mag the Hag. At his wits end, Myron Osborn demands a divorce and she gives him the boot; but she's not done with him yet. She suddenly is stricken with a terminal illness and in her “last” breath Morella reveals she has a daughter from another man that Myron never knew about, a lass named Orella. Very clever, she took off the “M”. When Orella shows up, she is of course a spitting image of her mother, and Myron falls for her like he did her mother. Which makes perfect sense; same woman. When he finds out the truth he blows some wiring in his brain and things end with a splash.

“The Murders in the Rue Morgue” tells of two men in the city of Paris in 1841, intrigued by a murder in the Rue Morgue. One man, a Sherlock Holmes type, wants to prove how smart he is to his buddy so he takes him to the crime scene, which still has the bodies present. The scene: a decapitated old woman on t he floor and her daughter, broken and crammed up the chimney. A discovery of coarse hair in one victims hand leads the smug man to his conclusion, but now needs the evidence. This steers them to Gaston, who tells them exactly what they want to know which he quickly decides is too much. Before things go south for the two gents on their little mystery fun tour, karma catches up with Gaston.

Just get the book. If that cover doesn't suck you in, your life must be empty.