The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics! #4
"Custodian of the Dead" is a chilling tale from Jack Cole’s eerie repertoire, a standout entry in The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics! #4 (2013). In this haunting story, Lester Paley—wrongly executed and secretly revived by a corrupt undertaker—finds himself trapped in a twisted existence, forced to serve his captor’s will. With Jack Cole handling every aspect of the interior art and storytelling, and Chuck Cuidera’s striking cover adding to the dread, this issue delivers a gripping descent into vengeance and moral reckoning.
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Lester Paley is framed for a murder he did not commit. He dies in the electric chair, but it’s all a set-up. He is only stunned by the electricity and proclaimed dead by a bribed doctor. The criminal undertaker Anson claims his body and “revives” Paley in his laboratory. He is made to believe that he can only continue living by taking Anson’s drugs. Anson commands Paley to kill the judge. Paley, however, comes to his senses, realizes that Anson framed him in the first place and takes revenge.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).