As you probably know, my platonic blogging buddy
Siskoid has a site where he delves deeply into several movie version of
Hamlet, scene-by-scene.
Me? I prefer to cover the
quick and dirty comic book pastiche.
For example, poor
Tom McKinney is the understudy to
Roland Squire ("
the greatest American Hamlet since Don Ameche"). Sadly, Squire is
also a drunken, abusive lout.
For example, when McKinney drops the
Yorick prop...
Then the great actor wants to rehearse, and rehearse for
reals, so poor McKinney must...
Now, now, it's not that bad. Back in the day men
did play Ophelia, after all. Still, Squire does tend to be a bit of a jackass, even in rehearsal:
Oops, one insult
too far...
Special note to prop department: Don't leave
actual axes lying around the dressing room. Thanks.
It's simple enough for McKinney to claim that Squire left for Stratford in a drunken rage; everyone hated the guy, so they'll buy that. But there's still one problem:
Oh, no, he's not going to...
is he?
Yup...
And so...
I'll forgive you if you're mentally queuing up the
Benny Hill music here...
The moral of the story: Don't kill anybody.
Geez, you'd think they'd figure that out by now...
Anyway, for
real Hamlet discussion, go to
Hyperion To A Satyr. For more immature comedy hijnks, keep coming back here.
And for the best, most seminal version of Hamlet ever, well,
go here.
From Secrets Of Haunted House #12 (1978)
Hahaha, hilarious. And great use of the flesh-melting metaphor.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I hit the jackpot today -- your blog and Siskoid's are my favorite of all the blogs I read; it genuinely gives a lift to my day every time I see you've posted something new. And today -- A Very Special Cross-over Episode! What fun. Added treat: I work in the live theatre and I have more than once looked over the lip of the stage into an orchestra pit and seen all those music stands down there -- and shuddered at the thought of, well, exactly what happened in the comic book. Music stands don't typically have guillotine edges on the top, so I doubt falling on one would actually slice your head clean off like that ... but I don't really want to find out. But yeah, Siskoid's right as usual -- the real gem here is the guy making his enemy "melt, thaw, and resolve into a dew." I loved it.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say what the critics thought of the play...but it had the actors rolling in the aisles!
ReplyDeleteOh, I just kill me.
Such shattering secrets! I remember that one, it's way above the general quality found in DC's fab old anthologies. It should be in an Amicus portmanteau movie.
ReplyDelete