Axe Elf

We put a man on the moon, but the technology to keep two transparent plastics transparent when placed against each other still eludes us.

Seems like we saw that July 23 date stamped on another copy recently (although I can't find it right now), so that was probably the date that Vampi #1 actually hit the shelves. Now I want to see a picture of someone at Woodstock with a Vampirella #1...

VAMPIRELLA #1 - September 1969 According to the Warren Magazine Index... 1. cover: Frank Frazetta (Oct. 1969) 1) Vampirella’s Welcome [Bill Parente/Frank Frazetta] 1p [frontis] art reprinted from Creepy #29 (Sept. 1969) 2) Vampirella Of Draculon [Forrest J. Ackerman/Tom Sutton] 7p 3) Death Boat! [Don Glut/Billy Graham] 6p 4) Two Silver Bullets! [Don Glut/Reed Crandall] 6p 5) Goddess From The Sea [Don Glut/Neal Adams] 6p 6) Last Act: October! [Don Glut/Mike Royer] 8p 7) Spaced-Out Girls! [Don Glut/Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico] 6p 8) Room Full Of Changes [Nicola Cuti/Ernie Colon] 6p Notes: Publisher: James Warren. Editor: Bill Parente. 64 page issue. This was the first all original Warren issue since Eerie #11 (Sept. 1967). Frazetta’s cover of Vampirella was a substitute for the original cover by European artist Aslan. That cover also featured Vampirella, but was rejected over fears that Vampi looked rather anemic (not good for a vampire, one would guess). That cover was eventually used as the cover for the Vampirella 1972 Annual. Vampirella’s costume and hair style was designed by artist Trina Robbins. The first Vampirella story was a horror spoof rather than a straight horror tale, as was made obvious by the first two pages being taken up with a sequence of a nude Vampirella taking a shower for no particular reason, except for good clean fun. Several years later, this origin tale was greatly rewritten to fit the more horrific manner of her later tales. Best stories are the Graham, Crandall & Adams’ stories, all written by Don Glut. Adams’ story was in pencils only. The question arises of exactly who edited this first issue? Bill Parente is listed on the masthead but he doesn’t appear with a single written story. Unusual for an issue edited by him. Forrest Ackerman created, or at least had a strong hand in creating, Vampirella and he clearly had a major influence in shaping the light-hearted bad girl story style of this issue as well. Neal Adams remembered that Archie Goodwin was the person calling up artists for this issue and that this was the main reason a very busy Adams agreed to do his story. That makes sense. Goodwin & Warren had a close relationship and only months later, Goodwin would be back on the masthead as a contributing editor. It’s even possible that all three, along with publisher Jim Warren, had an editorial hand in shaping this issue. Regardless, this was a pretty good start. Not up to the later Warren issues from the Goodwin Era but a giant step up from the previous two years. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FINALLY! For the first time in over a year, we begin our first new Warren title since we started Blazing Combat on June 12, 2022! I'm so excited I don't really know what to say. Or I have a lot to say, and I don't really know where to begin. And I'm already confused regarding the date on this book, as the Index dates usually match the cover dates, but this time the book says September and the Index says October. Right now I'm calling it by its cover date of September, as has been my tradition, but who really knows at this point--and I realize the ACTUAL release date seems to have been sometime back in July. Anyway, if anyone has been following along with the Warren Magazine Reading Club, but hasn't really joined in because they weren't in at the beginning, here's a chance to get in on the beginning of a new title--the most titillating title 'til the debut of 1984 in 1978--VAMPIRELLA!! I hope everyone takes this opportunity to crack open this beauty (digitally, if not literally) to enjoy the inside of one of the most sought-after of all Warren outsides--and share their experiences with us here. It doesn't seem to be particularly rare or hard-to-find, but good copies sell for thousands of dollars, probably on the strength of the intersection of Frazetta, Adams and Crandall, with Ackerman and even Goodwin likely having a hand too. Really looking forward to the Adams' piece done in pencil! So even if you don't feel like writing a review, I know many of you have some gorgeous copies you could share with us this week. I would love to see them. My #1 isn't the prettiest of the prom, but I'm looking forward to sharing some really nice copies of the early Vampirellas over the weeks to come! I feel like I should include a scan of the 1972 Annual as well, since the Index indicates that it was originally intended to be the cover of Vampi #1; I guess that was where they rewrote her origin story "years later." Still, I don't think a backstory that originates in her shower was a poor choice either... Anemic? I'm not seeing "anemic"... She looks more anemic in Frazetta's work, if you ask me. And NO REPRINTS this month--7 new stories!!! We are out of the Dark Ages indeed...

Well, I guess I don't know how to do spoilers here. The whole second half of my review is now behind a spoiler. Sorry.

It's kind of interesting that Warren still has an ad for back issues of Blazing Combat inside the front cover (rather than the usual Gallery or Lore feature). I mean the last issue of Blazing Combat came out over three years ago, at this point, and its full run was less than a year when it was being published in the first place. I'm fully on board with the notion that EERIE #23 was released before CREEPY #29, not only because of the apparent chronology of the Vampirella teasers, but also because of the indicia on the "Contents" page. For this issue of EERIE #23, the indicia looks like it was "marked up" from the previous version, with the issue number, the price, and the subscription prices all looking like they were literally pasted over the old copy: Whereas the indicia for CREEPY #29 looks like it was actually typeset properly with the new information: "Dear Cousin Eerie" highlighted the polarizing effect of the cover to EERIE #21--some liked it, but most hated it--and others noted my concern that it doesn't "really" go with its associated story. Cousin Eerie said that the cover was done before the story was written to go with it, but if that's the case, then it REALLY seems contrived to have included the cover image in what was a highly superficial facet of the story itself. It seems like one would write an entirely different story if they were truly inspired by the cover. Cousin Eerie also replied to a couple of people who also caught the mistake in "Fatal Diagnosis" of one vampire reflecting in a mirror while the other did not: The story of "Beyond Nefera's Tomb" did a really good job of capturing the spirit of Frazetta's gorgeous cover--even writing in the leopards as her lycanthropic servants! But while I agree with @OtherEric that the storytelling isn't as tight as it probably should be, I find that in looking back on the story, which I first read a couple of days ago, I am remembering it more as it "should" have been, rather than as it is. It's like the story idea itself is stronger than the way it was actually written, and raises a lot of cool questions about spacetime and causality that have captured my attention more than some awkward phrasings. So I think this was a solid offering to match a peerless cover, though not at all perfect. As far as the nudity goes, yeah, Colon's style was minimal enough to reduce the impact of what was largely incidental nudity (and most often, just "near-nudity"), although I suppose I should probably put the most blatant example, from the most striking illustration, behind a spoiler.

"When submitting books for grading, you are also required to donate one bag and one board of your choice to CGC. If you do not have a bag and/or board to donate, CGC will provide the requisite materials at a cost of $2 per book." I just made that up, but it's probably in the fine print somewhere.

Fair; although to soothe my mind over not having one, I have kind of come to consider that EERIE #1 doesn't even really count. It contains zero new material and it's not even a magazine. And not counting the monetary value, if you asked anyone which book they would rather have, the beautiful Frazetta-adorned EERIE #23 or the xeroxed EERIE #1, I would hope the Frazetta issue would be more sought-after in that regard. But yeah, it's a much rarer item, that's for sure. Correct again; it was 2 am and I just counted how many times the word "reprint" appeared in the Index's listing, not noticing that one was for the surfboard ad. So two reprints and four new stories, just like CREEPY #29. That seems important enough that I should go back and edit it. Thanks for the catch. Another good catch! Lazy... Dang, you did have some "POSTS" ready to go, didn't you? I love you posting all the "Vampirella is Coming" ads in chronological order! I'm sorry I was late again; sometimes I'm just not able to get it posted right at the crack of midnight on Saturday nights for ten years straight. I hope you won't mind having to wait until Sunday morning sometimes; we have a whole week for every issue.

BEAUTY!

EERIE #23 - September 1969 According to the Warren Magazine Index... 23. cover: Frank Frazetta (Sept. 1969) 1) Beyond Nefera’s Tomb [Bill Parente/Ernie Colon] 8p 2) The Dragon’s Tail [Kim Ball/Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico] 8p 3) An Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge! [Archie Goodwin/Bob Jenney] 6p from the story by Ambrose Bierce, reprinted from Eerie #9 (May 1967) 4) Eerie Fanfare: Hades/Total War/Cauldron Contest Winner: Edward French [Bill Parente & Timothy Boertlein/Bruce Jones] 2p [text article/story w/photo] 5) Soul Pool [Edward R. French/Tom Sutton] 7p 6) Fair Exchange [Archie Goodwin/Neal Adams] 8p reprinted from Eerie #9 (May 1967) 7) Space Age Vampire [James Haggenmiller/Mike Royer] 8p 8) Vampirella Is Coming Ad [Bill Parente/Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico] 1p 9) Easy Way To A Tuff Surfboard! [Archie Goodwin/Frank Frazetta] ½p reprinted from Eerie #3 (May 1966) Notes: Although reprints would continue for another 8 months or so, this issue, along with Creepy #29 and Vampirella #1, marked the beginning of Warren’s rebuilding from the quality quake of the previous two years. Size increased to 64 pages. Frazetta’s cover, ‘Egyptian Princess’, is one of his most famous paintings and justly so. A dynamic use of lighting and shadow (along with some nicely done near-nudity) made this cover a real eye-opener. The accompanying cover story ‘Beyond Nefera’s Tomb’ also displayed a remarkable amount of nudity for a 1969 comic. Even a black & white one. Bruce Jones made his second fan page appearance, only a few months before his professional debut in the rival horror magazine Web Of Horror. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is probably THE most sought-after issue of EERIE that there is--and that is probably largely due to the amazing Frazetta cover--one of his first since the Dark Ages! We get four new stories and only two reprints again, as with CREEPY #29, so that's good--and a new artist debuts on the fan page! Glad to see that Warren's rebuilding appears to be marked by scantily-clad women. I am of course interested in what "a remarkable amount of nudity for a 1969 comic" turns out to be... It's an academic interest, of course...

Sorry again; fantasy football season and all... another draft ran late... Kickoff to EERIE #23 in 15 minutes...

Again, I can't offer much BUT empathy, but I think you have to start considering that people want their books BACK more than they want the work done at this point--at least some of them. If it was me, I would probably be putting any energy I had into returning everyone's books so that they at least have their property back--and then declare bankruptcy due to your health problems and work out any refunds for services not completed through the courts. Then you will be able to start again with a clean slate. It's not a rainbows and unicorns solution for the people who will lose a percentage of the fees they paid, but it gets you out of this hole that must hang over your head every minute of your life, stealing energy that you need to heal. You have all my empathy, as long as you try something different other than what you're doing now, because what you are doing now is not working, and it very well might kill you if you don't. If you really feel that you can work your way out of this hole, then I hope that you will at least accept help so that people can see some movement. Again, SOMETHING needs to change. And with that, I'm out of this conversation unless you need me.

Use the category formerly known as Prints. (sorry)

Thank you. Being partially retired, I wanted to write something like that myself, but I'm in Kansas, so not much availability to either coast. I have absolutely zero stake in the business or the books in question, and I have little history on these boards, but having survived a double bypass 13 years ago only by the full support of a network of people, including the freedom to take as much time off work as I needed, I can't even imagine the despair and hopelessness that engulfs someone who is facing the potential end of their life with everyone being so disappointed in them. I literally teared up when I read this thread this morning. If I put myself in his position, I would have a hard time giving a damn about ANY of the books at this point, but he seems to be trying to do what he can, so for that, I give him mad props. That said, the books need to move--finished or unfinished. I hope this person will accept help, and I hope that enough of you are in a position to offer your help, and I hope that the rest of you concerned parties will be patient and supportive while help is rendered, and I hope that among the three, we are able to overcome human nature long enough to make a difference. We all need to take care of each other, or we've all failed. If there's anything I can do from afar... I'll type addresses onto shipping labels if it helps. But let's do this.

Having read the issue, it's actually a gargoyle coming to life.

Of the 10 or so MAD magazines that survived in the box with my Warrens, I actually have one of those! It's not a 9.0, but for sitting unprotected on a shelf/in a storage box for 45 years, it ain't bad...

This is probably a cover I would have kept close to me as a teenage boy. "Hey, who cares if her face is melting, as long as she's in her bra and panties!" And I have to give credit for that to Vic Prezio, because in the "Summer House" story that the cover reflects, the woman was fully dressed as her face melted. So the bra and panties, that was all Vic, selling some mags on his own. Another difference in the cover is that the house in the story is a huge mansion, while the house on the cover makes it look more like a log cabin--"Summer House on the Prairie," maybe. But still a great cover. The Ernie Colon art on the story itself was magnificent, some of the best I have ever seen from him! The way the panels flowed ethereally into one another was perfect for the mood of the piece--they shifted like the sands! I could pull three or four astounding panels from this piece, but I don't want to reprint the whole story here. And I don't know if it is this way in the actual magazine, because I didn't pull it out of its bag to check, but in my digital scan, the panels run to the very edge of the page--there are no margins! So that's kind of cool too. My only gripe is that it's not at all clear what actually happened to them--they melted and the house absorbed them? But it was enjoyable enough to read that I can tolerate a little plot fuzziness--off to a good start! I hadn't remembered that the original Thane story, "Angel of Doom," reprinted here, was a Jeff Jones piece. He has a distinctive and beautiful style that I am growing to appreciate more and more. I apparently didn't remember the story very well either; I hadn't remembered the giant wasp thing at all--so even though it was a reprint, it was kind of like a new story too, and it fits in well as another great-looking visual piece to follow up Colon's opener. I have more mixed feelings about the art for "Spellbound." At times, the faces seemed kind of wonky, and then there were moments of astounding beauty, too, like when one sister turned into a cat: Two artists are credited, Bhob Stewart and Will Brown, so maybe I like one of them more than the other; I guess time will tell. The story itself is fairly strong, carrying the momentum of the opening pieces well... ...but then "Bloody Mary" is kind of the stumbling block of the issue, for me. It's not BAD--and it was actually kind of interesting to read until the end--but the "Tony Williamsune" art seemed to rely heavily on "drawing the heat" or the wavy lines that crowded every outdoors panel. And then the twist at the end, that it just happened to be time for a total eclipse, is REALLY far-fetched--not only because it relied on the unusual timing of such an event, but also because it kind of ignores a unique thing about our own sun and moon that make total eclipses possible in the first place. Our sun is 400 times larger than the moon, and coincidentally 400 times further away--so the sun and moon appear to be the same size in the sky--that's why the disc of the moon neatly covers the disc of the sun in a total eclipse. It would be a 50/50 proposition as to whether an extraterrestrial moon would appear large enough to totally eclipse an extraterrestrial sun or not--so it's not probable that the vampires would get the benefit of a TOTAL eclipse, even if the improbable timing was otherwise met. Still, for the "stumbling block" of the issue, I have to admit I enjoyed watching it unfold. "The Devil of the Marsh" was also a fun read, if somewhat innocuous. Grandenetti did an ok job this time; some of his male faces are still kind of harsh, but I thought he did a good job amending his style to render a "softer" female visage for the enchantress. By this point, I was so into this issue that I fully read the second reprint too--"The Frankenstein Tradition." Like the first reprint, I had a hard time remembering this story as well. That might be because it turns out to be as much about Jack the Ripper as it is about Frankenstein, but it's a nice twist on the archetype--and we get another look back at Rocco Mastroserio's craft. "The Last Laugh" wraps up the issue with yet another entirely enjoyable tale, again inked by Ernie Colon. This time his style is different; it seems more jovial than moody, which of course suits this piece perfectly as well. And while there were no margins on the pages of "The Summer House," he filled the margins on the opening page of this piece with laughing faces! It's like every single story in this issue is masterfully illustrated, and perhaps even more surprisingly, competently scripted--a fringe benefit of having a greater variety of writers with new ideas, perhaps--and even the inclusion of a Grandenetti piece doesn't degrade the overall quality much. This issue was just a constant delight from cover to cover, and I couldn't be happier that this is what we got (according to the Warren Magazine Index) as the first issue of Warren's rebuilding! It's got to be one of the best issues we've seen yet, and it's the first hint I've had in a long time of the admiration inspired by my Warren magazines when I was a kid. I guess I should mention the other features as well. I hadn't remembered that Jack Davis did this edition of "Creepy's Loathsome Lore"--but I agree with @OtherEric; it would have been great to have more Davis in the Warrens! Nothing really stood out to me on the "Dear Uncle Creepy" page; it was mostly just yays and nays for CREEPY #27, with the most notable comments noting the return of Frank Frazetta for that issue's cover. I'm glad they stopped running that "diabolical dictionary" feature in the "Creepy Fan Club"; it could have been done so much better. And finally, more Frazetta for the "Vampirella Is Here" illustration! But "fresh from Transylvania"? Surely they knew she was from Drakulon by then... By the way, did anyone else notice the bad news...?

I'd kind of been wanting a hardcover "Book of Mr. Natural" to complete my R. Crumb trilogy, having already acquired "The Life and Death of Fritz the Cat" and "The Book of Genesis" both in hardcover over the course of the past year. But it seemed like while there were affordable copies of the paperback edition available, all the hardcover listings were like $65 and up--on Amazon and daBay--and I really wanted the hardcover to match the other two. I couldn't find a lot of completed sales for them either, although the single sold listing I found on daBay was for a mere $12 (American--but then another $26 for shipping from Canada)--so that gave me some hope. So this past week I found one for $15, plus another $6.14 for shipping and tax, so now there are TWO sold listings on daBay----and all those other listings can dream on, because I didn't have to break the bank to complete the set! (Images from daBay listing because I'm too lazy to scan it myself, but yeah, it looks that good!)

That's actually kind of cool, given all that happened in August of 1969 (Woodstock, Manson murders, etc.). So Vampirella actually predates all that stuff--barely!

That makes sense, given that the ad in CREEPY #29 says, "She's here!" rather than still on her way or something.

Good point! Yeah, when I originally put them in order I wasn't interested in looking up all the actual release dates; I just went by the month on the cover. When multiple mags were released in the same month, I just put them in order by title order, like CREEPY before EERIE before VAMPIRELLA. And then the Yearbooks/Annuals don't really say, but putting them in August seems to make the most sense. I may not have the order exactly correct, but the point is just to read them all--and we'll get there...

CREEPY #29 - September 1969 (One of my uglier CREEPYs, I went for filling the hole ASAP rather than holding out for quality. Live and learn.) According to the Warren Magazine Index... Warren’s Rebuilding! 29. cover: Vic Prezo (Sept. 1969) 1) Creepy’s Loathsome Lore: Ghouls! [Archie Goodwin/Jack Davis] 1p [frontis] reprinted from Creepy #3 (June 1965) 2) The Summer House [Barbara Gelman/Ernie Colon] 8p 3) Thane: Angel Of Doom! [Archie Goodwin/Jeff Jones] 6p reprinted from Creepy #16 (Aug. 1967) 4) Spellbound [Ron Haycock/Bhob Stewart, Will Brown & Mike Royer] 7p [Haycock’s story credited to Arnold Hayes] 5) Bloody Mary [Buddy Saunders/Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico] 7p 6) The Devil Of The Marsh [Don Glut/Jerry Grandenetti] 6p 7) The Creepy Fan Club: So Speaks The Book [C. A. Howard/Anthony Kowalik] 1p [text story] 8) The Frankenstein Tradition! [Archie Goodwin/Rocco Mastroserio] 8p reprinted from Creepy #16 (Aug. 1967) 9) The Last Laugh [Archie Goodwin/Ernie Colon] 4p 10) Vampirella Is Here! [Bill Parente/Bill Fraccio, Tony Tallarico & Frank Frazetta] 1p Notes: The beginning of a long period of regrowth & rebuilding begins here, even though reprints would continue for several more issues. Prezo contributed a good cover. Artist Jerry Grandenetti was the second Goodwin Era artist to return while Goodwin himself showed up with his only non-Vamprella original story for Warren between 1967 and 1974. Pretty darn good little story too! The other story highlight was ‘The Summer House’, which, like the Goodwin story, was illustrated by Ernie Colon. The Vampirella ad features Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico’s art on Uncle Creepy & Cousin Eerie while Vampirella herself is rendered by Frazetta. The Frazetta art is the same drawing that appears as Vampirella #1’s frontis. Mike Royer made his {uncredited} Warren debut by drawing the female heads in the story ‘Spellbound’. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, I hope no one was waiting until the last minute to post their review of the EERIE 1970 Yearbook, because I'm starting my first fantasy football draft of the season here in about half an hour, and I'm not sure I'll be done in time to post this at midnight, so I'm kicking off the Warren Rebuilding a couple of hours early. My apologies for any inconvenience. The first thing we get when we open the first issue of Warren's Rebuilding phase is a reprinted Loathsome Lore! Waa-waa-waaaah... But that initial disappointment aside, there are only two reprinted stories in the whole issue! And the new stuff is so cool! A new Archie Goodwin story! New interior art by Frazetta (Vampirella)! New writers! Five new stories! The return of Jerry Grandenetti! Well, ok, I'm not sure how I feel about that. We'll see... But anyway... We're here! The most awesome month in Warren history--September 1969!

You mean you submitted this to Joey on 5/23, and you already have it back from CGC on 6/9? I thought turnaround times had been a problem...?

I really like the cover to the EERIE 1970 Yearbook. Most of the Warren "montage" covers are an arrangement of discrete panels, but this one blends several images together in a single panel. I've been thinking of doing an art project similar to that, making a single collage out of some of the more iconic images in the books, and I'd want it to look something like that--on a larger scale, of course. I actually re-read through most of the stories this week, because a lot of them I didn't remember clearly from the first time until I started reading them. It seems like a solid enough collection of artists and stories from the early issues, but as I said before, if they were going to reprint something from EERIE #1, it should have been here instead of in the CREEPY 1970 Yearbook ("The Invitation"). It also may not have been the best idea to print two stories about adventures in the land of the dead ("The Wanderer" and "A Matter of Routine") back to back like that. At least spread them out a little. I also think it's nice that each Yearbook included an adaptation from classic literature ("The Body Snatcher" for CREEPY and "The Masque of the Red Death" for EERIE), since both titles have made pretty good use out of such adaptations over the course of their respective runs so far. The two Angelo Torres pieces ("Soul of Horror" and "One for De-Money") are probably my two favorite reprints, while "Shrieking Man" may be my least-favorite Ditko piece of them all. "The Quest" was probably my least favorite story in this issue, but it's not terrible. And finally, the inclusion of Mastroserio's "Terror in the Tomb" feels a little like an epitaph. And so we emerge from the Dark Ages, and enter the dawning of Warren's rebuilding tomorrow night! I'm really stoked for the next three weeks...

Wrong? Are you suffering from the misperception that you have proven that having the knowledge that one should not send anything to CGC with the expectation of getting it back would NOT have saved people countless hours of anxiety? I just tried to make a little joke, and you went all Captain Pedantic on me. I even tried to educate you on circular logic, but still you persist in misusing the term. I think the annoyance may be on the other foot.

No, the conclusion that he missed the point (let's call that "C") was derived from independent premises, namely the observation that his comment was irrelevant to my comment (let's call that "B") and the observation that people often respond with irrelevancies when they have missed the original point (let's call that "A"). As you can see, neither premise (A & B) is equivalent to the conclusion (C), so this is not a circular argument. To express it formally: A. People often respond with irrelevancies when they have missed the original point. B. He replied to my post with an irrelevancy. C. He missed the original point. Hope that helps!