Axe Elf

EERIE #25 - January 1970 According to the Warren Magazine Index... 25. cover: Jim Steranko (Jan. 1970) 1) Eerie’s Monster Gallery: Vampire! [Bill Parente/Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico] 1p [frontis] 2) Isle Of The Vrukolakas [Don Glut/Ernie Colon] 6p 3) Mistake! [Buddy Saunders/Bill Black] 6p 4) Hijack To Horror [R. Michael Rosen/Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico] 6p 5) To Pay The Piper! [Larry Ivie/Gene Colan] 6p reprinted from Eerie #2 (Mar. 1966) 6) Southern Exposure [Bill Parente/Tom Sutton] 5p 7) The Thing In The Cave [R. Michael Rosen/Mike Royer] 6p 8) Eerie Fanfare: I Gave Him Life!/To The Ends Of Inner Space [Paul E. King & Tom O’Boyle/David Hubb] 1p [text stories] 9) House Of Evil! [Archie Goodwin/Jerry Grandenetti] 8p reprinted from Eerie #4 (July 1966) 10) Hex Marks The Spot [R. Michael Rosen/William Barry] 6p Notes: Steranko’s sole contribution to Warren was nice, but gave the appearance of having been originally intended for the gothic paperback lines of the time rather than as an original painting done for the Warren line. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And we have finally arrived in the 1970s, with the arrival of EERIE #25! I don't get to brag on many of my EERIEs, but this one represents one of the best deals I ever found in my collecting efforts. Structurally, it's nearly perfect, with just the tiniest little bindery issues at the top and bottom of the spine, and a couple of almost invisible spine tics. Then there is just the lightest and thinnest of all possible color-breaking scratches underneath the lowest branch of the tree, and that's it--and I found it on Amazon, of all places, for $6.95 ($12.50 landed, after 5.55 in shipping and tax)! I've seen copies in comparable condition sold for ten times that ($60-$70 on daBay), so I kinda feel like I stole one here. If it's a good read, so much the better! We're down to just 2 reprints here--and I believe the next EERIE promises all-new material--so we're out of the Dark Ages indeed! Three stories were written by R. Michael Rosen--I don't remember seeing that name before, so I guess we are getting a crash course in R. Michael Rosen scripts this week. Last week's Vampi kind of energized me for new creators (and their material) again, so I'm looking forward to diving in!

This is why, even though I expanded my Warren collection to include the Harris and Dark Horse iterations of CREEPY, EERIE, PANTHA, and The ROOK (as well as the 3 Warrant Publishing clones), I drew the line on VAMPIRELLA at the end of the Warren run (well, including the Harris issue #113). One would go absolutely insane trying to collect all the subsequent series and variants thereof. It's more than a rabbit hole--it's a hell hole.

I usually don't start reading the current week's issue until about Wednesday--and I pretty much always read each issue front-cover-to-back-cover, in order--but the hype for "Rhapsody in Red" was so strong, I read that story first, on Tuesday--and it lived up to its reputation! The "Billy Graham" art was divine enough for an evangelist--I look forward to seeing more of his work--and enjoyed the meta-twist of vampirism being a desirable thing; a gift for his fiance, rather than something to be feared and avoided. The only thing that doesn't quite work, once I understood that the hero was intentionally orchestrating their conversion to vampirism, is why the car would have a blowout right in front of the vampiress' castle--was that just fortuitous circumstance, or had he rigged it to blow ahead of time? That seems almost too contrived, though; I think it would have been better if the "breakdown" was something that was obviously under his control in retrospect, like if he had told his girl that he "got lost" and "ran out of gas" right in front of the castle, or something more like that. But I was 95% delighted with this story. Then when I got back to "Evily," I was almost equally impressed. It's not anything profound, but it was really fun watching the Vampirella saga sort of exploring itself in its infancy--and I think this might be the best Grandenetti art we have ever seen. His work can be kind of goofy even in its darkness, but for this piece, that style worked perfectly. So "big letdown in quality," Warren Magazine Index? I'm not seeing that so far (although to be fair, the Index did single out these two stories for compliments). And that said, the rest of the issue probably wasn't up to the standard of those two pieces, but I don't have any strong complaints about any of them, either--or at least most of them. The worst story this week for me was "The Octopus." The art seemed pedestrian, the story seemed more like a bad CREEPY or EERIE story (the octopus took on the soul of the evil man it thwarted?), and most importantly, there were no hawt chicks. Just filler. But back to the beginning... I can see the connection to Famous Monsters of Filmland in the debut of "Vampi's Feary Tales," but I can also buy it as a one-page recap of famous monster stories/movies going forward. Time will tell... Actually, there were a LOT of connections to Famous Monsters of Filmland--and I nearly howled with laughter when GORRY HACKERMAN appeared in "Queen of Horror"! He was even carrying issues of Famous Monsters and Monster World! I remembered @OtherEric had mentioned something about cariacatures of Forrest Ackerman and Jim Warren, but I didn't remember seeing Warren until I went back and read @OtherEric's review again--and realized he was talking about a different story altogether! The "F.J." and "J.W." initials hadn't clicked with me the first time I read "Down to Earth"; so I had to go back and review those panels too! Neither story was really hard-hitting or anything, but both were just loads of fun for the Warren in-jokes and cameos, and of course for the development of the heroine's saga. "A Warner Publication"? HA! If only it was "WARRANT"!! It's kind of too bad they didn't explore the Draculina and Evily stories more than they apparently did in the VAMPIRELLA canon. I don't think "Tony Williamsune" should be allowed to draw Vampirella, though; they have always had a little trouble with their faces looking goofy, and "Montezuma's Monster" gives us some of the ugliest Vampirellas ever--even worse than Grandenetti's from "Evily"--and that's saying something! The Vampirella series seems to be developing this weird penchant for showing women with what appear to be nipples on the outside of their bikini tops; I almost mentioned it in my VAMPIRELLA #1 review for "Spaced Out Girls": I thought maybe that was also Tony Williamsune, as he was the artist to do it in this issue, but it was Tony Tallarico in VAMPIRELLA #1 instead. So I'm not sure what's going on, but it sure is... titillating. Vampirella's "nipples" look a little sleepy, though... EDIT: I just realized that Tony Tallarico IS the "Tony" part of "Tony Williamsune," duh--so the consistent costume peccadillo makes more sense now. Anyway, the story was ok, if not particularly significant, even though I was going "Don't get on the plane!" before the last panel. I don't think that was actually a traditional feature of Quetzalcoatl, that he could take over anything that had wings, but it made the story, so whatever. I guess that leaves "One, Two, Three," which yes, has kind of a harsh twist at the end, but was also an enjoyable piece of storytelling reminiscent of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep," the 1968 novel that was the inspiration for the movie "Blade Runner." I wonder if the similarity is coincidental, or if this story was also inspired by that novel. Overall, I enjoyed reading this issue immensely. The VAMPIRELLA books so far seem to take themselves even less seriously than CREEPY or EERIE, and while some of the art maybe hasn't been quite up to par, the stories are a lot of fun--and there are lots of hawt chicks. I have probably enjoyed both of these first issues of VAMPIRELLA more than I have enjoyed any issues in the Warren Magazine Reading Club for some time--and at least there are no reprints!

Ah yes, you were the one who recommended that story in my Gallery: This week I'll get to find out why!

VAMPIRELLA #2 - November 1969 (I'm really quite proud of the condition of my copy of this highly-sought-after issue--other than that leetle crunched bottom corner spineside...) According to the Warren Magazine Index... 2. cover: Bill Hughes (Nov. 1969) 1) Vampi’s Feary Tales: The Bride Of Frankenstein [Tom Sutton] 1p [frontis] 2) Evily [Bill Parente/Jerry Grandenetti] 10p 3) Montezuma’s Monster [R. Michael Rosen/Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico] 6p [story miscredited to Don Glut] 4) Vampirella: Down To Earth! [Forrest J. Ackerman/Mike Royer] 8p 5) Queen Of Horror! [Don Glut/MR. Piscopo] 9p 6) The Octopus [Nicola Cuti/William Barry] 6p 7) One, Two, Three [Nicola Cuti/Ernie Colon] 7p 8) Rhapsody In Red! [Don Glut/Billy Graham] 7p Notes: Hughes’ cover was quite good, depicting the witch Evily. Evily, who only appeared twice, was listed as Vampirella’s cousin, although how that could be, seeing as how they’re from different planets, is never unexplained. Vampirella does gueststar in Evily’s story. Vampirella’s own story {just as much a horror spoof as the previous one} is narrated in a one-shot appearance by Vampirella’s twin sister, Draculina. Vampirella & Draculina are identical twins except that Draculina is a blonde, rather than a brunette, and her bat birthmark is on the opposite breast from Vampirella! ‘Rhapsody In Red!’was easily the best story/art here, although the Evily story also has some nice Grandenetti art. Otherwise, this issue was a big letdown in quality, both story and artwise, from the previous issue. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow, the Index is such a negative Nancy. A big letdown in quality, huh. Well at least it's SEVEN NEW STORIES and ZERO (0) REPRINTS! Who cares if they're a little goofy; it's not like the last couple of issues of CREEPY and EERIE have been such shimmering stanchions of literary excellence--at least it's ALL NEW (and probably teeming with hawt chicks to boot)!!! I'm kind of ok with the story of Vampirella coming to Earth being a horror "spoof"; what were we supposed to take it as? Breaking news?? And if the Index wants to get all pedantic, what does "although how that could be... is never unexplained" mean? (It means that it's always been explained, duh.) I love that 30 issues into CREEPY, we're settling into the VAMPIRELLA series now, though, and I look forward to cycling through approximately 30 more issues of each of the three flagship titles before The SPIRIT #1 debuts in the Warren Magazine Reading Club two summers from now (my health and God willing)... For now, let's get goofy with some fantastic femme fatales...

While not as famous as Frazetta's (for good reason), Prezio's covers are becoming almost as ubiquitous in the Warren universe as Frazetta's--and I think they are getting better. Last week I said the Loathsome Lore about Exorcism was more like a Monster Gallery featuring a demon and Dr. Strange than a Loathsome Lore; this week I agree with @OtherEric that the "Monster Gallery" seems more like a Loathsome Lore--dreams and precognitions aren't really "monsters." Both of these frontispieces were wholly written and illustrated by Tom Sutton, so I have to wonder if maybe they weren't originally intended to be run as an episode of the other feature, and got switched around at some point...? It's kind of ironic that the sinking of the Titanic was the focus of one of the precognitive dreams--since we've been "flooded" with information about the Titanic lately, following the recent submersible disaster. "Dear Cousin Eerie" was the usual fare of criticism for EERIE #22, with a few inquiries about the mysterious Vampirella teasers. But although I have suspended most of my criticisms of the rampant spelling and grammatical errors that plague the Warren books, I had to cringe when they weren't even able to get the name of their new magazine right: I keep thinking that last line says she is "Florida"... I am intrigued by @OtherEric's analysis of "Head for the Lighthouse." I don't have a frame of reference for the "EC style endings," but I too was a little put off by the ridiculousness of having the lighthouse beacon coming out of the guy's eyes at the end--like really? There's a light inside the guy's head bright enough to warn ships at sea? On the other hand, I really liked the story up until that point--I enjoyed how it jumped around from the lighthouse to the town council to the stories the captain was telling and even into the kids' fantasies of making the villain "walk the plank"--it all seemed fairly well interwoven to me up until the silly ending. So while there were maybe some parallel stories going on, I didn't really see them as separate stories. Sounds like we both generally enjoyed this opening story until the end, though, and I would go so far as to call it the best offering of the issue. I really didn't remember "Pursuit of the Vampire" at all, but as reprints go, this one is about as quintessentially Warren as you can get--a lurid vampire vs werewolf tale from the magazine that started them all, CREEPY #1. I probably enjoyed reading this one again more than I have enjoyed any reprint so far (possibly in no small part due to not remembering it from the first reading). "Immortality Seeker" was more fun in terms of its historical perspective, when we were still speculating about what we might find out in space, than it is a good story in and of itself. In fact, it's a pretty BAD story--this guy fights his way through dangers no one else has ever survived before--but he's the first human to penetrate this section of the universe? So the map he stole was to a cave on a planet someplace in the universe no one had ever been to before, carrying the promise of "immortality" in the form of being memorialized as the first person to ever be immortalized in that way? The only fun thing about this one was the "used rocket lot" where they guy buys the jalopy to take him through interstellar space. Lol This edition of "EERIE Fan Fare" was just horrible. The fan fiction was so poorly written it was almost unreadable, and it made no sense to boot. The fan art was drawn with a fair amount of skill, but as a depiction of someone watching a football game while they experienced the pain of a house erupting from the top of their head, the subject matter was a little obtuse. I found "Checkmate" highly enjoyable, even though it was kind of lightweight; I enjoy the game of chess, so having it translated into monsters was kind of cool, and the insidiousness of having to get a new victim every night--so he was down to his closest friends now--was darkly ominous. "Scavenger Hunt" was another piece that seemed rather lightweight--but it was also good fun, with its anti-hero sporting a "Harpo Marx" bag of tricks--and lots of underworld connections! Jerry Grandenetti's art can be kind of goofy, but for this story, that kind of seems to fit. Ugh. The "Demon-ictionary" is back. I guess that's one way to create "new" material, by spinning it off of old material. I hope @OtherEric is right about it disappearing after this. I remember I didn't like "Dracula's Guest" very well the first time around, so I didn't bother with it this time. "The Wrong Tennant" [sic] was most notable for presenting us with some new Reed Crandall art (but no rats; I looked), though the story was credible and ended with a typical Warren twist. I enjoyed the ads for Lost in Space, Star Trek, and Yellow Submarine scale model kits; it was kind of cool to see all those things together in one ad. And the ad for the Conan books provided us with some bonus Frazetta art! Overall, this was an enjoyable issue, but I don't know if I'd call it a strong issue. I found the stories mostly engaging and fun to read, but fairly innocuous. It was nice to have five new stories, including some new Reed Crandall work.

I can't wait to hear more about Diana's climax.

It also depends on what you mean by "first appearance." It seems like we all agreed that the "Bernie A. Wrightson" who appeared on the "Dear Uncle Creepy" page in CREEPY #5 was THE Bernie Wrightson. So that's his first appearance in print that I know of, with his first art appearing on the fan page in CREEPY #9.

EERIE #24 - November 1969 According to the Warren Magazine Index... 24. cover: Vic Prezo (Nov. 1969) 1) Eerie’s Monster Gallery: …Perchance To Dream! [Tom Sutton] 1p [frontis] 2) Head For The Lighthouse! [Bill Parente/Mike Royer] 8p 3) Pursuit Of The Vampire! [Archie Goodwin/Angelo Torres] 6p reprinted from Creepy #1 (Jan. 1965) 4) The Immortality Seeker [James Haggenmiller/Tom Sutton] 7p 5) Eerie Fanfare: Epilogue [Donald Lauzon/Joe Kovacs] 1p [text story] 6) Checkmate [Ron Parker/Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico] 8p 7) Scavenger Hunt [Don Glut/Jerry Grandenetti] 6p 8) Demon Dictionary [Bill Parente/Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico] 1p [text article] 9) Dracula’s Guest [E. Nelson Bridwell/Frank Bolle] 7p from the story by Bram Stoker, reprinted from Christopher Lee’s Treasury Of Terror (Sept. 1966) 10) Wrong Tennant [Bill Parente/Reed Crandall] 7p --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And no notes? Hmmm... Ok, I guess we're on our own for this one... As I pointed out last week, I'm thinking that this EERIE issue probably preceded CREEPY #30 in release date. The Index still can't seem to get Vic Prezio's name right. Looks like we get 5 NEW stories this week, so that's a plus, along with a new Sutton Monster Gallery and a couple of other new features, against one reprint (from the Wayback Machine and the issue that started it all--CREEPY #1!) and one reprint of a reprint of an adaptation, that I kind of remember not liking all that much the first time around, so meh, but it looks like there should be a lot of meat in this issue in which to sink our fangs. I believe there is only one more CREEPY and one more EERIE before each title gives us the first completely reprint-free issues since the onset of the Dark Ages!

Wasn't the wrestler called "The Iron Sheek"? That probably reinforced it for me.

"Sick" was my first pronunciation too, although I later came to recognize the alternate pronunciation, which is obviously the one intended here. In a related vein, it probably wasn't until around the time of the Gulf War that I got the joke in Frank Zappa's album title, "Sheik Yerbouti," because I had always pronounced it "sheek" instead of "shake."

So it looks like this kinda goofy cover is indeed the first we have seen from Bill Hughes, but he apparently contributes a very nice cover for Vampirella #2 coming up in a couple of weeks as well, so it's not the last we will see of him--nor the best. Tom Sutton's "Loathsome Lore" really looks more like a Monster Gallery than a Loathsome Lore, as it's primarily one large 3/4 page illustration, rather than a series of panels like the usual Lores. Is it just me, or does that "exorcist" look like Dr. Strange (a character Ditko had been doing at Marvel since 1963)? And always remember to tip your exorcist... or you could be repossessed. The most notable thing about the expanded "Dear Uncle Creepy" section was the box about justifying the price increase. It seems kind of silly to us now, that a 10 cent increase could be such a big deal, but really, no justification was necessary. Just judging from all the letters throughout the Dark Ages clamoring to "bring back Frazetta!" or "bring back Morrow!" or whoever, there should be no pushback on raising the price of the magazine to cover the costs of those premium artists--money well spent! "The Mind of the Monster" kicks off the issue with a lightweight but amusing imagination teaser about monsters on Mars and monsters of our own creation--but the thing that stood out to me the most about it was Uncle Creepy's appearance in the middle of the story! I don't think we have ever seen him doing anything other than an intro or an outro to a story, have we? So is he just filling in some extra space, or was that appearance written in? We may never know... I don't get "Drop In" at all. Someone predicted an earthquake, and it happened, just as predicted. Is that it, or am I missing something? That has to be the worst "horror" story ever. "To Be or Not To Be a Witch" is probably the best-plotted story in this issue, although I may have enjoyed "The Mind of the Monster" more, just because it was more fun to read (and to look at). The idea of witch hunts being orchestrated by demons to keep rogue witches in line is kind of intriguing, though. I didn't much care for the fan story in the "CREEPY Fan Club," but the debut illustration from Bill Schwartz/Black was a solid full-pager (horizontally): I'm not sure I understand @OtherEric's objection to naming the villain in "Dr. Jekyll's Jest" after a major religion "for no clear reason"; the clear reason is to make the "Hyde and Sikh" joke work. It's not a strong story, but I get the joke, and I don't have any more negative feelings about a villain named "Dr. Sikh" than I would about a villain named "Dr. Christian." Overall, I felt that the four new pieces, and even the three reprints, were all fairly innocuous; entertaining to some degree, but none that were particularly striking visually or thought-provoking mentally--and "Drop In" in particular was a complete dud (although the full-page illustrations of the earthquake happening were kind of cool). So after the last month of CREEPY #29, EERIE #23, and VAMPIRELLA #1, I have to say that CREEPY #30 was a bit of a let-down... but then a let-down was inevitable at some point. Hopefully this was it, and EERIE #24 will be better. Although I think this is another example of my system getting the actual order of the books wrong, since we have two more EERIEs and a VAMPIRELLA before we get to another CREEPY, so it seems likely that next week's EERIE #24 probably came out before CREEPY #30. But we should get back on track once they are no longer both being released in the same month.

Pair it up with this CREEPY #1--and get them both slabbed! https://www.ebay.com/itm/185969053666

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I could live with that.

CREEPY #30 - November 1969 According to the Warren Magazine Index... 30. cover: Bill Hughes (Nov. 1969) 1) Creepy’s Loathsome Lore: Exorcism! [Tom Sutton] 1p [frontis] 2) The Mind Of The Monster! [R. Michael Rosen/Ernie Colon] 6p 3) Drop In! [Don Glut/Tom Sutton] 6p 4) The Haunted Sky! [Archie Goodwin/Roger Brand] 6p reprinted from Creepy #17 (Oct. 1967) 5) The River! [Johnny Craig] 6p reprinted from Creepy #15 (June 1967) 6) To Be Or Not To Be A Witch [Bill Parente/Carlos Prunes] 7p 7) The Creepy Fan Club: The Man In The Monkey Suit [Sam Bellotto, Jr./Brant Withers & Bill Black] 2p [text story, Black’s art is credited to Bill Schwartz, his real name?] 8) Piece By Piece [Archie Goodwin/Joe Orlando] 8p reprinted from Creepy #14 (Apr. 1967) 9) Dr. Jekyll’s Jest [R. Michael Rosen/Mike Royer] 6p 10) Easy Way To A Tuff Surfboard! [Archie Goodwin/Frank Frazetta] ½p reprinted from Eerie #3 (May 1966) [on inside back cover] Notes: Bill Hughes’ cover featured one of the stupidest looking Frankenstein’s monsters I’ve ever seen! The Loathsome Lore section was always at its best when Sutton wrote & illoed it, and this example is no exceptation. The letters’ page featured an explanation by Jim Warren about the recent price hike. The future Spanish invasion of artists is previewed here by S.I. artist Carlos Prunes’ appearance. Future comic artist & publisher Bill Black {aka Bill Schwartz} made his comics debut on the fan page. Mike Royer, best known in comics as the inker for Jack Kirby’s 1970s & 1980s artwork, delivered a great art job for his official Warren debut {see #29 for his unofficial debut}. While his figures were occasionally somewhat stiff, his women were among the most beautiful to ever appear in the Warren magazines. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More hawt chicks? I'm beginning to see a trend... Is Bill Hughes a new cover artist, or have we seen his work before? It is one of the goofier CREEPY covers--and what's with the extra human hand on the tray?? I appreciate the coining of the word "illoed" (in reference to Sutton's work on the Lore), but I'm not as hopeful for the future of "exceptation." If my late-night eyes are not deceiving me again, I believe I DO see three reprints this ish, plus another notch on the Surfboard--but with four new stories (and a new "Lore") featuring many new artists, the reprint volume can be forgiveable behind some quality new work. Now, to see the quality of the new work... Here's hoping for some literary "fireworks"! Have a happy and safe Fourth of July holiday, everyone!

To me, "high grade" should be "high grade" regardless of era, so I'm probably in the 9.0 and above camp--it should have "NM" or "M" in the descriptor somewhere to be "high grade." If there aren't any high grade golden age books, then there aren't any high grade golden age books, and just calling a mid-grade golden age book a high grade book doesn't make it a high grade book. ------------------------------------ Q. How many legs does a dog have if you call its tail a leg? A. Four. Calling a tail a leg does not make it a leg.

I decided I didn't have enough CREEPY #1s yet; this makes 3... the CGC 9.0 in the slab, the one with the barely attached cover, and this passable reader. The only thing I don't like about it is that it's cut a little high, so there's a wider-than-usual top margin, and you don't really see all of the chain at the bottom, but ce la vie... I think I'm satisfied now.

VAMPIRELLA #1 was a pretty quick read this week, with no letters page and no fan page--each of those take about as much time to read in a CREEPY or EERIE as do any of the illustrated stories--and no "Gallery" or "Lore, either. I was so excited for the new title, I had read the book by Tuesday, but I was so lazy, I didn't write the review until today. That's probably a productive thing, though, since I've had a couple of days to let the stories percolate through my brain, and while I haven't significantly changed my opinion of any of them, I may be able to express the joy I found in reading them a little better now. And it really was an experience of pure joy. Still one of my favorite things about the Warren Magazine Reading Club is putting the books in historical perspective. While I had fun putting together the mashups of VAMPIRELLA #1 in my pictorial parade of contemporary events, the "Come With Me" introduction inside the front cover hints at another contemporary event by including the phrase "you get half a dozen other sock-it-to-you shockers..." I'm pretty sure that phrase originated on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In television program, which ran on NBC from 1968 to 1973, so "sock-it-to-me" had only been a thing for about a year by this time. And then, there she is, "Vampirella of Draculon," in what may be the greatest first appearance of all time... I spent way too much time trying to figure out what was being reflected in that mirror. Wait a minute, I thought vampires don't cast reflections? But then why would she have a little face mirror like that in her vanity area in the first place? Maybe the whole mirror quirk is just for terran vampires... I kind of like Vampi's first outfit, too--or at least I like what Tom Sutton did with her butt in the black yoga pants. I thought the "H2O" analogy was cute, too (water on Drakulon is "hemoglobin doubled with oxygen"), even though that's not how molecular notation works. The story itself was definitely a lightweight excuse for the eye candy, but I guess it does its job of setting the stage for the Vampirella saga to follow. I absolutely LOVED the "Death Boat" story--right up until the end. I loved the art by a new artist, I loved that the vampire-looking guy was the first to go in an egregious example of profiling, I loved all the illustrations of another scantily-clad hawt chick, and I loved the building suspense over whether the vampire would be the girl or the guy--I really didn't know who it was going to be!--and then... it was the boat itself?? C'mon man... Now vampires not only reflect, but they can turn into inanimate objects? Why don't vampires just turn themselves into walk-in closets, and spit out the bones? How would it even turn itself back into a vampire long enough to bite people's necks without sinking them all? GREAT art, GOOD story that would have been great if not for a POOR ending! "Two Silver Bullets" was indeed predictable, but at least a werewolf story breaks the vampire monotony. And it had another hawt chick running around in her nightgown--but no rats. C'mon Reed, you're slipping. One thing I did want to point out about Crandall's typically fine art, though, and that was how the shadow of her hand on the windowpane in this panel indicates that it is darker outside the window than it is inside, making the white landscape seem more moonlit than daylit, even in contrast to the paradoxically black interior. That shadow is just a small touch, but it changes the whole perception of the lighting in the panel. It's genius, if intentional. Artistically, I consider "Goddess of the Sea" to be the highlight of the issue. Neal Adams' gorgeous pencils would seem incapable of producing such realistic surfscapes--and yet another scantily-clad hottie--yet there they are. I found myself scrutinizing many of the effects closely, just to see how they were done. We're not too far removed from Neal Adams' debut (at least it doesn't seem that long here in the accelerated timeframe of the Reading Club), and already Adams has demonstrated a remarkable mastery. The story itself isn't too remarkable, but the theme of using a hottie to lure a man to his doom will be repeated later in the issue. I was just surprised to see that the sea goddess' victim appears to be none other than J. Jonah Jameson, editor of the Daily Bugle--although he's going by the thinly-veiled pseudonym of "Jim Judson" here. Does anyone know if Neal Adams ever drew the Spiderman comics? It was nice to see another new artist, but "Last Act: October" was probably the weakest story of the issue. It took me a while to realize that the curse was playing out over several years, and not just in one October, for one thing--and then the ending makes no sense. Ostensibly the spirit of the witch possessed the little boy to kill her last victim, but the changeling looked more like a demon than the witch--and why wait until the very last minute of October if the curse can do something as contrived as that? It kind of makes all the other near-accident teasers along the way even more superficial. And the old witch wasn't even a hottie... We get plenty more hotties in "Spaced-Out Girls," even if they all turn out to be robot hotties, once again luring a man to his doom (or at least to his great disgust, as the case may be). I thought the artists could have gone even more disgusting--rather than just a fat, ugly, but still largely humanoid queen, they could have gone with something that looked more like a tardigrade, for instance... I thought there were going to be like 40 pages of advertisements to end the issue, but the most thought-provoking story, "A Room Full of Changes," was tucked in there near the end. It has no particular hotties, but I found it interesting that the house's occupants were basically at peace with the fact that one of the rooms in their house would change to reflect the souls of its visitors. (Try putting THAT in a real estate listing!) Just the number of ways that kind of a set-up could play out has occupied a lot of my thoughts over the past couple of days. It's a really intriguing concept that probably deserves to be explored even more than there was space to do so here. So while I agree to some extent with @OtherEric that the issue starts out very strong but kind of runs out of steam later, I don't think it ever really dropped off of a cliff, either. It's just that the early pieces by the classic artists are so darn good that the later pieces dim in comparison--but there's still some good work done in the later stories. And so much for the "significant amount of nudity" in EERIE #23; this issue had enough naked and near-naked hotties to have had my teenage self scrambling to send in my $3 for a subscription post-haste! In fact, I have to wonder if this turn toward the more overtly erotic overtones helped to fuel the Warren renaissance as much as the influx of new writers and artists, with scantily-clad women now appearing on the covers of EERIE #23, CREEPY #29, and VAMPIRELLA #1. They at least have the teenage boy market cornered. Don Glut appears to have written most of the scripts, and for the most part, I think he did a good job of storytelling--but I would like to see him try a little harder to avoid the obvious and the ridiculous endings that detract from otherwise strong stories. I also had to struggle through more spelling and grammar errors than I would have liked, but I'm starting to realize that's just something I'm going to have to ignore if I'm going to enjoy my Warrens. It's a strong debut, if not masterful throughout, but I definitely look forward to exploring the series and the character of Vampirella in greater depth in the weeks to come!

I love how the back cover is like a Beatles butcher cover--you have to steam it and peel off the top layer to get to the actual Vampirella back cover. But at least the spine looks good...

Dupes will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dupes.

Thing I can't stand about that series is that for some reason, they thought it would be a good idea to make Fat Freddy's Cat a black female.

Well, whaddya know...