Warren Magazine Reading Club! 7 7

[Axe Elf]

Again, we are faced with the question of which came first, the cover or the story, as the first appearance of "Alice" in Sutton's "Weird World" is almost an exact replica of the cover (or vice versa), even mirroring the odd angle of the triceratops' horns.  Given that Sutton is the more established Warren artist, I would guess the cover was an homage to the story, rather than the other way around.  It's an interesting story, which is at once equal parts sci-fi and fantasy, but merges into more of a psychological horror piece at the end--and it certainly gave Sutton a vehicle to indulge his predilection for spacey material.

Sutton was also responsible for the "Loathsome Lore" feature, which was actual lore this time.  It's not an entirely unique situation, as various body parts are currently on display in various museums both with and without the consent of their former owners (including the brain of Einstein--a mental giant), but it does seem more "ghoulish" when it occurs without consent.

One little oddity of note on the "Contents" page; most stories have always had a little blurb about the story under the title, but there was no description for "On the Wings of a Bird," for some reason.

It's probably just coincidental, but given that the story itself is kind of a change of pace for Warren stories, it does make me wonder if it was intentional or if they just ran out of room.  The story itself is unusual for relying on allegory and metaphor for its horror, but it does so fairly well in spite of jumping into a story already half-untold.  It's really fairly powerful in its symbolism.  Ironically enough, Grandenetti's work on this piece doesn't really hit me as well as it sometimes does--while a couple of other people have expressed appreciation for it.  Different strokes (literally) I guess...

One highlight of the "Mail" pages was the extensive letter comparing the news magazines of the day to horror magazines, with more blood and gore in the news magazines.  I'm sure that was right up Jim Warren's alley, after his anti-war editorial that ran in all three titles' previous issues.  The other highlight was that someone pointed out an error in CREEPY #34 that I am truly surprised not to have noticed myself, because it's kind of a biggie--the last panel on page 10 and the first panel on page 11 both have the same dialogue, but the pictures are different!  I guess I was just glossing over the technobabble in the script by that point, so I didn't realize that they said the exact same thing when I turned the page--but it's kind of glaring now!

"One Way to Break the Boredom" was a light opener to the issue, frolicking with hip jive through another deal with the devil gone wrong thanks to the loophole--deals with the devil always seem to have a loophole, don't they?

"Frankenstein is a Clown" was a clever update to the classic tale, including elements like the monster's encounter with the innocence of children, and the fact that both the monster and his creator die in the end.  It's a good monster-tragedy couched in a clown suit, and the new art by Carlos Garzon seems to fit the Warren idiom perfectly.

Another new artist, Rich Buckler, made "Forbidden Journey" a little more interesting with his use of brown shading on the jackets and a few other things, but even if I can't fault the art, I don't really get the story.  They already told us early on in the story that they were raiding the Thorium from the "dump" on Planetfall-3, but then the fact that the planet is a huge dump seems to be presented as the "twist" at the end.  And dump or not, what's with all the mud?  It's not like anyone could store anything here anyway, as everything quickly sinks into the mud!

"If a Body Meet a Body" would have been SO much better if they hadn't muddled the final frame.  There was Alvin the ghost, and Alvin the dead body with half its face ripped off--the ghost should have been speaking about the dead body while seeing it on the ground next to the car.  Instead, it appears that the dead body is speaking, and that makes it a little less clear what's happening (or what I think was happening).

And that brings us to what I will probably remember this issue for more than anything--the debut of Richard Corben in "Frozen Beauty."  This was so much fun to read, noting various telltale Corben traits in the illustrations, but also noting several places where his style in this first effort seemed understandably a little simplistic or unpolished--but still decidedly Corben.  I think I'm also used to seeing more Corben art in color than in B&W, so that was kind of new to me as well.

And I don't have much to say about the "CREEPY Fan Club" offerings in this issue.  I wasn't big on the poems, but the stories were a notch above some of the tripe they print.  I guess the "highlight" would be the foreshadowing of a new contributor, Larry Dickison, bringing a story to a future issue?

Overall a fair to good issue with perhaps a little more philosophical subject matter than usual--and of course Corben's debut.

[The Lions Den]

On 11/19/2023 at 1:00 AM, Axe Elf said:

CREEPY #36 - November 1970

According to the Warren Magazine Index...

36. cover: Kenneth Smith (Nov. 1970)

1) Creepy’s Loathsome Lore: The Body Snatchers Who Stole A Giant! [Tom Sutton] 1p   [frontis]

2) One Way To Break The Boredom [James Haggenmiller/Jack Sparling] 9p

3) Weird World [Nicola Cuti/Tom Sutton] 7p

4) The Creepy Fan Page: Creepy Poems/Tunnel Of Terror/Doomsday Monsters [Harry Balmforth, Paul E. King & Rodney E. Hammack/Larry Dickison] 2p   [poem & text stories]

5) Frankenstein Is A Clown [Bill Warren/Carlos Garzon] 8p

6) On The Wings Of A Bird [T. Casey Brennan/Jerry Grandenetti] 7p

7) Forbidden Journey! [Greg Theakston/Rich Buckler] 7p

8) If A Body Meet A Body [R. Michael Rosen/Jack Sparling] 7p

9) Frozen Beauty [Richard Corben] 6p

Notes: Price decrease to 50 cents. Rich Buckler made his professional art debut while major underground artist Richard Corben delivered a very good story for his mainstream debut.  Best art was by Corben and Jerry Grandenetti.  Best story honors go to Corben, Bill Warren & T. Casey Brennan.

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Wow!  Lots going on here!  Kenneth Smith is back on the cover, with a more restrained usage of his typical green-centric palette.  Richard Corben makes his "mainstream" debut, which is kind of ironic since this cover always reminded me of some of the later Corben covers--although there's something kind of wack about the angles of this triceratops' horns.  And a price decrease?  You don't see that very often.  Kudos to Warren for giving back.

After Cuti's weird witch stories in last week's VAMPIRELLA #7, I can't wait to see how weird his "Weird World" will be, and we have the return of the "Lore" to the frontis after a round of Warren's anti-war editorials.

Just an administrative note here; I will be traveling and spending a week with my mom in rural Kansas over the Thanksgiving weekend.  My goal is to get this week's review posted by Tuesday, but failing that, I will at least make a "placeholder" post later in the week into which I will edit this week's review when I can.

Likewise, I hope to be able to post next week's EERIE #30 kickoff at approximately the usual time in approximately the usual way, but if I'm not right on the dot of midnight, don't fret.  I will at least try to make a "placeholder" post into which I can later edit the kickoff post, allowing you all to post your reviews and comments as usual.

If by the occurrence of the worst case scenario I am completely unable to post next week's kickoff while I am away, just hold on and I will post it at the latest when I return home a week from Tuesday evening.

I hope that makes sense.

I wish you and everyone else in the reading club a very happy holiday. Thanks so much for all of your posts---it's been a lot of fun!      

[The Lions Den]

On 11/19/2023 at 1:04 AM, OtherEric said:

Frozen Beauty:  So, after a cameo on an Eerie fan page, we finally get the Warren debut of Richard Corben, and one of his earliest stories period.  I barely know where to begin with my normal introduction to a new Warren creator, he is probably the single artist most associated with the Warren mags.  The index is right, this is indeed a very good story.

Great stuff, and a precursor to even better things... 

[Axe Elf]

EERIE #30 - November 1970

(Ugh.  I hadn't looked at this issue since I first graded it, back when I was still learning to grade.  I called it a 5.0, but with those big rips on the right side of the cover, I'm sure it's not.  I'll add one more needy issue to the upgrade pile.)

According to the Warren Magazine Index...

30. cover: Basil Gogos (Nov. 1970)

1) Eerie’s Monster Gallery: BEM [Dan Adkins] 1p   [frontis]

2) The Entail [Pat Boyette] 6p

3) October Weir: Mirror, Mirror [Nicola Cuti/Frank Bolle] 10p

4) Life Species [Bill DuBay] 4p

5) Eerie Fanfare: The Prophetic Dream/Escape Claws/Nuts To You!/The Mistake [Carmen Minchella, David O’Dell, Rodney Schroeter, David E. Bruegel/Arthur Suydam & Gray Morrow] 2p   [text stories]

6) I, Werewolf [Ken Barr] 9p

7) Easy Way To A Tuff Surfboard! [Archie Goodwin/Frank Frazetta] ½p   reprinted from Eerie #3 (May 1966)

8) In Close Pursuit [Gordon Matthews/Jerry Grandenetti] 8p

9) The Return Of Amen-Tut! [Don Glut/Jack Sparling] 8p

10) The Creation [Doug Moench/Carlos Garzon] 8p

Notes: Price increase to 60 cents.  Behind a not particularly good cover was a quite good issue!  The BEM in Eerie’s Monster Gallery is old science fiction slang for ‘bug-eyed monster’.  Future artist Tony Meers sent in a letter.  Pat Boyette’s story ‘The Entail’ was not only quite good, but quite gruesome as well.  Psychic detective October Weir had only two appearances, which was a pity, as his stories were good and Bolle was perfect as the artist.  The classic SF tale ‘Life Species’ by DuBay is the kind of story that stays with you all your life.  Future artist Arthur Suydam made his comics debut on the fan page. 

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This is a Gogos cover?  (And no, I don't mean a new rendition of "We Got the Beat.")  I have somewhat limited exposure to his work, but I never would have guessed from what I've seen on other Warren mags that this cover was his.  I suppose if Gogos has other covers like this, I maybe just don't know that they are in fact Gogos covers, so my idea of his style may be much more limited than it actually is.  Despite the Index's scorn, I actually think it's a decent cover--the little boy appears to be saving the day by unraveling the mummy, while mommy and daddy cower in fear.  Kids who read Warren mags probly fantasize about saving their parents from monsters already, so it's good targeting for their audience.  I would assume the cover relates to the mummy story inside, although it's "Amon-Tut" on the cover and "Amen-Tut" inside the magazine, so you never know.

I hope the Index is right about it being a quite good issue, though; I'm especially looking forward to the DuBay story that will stay with me all my life (although that's not nearly such an accomplishment now as it would have been in 1970).  Seems like an issue packed with an impressive balance of creators both old and new, if nothing else--and of course, another surfboard ad...

[OtherEric]

Cover:  I think this is the first time Gogos does a cover for the Warren comics on his own, rather than a reprint or a collaboration.  At least to me the figures look very stiff, although the actual art at any point is solid.

Monster Gallery:  Adkins is back in his Wood emulation style here.  Which is exactly what is wanted for an entry on BEMs in general.

The Entail:  Nice art by Boyette but an almost painfully slight story.

Mirror, Mirror:  I think this is the first unambiguous case of a continuing original character in Eerie, which will eventually become the title's signature.  Admittedly, October Weir only runs two issues, but it's still worth noting.  The story itself is pretty good, but might have actually worked better as two shorter, smaller stories with the first one leading into the second.  Not ever seeing the antagonist is a nice touch, for all that they're seemingly removed at the end of the story I wonder if they'll turn up in the next installment.

Life Species:  Another very slight story, but in this case it's about the right length at four pages.  The sort of feature that isn't terribly noteworthy on its own but definitely works well as a change of pace feature in a longer anthology like this.  The indexer may have been impressed but I felt it was a cliche, admittedly well executed.

I, Werewolf:  Great art by Barr. The story is one of those that works primarily as a framework on which to hang the art, and we've already established I'm fine with those as long as we don't get more than one or two in an issue.

Easy Way to a Tuff Surfboard count: 11

In Close Pursuit:  This is the only credit I could find, Warren or otherwise, for Gordon Matthews, unless it's the same person as Gordon Mathews (one t) in the Eerie #20 fan page.  In which case there's TWO credits.  This is another example of how much I admire Grandenetti's work without actually enjoying it... the main character's face is grotesquely exaggerated in a way I really don't like.  But it works for the story, and for exaggeratedly conveying the character's state of mind.  And that's the entire point of the story.  I would almost guess this was written (or at least conceived and plotted) by Grandenetti under a pseudonym.  A minor masterpiece by a master whose work I don't care for.

The Return of Amen-Tut:  I think I would have liked this one more if A) they didn't play the ending as slapstick more than a clever twist, and B) the cover didn't give away the ending.  Good art and a neat idea that really doesn't stick the landing.

The Creation:  Excellent art by Garzon, and an overall solid story by Moench.  The problem is more that there seems to be more of a twist intended, but it's almost painfully obvious what the twist is going to be.  The story would have been better if they had scripted it to be less of a twist and more the inevitable conclusion.

Overall a strong issue,  with a good mix of the sorts of stories they were doing.  I think Goodwin's influence is being felt here, not necessarily in the stories themselves but in the selection of what of their inventory on hand goes into the issue, and how it's arranged.  My complaint about the cover giving the ending of the story away is a good example, they put that story near the end, giving time to forget the cover.  But not at the actual end, ending the book with a stronger piece.  The result is an issue that feels much more than the sum of its parts.

Edited November 26, 2023 by OtherEric

[Jayman]

On 11/26/2023 at 1:23 AM, OtherEric said:

Cover:  I think this is the first time Gogos does a cover for the Warren comics on his own, rather than a reprint or a collaboration.  At least to me the figures look very stiff, although the actual art at any point is solid.

The cover for Eerie #30 does appear stiff. Well executed, but the figures seem posed while intended to be in motion. Sort of like comparing Frazetta to Boris. Frazetta could capture sweeping movement in his paintings, whereas Boris would deliver stunningly well rendered figures but try as he might, they were always stiff. I agree with @Axe Elf here that I did not realize this was Gogos. He works much better in portraits IMHO. The cover reminds me of a promo for one of those generic NBC or CBS made for TV movies I would watch with my dad after dinner when I was a kid. 

[OtherEric]

On 11/26/2023 at 7:24 AM, Jayman said:

The cover for Eerie #30 does appear stiff. Well executed, but the figures seem posed while intended to be in motion. Sort of like comparing Frazetta to Boris. Frazetta could capture sweeping movement in his paintings, whereas Boris would deliver stunningly well rendered figures but try as he might, they were always stiff. I agree with @Axe Elf here that I did not realize this was Gogos. He works much better in portraits IMHO. The cover reminds me of a promo for one of those generic NBC or CBS made for TV movies I would watch with my dad after dinner when I was a kid. 

You said what I was trying to convey much better than I managed.  Gogos is incredible with portraits, and the few times I've seen him collaborating with other artists he can bring a lot to the finished work.

Here's one of the only book covers I'm aware of by him, which highlights both factors.  The large face in the background is very effective, while the figures look posed, despite what seems like should be a ton of movement visible.

Edited November 26, 2023 by OtherEric

[Axe Elf]

I’m not sure that I’m totally on board with “EERIE’s Monster Gallery” being a “class” of monsters (the “bug-eyed monsters,” or “BEMs”) as opposed to a single type of monster (which would seem more appropriate for a “gallery”).  I get that the “BEM” trope itself is kind of being parodied here, but it seems like a “BEM” can be basically anything gross and scary.  It would be like featuring “hairy monsters” or “scaly monsters” or some other broad class, rather than particular monsters.

A few things stood out in “Dear Cousin EERIE” this week.  First was the overflowing praise for Billy Graham’s art on EERIE #28’s “The Beast in the Swamp.” Second were the two letters regarding Warren magazines as a “family” interest—one mother who shared her love for Warren mags with her three children, and the rival brothers who were reading each other’s books.  We may never see a Norman Rockwell piece in a Warren magazine, but it was kind of endearing anyway.  And finally I think it’s interesting that (Uncle) CREEPY and (Cousin) EERIE seem to always be in “competition” with each other, yet both tend to speak warmly of VAMPIRELLA.  It was kind of an interesting market dynamic, creating enmity between the two main titles and encouraging fans to pick a side—but using both to promote the new VAMPIRELLA.

I’ll admit up front that I wasn’t very impressed with much of this issue, but the first story, “The Entail,” is probably the highlight of the issue for me.  I wasn’t familiar with the use of the word “entail” in this way (apparently as an inheritance remaining within a particular group or family), so I learned something from it in that sense—and the denouement was one of the more horrible twists we’ve seen in a while—a body torn to shreds and bones, which can’t die but experiences all the agony throughout the centuries!  And Pat Boyette seems to be really good with capturing these Victorian-style period pieces with his art.

“Mirror, Mirror” was kind of a mess in comparison.  I like the idea of a recurring character who is an investigator of the supernatural, but it was like they tried too hard to make the supernatural “natural” with all that nonsense about the demon being “layered” onto the mirror, “no more than one molecule in thickness” underneath a protective coating that eventually evaporated away, freeing the “demon layer” into existence.  And then the big mirror that led into “negative world” and maybe even “topsy turvy world” was kind of out of left field...  Good thing they found the “control mirror” in “negative world” so they could get back home, but then they also found Dr. Gessler painted one molecule thick on a mirror in “negative world” (where it wouldn’t have been much of a threat to them anyway), painting over the protective coating so that he would be trapped in the mirror—in negative world—forever.  If the second October Weir story isn’t any better, then I can see why he only recurred once—there was way too much suspension of disbelief required for all this nonsense.

I was a little surprised to see that “Life Species”—the story that the Index promises will stick with me for a lifetime—was only four pages long; but hey, sometimes good things can come in small packages.  But I was in for another disappointment upon reading it.  How could three trained explorers for a race technologically advanced enough to successfully travel through space in advanced machinery not be able to tell the difference between biological organisms and primitive machinery?  It’s almost like they were counting on the “beetle” designation to provide plausible bio/mech confusion, but I'm glad it didn't take more than four pages to be that stupid.

I just recently learned about the pentagram on the hand aspect of the werewolf legend in a recent issue, and here it is again in “I, Werewolf”—although it appears to be used in a different way this time.  Whereas before the pentagram appeared on the palm of the werewolf’s next victim, in this tale the pentagram appears on the palm of the werewolf himself.  Still, this is a competent vampire vs werewolf story, and it is my second-favorite story in the issue to “The Entail,” and probably the only other story in this issue I would count as “good.” Ken Barr offers up a great fight scene to rival the cover of CREEPY #7!

I had a hard time understanding why a stone cold landlord who thought nothing of letting his tenants die en masse in faulty buildings would be so discombobulated by thinking a lone person was following them that they would climb to the top of a tall building and subsequently fall off of it as with “In Close Pursuit.”  And while I’ve grown to like a lot of Grandenetti’s work, it wasn’t particularly appealing to me in this piece either.  I think @OtherEric may be on to something with his analysis of the art being a reflection of the character's grotesque nature, but at the time I was reading it, I didn't really make that connection--it was just annoying.

The cover does spoil the ending of “The Return of Amen-Tut" (and it is "Amen" rather than "Amon"), although it is kind of a thoughtful twist that the “unraveling” of the mummy only worked because the body inside had not been embalmed, and so it fell to dust and powder once the bandages were released.  On the other hand, if there was really no body inside the bandages, what was moving them?  Ok, ok, it’s “magic,” but the whole thing felt a little lightweight, like a Saturday morning episode of Jonny Quest or something.

And finally, “The Creation” wasn’t terrible, although you could plainly see the twist coming.  I think I would like this story more if it hadn’t come at the end of an issue with which I was largely already disappointed—but then again, it’s probly not the kind of story that would stick with you for a lifetime, either (you know, like “Life Species”).

Somewhat paradoxically, I liked the “EERIE Fan Fare” offerings more than usual this time, in an issue where I wasn’t as fond of most of the main stories.  I like how they started designing actual title graphics for the stories, rather than just using typeset. The “BEM” illustration tied back to the Monster Gallery, and it’s pretty cool that Gray Morrow did art for the last story (if he did, in fact, do art “for” the story, and didn’t just have one of his illustrations attached to the story after the fact).  Now let’s work on getting Morrow back on some of the featured stories!

Overall it seems I didn't like this issue as much as @OtherEric did; I recognize a few highlights (though some are different from his), but overall I was too bothered by plot holes and technical errors (missing letters and words) to really enjoy the issue as a whole.

[Axe Elf]

VAMPIRELLA #8 - November 1970

(A near-flawless red cover!)

According to the Warren Magazine Index...

8. cover: Ken Kelly (Nov. 1970)

1) Vampi’s Feary Tales: Love! [Tom Sutton] 1p   [frontis]

2) Vampirella: Who Serves The Cause Of Chaos? [Archie Goodwin/Tom Sutton] 21p

3) Amazonia: The Demon In The Crypt! [Gardner Fox/Billy Graham] 6p

4) Easy Way To A Tuff Surfboard! [Archie Goodwin/Frank Frazetta] ½p   reprinted from Eerie #3 (May 1966)

5) Out Of The Fog…And Into The Mist! [Steve Skeates/Ken Barr] 5p

6) Snake Eyes [Nicola Cuti/Jack Sparling] 7p

7) Vampi’s Flames: Do You Want To Be A Queen?/Queen Of The Night [Steven Teal & Patrick Boles/Robert Thivierge, Toby Caputi, Phillippe Druillet, Peter Sedeky, Tony De Sensi & John Wojick] 2p   [text stories]

8) Signs Of Sorcery [Don Glut/George Roussos] 7p

9) The Gulfer [Nicola Cuti/Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico] 6p

Notes: The first real Vampirella story appeared as her character was revamped into a more serious mode.  I should go on record here and state I don’t think Vampirella was ever a strong character.  In fact, although generally drawn well, her stories were usually quite bland and often lacking in logic.  However, she started up here with a trio of very strong stories from Archie Goodwin & Tom Sutton.  Some of the best art Sutton produced for Warren.  Amazonia moved here from her previous appearance in Eerie.  Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico delivered the best art job they did for Warren.  Phillippe Druillet contributed a rendering of Vampirella but for some reason it appeared on the fan page.  Peter Sedeky’s fan page illustration was later reworked into the cult underground comic character Octobriana, who later also appeared in Bryan Talbot’s Luther Arkwright series.  Another solid issue.

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Ken Kelley ends this little back-and-forth volley of Vampi covers between himself and his Uncle Frazetta here with VAMPIRELLA #8.  I'm looking forward to the "revamping" of Vampi (I see what you did there, Index) by her original artist, Tom Sutton, with Goodwin at the scripting wheel this time instead of Ackerman.  Bland stories lacking in logic?  They should fit right in after that last issue of EERIE!

I kid because I love...

It's kind of remarkable, though, that even with that 21 page Vampi epic, there are still 5 other full-length stories (plus the usual letters, fan contributions, and Frazetta surfboard ads) featuring a cross-section of some of the more interesting current artists (Graham, Sparling and Barr, with newcomer Roussos) and if the Index is to be trusted, some of Sutton's and "Williamsune's" best art ever!

So I guess we should prepare ourselves for some outstanding art carrying underwhelming scripting...

Edited December 3, 2023 by Axe Elf

[OtherEric]

Vampirella #8 thoughts:

Cover:  This is only the second cover to actually feature Vampirella.  The art is a bit stiff, Vampi looks surprisingly relaxed for being chained up and about to be sacrificed.  It's also, I believe, the first time we've seen a bondage cover on a Warren mag in the reading group, unless you want to label Eerie #27 as such.  It's certainly not the only one we'll see, but it's not particularly common either, which I think is contrary to how some people would stereotype the line.

Feary Tales:  It feels like this one was somewhat geared to the Famous Monsters crowd, drawing all the examples from classic horror films.  A nice if slight piece by Sutton, trying to reference three films on one page doesn't leave you much room for anything.

Who Serves the Cause of Chaos?:  Goodwin & Sutton produce what is either the first or at most second most important story to ever appear in the Warren magazines.  Not the best, although it's pretty darn good, but most important.  Without actually removing anything from the early humorous Vampi stories by Ackerman, and ignoring very little, this story creates the version of the character that actually succeeds, and indeed outlasts the Warren Magazines themselves by several decades at this point.  It's also the longest single story we've seen to date, admittedly only by one page.  But this gives it a sense of scale we really haven't seen before, with several pages setting up future plots.  And from here on out, the Vampirella story will be the most important item in any given issue, even if it does so by being absent a couple issues from now.  In many ways, this is the real first issue of the series, with the first seven issues being a separate book that just happened to come out with the same name and numbering.

The Demon in the Crypt:  As in the first Amazonia story in Eerie #27, Gardner Fox provides an extremely pulpy script.  Unlike that first story, this one has some great art by Billy Graham, which matches the story perfectly.

Easy Way to a Tuff Surfboard count: 12

Out of the Fog:  The Warren debut of Steve Skeates.  I'm stunned the index doesn't mention this, given that he writes dozens of stories for Warren, including being the original writer on Pantha.  More generally he has over 1500 script credits at the GCD.  The story itself has beautiful art by Ken Barr and pulls off a neat trick I don't really recall seeing before in the reading group:  The twist actually comes earlier than you would expect giving the pacing of the story to that point, giving it a very unexpected slam ending.  This is an excellent Warren debut, arguably the best we've seen yet past the first year or so where everybody was a debut.

Snake Eyes:  A solid story with an amusing twist, it's the least impressive story so far in the issue but there are a lot of issues we've seen so far where it could be the highlight.

Vampi's Flames:  I normally just zip past this, but it's worth noting this time for the Druilett piece and the early Octobriana piece.  If you're not familiar with the character, the history is somewhat bonkers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octobriana

Signs of Sorcery: There's maybe a sign of an interesting story somewhere in here, but it's completely buried under a bunch of digs at "the kids these days", starting with a nearly completely irrelevant prologue.  Roussos is of course a legendary creator, with well over 9000 credits at the GCD, dating back to 1940.  He had a few credits at EC, making him another EC veteran at Warren, although he only does three Warren stories.

The Gulfer:  A decent story from Cuti and "Williamsune" that probably could have benefited from another page to breathe a little.

All in all, a very good issue, although the best material was somewhat front loaded in the issue.  Although it's somewhat hard to assess the issue in the terms we try for in the reading group; it's another one of the books where our knowledge of the future skews the view.

[Jayman]

On 12/3/2023 at 1:14 AM, OtherEric said:

Cover:  This is only the second cover to actually feature Vampirella.  The art is a bit stiff, Vampi looks surprisingly relaxed for being chained up and about to be sacrificed.

Agreed. Vampi looks surprisingly similar to the Aurora Monster Scenes model kit version of herself!  

[Axe Elf]

I know this issue isn't really any bigger than any of the others, but after I'd read the Feary Tales, the Scarlet Letters, and the 21 page Vampirella epic, it kind of felt like I had read an entire issue already--and there was still another whole issue (5 stories and Vampi's Flames) to go!  So it sure felt more like an issue and a half this week.

But back to the beginning...  Tom Sutton really put in some work for this issue, doing "Vampi's Feary Tales" as well as the Vampirella epic--and doing a pretty solid job all around.  It's kind of an interesting perspective, casting "Love" as the driver of horror plots, but then sometimes Love Hurts (with a nod to Nazareth).

The headline for "Vampi's Scarlet Letters" was pretty funny--"Your magazine is TWICE as good as Playboy!"--even if that's not the exact quote from the actual letter.  Maybe check back after you hit puberty, junior...  Nothing else really stood out to me among the praises and criticisms of past issues, but the guy who thought Kelley had already surpassed Frazetta brought a grin.

And that brings us to the Vampirella epic, "Who Serves the Cause of Chaos?" and this issue's first real facepalm:

It was really kind of nice to read a story that had room to breathe like this one did--it took a page and a half just for Vampirella to collapse in the snow (and she really was not dressed for the weather).  This felt more like a proper start to an epic serial, taking the time to introduce us to what I assume will be a few recurring characters in the Vampirella saga and setting the stage for ongoing drama while still successfully telling a story that could stand alone if it had to.

At some point in this issue, they referred to Vampirella's home planet as "Draculon," too, which I thought was another pretty big facepalm, but I can't find it now.  You would think that the magazine that invented the backstory could get the name of the planet (Drakulon) right.

But I still think this was a pretty strong tour de force for Tom Sutton as an artist and for Vampirella as a character, and I really enjoyed letting myself be immersed in it.

The character of Amazonia, returning for an appearance in "The Demon in the Crypt," is not nearly so strong of a character, and I can kind of see why she didn't have much of a run.  The Billy Graham art is top notch, as usual, and plays expertly with contrasts of darkness and light, but the character herself is kind of bland.  Giving her sword an almost intentionally silly and quasi-plagiaristic name like "Excalifer" was kind of dumb, too, and the story raises so many unanswered questions I can scarcely enumerate them here.  An ancient castle with a vast subterranean system of dungeons beneath it was lost for ages, but apparently enough people wander down there to keep the demon fed--like the girl with the basket of fruit.  I thought that was supposed to be Amazonia herself at first, because I couldn't figure out why a servant girl would be carrying a basket of fruit down into the lost catacombs in the first place.  And the magic dirt in the demon's crypt that saved her life and made her sword effective against the demon--she took some with her in a basket, but it never really came into play.  So yeah, great story to look at, difficult story to read.

"Out of the Fog and Into the Mist" was another story that was probably more interesting to look at, with the various textures and shades of darkness by Ken Barr.  The story wasn't bad, but given the two previous chapters out of longer epics, this little filler piece seemed a lot lighter by comparison.  That's not necessarily a bad thing in context, though.

"Snake Eyes" was a lot of fun to read, starting with the shock of little Sara eating two hamsters alive, and how that somehow brought her closer to Charlie (I never would have spoken to her again!).  The twist was almost painfully silly, even though it made sense in a cartoonish kind of way, but I still enjoyed the piece as it developed.

It's kind of nice that "Vampi's Flames" seems to be moving away from the fan fiction, which is so often really dumb, and featuring more fan art, which usually isn't as bad as the stories and poems.  I wouldn't recognize the names, but it's interesting to see contributions from fans who would later become paid artists.

"Signs of Sorcery" was another story that was kind of fun to read, but it was really hampered by a lot of voodoobabble about controlling the signs of the zodiac with a wand made of the "elements of the stars" (yeah, we're all made of the same elements as the stars).  Naming the sorceror "Zodak" wasn't very creative either.

I was probably most disappointed by "The Gulfer," which the Index had led me to believe was some of "Williamsune"s finest art ever.  I thought it was some of the sloppiest art in this issue, and definitely not one of their best, but I guess there's no accounting for taste.  I also didn't really get the twist.  When the Gulfer took the form of the little girl, it wasn't ACTUALLY the little girl, it was just the Gulfer taking her form--clothing included.  So why when it took the form of the kitten would it have the kitten's REAL collar around its neck, rather than the collar just being a part of the illusion?  And even if it was being choked by the collar, why wouldn't it just shapeshift into a mouse or something and get out of it easily?

Kind of a pity that was the final story in the issue, leaving me with more of a bad taste in my mouth than the issue deserved.  In fact, the sheer breadth of subject matter in this issue would make it one I might give to someone as an introduction to Warren (and especially Vampirella), as it was in general a superlative issue in terms of its art, with fairly entertaining stories, even if their plots weren't particularly tight in places.  There was a lot of fun "hip jargon" in this issue though, to put it in historical perspective.  And as much as I liked the art, I'm surprised I didn't focus in on more art excerpts for this review, but I think if I started pulling panels I liked from this issue, the review would soon be twice as long as it is now.  So suffice to say that I liked Vampirella #8 a lot, despite its faults, even if it took me a couple of days to read this overstuffed issue.

@OtherEric ended his review with the comment that this is "another one of the books where our knowledge of the future skews the view."  As a relative neophyte to all things Warren, I don't really have much knowledge of the future for Vampirella, so I don't think my assessment is skewed much by that--but I'm having fun learning as I go!

Edited December 8, 2023 by Axe Elf

[OtherEric]

On 12/8/2023 at 3:54 PM, Axe Elf said:

@OtherEric ended his review with the comment that this is "another one of the books where our knowledge of the future skews the view."  As a relative neophyte to all things Warren, I don't really have much knowledge of the future for Vampirella, so I don't think my assessment is skewed much by that--but I'm having fun learning as I go!

I wasn't necessarily referring to anything in specific, other than the fact the character does have a massively long run that's still going today... and that this story, more than the #1, is where that starts.

[The Lions Den]

On 12/8/2023 at 6:54 PM, Axe Elf said:

And that brings us to the Vampirella epic, "Who Serves the Cause of Chaos?" and this issue's first real facepalm:

 

You hit on a pretty noteworthy topic here, because Archie Goodwin was known for his rather extravagant doodling (I used to own some of his original artwork). And Tom Sutton was also a pretty decent writer, as I recall...but of course, this is undoubtedly just another Warren typo-blunder...    

For me, this issue is a turning point in the series, and part of that is due to Goodwin's ability to write interesting stories and Sutton's ability to create excellent artwork (but don't look too long at the sixth panel on page 12).

And while I agree that Vampi looks extremely relaxed, this is still a pretty eye-catching cover which stood out on the stands and immediately compelled me to buy it...  

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by The Lions Den

[Axe Elf]

CREEPY #37 - January 1971

According to the Warren Magazine Index...

37. cover: Ken Barr (Jan. 1971)

1) Creepy’s Loathsome Lore: I Was Buried Alive! [Tom Sutton] 1p   [frontis]

2) The Cadaver [Chris Fellner/Bill Stillwell] 8p

3) King Keller [Nicola Cuti/Syd Shores] 7p

4) I Hate You! I Hate You! [Bill Warren/Mike Royer] 9p

5) Tender Machine 10061 [Ernie Colon] 6p

6) The Creepy Fan Page: To Fill A Bottle Of Blood/The Anniversary/Ghouls Power/The Ape Man [Paul E. King, Jr., Brad McEwen, Howard Williams & Jim Erskine/Tony Boatwright, Jim Erskine & Charles Jones] 2p   [text stories]

7) Coffin Cure [Doug Moench/Don Brown] 7p

8) The Castle [Pat Boyette] 8p

9) The Cut-Throat Cat Blues [T. Casey Brennan/Ernie Colon] 7p   [last page on inside back cover]

Notes: The first use of interior color appeared on the last page of ‘The Cut-Throat Cat Blues’.  Chris Fellner made his professional debut.  ‘I Hate You! I Hate You!’ is a pretty good story which dealt with an early treatment of child abuse. Pat Boyette’s ‘The Castle’ is also nicely done.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first use of interior color in this issue is noteworthy--although it's kind of cheating as it's actually on the inside of the back cover.  I could have sworn there had been color inside covers before--solid red (or blue?) backgrounds on Warren announcements/advertisements--but maybe I'm confusing the back covers for inside covers?  I don't know.

I do know that the colors on this front cover are pretty awesome!

Seems like almost every issue marks the debut of some new artist or writer; this one being no exception--and I always look forward to the debuts.  I'm also looking forward to the Boyette piece--he's probably written a "Castle" story that's right up his Victorian art alley.

As a meta-observation, we are now entering the year 1971 in the Reading Club, which I believe is the only historical year in which all three titles--CREEPY, EERIE, and VAMPIRELLA--were published in the same six alternating months for the entire year (January, March, May, July, September, and November--and I've placed all 3 Annuals in August).  I have no idea which title actually came out first in any given month, so I have arbitrarily listed them in the order of title seniority--CREEPY first, then EERIE, then VAMPIRELLA--as I have done any other time two or more titles were released in a given month.

This pattern actually goes back to September and November of 1970, and extends onward into January of 1972 before breaking down into less predictably bimonthly patterns--so we'll be following this same regular cycle for another six months or so of real time here in the Club--but I find it interesting that 1971 is the only full calendar year in which this regular publishing cycle held consistent throughout.  It seems like it was a year of relative stability, marking the distance Warren has come from their "Dark Ages."

[OtherEric]

I want to call attention to the fact that, with this issue, we're 1/4 of the way through the Creepy run.  Not sure what, exactly that signifies, but it seems worth noting.  We're even further into the run chronologically, closer to 1/3 of the way.

Creepy #37 thoughts:

Cover:  A decent piece by Ken Barr, although as I seem to be complaining recently, the figures seem a bit static.  Also, I'm having trouble keeping track between Ken Barr, Ken Kelly, and Ken Smith at the moment... there are a lot of Kens doing covers right now!

Loathsome Lore:  A good one by Sutton, packing a lot of storytelling into the single page.

The Cadaver:  The index mentions this as the pro debut of Chris Fellner, but they seem to only have about four credits in comics total, all at Warren.  Despite creators with only a few credits, I was very impressed with the story, which plays as a black comedy version of Frankenstein, leading to a very effective and morbidly funny double twist at the end.

King Keller:  A decent story in its own way, but it doesn't really feel much like a Warren story to me.

I Hate You!:  I had high hopes for this based on the index, but it's a second-rate time paradox story that comes dangerously close to excusing the abuse theme by saying it had already happened.  I'm getting the distinct impression the indexer doesn't have much experience with classic science fiction stories and is being unduly impressed by second-rate borrowings.

Tender Machine 10061: Excellent art by Colon, I think shot directly from pencils.  A solid, moody story that doesn't quite hold together perfectly but works more than well enough as a framework for the art.

Coffin Cure:  This Don Brown (there seems to be at least two with work at the GCD) seems to have only done a couple stories, one here and one for Skywald.  The story seems pretty good up to the twist, but there's what I think it supposed to be a second twist at the very end and I can't make sense of the art in the last panel no matter how long I stare at it.

The Castle:  Amazing art by Boyette, with a solid but not spectacular story to frame it.

The Cut-Throat Cat Blues:  This is one of those stories where the conceptual audacity just blows right past any criticism I might have on the more basic technical levels regarding the script.  It's a story that absolutely relies on Colon's experience with both horror and more cartoony characters and uses the color on the last page as a vital element in the story, not as a gimmick.

I've got to give this issue very high marks, with a few very strong pieces. and even on the ones I was less impressed by I think had some strong elements. 

[Axe Elf]

On 12/10/2023 at 12:10 AM, OtherEric said:

I want to call attention to the fact that, with this issue, we're 1/4 of the way through the Creepy run.  Not sure what, exactly that signifies, but it seems worth noting.  We're even further into the run chronologically, closer to 1/3 of the way.

Nice!

[FoggyNelson]

On 12/10/2023 at 1:10 AM, OtherEric said:

I want to call attention to the fact that, with this issue, we're 1/4 of the way through the Creepy run.  Not sure what, exactly that signifies, but it seems worth noting.  We're even further into the run chronologically, closer to 1/3 of the way.

Creepy #37 thoughts:

Cover:  A decent piece by Ken Barr, although as I seem to be complaining recently, the figures seem a bit static.  Also, I'm having trouble keeping track between Ken Barr, Ken Kelly, and Ken Smith at the moment... there are a lot of Kens doing covers right now!

Loathsome Lore:  A good one by Sutton, packing a lot of storytelling into the single page.

The Cadaver:  The index mentions this as the pro debut of Chris Fellner, but they seem to only have about four credits in comics total, all at Warren.  Despite creators with only a few credits, I was very impressed with the story, which plays as a black comedy version of Frankenstein, leading to a very effective and morbidly funny double twist at the end.

King Keller:  A decent story in its own way, but it doesn't really feel much like a Warren story to me.

I Hate You!:  I had high hopes for this based on the index, but it's a second-rate time paradox story that comes dangerously close to excusing the abuse theme by saying it had already happened.  I'm getting the distinct impression the indexer doesn't have much experience with classic science fiction stories and is being unduly impressed by second-rate borrowings.

Tender Machine 10061: Excellent art by Colon, I think shot directly from pencils.  A solid, moody story that doesn't quite hold together perfectly but works more than well enough as a framework for the art.

Coffin Cure:  This Don Brown (there seems to be at least two with work at the GCD) seems to have only done a couple stories, one here and one for Skywald.  The story seems pretty good up to the twist, but there's what I think it supposed to be a second twist at the very end and I can't make sense of the art in the last panel no matter how long I stare at it.

The Castle:  Amazing art by Boyette, with a solid but not spectacular story to frame it.

The Cut-Throat Cat Blues:  This is one of those stories where the conceptual audacity just blows right past any criticism I might have on the more basic technical levels regarding the script.  It's a story that absolutely relies on Colon's experience with both horror and more cartoony characters and uses the color on the last page as a vital element in the story, not as a gimmick.

I've got to give this issue very high marks, with a few very strong pieces. and even on the ones I was less impressed by I think had some strong elements. 

Thank you for the report ‼️ it was a good report👍

[Axe Elf]

I like the cover to CREEPY #37 a lot, but I'm finding it hard to express why I like it.  I remember that it was one of the covers that struck me when I was unboxing the run last year; I guess it just looks like something that should be a CREEPY cover.  Now that I'm becoming more familiar with Ken Barr's work, I think I have liked his interior work even more than his covers, but it's still a striking cover.

Tom Sutton really outdid himself for the "Loathsome Lore" feature, which was almost like a little "mini-story" all on its own--and while fictionalized, definitely had more of a basis in fact than many of these features.

Oops, looks like someone forgot to change the year on the "Contents" page...

...although I suppose since it was published IN 1970, the copyright could still be 1970, but I would think that the "No. 37, 1970" designation should match the cover date of 1971.

The two notable entries on the "Mail" page were from the guy asking for less for his money--that nine stories in one issue was just too much (lol)--and another from the guy who told of his mother buying him his first CREEPY when he got sick in 1963--which caught my eye because that was the year I was born, but it's also a couple of years before the first CREEPY came out in 1965.  So I can only assume that this was probably a misprint of 1968.

I'm not quite sure what was happening in the first panel of "The Cadaver," but it sure looks like the lucky stiff had a happy ending...

Besides that schoolboy snicker, I found this piece to be exactly what I think of as a CREEPY story--classic horror layered with humor and an ironic twist--a very satisfying start to the issue.  And look, the students found that humerus too...

(Ok, I know the humerus is the upper arm, but the joke was there for the taking, so I went out on a limb...)

"King Keller," which went with the cover, was also a pretty competent story.  The only thing I didn't understand is why the yeti were all gathered around the rocket that was annoying them so badly with it's ultrasonic transmissions--why would they all be close to it?  You'd think they would all abandon and avoid that area of the village like the plague, or at least as much as possible, rather than gathering around it with their hands over their ears.  But overall it was a credible plot with one of those "careful what you wish for" endings.

Having spent most of my career working with abused, neglected, runaway and delinquent teenagers and their families, I expected to be more affected by the subject matter of "I Hate You! I Hate You!" than I was, when I found out what it was about.  But the "abuse" aspect of the story was really minimized in comparison to the "time loop paradox" aspect of the story, so I wasn't really affected by it emotionally.  In fact, while the "time loop paradox" is a pretty common trope by now, I thought this one added a bit of a twist that isn't usually present in the paradox.  Usually when someone goes back in time, that creates two copies of them--an older one and a younger one.  The older one eventually dies (or returns to his original timeline), and the younger one goes on to become the older one, who then goes back in time, and the loop is closed--no real paradox there.  But in this story, each time the older one goes back in time, he is actually responsible for his own birth, and a NEW loop starts--so each closing of the loop in fact begins another loop.  Now instead of going through the loop one time and done, with no paradox, our hero in this story is doomed to go through the loop an infinite number of times!  And the loop itself never would have started--other than as a consequence of the loop itself!  It's probably been done before, but that's kind of a new wrinkle to the time loop paradox for me--so again, fairly high marks from me on this one.  Kinda weird that he had never seen his own face in a mirror before his son was born, though...

Between "Tender Machine 10061" and "The Cut-Throat Cat Blues," Ernie Colon wins the art in this issue fairly easily for me.  The former was especially interesting visually, as Colon played with layouts and panels as well as textures and shading to sort of mimic the dreamlike "reality" of the brainwashed citizens.

I'm not sure I really got the ending--some nameless woman in the crowd wrote him a note identifying him as a deviant which led to his demise, but why?  Who is she?  How did she know?  Was she "waken" too?  It left us with more questions than answers.

Colon's other piece now owns the distinction of being the first Warren story to use color, on the inside of the back cover for the final page of the story (color - Colon?).

The use of color does kind of make the "cartoon world" come to life, a la "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", and it serves to distinguish "cartoon world" from the "real world," but I think the story would have worked without the color too.  It's interesting that they chose to integrate color in this way for the first time, though--and again, Colon playing fast and loose with traditional layouts and panels makes the story all the more visually interesting.

"Coffin Cure" was almost more of a true crime story than a horror story--the only real horror coming from the victims being buried alive to keep them quiet.  Seems like the doc might as well have dosed them with enough of the drug to make them REALLY dead, rather than just appearing to be dead, if he had no intention of digging them up later anyway--having them wake up alive but abandoned in their coffins was just needlessly cruel.

As an aside to @OtherEric, I think the last panel shows Hawkins chowing down on Denton's arm--collecting on his venture for the third time, as a ghoul.  I think the body on the ground in the back, therefore, is Denton's exhumed body, but I agree it's not drawn particularly well.  Maybe having his victims die in terror by being buried alive makes them taste better later?

And finally, I was not disappointed by Pat Boyette's Victorian sensibilities in "The Castle."  He does so well with these period pieces, and his writing is as on point as his art--a jack of all trades!  I felt there were some aspects of Poe's influence on the atmosphere of this piece too.

So overall and again, this was a pretty solid issue.  The art was good to great and the plots were pretty tight, continuing a trend of fairly good issues that we have seen in all three main titles lately.  1971 is off to a very strong start!

[Axe Elf]

On 12/10/2023 at 12:10 AM, OtherEric said:

It's a story that absolutely relies on Colon's experience with both horror and more cartoony characters

Before the week of CREEPY #37 ends, I just want to say that I think this is a really apt observation, and I've been thinking about it a lot since reading the story.  I don't have much knowledge of Colon's work outside of Warren (and precious little therein), but it really makes sense that he would draw from both bases of experience for this piece, and I would say that it is that experience, maybe even more than the use of color (but definitely in concert with it), that makes the ending of "The Cut-Throat Cat Blues" so effective.

It was that same contrast between "reality" and "cartoony" that made "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" so striking when it first came out, but here Ernie Colon had done it decades earlier!