OtherEric

Today's books, the Daffy and the Daisy & Donald are pretty trashed but the others are pretty nice:

Welcome to the club! Be warned, they're quite addictive if you're not careful!

That's very impressive. But I could also see that looking like an absolute steal a few years from now, as well.

Corben was doing underground comix concurrently with his early Warren stuff. This came out about an year later, for instance:

I'm generally highly skeptical of any club that would have me as a member, but... The Mandrake was in fact picked up from the dollar bin a few weeks ago:

In today. I think this is the last I need for Moore's Supreme-related work, unless I decide to track down variant covers for some odd reason:

Given the quick response on the Tom & Jerry’s , I’m wondering if anyone has a very low grade Black Hole #4 they want to find a good home for. It’s the last of the rare ones that actually goes to a title I collect, rather than me grabbing the issue when I see them. I do collect the earlier Uncle Scrooge issues, but once Barks leaves I’m not trying for all of them. Buck Rogers, Looney Tunes, and Super Goof I’m good on. Even if the Super Goof #61 cost 9000 times more than the #1. (Not kidding on the difference!)

Since I brought up the story, here's the cover of Shock Supsenstories #9, featuring "Carrion Death". Some interior panels are even more obvious riffs on the story, but this gives you an idea:

Eerie #32 thoughts: Cover: A solid beauty & the beast type cover by Corben. I can't say I'm a fan of the inset either, @Axe Elf, but this one doesn't bug me much either. Monster Gallery: Clif Jackson seems to be pretty good on the single page illos, going for the Williamson/ Krenkel/ Frazetta style. Not as good as any of them, but pretty impressive for early efforts. Superhero: A fun little story with great art by Sutton. I particularly like Cousin Eerie introducing the story from a neighboring rooftop. Minus points to the index for so completely spoiling the twist, though. The Waking of the Hawk: A nicely pulpy script by Gardner Fox. This is Clif Jackson's only full story for Warren, I believe, and at least to my eyes a lot of whatever it was he brought to it was subsumed by what Syd Shores contributed. Decent art overall, but not useful in figuring out anything about the artist. Which is too bad, since their single page contributions have been interesting. The Wailing Tower: Not impressed with this one. The art is solid, but the twist sits very wrong with me for some reason. I may not agree with somebody's faith but I do try to respect everyone's faith, and this one seems to either be suggesting that those of a different faith are either evil or the other faiths are subsumed. Not a good look either way. Bookworm: A solid story with a lot to like about the art, but there are way, way too many panels where the heads or hands seem enormous relative to the bodies. Which works stylistically with Quesley but not with Galsworth. But there's still a lot of what we love about Corben's art in small doses, with the close-ups and the last couple pages looking better than the rest of the story. I Fell For You: The index misidentifies the writer as "John Wolley", which leads to him getting identified as a new writer in Eerie #41, which has his only other Warren work. He has about a half page of credits at the GDC, including the comic adaptation of "Plan 9 from Outer Space." The story has a twist so ludicrous I'm calling this the comedy filler story of the issue, but it works pretty well in that role. I suppose it's worth noting that we've been getting the comedy change of pace in the middle of the issue for a bit now, and it really does seem to work to round out the issue. They're rarely very much on their own but they do wonders for the general balance of a book. Soul Power: The story is blatantly borrowing from the EC classic "Carrion Death" in Shock Suspenstories #9 for its central image. But it manages to put its own twist on it and works quite well. Ice World: If "Soul Power" borrowed from one of the best EC stories, this one is a bad twist on one of their stock plots that doesn't even manage its own internal logic. To put it mildly, this one left me cold. So, a bit of a let-down from the last few issues, but still a decent overall package.

My collection of Planet Comics remains at 0 issues still... Just hit 50 issues of Planet Stories, at least:

There's always the Digital Comic Museum for everybody lacking a raw copy: https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=23407

Flash Gordon first appeared January 7, 1934. Happy Birthday, Flash! I don't want to just post it here, but I commend your attention to today's strip: https://comicskingdom.com/flash-gordon/2024-01-07

The digest is out of my range, but the House of Fury paperback really is still quite affordable, I should get one before it goes crazy...

If they're hole punched in binders, they're not worth much. If they're in the official printed binders, and held in by bars, they might be worth more. If they are the official binders, those might be worth as much or more than some of the magazines themselves.

Well, even I had "Sticks and Stones" as the change of pace filler, reading it as a comedy piece for being so ridiculous. I realize I want to clarify my comment about this being a candidate for best issue: I really don't think it is the actual best, just that it's earned a place as an also ran in the discussion. Since he's not writing many stories, we're not really noticing Goodwin's editing that much. But I think he's been doing a very impressive job balancing the issues. You could argue that the issue could have started with one of the stronger stories, but putting the weakest one in the middle and ending with two very strong pieces leaving you wanting the next issue is going a long way to improving the overall reaction one has to the book. And I really don't want to mark "The Cosmic All" down too much for not being quite as good as "The Curse". I'm not sure "The Curse" would make my list of 100 all time greatest comic stories if I ever tried to sit down and create such a list... but it's one that I would easily nod and agree with if it turned up on somebody else's all time list. It's probably my choice for favorite story first published by Warren based on what I've actually read so far. (If I had to include stories that Warren reprinted, I would probably put "Plaster of Paris" over "The Curse", but we won't get to that one for a long time yet.)

Something I missed in my write-up on Creepy #38, Steve Leialoha has an illustration on the fan page. Although he only does one story for Warren, in the early 80's, he's got thousands of credits at the GCD, mostly inking but with a lot of penciling as well. Definitely worth mentioning.

At the risk that I'm missing the obvious asking this, why don't people add the books to the GCD instead of posting them here?

Found in a dollar bin a couple weeks ago:

Sorry I'm late, holidays got in the way a bit. Creepy #38 thoughts: A charming little bats and axe murderer piece. For some reason, I keep wanting to assign this to Corben, not Kelly... I think it's the eyes. Loathsome Lore: Clif Jackson seems to have about 8 credits at the GCD, all but one for Warren, all but one of those single pages. This first page seems pretty solid, at least. Wooden Cross: Nothing earth shattering, but a solid opener with nice art by Buckler. The Vengeance of the Hanged: Again, a solid story with nothing much to actually say about it. Sticks and Stones to Break their Bones: Stu Schwartzburg's only full story for Warren, although he had some cartoons in Help! earlier. Most of his work seems to be in humor books like Crazy, Cracked, and Not Brand Echh. This story has a horror/ humor mix that feels like it could have fit well in DC's Plop!. A decent short filler. The Way Home: A solid story, but the art by Royer doesn't really work for me... it looks like he drew a super clean cut protagonist and then added stubble in every panel. Sleepwalker: I think this is Gerry Conway's first Warren story, he only does a handful for Warren but has over 6000 writing credits as the GCD. Even with lots of reprints, that's impressive. Royer's art job is spectacular here, unlike his first story in the issue. Secret of the Haunted Room: Ernie Colon is another of the artists I never properly appreciated before the reading group started. Just stunning work here. The Cosmic All: The issue goes out on an absolute stunner by Wally Wood. It's not quite the classic "The Curse" was, but it's still extraordinary. This is one of the best issues in quite a while, starting with several solid stories and ending with three absolutely amazing ones. Maybe even a candidate for best issue we've seen yet. Oh, I've mentioned it elsewhere, but it's worth nothing here, as well: I now have all of the issues needed for the Reading Club, barring the already passed Eerie #1.

Nice one, there's a John D. MacDonald backup story in there as well.

Swipe file time! Pretty sure the same source was used for some other Fiction House pulps, as well:

In today. This puts me at exactly 50 issues of Planet Stories, 21 to go!

Happy New Year to all here!