OtherEric

I hadn't noticed that, but you're not wrong, Foggy. I wonder if it was deliberate.

I wouldn't have blamed you if you had moved it, @Axe Elf, since there's was a decent reason to do so with the holiday. But yes, I have my write-up ready to go, as I generally do. Although, as usual, it gets tweaked a little when I see your initial thoughts. Creepy #16 thoughts: Cover: I've been trying very hard to keep my "This cover is perfect" type comments in the reading group to a minimum, which is not always easy with Frazetta. And it gets boring calling every one a masterpiece. With that said, this cover is perfect and a masterpiece. Loathsome Lore: This marks Gil Kane's second and final work for Warren. Like I said before, it's a shame he didn't do more. But it's fun that he's on the list of Warren creators, at least. A Curse of Claws: I could be completely wrong, but it feels like the story was written after Goodwin saw the cover. (We know that was not an unusual pattern in later Warren books, there's at least a few issue with multiple stories based on one cover.) I think the story feels a little shallow, for lack of a better word, because of that... but it's solid work by Goodwin & Adams for what it is. A very well done but fundamentally minor story is perhaps the best way to describe my reaction. Frozen Fear: Again, very well done, this time by Goodwin & Crandall... but the twist feels slighly by the numbers to me. Angel of Doom: Jones was always a magnificent artist, even here in her first professional story. But I'm not sure it was ever the best fit for typical sequential comic book stories, and it feels like Goodwin may have felt the same. It feels like there's a LOT of text and dialogue pulling a fair bit of weight explaining the images. The Frankenstein Tradition: Excellent stuff from Mastroserio here, illustrating a solid piece from Goodwin. There Was an Old Lady: Sal Trapani was an extremely prolific artist, he has over 1000 entries at the Grand Comic Database. This was the first of a handful of Warren stories they did. I can't find any other credits for Daniel Bubacz at the GCD, I suspect this is another example of Goodwin adapting a Fan Club story. It's actually a pretty solid story. Haunted Castle: A very effective little piece by Goodwin & Nodel, with Nodel impressing me on art duties far more than his earlier Warren work. The Sands that Change: Here we get somebody other than Goodwin writing the piece for Ditko. I actually really like the conceit of the story, but apparently Ditko didn't. It's less impressive than his normal Warren work, but still high quality. Neither Dimond nor Bisson had a huge comic book career, but they did a handful of stories for Warren, and Bisson later went on to be a successful SF/ Fantasy writer who has won the Hugo and Nebula. Overall, a very strong issue all the way through, although it lacks a standout story to put it quite in the top tier of issues we've seen so far.

Not a lot to add, but loving the activity in the thread today!

Oh, and another reason I would trust Stout to sketch a Panic #6 if the opportunity presented:

The 20 has several dents that knock it down, as well as some yellowing on the back cover. It's a prime candidate for a clean & press if I was into that. The 28 has a small paper pull on the spine... maybe 2x3 mm at most?... as well as some staining on the back. The 25 has several dents, and on the back there is some ink transfer and a fairly serious dust shadow. The thing is, MCS doesn't charge 8.0 prices for their 4.5... they charge 4.5 prices. I guess they feel on lower value books it's better to have high churn and no returns for overgrading. The model seems to work quite well for them. The 20 is stunning for a black cover, that's for sure.

Today's book. Last issue I needed for the Shock Suspenstories run, although even by my low standards I would like to upgrade my #5. The #5 is getting trickier these days, though, so I'm very glad I snagged my filler copy when I did. Next project: See how much headway I can make on Weird Science & Weird Fantasy. And maybe even look for a few more pre-trend books.

Today's book. I love the EC riff of the cover design, Weird Science-Fantasy doesn't get riffed as often as the horror books do.

MCS VG's across the board. Lots of technical flaws that add up... they're not as crazy under graded as some books I've gotten from MCS... but still probably closer to 5.5 than 4.0, and they all present above their technical grade.

And the effort to keep well ahead of the reading club continues. 7 more issues and I'm good through June 2023:

And, since apparently everybody with a copy is required to post theirs here:

It’s a thing that I did not make up.

Nothing wrong with it at all, although it can be a good idea to say thread necromancy or something similar so people know you’re doing it on purpose.

So, I tried going back to an earlier source, the March 1955 issue of Beauty Parade, which has Bettie pictured & named multiple times, including the centerfold. She's named "Betty" once and "Bettie" twice, so apparently the confusion is nothing remotely new. I haven't scanned the Bettie pages, but here's the cover for you to enjoy, at least:

Most I've ever spent on a comic was $725, so yeah, I can't think of $2000 being a deal for me personally. But I understand that in the current market it really is a steal... I'll stick with the copy I got decades ago for around $10. Not high grade, but not a dog either. Side note: I can't think of a single other comic using a similar background color. I could spot this one from a mile away just by that.

Certainly not impossible. It's also possible that even if the creators were still enthused, they were just reaching the limits of this particular approach. 25 magazines means there have been 150 or so stories so far. Once Warren gets past the crunch, the three main books will all wind up going in different directions to some degree, whereas right now Creepy and Eerie are pretty interchangeable.

I think you do. It's fairly close, though. I'm glad I went looking for a high grade scan, though... it really does pop nicely if the cover is properly white.

Yay for the mini milestone. Thank you for keeping this running, @Axe Elf. I've been enjoying it a lot. Eerie #10 thoughts: Cover: A nice design by Morrow that, for better or worse, relied on a blinding white background to really pop... and most copies these days don't have that blinding white. Here's a scan swiped from heritage, I can see how this must have been amazing on the stands. But my copy just doesn't have that effect any more. Would love to see if anybody here has a high grade copy to share. Monster Gallery: Krenkel is amazing, it's not his fault we expect a three way fight with Hulk & Wolverine when we hear Wendigo these days. Warrior of Death: Nice art by Ditko, nice twist in the story by Goodwin. The Slugs: I find myself underwhelmed with the style Orlando used for this, but it suits the piece well. Another case of my appreciating the craft on the story and art while not particularly liking it as such. I did enjoy it more than Orlando's Adam Link work, though. It!: A very good story from Goodwin, playing the twist in the title perfectly. The art was good but not Adkins' best... he was trying a bit too hard to do his Wood imitation, I think. Voodoo Drum: It's interesting seeing Adams pencils, but I don't think it serves this particular story terribly well. I wonder why it wasn't inked, unless this is our first example of Adams' famous deadline crunch issues. House of Fiends: We've established that I'm not fond of Grandenetti's style, and this has less of his impressive craft moments to keep me interested. The design of the EEEEEEEE on the bottom of the second page is spectacular, though. For the Birds: Nice art by Colan, but I think Goodwin correctly identified his ---script with the title. This issue left me a bit cold, but it was mostly me, not the actual work done. Maybe I was in the wrong mood when I read it, maybe it's just one of those issues where not much happens to click with me as a reader, maybe it's partly the order of stories... I don't think anything else lived up to the Ditko/ Goodwin opener.

I see what you did there...

Just bought a Dracula Lives #5 from Richard. Great communication, fast turnaround time, book looks amazing. Would buy from again in a heartbeat.

In today, courtesy of @apocalypse76. Down to just needing #9 for the run.

https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=14797 I assume you're familiar with the scan, @Yorick, given that you said the interiors stood out. It's mostly for others who are interested.

The man was brilliant. Go watch some of his clips if you haven't seen them before.