![Gladys Kravitz watches out for witches *every* day!](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEAe0g73mQu2rOPuJZ5CQE1QLeHf3yQtqbA5LCdHsJnU8VqJLE7pg0rjAf70xfe1u0FS0J59FBeSxQHcvTdwO8YvjeyxDLsSi9zn3oGt1swdQw9c1hmlwZylH9ReaNnFJm7v0t0atJTWaxpxZ9Uiwg6kvPfprhDk8y8TT-ObPb5omgH4GEyKtykw/s1600/0430-walpurgisnight-banner-walpurgisnight.jpg)
It's the last night of the month...haunted by fiendish witches, hellish demons and scary supernatural beasts! No, no, sit down, October...we're talkin' about the final day of April: Walpurgis Eve! Admittedly, I thought it said Walgreen's Purchase Eve and I went out and bought a bag of overpriced energy drinks and some Band-Aids, but it's actually the night before the Feast Day of Saint Walpurga, patron saint of rabies. Oh, I'm sorry, I'll read that again: against rabies. So if you happen to be cuddling in a box full of rats, just whip off a quick prayer to Saint W., and she'll fix you up faster than you can say "foaming at the mouth!"
!['Bwah. Bwah. ha. Ha. Ha. Wasn't that enough?'](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh056Gh-jVKWyPXRuPTRBuQP4qtYPOlkLcJ8riwEOvl_wRl5vhEeimDPYiTIeDzr8hYaa8Vvs1sizzbWLY00v7IqJTvFQGEwTZJT8uwCzDT2dtjHOQkNz2YMW0hhYRfll74NMCdz4Uy4YyDl5IuBrJ1KrwPG7x-JyFGdv6He3AjScyct6_2e4VnQ/s1600/0430-walpurgisnight-silversurfer1968-3.jpg)
Another Fascinating Bully Factoid!: the Church of Satan was founded on Walpurgis Eve in 1966 and founder Anton LaVey states (pictured, right) in The Satanic Bible that besides his own birthday (June 66th), Walpurgisnacht ranks as an important Satanic holiday, along with Halloween, International Witches' Day (November 16), Arbor Day, Election Day, and the entirety of Monster Mash Week. But we here (we = me) at Comics Oughta Be Fun celebrate Walpurgis Eve in the usual innovative way: through comic books! Also, we're having candy corn! Are you scared yet?
![Dr. Doom goes out to town for FIVE minutes to destroy the Fantastic Four and the Latverians are already immediately reverting to BURN THE WITCH!](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9quJHraCETKXlB5pc9PRg983yjtHZy97RFwFCfQVzU8ERvgdnYmH2XvZNZ35bvT6b6wAjozOn06H4QRK5Z7exLsdwcPKlQrZObcpmnwg42w_6kb6qcAX8VhAfUsxXWWKF-yoBjKxcKFqoet8yNOM6jIYAHqfMcRYLLKgE09uf-sZzPW4Cpv9fAA/s1600/0430-walpurgisnight-witchestales18a.jpg)
from "Walpurgis!" in Witches Tales #18 (Harvey, April 1953), pencils and inks by Howard Nostrand, letters by Ben Oda
Well! This guy looks like fun! Wonder what his whole deal is?
![Click here to read more about Walpurgis Eve...if you DARE!...hey, don't go away. It's not *that* scary. C'mon.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpxdgg5-fdE7bcM2AoH85MsWDI9PtvEVx5xyg-Q0LCWNXS_CemrBor26nzMFQZDZbs5vGwfcVQbSypxt2-XH0j5CNPC8SDlxyDz_inbYLjJm5L7l1P4JpQZAQxGHVPweQUQEuSEI9QowmvjSgcog9TqfR4Gx7BJNWGI2mBzMWu0fouD1EyoPOZgw/s1600/clicktoreadmorebutton.jpg)
Turns out he's just another disgruntled employee who's decided that his previous plan of quiet quitting isn't working at all against his clockmaker boss. But the gears of his brain are ticking away at5 an evil plot he's going to intitute any minute! ... Clock!
!['Also, boss, this is really fiddly small work, so can we have some florescent lights to work by, and not these orange and green bulbs?'](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD9QIkC_Dr220vJ546hquPFuowHfwPmAsUq-r9iIwIi_RlS5IwZtlrs0aNH1ltaK21UbWwA3FGglkUnJp4FMVvlJCTTA0oYFbB9gfqQE0WzC8mNApo2vVzgE87jPWqHWtLcl2lOrAZxO60yEAVhyr3minYmFHrb-rH4h5UalUypV_VfSWLqR2_kQ/s1600/0430-walpurgisnight-witchestales18b.jpg)
Carl makes a deal with the Walpurgis demons (as he happens to have a hard-boiled egg in his pocket) and decides to pick what's behind the third door: death! He then kills (peers at comic carefully- Santa Claus by (squinting my eyes) stabbing him with the long hand from a clock face. No, you fool! That's a minute hand! (I suppose my joke would have worked better here if you had read that as mine-UTE instead of MIN-UT.)
![That exit interview was swifter than I had expected.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiItwTeanvbtoFZSlXlyb-3maNiXyxiGGGsVJMaoEBJOdibuPyK4hCmJ99Ji6kPs1JaAxNIB2XDyLrCjSKhe-j_FRXKT7ucDEJYZ-sjMDJpu0Ul85Ts8bJCDNFW2c0OBpEvINVaNNjxyBZT3h0MOez40YjM5l2xgA7jne0Dq5iRuk60LkZclS2hCA/s1600/0430-walpurgisnight-witchestales18c.jpg)
The clockmaker curses Carl with a clock-related revenge: all the clocks in Clockville will stop forever! Oh no! Who can save us from this dread destiny, except perhaps Prez Rickard? Meanwhile, a Space Phantom looks on.
!['Also, every time you crack a peanut shell the nut will be rotten and bitter!' 'Okay, old man! Now die!' 'And your cereal box shall never contain the prize you want!' 'uh huh...look, we've got to get going.' 'Also, cat hair will stick to your best sweater and you won't be able to get it all off, not even with a really good lint brush!'](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3hyg6h3eMqUsM-dhX0yjvR85FZEPpB-W54J_lYYy6VeFwjGXdUIG9V2v2A9-kLvK3gaVOWgHGHLAKVRdM0i8FvV804dcvUfEqjc8XaT5yq7RRKnms1UMhgfDltfeo-oSJL-Al6xv67AoEcGav65pk9JXZEkI5KqXEOcashrzrh3tntQ7b1tMfWw/s1600/0430-walpurgisnight-witchestales18d.jpg)
Well, don't the Walpurgis Devils (Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, 39-37 last season) love this! Since it's Walpurgis Eve for the rest of eternity, they can romp and play and belabor and bedevil and run up flase charges on your Diner's Club card all night long! Also: the morning paper shall never be delivered!
!['Maybe we shouldn't have had that giant clock face in the town square that was attached to the workings of the sun.' 'NOW you tell us.'](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNMT5e9_7ZAZ9p8SZGAbwBKEWtpuSfwI4COpMnFrK2tTKTVcngZLw7kbd_e2ty3lXNzRIJKlM3Kfs1gtpfyP5B60rRE4MSheT2MxQVEVT2r7v1wJ2i_VDIHkCgPiZe3OjXr5p8E5k6dehnN-tRZTDB6LFP5aGjrWz76gQk_y59wtOsdoazVngCKw/s1600/0430-walpurgisnight-witchestales18e.jpg)
But April is rainy season (Remember? The thing that brings May flowers? Geez, have you guys never studied serious poetry?) and it's pretty much flooding the demons fun frolicking out, and since the night will last forever, they can't ever declare a rain delay!
!['Oh no! The Weather on the 1s Report is going to be the same broadcast FOREVER!'](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXxByYlmaiUMZWWIz2M1tfndc7hM8clX6jZlH-bscRKxVgK2pG9jBNTp1xz6fWE2jh_l8X1a9T9SRMIOgWr4NmaSswSylilL9ZmB6wUGZanjqV4OBVGAOmBuUCTMVeUL2POyNzLb-Y9uPXyGEXDDdmpcpFPcsffT0-OpYvs7O3mfQiUTmu8T-5ow/s1600/0430-walpurgisnight-witchestales18f.jpg)
Because remember, devils and monsters are famously not water-repellent, with the single exception of the Naugahyde, who wipes clean with a damp sponge and remains as cuddly as ever.
!['Did I hear that guy there call me an Uglydoll? Yeah! YOU! GET OVER HERE! I'LL PUNCH YOU SO HARD!'](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtwanBEDwlpHtPy3cxF_0N73lnCRUtyXnBEC0FkuJqH0LqWV4ot3hWD9XqBrkTsFCBu7RUCJHH6JF8PqDb4jmc9dpkYHSXMQdVFeVwmjzkAclE6hhh43Jbh3xTvVb_W617PJZYp5eLM65p7Ij7cJpY6LAgS014yPZl0WFWQkiGrBSxPgPWYT3TBQ/s1600/0430-walpurgisnight-witchestales18g-naugahyde.jpg)
Oh, and anyway, the devils tear Carl apart piece by piece. Which only goes to show.
![And the moral of the story is: don't live in Walpurgisville.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQoz46PTGQICYsqw9Qh8OR8M1FgNC5ryGLCI2OfyNsDASx8tyj959KGfOx0c1CeuR7Wlwky68VLBAuYQ9HJ0GsztuS3wkDMGW5EaAGdYk7sfFNkX0YbAe77lKu_mLcrBdcyO1CCg-7ayChjlK5XefZqltgvIcf01NYI06lUxE_7NJrnnBmaZa9Zw/s1600/0430-walpurgisnight-witchestales18h.jpg)
How does that tale of Walpurgis Eve suit you, kids? Did you find it scary? Even Count Bully found that story scary, and Count Bully doesn't scare easily, I tell you.
2 comments:
Letters on “Walpurgis!: Ben Oda.
As always, Blam, I thank you, and Ben Oda thanks you!
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