Kidnapping Death!

 

cover art by George Wilson

Is it annoying when I feature an awesome cover like the one above and then DON'T review that specific story?

If so--well, it's my blog so live with it!

Anyway, the story from this issue we are going to review is "The Man Who Kidnapped Death," by an unknown writer and art by John Celardo. (Twilight Zone #43--May 1972)

A guy named Herman Floyd was dying, so Death shows up to collect him when he does. Actually, its not Death, but a sort of Death worker drone. Floyd learns that each of us has a specific mini-Death assigned to us. No one else can take us to the Next World.

So Floyd tricks his mini-Death and locks the little guy in a suitcase. Later, he dumps the case into the ocean.

That means Floyd is now immune to death. The story doesn't go into detail on how this works, but it apparently means he's immune to illness and injury as well. Some versions of immortality end with the person crippled or helpless with old age. In this case, Floyd can't be injured and (in fact) his clothes seem immune to damage as well. When he crawls out of the burning race car shown below, shouldn't his clothes have been burned away? To be fair, though, the story has the right to establish its own rules.  If Floyd is now immune to injury, than he just is--and that's fine.

The car crash happens because Floyd starts to live a dangerous life, looking for thrills. He races cars, climbs mountains and so on. But he's soon bored. Without the risk of death, none of the stuff he's doing is fun.

So he starts to dredge for the suitcase containing mini-Death. He still hasn't found it before he meets a lady and falls in love. Now, being immortal doesn't seem so bad.

He takes her fishing. In a neat (if still predictable) twist, she snags the suitcase, brings it aboard their boat and opens it before Floyd can stop her. Mini-Death is free again, and he's soon explaining that a cut Floyd suffers just might be getting infected...

The ending twist is predictable, but the art is good and the story is well-told. It's a story that feels very Twilight Zone-y and could easily have been an episode in the original series. 

Next week, we'll visit the Marvel Universe and see what the Avengers are up to.