Expert: Chris Brown - 5/31/2008

Question
In a horror comic I read back in the 70s, the plot concerned a group of inmates in an insane asylum.  There was a sexy, somewhat slutty nurse who always teased them with revealing outfits, saying that they didn't "appreciate" her.  The inmates gained control of the asylum.  They "abused" her over and over again.  The line in the comic was "she was appreciated, and appreciated and appreciated..."  Afterward, they gave her to their resident necrophiliac.  I realize this is a disturbing and distasteful storyline, but I've always wondered what comic it was from.  I simply don't remember.  Do you have any ideas?

Answer
Hi Mike

Wow, this is a very adult story line!  Sorry, I don't recognize the story.  I think I can say with pretty much confidence that nothing that risque would have appeared in one of the comics-code-approved Marvel or DC "horror" comics of the time.

Did you read the black and white magazine-sized horror titles like Creepy and Eerie?  These were the most popular, but there were also some smaller publishers putting out similar magazines at the time.

Another possibility is an underground comic.  These were most likely to be sold at head shops or other non-traditional venues.  They were standard comic size but usually in black and white and not code-approved.  They often had nudity and sexual content, so I would say this is where I would most expect to see a story like the one you describe.

Do you have any memory of where you bought the comic, whether it was black-and-white or color, whether it was standard comic size or magazine size?  Did it have any nudity?  Do you have any idea when in the 70s you read it, and if it was a newly published comic when you first saw it?  It sounds like the story didn't picture the rape, but I still suspect the plot would have been too graphic to gain Comics Code Authority approval.

Chris