Axe Elf

The unboxed beast. This is literally the largest book I have ever owned.

That one is on the way!

Herd dat! I think if you bought three or four of these things, you could put @joeypost out of business! (Just kidding Joey!)

I'm in the party!!!--unboxing now... Here it is next to a regular-sized EERIE magazine...

Tom Sutton may have been late with his Vampirella story, but it was worth the wait; he gets a full workout in this issue with that 14-pager, plus the "Vampi's Feary Tales" frontispiece. In this issue, it really was a "tale," being more of a one-page story than a simple splash with some text as is often the case. And speaking of splashes, comparing Sutton's first cartoonish splash of Vampi back in VAMPIRELLA #1 pales in comparison to his much more mature work here ten issues later. And the Vampirella saga appears to be maturing a bit too; I was actually pretty delighted with "Carnival of the Damned" in general--I didn't even notice any annoying spelling or grammar errors! But then @The Lions Den had to go and point out the forgotten text in the thought balloon on page 13! I didn't even recognize it as a thought balloon the first time through, either; I guess I thought it was just like a low fence leading people into the tent (if I thought anything about it at all). Other than that error, though, the tale seems to be setting itself up nicely for future adventures--while being fairly engaging in its own right. I know little about the ongoing adventures of Vampirella, though I've caught enough to recognize Pendragon as a continuing character. My impression had been that he was some master wizard or something, though; so it's interesting that he starts out here as kind of a bumbling sideshow attraction. I don't remember seeing artist L.M. Roca before, but his work on "The Escape" was pretty trippy. I'm not sure why the "vacation" time machine would be set for Jack the Ripper's time--are people really endangering themselves by "vacationing" in Jack the Ripper's London?--but it was kind of a cute twist on the Ripper legend. "Prisoner in the Pool" had not one cute twist, but two--and of course, I had to go back to look for any hint of his winged feet before the final reveal (I didn't find any; they always concealed his ankles or they were out of frame). I'm not sure that all his lamenting about needing wings to scale the sheer vertical climb to the griffin's nest--or being concerned with falling to his death from the griffin's grasp--really work well in light of his winged feet, but I can kind of overlook that for the satisfaction of seeing the smug little centaur's plan foiled. Ken Barr delivers some amazingly shaded art for "She'll Never Learn" which perfectly suits the dark psychological horror of the script. He also delivers some lighthearted counterpoint with an EERIE magazine Easter egg--I think it's EERIE #29, judging by the front and back covers (although the front cover could be EERIE #8 as well) Grandenetti's style is perfectly suited to penning the grotesque gnomes in "The Green Plague," but not quite so suited to drawing beautiful people. It's probably not his best work overall, but the story itself was plausible and entertaining, with a satisfying resolution. For "Dragon Woman" I guess I'm going to be "that guy" who goes against the consensus to say that I wasn't all that impressed with the new story and art by Sanho Kim (although I have to give points for full frontal boobery). I can't say it was a bad story--the offhand wink about "Saint, George, and the dragon" was kind of cute--I just had kind of a hard time following it and putting all the pieces of the legend together. Maybe I was a little tired when I got to the end of the book, but I didn't really care for the art that much either. Proportions on faces seemed kind of odd and cartoonish, and Vampirella herself looks more like Conan or something. Praise for VAMPIRELLA #9 and Wood's "Curse" dominated "Vampi's Scarlet Letters," but the letter from a 9 year old girl wishing she could attract boys like Vampirella was worth arching an eyebrow over. Once again, there was a letter linking to a sketch in "Vampi's Flames," which was dominated by the usual sophomoric fan efforts. @OtherEric, I can see why Dave Manak went on to humor books; his style seems more suited to that genre. Overall, I continue to be completely charmed by the VAMPIRELLA mags, despite my disappointment in the much-ballyhooed Kim closer this week. I think maybe had it not been so ballyhooed, I probably wouldn't have been so disappointed. It was ok, but I was expecting great and got ok (IMO). Without any expectations, ok is still ok. And most of the rest of the magazine was significantly better than that. (Okay, I think part of it IS all the hawt chicks...)

If anyone is in the market, there's a full run of VAMPIRELLA magazines up for sale on daBay right now, with a #1 "signed" (not CGC) by Forrest Ackerman. LINK I've been watching it for a while, just out of curiosity, because he first had it listed at like $4799 or something like that, which seemed a little high for the condition of the books (they don't look BAD or anything--though it's hard to tell much from pics of books in bags--but they don't look very pristine, either). Once I had it on my watchlist, the seller sent me an offer of like $4200, and he has also pretty rapidly brought the price down another couple of times to his current price of $3599. But he may be motivated to make a deal if someone sends him a credible offer.

Never assassinate anyone, because you only make two asses out of Nate and I.

It can even be a 9.9 with an inked arrival date: 9.9 MINT (MT): Back to Top Near perfect in every way. Only subtle bindery or printing defects are allowed. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity and minimal fading. Corners are cut square and sharp. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Spine is tight and flat. Staples must be original, generally centered and clean with no rust. Paper is white, supple and fresh.

Theoretically, a tear can't be any larger than the page itself.

VAMPIRELLA #11 - May 1971 According to the Warren Magazine Index... 11. cover: Frank Frazetta (May 1971) 1) Vampi’s Feary Tales: The Devil’s Daughter! [Tom Sutton] 1p [frontis] 2) Vampirella: Carnival Of The Damned! [Archie Goodwin/Tom Sutton] 14p 3) The Escape! [Larry Herndon/L. M. Roca] 6p 4) Prisoner In The Pool! [Buddy Saunders/Dave Cockrum] 6p 5) She’ll Never Learn! [Steve Skeates/Ken Barr] 7p 6) The Green Plague [Nicola Cuti/Jerry Grandenetti] 8p 7) Vampi’s Flames: The Deep/The Elevator [Stephen Darner & ?/Anthony Kowalik, Dave Manak, Pam Presnell, Richard Bassford, Ed Romer & R. Charron] 2p [text stories] 8) Dragon Woman [Sanho Kim] 9p Notes: Frazetta’s cover ‘Woman With Scythe’ was one of his most popular. Vampirella returned, and from here on out, would appear in every issue. Richard Bassford’s art on the fan page was a preview for an upcoming six page story that never appeared. Sanho Kim’s art & story were particularly impressive. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's kind of ironic to me that of Warren's "Big 3" comic magazine titles, the one I thought I wanted the least (VAMPIRELLA) is becoming the one I most look forward to every few weeks here in the Reading Club. I don't know if Warren was intentionally funneling their best artists' best work into their newest title to help boost it along through these first few issues--or if it just worked out that way--but it seems like most of the last few VAMPIRELLAs have been pretty outstanding. Maybe it's just all the hawt chicks...

I am really so very, VERY angry with the both of you right now. I ended up having to order ALL THREE (AND toss in "1000 Record Covers" for another $15)!!! So thank you from the bottom of my heart for the serious FOMO you induced in this mofo (they look absolutely amazing)!

I didn't really want to buy another $100 book right now, but that oversized Frazetta book is just too sweet to pass up!

We finally have a 1971 copyright on the "Contents" page; I don't know if that means this is the first issue that was actually published in 1971, or if nobody had bothered to change it in the footer for a couple of months, but here we are, officially in 1971. One of the "Dear Cousin Eerie" letters mentioned an interesting detail--"Made in Japan" being visible on the sword on page 23 of EERIE #31. I went back to look, but the scan of my digital copy didn't have the resolution needed to make out the words on the sword. So I pulled my physical copy out of the bag, and sure enough, even though it's really hard to read, it's there if you magnify it enough (I just used my phone to snap a photo and blew it up). The feature on new staff artist Dave Cockrum was the best part of "EERIE Fan Fare," as staff features usually are--but the fan fiction wasn't as bad as it often is, either. I hadn't remembered that the first Minotaur "Monster Gallery" was done by Neal Adams; good note by @OtherEric. With the benefit of retrospect, Clif Jackson won't ever reach the level of popularity that Adams did, but he can say that they both did minotaurs for EERIE. I also agree with @OtherEric about the ambiguity of the cover; I've wondered since I first saw it if I was looking at a spacecraft, a living alien being, or just a piece of debris. The associated story, "StarVisions," cleared up that ambiguity, but I was a little disappointed by the story itself. It all seemed kind of pointless; but maybe that WAS the point, with the horror being largely the psychological horror of loneliness (and it reminded me in that respect of "On the Wings of a Bird" from CREEPY #36). I just thought that Arkhorn's self-described creative powers might come into play at some point--a being with godlike powers suffering from loneliness-induced madness? That could go just about anywhere--but it just went... nowhere. It did kind of make me laugh, however, after @OtherEric's observation on how ubiquitous the phrase "Whom the Gods Would Destroy" had become--and then the phrase appeared in "StarVisions"--as well as being the title of another story in this issue. I found titular story itself to be a lot more contemporary than one would think a 50 year old piece would be--but our current world seems to be more sensitive than ever to divisions and reasons to hate other groups of people. It was still kind of jarring when they blamed "the blacks" for starting it all, but we hear the same kind of vitriol today about various groups of people. One would hope that things wouldn't get so far as the destruction of the last two people on Earth if the hate were to snowball in real life, but then I guess that's where the horror lies--in not knowing if we would have the sense (or humanity?) to stop it. In my opinion, the twist to "A Trip in Time" isn't as clean as it would like to be, but we all have our own opinions about how time works, and hey, who doesn't love a good time travel story? I think if I was testing out a time machine, I might be inclined, for my first trip, to go back maybe a minute in time? An hour? At MOST a day!--I don't think I would go straight for the Cretaceous period, though. Having the cavemen living with the dinosaurs was kind of a facepalm too, as the dinosaurs didn't really HAVE to be there, but hey, who doesn't love a good dinosaur splash? Rising above its own silliness, though, it was an entertaining read with Sparling's art standing on its own. It's kind of funny that @OtherEric and I both had the same reaction to "243 Blank Pages"--but for different reasons. As a collector, @OtherEric wouldn't write his name in the book so as not to reduce its value. As the owner of a book that could destroy anything that was written in it, I think that in and of itself would be enough to keep me from writing my name in it! Seems like kind of a bonehead move in either case. Still, I had a little smile thinking about this guy visiting all the out of the way book shops and curio stores... "Excuse me, do you happen to stock "The Book of Demonic Destruction"? It's on back order? No, I'll just try somewhere else, thanks..." "Escape into Chaos" is both the best story in the issue--for the psychedelic Ernie Colon art--and the worst story in the issue--for the exceptionally weak plot--a guy kills someone and then escapes through the insanity door to another universe where crabs eat him and he reappears in our universe only to go through the door again... and again... and again. Yeah, ok. But the art! It's unlike virtually anything we've seen in Warren before, so high marks for that! "The Pest" is an ok story, but obviously most interesting for its fledgling Corben art. Somehow, this one doesn't quite strike me as one of Corben's best efforts, but it's still enjoyable to read. It's kinda fun seeing Corben draw Cousin Eerie, too. Pat Boyette is in his wheelhouse with the genre of "The Painting in the Tower," although this one doesn't strike me as one of his best efforts, either--even if I can't exactly say why. The story is coherent enough to be a credible closer for the issue, and in effect, it is kind of a microcosm of the issue as a whole--good, but maybe not quite hitting on all cylinders? Or maybe I'm just being a little too critical; after being treated to a couple of really stellar issues, we've had a couple more ordinary issues that may look worse in comparison than they would in a vacuum. I'm still enjoying the journey, though!

Just by your verbal description... 4.0 VERY GOOD (VG): Back to Top The average used comic book. Cover shows moderate to significant wear, and may be loose but not completely detached. Cover reflectivity is low. Can have moderate creases or dimples. Corners may be blunted. Store stamps, name stamps, arrival dates, initials, etc. have no effect on this grade. Some discoloration, fading, foxing, and even minor soiling is allowed. As much as a 1/4" triangle can be missing out of the corner or edge; a missing 1/8" square is also acceptable. Only minor unobtrusive tape and other amateur repair allowed on otherwise high grade copies. Moderate spine roll may be present and/or a 1" spine split. Staples may be discolored. Minor to moderate staple tears and stress lines may be present, as well as some rust migration. Paper is brown but not brittle. Minor to moderate interior tears may be present. Centerfold may be loose or detached at one staple.

Thoughts and prayers.

Good to hear! I know the one I bought had been listed for a while; I had been watching it until my fantasy football winnings came in--and then I made an offer that was accepted--so I think the seller was motivated. Well, you know you didn't overprice it!

Funny that we both noticed that! More great background info!

EERIE #33 - May 1971 According to the Warren Magazine Index... 33. cover: Larry Todd (May 1971) 1) Eerie’s Monster Gallery: The Minotaur [Clif Jackson] 1p [frontis] 2) A Trip In Time! [Steve Skeates/Jack Sparling] 6p 3) 243 Blank Pages! [Steve Skeates/George Roussos] 7p 4) Whom The Gods Would Destroy [Marv Wolfman/Ken Barr] 11p 5) Escape Into Chaos [Steve Skeates/Ernie Colon] 7p 6) Starvisions [Larry Todd] 6p 7) The Pest! [Al Hewetson/Richard Corben] 8p 8) Eerie Fanfare: Dave Cockrum Profile/The Vampire/Wolf Star/From Beyond The Grave [Dave Cockrum, David Nowicki, Jack L. Bannow & Harry Feinzig/Mike Roberts, R. Goodwin, Pat Broderick, Gerald Colucci, Mark Wallace & Rick Bryant] 2p [text stories/poem w/photo] 9) The Painting In The Tower! [Gardner Fox/Pat Boyette] 7p Notes: ‘The Pest!’ by Hewetson & Corben was the best story although Ernie Colon’s experimental art and Pat Boyette’s efforts were also worthy of note. Future artists Pat Broderick and Rick Bryant appeared on the fan page. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I thought this was going to be the biggest issue ever, but then I see it has 243 Blank Pages... It seemed like we've had a "Minotaur" Monster Gallery before, so I went back and looked, and sure enough, the Monster Gallery in EERIE #11 was the Minotaur. It was reprinted in EERIE #22. Really? EERIE #11, #22, and #33? I had to go look and see, but no, there is no Minotaur Monster Gallery in EERIE #44. I thought I'd cracked the hidden Minotaur code or something. At least this one isn't a reprint. Looks like we're getting a bigger helping of established artists this time--and more Corben!

By the way, I forgot to mention--Happy Club Birthday! I know I'm always more interested in the March issues myself for that reason--"I was 7 when this came out!" heh

Well, I'm glad it is at least traditionally lame.

I didn't do as well in the "Puzzling Monsters" contest as I thought I might; partially because they didn't give a list of artists to choose from in matching the sketches--and I wasn't very good at just pulling names out of the air. The only two I got were Jack Davis (because it was from the cover of EERIE #1) and Jerry Grandenetti (because of his stark contrasts and odd sense of proportion)--but in retrospect, I probably should have gotten Jim Warren's as the most simplistic doodle of the bunch. Having two sketches from the "Williamsune" team was kind of cheating, too. I was going to say that there was finally some fan fiction in the "CREEPY Fan Club" section that wasn't horrible ("The Lesson"), but then when I got around to reading the author's letter in the "Mail" pages, I see that Uncle Creepy said that they edited his story for printing--so it probably didn't read as well upon first submission as it did in the magazine. There was another letter connected to fan fiction too, but neither the letter nor the fiction were remarkable. The thing that stuck with me the most from the letters was the not one but two people who thought that the Mail and Fan Club features were the best parts of the magazines! Seriously?? Clif Jackson continued capably illustrating the "Loathsome Lore" frontis, but this time he didn't write the piece--and it may have suffered from that. There's really a whole lot more to the "evil eye" mythos than was touched on here, some of it even springing from Jewish mysticism. So kinda bland, but Medusa becomes a continuing character. Despite the fun of having Uncle Creepy (and Cousin Eerie) appearing as characters in "Where Satan Dwells" (and the cameos by EERIE #26, CREEPY #20, and VAMPIRELLA #1), it didn't really seem so much like an "Uncle Creepy story" per se, it was just a run-of-the-mill Warren story with Uncle Creepy shoehorned in as the main character--but it could have been anyone, really. I had a lot more fun with Uncle Creepy's origin story back in "Monster Rally" from CREEPY #4. I also thought it was weird that the book in "Where Satan Dwells" is called "Where Dwells Satan"--and then it really didn't have anything to do with Satan; it should have been "Where Dwells Groton" instead. What really could have been a highlight lead-off story ended up kind of a mess--but still fun. "Collect on Death" was a solid premise, but I'm not sure the ending is entirely clean. Our antihero was supposedly lured out to the middle of the desert by his girlfriend's brother--more than a day's walk to anywhere--on the same evening that he killed his girlfriend. So how did the brother get more than a day's walk into the desert in just a few hours? I suppose someone could have dropped him off, but that would have involved another person who would have agreed to drop him off to his death in the desert, and who knows what other complications. It seems likely that the brother would have acted alone, and in that case, the timeline just doesn't work. Last minute thought: I guess the brother could have driven himself into the desert and then disabled his own car, but we don't see anything to that effect. "The Water World" is marginally more plausible, although the water doesn't really LOOK so "chrystal" [sic] clear as to mistake hundreds of feet for a few feet of depth--but ok, whatever. I was not disappointed by Boyette's art for "Death of the Wizard," it fell nicely into his area of medieval expertise, but the story itself seemed awfully slight for the death of Merlin. Is Merlin being turned into a tree part of the existing Arthurian legend, or just Boyette's embellishment? I would expect something more epic, more tragic, more spectacular than that Merlin just allowed himself to be turned into a tree because he was sad about Arthur. "Harvest of Horror" wasn't a particularly weighty tale either, but having three alternate endings was kind of a fun twist in and of itself--and Frank Brunner's art put this one over the top as the highlight of the issue for me. "The Dragon Prow" had a pretty good plot--I tend to like "don't know they are dead" stories--and this one turned that trope into a twist that made a typical revenge tale into an anticlimactic disappointment. The writing was kind of stilted though, with annoyingly persistent use of the past perfect tense--I did grow tired of reading what he did write. Although there were a lot of competent new artists showcased in this issue, Gary Kaufman's art for "Mad Jack's Girl" is probably my favorite of all the new artists. Some of it was marked by extreme contrasts, and he spent little time filling in unnecessary background details--so much so that some of the artistic elements appeared to be just hanging in space, suspended by nothing. The story itself was more psychological than supernatural in its horror, ranging from sociopathic to psychopathic, but that makes it all the more possible. Overall, this probably isn't an issue I would give to someone experiencing Warren magazines for the first time, but it's not terrible and it features a LOT of new contributors--so it has that going for it. I wouldn't expect an issue with so much newness to be spectacular--and it's really not bad for the influx of talent it represents.

Live look-in at the CGC Apology Center:

Agreed. The sun shines everywhere.

If we could see every defect ourselves, we wouldn't need the professionals to see them for us. If the professionals say it's creased, it's creased.

I wish I had the money to do the fading experiment with this book too; then we could trust science instead of opinion.