The 10 Magazine Keys.

[Jayman]

Here's my picks for the top 10 comic mag keys:

 

1. Creepy #1 (First Warren comic mag)

2. Vampirella #1 (Origin and first appearance Vampirella)

3. Savage Tales #1 (First appearance of Man-Thing)

4. Mad #24 (First issue in magazine format)

5. Shock Illustrated #3 (Only 100 known copies according to OSPG)

6. Blazing Combat #1 (Frazetta)

7. Vampirella Annual #1 (New Origin Vampirella)

8. Nightmare #1 (Skywald, popular series)

9. Psycho #1 (Skywald, popular series)

10. Heavy Metal #1 (Popular long lasting Sci-Fi/Fantasy title)

 

I stayed with American mags and chose not to include

Eerie #1 since that is considered an ashcan.

 

Honerable mentions:

Savage Sword of Conan #1 (Popular long lasting title)

Eerie #17 (HTF low distribution issue)

Web of Horror #3 (First Berni Wrightson cover)

 

Also would like to mention the Gothic Tales of Love series.

Not sure if these mags contained comic art or not though,

I believe it was mostly text with spot illustrations.

Anyone know for sure?

[Mutant Manatee]

Excellent list, Jayman!

 

I would probably include Eerie #1 myself. Although it is borderline as a "magazine", I don't really consider it an ashcan as there were 1,000 copies printed.

 

I would probably include the two Spectacular Spider-Man issues too. I think the second one was in color.

[Jayman]

I hear you on the Eerie #1 (and I wouldn't mind having one myself) but it was printed to establish the copyright for the title Eerie and that is the function of an ashcan.

Not sure the amount that ran off the press changes the fact but I could be wrong.

[Boba]

Here's an odd one that often sells in the $300-450 range on ebay (in fact this one is $450 BIN).

 

 

[Mutant Manatee]

I should know that significance of that Print magazine but I'm drawing a blank.

 

Does it perhaps contain an article by Max Gaines? (Or about Max Gaines?)

[Boba]

I COPIED THIS FROM THE LISTING:

 

Gaines's contribution to the Spring, 1942 issue is the famous Narrative Illustration: The Story of the Comics, in which he links the comic books of the 20th Century to a tradition extending back to prehistoric cave paintings, and as far back in printed books as the 15th Century. There are numerous black and white illustrations in the article, including reproductions of the early works just mentioned as well as samples from Winsor MacKay, F.B. Opper, Max und Moritz, Terry and the Pirates, and the cover for the then unpublished Wonder Woman Number 1, which Gaines co-created with William Marston under the pseudonym "Charles Moulton". The article is also illustrated with two comic inserts in full color - The Minuteman Answers The Call, originally intended to promote the sales of War Bonds, and Picture Stories From the Bible. Picture Stories had originally appeared as a series of ten in the Sunday Herald and different extracts appeared with this article in its reprinted form - the one included this printing is Jonah and the Whale. (Picture Stories would be the only property from Gaines's company All-American Comics which he would retain when he sold it and later formed EC). One of the interesting design aspects of Print as a periodical was its use of different papers when preparing illustrations for its articles - another article in this issue, on Braille writing, has a stiff paper insert with the Braille alphabet on it, for example. The color comics pages inserted here were printed on typical paper used for comics in the day...

 

Gaines's second contribution to Print came in the next issue, which did not appear until Autumn 1943, more than a year after the preceding issue. By now the strains of WWII were being felt in the magazine industry as well as everywhere else in the economy - in a letter from publisher William Edwin Rudge laid into the front of this issue he apologizes both for its being late and in a "simpler format", but pledges to "continue publication in the face of every present difficulty" (although this was not to be - the next issue of Print did not actually appear until two years later, after the war had ended). Although a color comics insert is not included with Gaines's article Good Triumphs Over Evil : More on the Comics, it is illustrated with a color plate on the title theme, taken from an oil painting done by an apprentice in Gaines's shop. While the first article covered the history of the comics, this one details the full process involved in producing a comic book in 1943 - illustrated with small black and white reproductions of a page of original -script, the pencilled draft for the page and the final inked-in version, all taken from Wonder Woman Number 7. There are also three photos showing the engraving, printing and binding shops Gaines's company used for production...

 

In fairness to the seller, here's the link to the listing:

 

Print Quarterly on ebay

 

[jjonahjameson1]

Hi, Folk;

 

Long-time reader, de-lurking to add my list to the discussion:

 

My Top 10

 

1.MAD #24 (1st Mag format, made far more popular than its comic predecessor all the while working outside of the comics code. This is the Action #1 of the Comics Magazines. Not sure how this one isn't the top key on everyone's list, but different strokes for different folks, i suppose)

 

2. Creepy #1 (This title's success resulted in additional Warren titles such as Blazing Combat, EERIE, Vampirella, etc. and let's not forget the incredible array of artists that contributed some of the finest artwork of their careers.)

 

3. Vampirella #1 (Let the Bad-girl craze begin!)

 

4. Savage Tales #1 (Mature title, 1st app/Origin of Man-thing, Conan by BWS and sales strong enough to spawn one of the longest running B&W mags - Savage Sword of Conan. Let the Sword and Sorcery craze begin!)

 

5. Savage Sword of Conan #1 (long running title and lots of good art by Buscema et. al.)

 

6. Dracula Lives #2 (1st Origin of Dracula, with art by Neal Adams! Starlin art as well. Wayyyyy undervalued in the Guide)

 

7. Shock Illustrated #1 (boy, this awesome EC Picto-Fiction Mag has it all: Juvenille Delenquency, Drug abuse (heroin), prostitution, wife swapping, and the entire issue was illustrated by Jack Kamen. If there was ever a Mag to celebrate in its existance outside of the Comic Code, this is it!)

 

8. Marvel Comics Super Special #1 (Made with real KISS blood. 'nuff said)

 

9. Spectacular Spiderman #1 (Marvel's first B&W superhero mag. Sure, it only lasted two issues, but they were wonderful, and at the very least, Marvel secured a title for another Spidey book launched 7 years later)

 

10. Marvel Preview #2 (1st Origin of the Punisher. A great book and wonderful Origin to a very popular character in the Marvel Universe)

 

Notables:

 

1. Pussycat #1(Perhaps Marvel's 1st foray in seeking/responding to their maturing audience base. Or perhaps an attempt to see if cartoon sexiness would sell for them?)

 

2. Vampirella Annual #1 (Origin)

 

3. Monsters to Laugh With #1 (I believe this was Marvel's first attempt at B&W mags, circa 1964?)

 

4. The Spirit #1 (Warren). This title re-introduced the character, and the genius of Will Eisner to a whole new generation of comics fan, and had a fairly lengthy run

 

Question Marks:

 

1. Didn't know if TMNT #1 is a mag or comic or what so I left it off the list. If its considered a mag, I'd have to place it #2 or #3 on the list

 

2.Same for Cerebus #1. Is it a comic or a magazine? If its a magazine, I'd have to list it just behind the Ninja Turtles

 

Questionables:

1. I noticed some folks listed Skywald titles in their top 10. Why? It can't be because of the art, which was mostly aweful most of the time to barely passable on occassion. Was it the writing? Dreck. Was it the endearing recurring characters? Feh, nothing notable there. So why do you guys think any Skywald book should be on the list?

 

2. EERIE #1 ashcan. This isn't a mag nor is it the first Warren comics-type mag so why is it on the list?

[Jayman]

Questionables:

1. I noticed some folks listed Skywald titles in their top 10. Why? It can't be because of the art, which was mostly aweful most of the time to barely passable on occassion. Was it the writing? Dreck. Was it the endearing recurring characters? Feh, nothing notable there. So why do you guys think any Skywald book should be on the list?

 

Are you kidding? Al Hewetson introduced the "Horror-Mood". The writing had a different take on the more traditional fare that Warren was putting out. More psychological horror dealing with madness and lunacy, very disturbing stuff. With talent like Bill Everett, Ralph Reese, Don Heck, Pablo Marcos, Syd Shores, Tom Sutton, Marv Wolfman not to mention the super covers by Boris Vallejo and John Byrne's first professional work.

 

Heweston also introduced the writings and concepts of H.P. Lovecraft to a new generation of readers with his "Shoggoth" series. Lots of great ongoing stories like The Human Gargoyles, Nosferatu, and of course The Victims.

 

Skywald not being able to always hire the big names in the business at the time used a stable of Latin-American artists, some of which were extremely talented and drew some fabulous stories. They along with the talent mentioned earlier makes your comment "mostly aweful most of the time to barely passable" ridiculous IMHO!

 

In short, Skywald was around long enough to influence, showcase, and introduce a number of talented artists and writers thereby establishing themselves as one of the more memorable horror mags of the '70s.

 

[jjonahjameson1]

Are you kidding? Al Hewetson introduced the "Horror-Mood". The writing had a different take on the more traditional fare that Warren was putting out. More psychological horror dealing with madness and lunacy, very disturbing stuff. With talent like Bill Everett, Ralph Reese, Don Heck, Pablo Marcos, Syd Shores, Tom Sutton, Marv Wolfman not to mention the super covers by Boris Vallejo and John Byrne's first professional work.

 

Heweston also introduced the writings and concepts of H.P. Lovecraft to a new generation of readers with his "Shoggoth" series. Lots of great ongoing stories like The Human Gargoyles, Nosferatu, and of course The Victims.

 

Skywald not being able to always hire the big names in the business at the time used a stable of Latin-American artists, some of which were extremely talented and drew some fabulous stories. They along with the talent mentioned earlier makes your comment "mostly aweful most of the time to barely passable" ridiculous IMHO!

 

In short, Skywald was around long enough to influence, showcase, and introduce a number of talented artists and writers thereby establishing themselves as one of the more memorable horror mags of the '70s.

 

Jayman, its obvious from your responses that you're very passionate about the Skywalds, and more power to you for loving those mags as you do. But rather than speak about the entire line of Skywald Mags, is there one particular title or issue that you see as more relevant/key than the top ten list of individual issues I put together?

 

Now with regard to your rebuttal points:

 

Skywald talent...um yeah, Syd Shores? Pablo Marcos, Don Heck? C'mon brother, if that's the cream of the crop at Skywald, then our taste in artists is clearly different. Oh, and speak to Marv Wolfman and John Byrne and they will confirm their work for Skywald was dreck. Please, ask them in person if you don't want to take my word for it.

 

I'll give you points on the Boris covers, but how many did he do for Skywald, maybe 5 covers? Are any of them considered keys or designated as 'classic' covers?

 

Endearing/recurring characters - lets assume that the ones you've listed have universal appeal. Again, is there a specific issue that you would place higher than my top 10 list? Which title/issue?

 

Latin American artists - "Skywald not being able to always hire the big names in the business at the time used a stable of Latin-American artists, some of which were extremely talented and drew some fabulous stories. They along with the talent mentioned earlier makes your comment "mostly aweful most of the time to barely passable" ridiculous IMHO"

 

Your quote/response actually further validates my point. As you say, Skywald couldn't afford the big names so they had to hire second and third stringers from Latin America, none of which were as good as American 1st, second or third stringers.

 

Impact of Skywald - Again, I have to disagree with your comment of "In short, Skywald was around long enough to influence, showcase, and introduce a number of talented artists and writers thereby establishing themselves as one of the more memorable horror mags of the '70s"

 

Other than Byrne (who was already gaining recognition with his artistic contributions in CPL), which 'talented artist and writers' did Skywald introduce? And please don't say Marv Wolfman, because he was already get short story gigs at DC.

[precodekeith]

Questionables:

1. I noticed some folks listed Skywald titles in their top 10. Why? It can't be because of the art, which was mostly aweful most of the time to barely passable on occassion. Was it the writing? Dreck. Was it the endearing recurring characters? Feh, nothing notable there. So why do you guys think any Skywald book should be on the list?

 

I repsect your personal opinion that no Skywald deserves a Top 10 listing, but I don't agree with your complete panning of the line. The Skywald mags had a far reaching effect, just look at the threads here in the mag section. Let's not forget the "Skywald Horror Mood" book published a couple years ago by Headpress. You don't get a nice coffee table book published like that without some type of market for it.

 

As for creators, I don't agree with your disrespect for the foreign artists. When you have a market flooded by product, the bigger publishers are always going to monopolize the domestic talent. Basically, you are saying the art was somehow inferior because it was foreign.

 

As for creators, here's a list of some who I find quite apt:

 

Al Hewetson - Cutting edge writing that brought much more of a 70's "zeitgeist" to comics, and HPL to the medium.

 

Doug Moench- Good writer, IMO. Decent comics career.

 

Augustine Funnel - Good writer, went on to write novels & shorts.

 

Bill Everett, Tom Sutton, Pablo Marcos, Maelo Cintron, Domingo Gomez, Gene Day- to name a few. All artists whom I quite enjoy, IMO.

 

 

 

[Jayman]

Jayman, its obvious from your responses that you're very passionate about the Skywalds, and more power to you for loving those mags as you do. But rather than speak about the entire line of Skywald Mags, is there one particular title or issue that you see as more relevant/key than the top ten list of individual issues I put together?

 

Well that goes back to my including the first issues of Nightmare and Psycho in my top 10 list. I'd put both these issues above:

Dracula Lives #2 (1st Origin of Dracula) Not a new character

Marvel Comics Super Special #1 (Made with real KISS blood. 'nuff said) I guess if you liked KISS

Spectacular Spiderman #1 (Marvel's first B&W superhero mag) The Skywalds beat this out on longevity and talent

 

And again my reasoning is they are #1s of titles that influenced, showcased, and introduced a number of talented artists and writers thereby establishing themselves as one of the more memorable horror mags of the '70s. I still stand by that statement.

 

Now with regard to your rebuttal points:

 

Skywald talent...um yeah, Syd Shores? Pablo Marcos, Don Heck? C'mon brother, if that's the cream of the crop at Skywald, then our taste in artists is clearly different. Oh, and speak to Marv Wolfman and John Byrne and they will confirm their work for Skywald was dreck. Please, ask them in person if you don't want to take my word for it.

 

I love Heck and Marcos! Why leave out Everett? Also you could add Wrightson, Jeff Jones, Bruce Jones, and Ken Kelly to the list of Skywald talent. I really could care less about Byrne but a first prof. work notation is there none-the-less. (to some Byrne fans Nightmare #20 is a key book )

 

I'll give you points on the Boris covers, but how many did he do for Skywald, maybe 5 covers? Are any of them considered keys or designated as 'classic' covers?

 

I think he did about 4 or 5 and are you asking if OSPG notates if these are classic covers? I don't think so but I think they are. Don't forget the terrific Jeff Jones, Ken Kelly and Sebastia Boada covers too!

 

Endearing/recurring characters - lets assume that the ones you've listed have universal appeal. Again, is there a specific issue that you would place higher than my top 10 list? Which title/issue?

 

Skywald did not really stand out because of enduring characters. There were no "secret origin" issues or major "death of a character" issues that would make any of their mags be added to a top 10 list. Although "The Saga of the Victims" has been given TPB status.

 

Latin American artists - "Skywald not being able to always hire the big names in the business at the time used a stable of Latin-American artists, some of which were extremely talented and drew some fabulous stories. They along with the talent mentioned earlier makes your comment "mostly aweful most of the time to barely passable" ridiculous IMHO"

 

Your quote/response actually further validates my point. Not at all. As you say, Skywald couldn't afford the big names so they had to hire second and third stringers other talent from Latin America, none of which were as good as American 1st, second or third stringers.

 

I beg to differ on that last response, go flip through some Skywalds, there was some great artwork from these "2nd and 3rd stringers" that would rival some American artists. But I do realize the Skywalds had their share of dreck mixed in, nobody's perfect.

 

Impact of Skywald - Again, I have to disagree with your comment of "In short, Skywald was around long enough to influence, showcase, and introduce a number of talented artists and writers thereby establishing themselves as one of the more memorable horror mags of the '70s"

 

Now I ask you why? As I said I stand by that statement and it is the reason I included the two #1 issues in my top 10. Innovatine horror stories (for their time), some of the best artists (American and Latin-American), Just the fact that Skywald could even compete with Warren for the few years it was published is amazing and shows it had legs for a while!

 

Other than Byrne (who was already gaining recognition with his artistic contributions in CPL), which 'talented artist and writers' did Skywald introduce? And please don't say Marv Wolfman, because he was already get short story gigs at DC.

 

Technically speaking, that probably was it. Again, I really could care less about the Byrne notation myself but it's there. We will just have to agree to disagree I guess. I was old enough to pick these mags up off the stands as they came out. I loved them then and I love 'em now, that coupled with stories that were different and that covered Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe along with some beautiful artwork and great covers...they make my top 10.

[Jayman]

Skywald talent...um yeah, Syd Shores? Pablo Marcos, Don Heck? C'mon brother, if that's the cream of the crop at Skywald, then our taste in artists is clearly different.

 

Call me different then, here's a piece of OA in my collection. It's the back cover full page ad (sans text) from Dracula Lives #5 by Pablo Marcos.

The ad was reused in different Marvel mags in their interiors after that. This look and style was similar as to what appeared in the Skywald mags.

 

[ArAich]

Geez...who can dislike Pablo Marcus???...

 

[Cimm]

 

...just a random cover by one of those "second or third stringers" (Prieto Muriana)...

[Cimm]

 

... and some interior art by more "second and third stringers"... this time Pat Boyette (#!), and Ramon Torrents (#2)...

 

#1

 

#2

[Boba]

lurker smoked by the skywalders

[The Troll King]

lurker smoked by the skywalders

 

 

I guess I won't try to voice my support for Stanley's

[jjonahjameson1]

lurker smoked by the skywalders

 

Hey, Bob-a-loo, sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm fairly busy during the week and will reply shortly. A few samples of the best of the best of Skywald is still a far cry from the best of the best of Warren artwork or EC mag artwork.

[jjonahjameson1]

Jayman, its obvious from your responses that you're very passionate about the Skywalds, and more power to you for loving those mags as you do. But rather than speak about the entire line of Skywald Mags, is there one particular title or issue that you see as more relevant/key than the top ten list of individual issues I put together?

 

Well that goes back to my including the first issues of Nightmare and Psycho in my top 10 list. I'd put both these issues above: Good Lord, Man, Psycho #1 is all reprints! How is all-reprints more key than any of the 3 mags below? Dracula Lives #2 (1st Origin of Dracula) Not a new character True, not a new character, but a very significant character nonetheless with TWO magazine titles devoted to him in the 70s, and a bi-monthly comic lasting 70 issues.

Marvel Comics Super Special #1 (Made with real KISS blood. 'nuff said) I guess if you liked KISS

Spectacular Spiderman #1 (Marvel's first B&W superhero mag) The Skywalds beat this out on longevity and talent Sorry, but they do not beat this out on talent. You are definately in the minority on that one.

 

And again my reasoning is they are #1s of titles that influenced, showcased, and introduced a number of talented artists and writers thereby establishing themselves as one of the more memorable horror mags of the '70s. I still stand by that statement. and yet you've only cited one or two names of 'talented' folks that were actually introduced in Skywald mags, and then you went on to re-neg on one of them (Byrne)

Now with regard to your rebuttal points:

 

Skywald talent...um yeah, Syd Shores? Pablo Marcos, Don Heck? C'mon brother, if that's the cream of the crop at Skywald, then our taste in artists is clearly different. Oh, and speak to Marv Wolfman and John Byrne and they will confirm their work for Skywald was dreck. Please, ask them in person if you don't want to take my word for it.

 

I love Heck and Marcos! Why leave out Everett? Also you could add Wrightson, Jeff Jones, Bruce Jones, and Ken Kelly to the list of Skywald talent. I really could care less about Byrne but a first prof. work notation is there none-the-less. (to some Byrne fans Nightmare #20 is a key book )I left Everett out because I thought he was one of the best during the 30s and 40s, a talented artist in the 50s and early 60s, but his talent was severly diminished due to alcoholism by the time he worked on Skywald. He was certainly their best 'regular' artist, but a shadow of his former self.

I'll give you points on the Boris covers, but how many did he do for Skywald, maybe 5 covers? Are any of them considered keys or designated as 'classic' covers?

 

I think he did about 4 or 5 and are you asking if OSPG notates if these are classic covers? I don't think so but I think they are. Don't forget the terrific Jeff Jones, Ken Kelly and Sebastia Boada covers too! They were not as good as their Warren work. Sorry

Endearing/recurring characters - lets assume that the ones you've listed have universal appeal. Again, is there a specific issue that you would place higher than my top 10 list? Which title/issue?

 

Skywald did not really stand out because of enduring characters. There were no "secret origin" issues or major "death of a character" issues that would make any of their mags be added to a top 10 list. Although "The Saga of the Victims" has been given TPB status.

 

Latin American artists - "Skywald not being able to always hire the big names in the business at the time used a stable of Latin-American artists, some of which were extremely talented and drew some fabulous stories. They along with the talent mentioned earlier makes your comment "mostly aweful most of the time to barely passable" ridiculous IMHO"

 

Your quote/response actually further validates my point. Not at all. As you say, Skywald couldn't afford the big names so they had to hire second and third stringers other talent from Latin America, none of which were as good as American 1st, second or third stringers.

 

I beg to differ on that last response, go flip through some Skywalds, there was some great artwork from these "2nd and 3rd stringers" that would rival some American artists. But I do realize the Skywalds had their share of dreck mixed in, nobody's perfect. I have flipped through 2 dozen Skywalds and I'm sorry, but I still don't see your point being valid

Impact of Skywald - Again, I have to disagree with your comment of "In short, Skywald was around long enough to influence, showcase, and introduce a number of talented artists and writers thereby establishing themselves as one of the more memorable horror mags of the '70s"

 

Now I ask you why? As I said I stand by that statement and it is the reason I included the two #1 issues in my top 10. Innovatine horror stories (for their time), some of the best artists (American and Latin-American), Just the fact that Skywald could even compete with Warren for the few years it was published is amazing and shows it had legs for a while! The sole reason why Skywald was able to 'compete' with Warren was due to their low costs (production, artists, writers) As you mentioned, they couldn't pay as much as Warren so the Skywalds survived as long as they did because of the lower cost of producing their Mags. It would have truly been an interesting publishing environment had Skywald been able to compete with Warren on page rates for talent, but we'll never know what could have been.

Other than Byrne (who was already gaining recognition with his artistic contributions in CPL), which 'talented artist and writers' did Skywald introduce? And please don't say Marv Wolfman, because he was already get short story gigs at DC.

 

Technically speaking, that probably was it. Again, I really could care less about the Byrne notation myself but it's there. We will just have to agree to disagree I guess. I was old enough to pick these mags up off the stands as they came out. I loved them then and I love 'em now, that coupled with stories that were different and that covered Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe along with some beautiful artwork and great covers...they make my top 10.

Lovecraft and Poe were also covered by Warren, and Reed Crandall illustrated some phenominal adaptations thereof. Hands down Warren wins in this respect. Sorry to disagree with you again

[Cimm]

lurker smoked by the skywalders

 

Hey, Bob-a-loo, sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm fairly busy during the week and will reply shortly. A few samples of the best of the best of Skywald is still a far cry from the best of the best of Warren artwork or EC mag artwork.

 

I pulled images from a late-run issue, picked from the box at random... Skywald mags are a class act, whether you agree or not, and severely undervalued in the guide, given their relative scarcity in high grade.