This week in your Magazine collection. 27 27

[dover]

Scream Door with unused Web o Horror cover.

Neal Adams index from 1974. I’m going to use it to track down more Archie and news print items.

 

[Randall Dowling]

On 5/31/2022 at 4:38 PM, dover said:

 

Really cool pickups, sir!  I've always liked this alternate cover for X-men 56 but I think they made the right choice with the printed one.  Hope you're not getting hit too hard and feeling reasonably okay.  

[dover]

On 5/31/2022 at 6:04 PM, Randall Dowling said:

Really cool pickups, sir!  I've always liked this alternate cover for X-men 56 but I think they made the right choice with the printed one.  Hope you're not getting hit too hard and feeling reasonably okay.  

Yes, thank you! I am fine. Nothing too dramatic. It does allow me to go into my comic book room and my wife cannot say a thing!!

That index reminded me of newspaper work that Neal did. I have some and now I can better search for more.

 

[OtherEric]

A few books today, the first one is over in the Vampirella thread.  Here's some Eeries, all of which were slightly higher than average on my want list.  I had been looking for the Satanna story in #50 to go with my collection of Satana magazine appearances, I've wanted the #99 for a bit because I find the cover hilarious.  It's trying so hard to look like a copyright non-infringing version of Obi-Wan, Han Solo, and C-3PO in a landspeeder that it hurts.  And the #129 is in the general I'm keeping an eye out for the harder to find later issues pickup.

[OtherEric]

The Elfquest is a 3rd print, but still nice to have a copy.  The Creepy is one of the Goodwin edited issues from one of his returns.

[Axe Elf]

On 5/31/2022 at 11:39 PM, OtherEric said:

I've wanted the #99 for a bit because I find the cover hilarious.  It's trying so hard to look like a copyright non-infringing version of Obi-Wan, Han Solo, and C-3PO in a landspeeder that it hurts.

 

 

I don't know that I totally agree with that.

To an extent, perhaps, but The Rook debuted in the March 1977 issue of EERIE, two months before some little film called "Star Wars" was released (and a few more months before Star Wars became a phenomenon to mimic)--complete with his grandpa Dane and the robot Manners (who are the "Obi-Wan" and "C-3PO" pictured on the cover of #99 in a "land speeder").

Ok, maybe a little on the land speeder, but the characters had already been introduced and developed long before Star Wars would have been a copyright worth infringing.

Still, I, too, love #99.  It was one of the original 7 EERIEs and 7 CREEPYs found in a storage box earlier this year that I had kept from my teen years, and which sparked my interest in collecting Warren magazines.  Obviously, I was reading them right at the height of the Rook's run, and he was probably my favorite running character as I looked forward to each new issue on the stand at my small town variety store in the late 70's.

[OtherEric]

On 5/31/2022 at 10:08 PM, Axe Elf said:

I don't know that I totally agree with that.

To an extent, perhaps, but The Rook debuted in the March 1977 issue of EERIE, two months before some little film called "Star Wars" was released (and a few more months before Star Wars became a phenomenon to mimic)--complete with his grandpa Dane and the robot Manners (who are the "Obi-Wan" and "C-3PO" pictured on the cover of #99 in a "land speeder").

 

Ok, maybe a little on the land speeder, but the characters had already been introduced and developed long before Star Wars would have been a copyright worth infringing.

Still, I, too, love #99.  It was one of the original 7 EERIEs and 7 CREEPYs found in a storage box earlier this year that I had kept from my teen years, and which sparked my interest in collecting Warren magazines.  Obviously, I was reading them right at the height of the Rook's run, and he was probably my favorite running character as I looked forward to each new issue on the stand at my small town variety store in the late 70's.

Oh, I know exactly who they are; I have a complete run of The Rook and a copy of Eerie #82.  I was trying to exaggerate for effect, I genuinely do think they were trying for something similar to a Mockbuster/ Asylum cover to confuse people who didn't know better.  Calling Dane an Obi-Wan analogue is stretching it, but I do think they were trying to make the Rook look as much like Han as possible while still keeping the established Rook elements so they could dodge a lawsuit.  Manners is a decidedly more golden shade on the #99 than the #82, as well.

It's walking the line between trying to make people confuse it with Star Wars while still keeping everything they could that they could point to as previously established separate IP

[Axe Elf]

On 6/1/2022 at 12:18 AM, OtherEric said:

Manners is a decidedly more golden shade on the #99 than the #82, as well.

Touche, but I don't think Manners was really blue, either.

I always "pictured" him as golden, but that's probably because I HAD a copy of #99, and I didn't start buying EERIEs until around #89 or so, so I would have missed the early incarnations of the character.

I will grant you that both universes rely on many of the same archetypal themes, including in this case those of the young "cowboy," the old "mentor," and the "sidekick"--cast as a robot in their respective sci fi angles.

I just don't think that the Rook characters as initially conceived were ever dreamed of being clones of Star Wars characters, even if they might have pushed the similarities after the fact.

[OtherEric]

On 5/31/2022 at 10:25 PM, Axe Elf said:

Touche, but I don't think Manners was really blue, either.

I always "pictured" him as golden, but that's probably because I HAD a copy of #99, and I didn't start buying EERIEs until around #89 or so, so I would have missed the early incarnations of the character.

I will grant you that both universes rely on many of the same archetypal themes, including in this case those of the young "cowboy," the old "mentor," and the "sidekick"--cast as a robot in their respective sci fi angles.

I just don't think that the Rook characters as initially conceived were ever dreamed of being clones of Star Wars characters, even if they might have pushed the similarities after the fact.

I think we are in near complete agreement, other than I picture Manners as more silver than golden.  I just feel they pushed the similarities on the 99 so hard it's hilarious.

[N e r V]

Early in 1976, many of Warren Publication's content was geared towards vampires, zombies and the sort. Jim Warren wanted to create the next big craze. Although he had been captivated by Superman in his youth, his real fascination was the adventure more than the superhero characters themselves.  For this project, Warren enlisted Bill DuBay and Howard Peretz. Peretz had created children's toys for large toy manufacturers, while DuBay had stepped down earlier that year as editor from Warren magazines. Jim wanted a cowboy and Bill realized that his goals were no easy task since Westerns appeared to be a passé genre. Peretz eagerly agreed with Warren suggesting that Mattel could pull out their old toy molds from the 50s. Bill however was not as thrilled with the idea since it was he that would have to create the future from the past. Bill and his creative partner, Budd Lewis eventually conceived of a modern man in search of his roots, setting the story arc for the inaugural series in the old west. This would satisfy Jim and allow them the flexibility to serialize every great adventure trapped in time. The character would also be an inventor of robotic artificial intelligence, traveling through time as a swashbuckler of sorts. DuBay enlisted Jim Stenstrum, whom he considered the best writer that he had worked with. Bill and Jim would establish the first storylines that would thrust the Rook's adventures into the forefront of the reader's imaginations. Jim would design The Rook's costume in all black attire and the character was born.

The Rook's first adventures were sent for printing in December 1976. The character got more fan mail than any other Warren Publication character. By 1979, The Rook gravitated to his own title.

 

The Rook was first published about 3 months before Star Wars was released. When I first saw Star Wars in 1977 Han Solo DID remind me of another comic character who coincidently was drawn and created by someone with close Star Wars ties…

 

Good thing Lucas stuff was all original and he never borrowed anything from other sources…

[Axe Elf]

On 6/6/2022 at 2:06 AM, N e r V said:

Jim would design The Rook's costume in all black attire and the character was born.

Harris took that look and ran off the deep end with it... and the character Jim designed was effectively killed.

My favorite line from the origin story you posted:

"When his moment finally came, he was drawn..."

[OtherEric]

On 6/6/2022 at 12:06 AM, N e r V said:

The Rook was first published about 3 months before Star Wars was released. When I first saw Star Wars in 1977 Han Solo DID remind me of another comic character who coincidently was drawn and created by someone with close Star Wars ties…

I would love to see a Cody Starbuck collection; supposedly there's at least one story that was never published in the US.

[The Commissioner]

Just received my first comic magazine in the mail.

I'm wanting to start collecting the original Warren mags but figured I would start here.

[Axe Elf]

On 6/8/2022 at 8:23 AM, The Commissioner said:

Just received my first comic magazine in the mail.

I'm wanting to start collecting the original Warren mags but figured I would start here.

Welcome to the Warren rabbit hole!

I see you're starting with the most recent issue and working your way back...  

[The Commissioner]

On 6/8/2022 at 11:31 AM, Axe Elf said:

Welcome to the Warren rabbit hole!

I see you're starting with the most recent issue and working your way back...  

It was the last day that these issues were available on their website, so I ordered the most recent issue in this title.

[Axe Elf]

On 6/8/2022 at 12:31 PM, The Commissioner said:

It was the last day that these issues were available on their website, so I ordered the most recent issue in this title.

Yeah, I managed to order the full run a couple months ago in anticipation of the May 31 deadline; seemed more reasonable to just get them all brand spanking new at one time on one shipping charge for about $250 than try to piece together the run from various listings on da'Bay or something over several weeks and probably paying much more in the long run and rolling the dice on quality.

At the end of every year, starting this year, I will be ordering whatever back issues of SHUDDER and VAMPIRESS CARMILLA exist at that point too.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Axe Elf

[greggy]

[rakehell]

This turned up the other day -

Didn't know there was a UKPPV of this. 

[batmiesta]

On 6/9/2022 at 8:16 AM, greggy said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dracula Lives 2 is such a underappreciated cover and tough in HG. 

[oakman29]

On 6/9/2022 at 8:13 AM, batmiesta said:

Dracula Lives 2 is such a underappreciated cover and tough in HG. 

Same for the Dracula lives #1 .