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Sunday, April 30, 2006

EC - The Keg (Evans)

The Keg
art by George Evans, story by unknown
Piracy #5 (1955)

Gorgeously illustrated story by Evans this time, as the first mate on a ship, Mister Hurd, recounts the reason for his strange attitude. Seems back on the first ship he served as an officer on there was an encounter with a hurricane, leaving them with little food and no fresh water other than the Captain's keg. The Captain refuses to give the crew any water, and they eventually mutiny. Circumstances end with Hurd on a small raft with the Captain, who still refuses to share any of his water, until Hurd finally snaps.



Of course it turns out that there was no fresh water in the keg, and pretending there was was just the Captain's odd way of giving the crew hope. Yeah, I don't get it either. Anyway, Hurd is rescued, but always felt guilty for his actions.

Odd story, and with that irritating second-person narration that you hate so much. Great art by Evans, though, especially the details on the ships and the storytelling on the second-last page, which has a lot of panels without dialogue (a lot of the rest, like many EC stories, sometimes buries the art under heavy narration and dialogue).

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