Warren Magazine Reading Club! 7 7

[The Lions Den]

For anyone wanting to enjoy a small sample of Axe Elf's creative wit, check out his review of Creepy #24 on page 25 of this thread. Even on this sad day it cheered me up...  

[Jayman]

 

Vampirella #16

  April 1972

From the Warren Magazine Index:

16. cover: Manuel Sanjulian (Apr. 1972) 

 1) Vampi’s Feary Tales: The Gray Women [Jan Strnad/Rafael Auraleon] 1p  [frontis] 

2) Vampirella: …And Be A Bride Of Chaos [Archie Goodwin/Jose Gonzalez] 22p 

3) Purification [Nebot] 3p 

4) Gorilla My Dreams [Gus St. Anthony/Esteban Maroto] 6p 

5) Girl On The Red Asteroid [Don Glut/Bill DuBay] 6p

6) Lover! [Pat Boyette] 6p 

7) Vampi’s Flames: Jose Gonzlaez Profile/Vampire/Another Night Shot/Spectral Vengeance 

[J. R. Cochran, Clint Banks, Mary Lou Jurina & Gurn Lee/Jose Gonzalez, Tom Blackshear, Charles L. Pauly & Lloyd Fukuki] 1p   [text article/stories]

8) How Our Artists See Themselves… [J. R. Cochran/Bill DuBay, Dave Cockrum, Richard Corben, Jerry Grandenetti & Billy Graham] 1p [Self-portraits]

9) Cilia [Nicola Cuti/Felix Mas] 7p 

Notes: Another sub-standard issue, with only Pat Boyette’s tasty ‘Lover!’ rising to the level of a quality story.  Future comic writer David Michelinie sent in a letter.  Goodwin’s decent script for Vampirella was again brought low by inappropriate and awkward art.  In fact, Gonzalez’ artwork on this issue’s fan page was considerably better than what he was producing for the Vampirella strip at this point.  The lame Dracula appearing in Vampi’s story claims to be the same Dracula from the Goodwin/Crandall story ‘The Coffin Of Dracula’ from Creepy #8 & 9 and, thus, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but he looked and acted nothing like the ‘Coffin’ Dracula.  He’s short, paunchy and looks a bit like an aged Italian count.  According to J.R.Cochran, in a 1974 letter to the fanzine Canar #21-22 (May-June 1974), the feature page effort ‘How Our Artists See Themselves’ was the cause for the departure of editor Billy Graham when Jim Warren strongly objected to the appearance of the finished page, which had been based on a layout Warren himself suggested. 

——————————————————

Posting this one a bit early as maybe we could have some extra people interested this week. Saddened by the loss of Axe Elf but determined to go on, this issue looks to be a good read despite the indexers view. He/she sure had a dislike for Gonzalez and apparently nothing but a Chris Lee or Lugosi Dracula would fit the bill for these stories! We shall see…

Edited June 7 by Jayman

[OtherEric]

And so we press on with the reading group.  I've said this before, but I'll repeat it one more time:  I think Axe Elf would have been very glad to know the group was continuing, and I'm glad that we picked things up so smoothly even when we were uncertain about what had happened.  You created something very fun and interesting here, my friend, and I thank you for that.

Vampirella #16 thoughts:  I'm not a huge fan of this cover.  It's a definite improvement on the Vampirella #8 cover, which had a similar design, but I don't care for Dracula's face and it's a bit monochrome other than Vampi and Drac's shirt, but not in a way that makes the figures pop.

Feary Tales:  A solid page, introducing me to some elements of the Perseus story I was either unaware of or had forgotten.  Somewhat odd use of color for the lettering and not much else, in a way that doesn't really add much but does make the page pop a bit.

Vampirella: ...And be a Bride of Chaos!:  Archie Goodwin's last script as the regular writer of Vampirella, and it's a good one.  I really don't get why the indexer doesn't like Gonzalez's art, but he's confusing his own taste with the actual quality of the work.  I completely don't understand his objection to Dracula in particular.  A strong note for Goodwin to go out on.

Purification:  An excellent little three page story by Nebot.  Funny, with a serious snapper, with fun art and it doesn't outstay its welcome.  Too short and lightweight to really call a classic, but excellent for what it is.

Gorilla My Dreams:  Gus St. Anthony seems to have only done about 3 stories total according to the GCD, one each for Warren, Skywald, and Castle of Frankenstein.  Nice art by Maroto, but I think the story title telegraphs the ending twist too much, while being too bad a pun for the tone of the story overall.  

Girl on the Red Asteroid:  The story has essentially the same twist as the last one.  The actual script is better but the art is worse, and having the same twist twice in a row really doesn't help.  If Maroto had illustrated Glut's script instead, and the other one had been dropped or moved to another issue, it would have worked out much better overall.

Lover:  Pat Boyette turns in an excellent little story here.  He's another one of those creators who I knew of but wasn't really familiar with before the reading group who I've grown to really appreciate here.

Cilia:  Another excellent and moody story by Cuti and Mas, although the tone of the story is undercut somewhat by the silly intro and outro with Vampi as host, which really doesn't fit the story at all.

Overall, this was a very good issue, slightly undercut by the two lesser stories in the middle.  But you really can't expect every story in an anthology to be A+ every time, and this one hits a pleasingly high average.

[batmiesta]

Just found out about Axe Elf, very sad news, he will be missed in the Magazine threads. 

[Jayman]

Vampirella #16

A very nice cover by Sanjulian. Not his best rendition of Vampi yet, he will paint her more sensually attractive as time goes on. Points for making Dracula menacing with his cape extended like wings.

Vampi’s Feary Tales: The Gray Women:

Got flashbacks of Clash of the Titans (original) with the Stygian Witches, “Give us back the EYE!!!” Creepy rendering of witch-headed geese with arms made this enjoyable.

1 Vampirella: …And Be A Bride Of Chaos:

Vampi’s story continues with another well written segment with wonderful art by Gonzalez Despite the Warren indexer’s opinion to the contrary, Gonzalez is delivering top notch work here. Take this splash as example with the intricately detailed castle enhanced with a spectacular ink wash. Just beautiful stuff IMO. 

We also get treated to the true origin of Dracula. Our cast of characters are continuing to develop personalities, and speaking of characters, this Dracula does NOT look short and paunchy as stated by the indexer. I am very satisfied with this appearance. In addition, according to the story, Dracula himself admits he was slain by Van Helsing but his ashes in his coffin lets him possess a new host. He would then take on the appearance of the host and not look like the original Dracula anyway.

2 Purification:

A fun 3 pager. Nebot’s art looks a bit more cartoony here. The whole story seemed like a Sergio Aragones strip from Mad magazine.

3 Gorilla My Dreams:

Knock, knock. Who’s there?

Gorilla. Gorilla who? Gorilla My Dreams!

Despite the silly title and the very obvious ending, Maroto’s eye candy made this one a pleasure to read!

4 Girl On The Red Asteroid:

Kind of a ridiculous story. Guy joyrides in space, crashes and finds a human looking girl that hatches out of an egg and thinks everything will be fine! Ok, next…

5 Lover!:

Some nice art by Pat Boyette here but I wasn’t thrilled with this story too much. Guy goes around in disguise killing women and yells his signature scream. Lover???

6 How Our Artists See Themselves…:

Interesting page with some controversy. According to the index, editor Billy Graham left because Warren didn’t like the finished page. 

7 Cilia:

This one I remember reading as a kid and could never understand why the fishermen hated her so. Also I always hear Simon & Garfunkel singing “Celia, you're breaking my heart…” when I see this story. A fairly good twist on the classic mermaid tale, although the captain wastes precious time recounting his tale while he could have possibly rescued her…

Finally, we get a next issue teaser for a story in the classic “Bradbury” tradition. Oh boy!

To sum up: Any issue that gives you the triple threat of Sanjulian, Gonzalez and Maroto is a winner in my book. The Vampi tale takes first place again with Gorilla my Dreams, Purification & Cilia as my favorites.

[OtherEric]

On 6/10/2024 at 9:02 PM, Jayman said:

7 Cilia:

This one I remember reading as a kid and could never understand why the fishermen hated her so. Also I always hear Simon & Garfunkel singing “Celia, you're breaking my heart…” when I see this story. A fairly good twist on the classic mermaid tale, although the captain wastes precious time recounting his tale while he could have possibly rescued her…

 

 

I can never hear Cecilia without cracking up.  And it's all Paul Simon's fault, actually.  The first time I saw him perform live, he reached the line "I got up to wash my face/ When I come back to bed someone's taken my place.  I said "Cecilia"..." only instead of following it with the normal line of "You're breaking my heart..." he instead went "I said Cecilia, What the F***?"

He very quickly sang the line again, correctly, but the whole audience was laughing pretty hard for a few seconds.

[Jayman]

On 6/9/2024 at 12:43 AM, OtherEric said:

although the tone of the story is undercut somewhat by the silly intro and outro with Vampi as host, which really doesn't fit the story at all.

While we are on topic of Cilia, I forgot to address your observation of Vampi’s comic comments. I agree that it takes away the overall tone of the story. It was even touted as “one of the most beautiful  horror stories ever told” on the cover! So why undercut it? The answer may be in the letter columns of this issue where I read a response from a fan accusing the mag of turning quickly from horror to romance stories. The editorial response was a question to the readers asking if they thought that true. Perhaps Vampi was a last minute editorial inclusion to add some levity to that mushy love story. It still works against the story but that may have been the reason.

[Artifiction]

On 6/11/2024 at 12:58 AM, OtherEric said:

I can never hear Cecilia without cracking up.  And it's all Paul Simon's fault, actually.  The first time I saw him perform live, he reached the line "I got up to wash my face/ When I come back to bed someone's taken my place.  I said "Cecilia"..." only instead of following it with the normal line of "You're breaking my heart..." he instead went "I said Cecilia, What the F***?"

He very quickly sang the line again, correctly, but the whole audience was laughing pretty hard for a few seconds.

Had that song in my head all night last night. 

[OtherEric]

EERIE # 39- April 1972

From the Warren Magazines Index:

cover: Ken Kelly (Apr. 1972)

1) Eerie’s Monster Gallery: The Mysterious Men In Black! [Doug Moench/Richard Bassford] 1p [frontis]

2) Head Shop [Don Glut/Jose Bea] 6p

3) Just Passing Through [Steve Skeates/Rafael Auraleon] 8p

4) The Disenfranchised [J. R. Cochran/Tom Sutton] 10p

5) Dax The Warrior [Esteban Maroto & ?/Esteban Maroto] 8p   [story credited solely to Maroto]

            6) Yesterday Is The Day Before Tomorrow [Doug Moench/Dave Cockrum] 7p

7) Eerie Fanfare: Pity The Stranger/House For Sale/The Coming Of Apollo/Welcoming Committee [Greg Balke, Roy Decker, Gary Henry & Marcus Octavious/Steve Monsanto

& Jody Clay] 2p   [text stories]

8) Ortaa! [Kevin Pagan/Jaime Brocal] 8p

 

Notes: Another fine Ken Kelly Cover!  The best story & art was easily J. R. Cochran & Tom Sutton’s ‘The Disenfranchised!’  Maroto’s Dax character began an eleven chapter run in Eerie.  These stories had originally been published in Europe a couple of years earlier.  For this Warren run, the stories were translated and rewritten by American writers, none of whom were credited.  Apparently, each scripter got only one story to adapt so the quality of the scripts would range from quite good to so-so. 

 _______________________________________

Looking forward to this one quite a bit, with the first installment of Dax I believe we finally enter the era of Eerie being rather heavily driven by relatively short-run serial characters.  It's a major shift that I think is what ultimately gives Eerie its own reputation and character, rather than being the book that shows up months when Creepy doesn't.  Up to this point, while we could point at small differences and some notable stories, it seems like having two titles was mostly geared to having the books stay on the shelf longer by splitting the content between two titles.

 

[Jayman]

I don’t have this issue and I’m not finding any links to an online resource. 

[The Lions Den]

On 6/16/2024 at 8:53 AM, Jayman said:

I don’t have this issue and I’m not finding any links to an online resource. 

A tough one to find in high grade, that's for sure. I've always liked this cover, and the story is pretty wild, too. And while the Dax debut is good, "Head Shop" is the story I really remember from this issue. For me, an above average effort...

[Jayman]

On 6/16/2024 at 1:18 PM, The Lions Den said:

A tough one to find in high grade, that's for sure. I've always liked this cover, and the story is pretty wild, too. And while the Dax debut is good, "Head Shop" is the story I really remember from this issue. For me, an above average effort...

I’ve been pointed to a resource. I just finished reading and will be posting a review soon. I agree that Head Shop was entertaining. 

[Jayman]

Eerie #39

This was an issue I didn’t have and had to read online. UGH! Not my thing at all, having to zoom in and back out to read and see all the details I want to look at was tiresome to me. It felt very constraining, but on to the issue. A nice moody cover by Kelly that gave the character a furry look with an almost reptilian face. I was surprised to find that the character was just a human in the story.

Eerie’s Monster Gallery: The Mysterious Men In Black

Another fairly recent phenomena being covered. I really like that they do this and not just dig up old monster legends that most of us already know about.

1 Head Shop

A pretty basic story that was done well IMO. It was short and sweet and got right to the point (of the axe)! Bea’s art can be mesmerizing at times.

2 Just Passing Through

An ambiguous story of a man or god passing through our realm. Not really horror or sci-fi but a fantasy that had a Gulliver’s Travels feel to it. I’d personally like to imagine it to be the character from the 50’s movie “The Incredible Shrinking Man” after he has shrunk down to a sub-atomic size. He then passes through even smaller worlds within worlds.

3 The Disenfranchised

The cover story. Other than being disappointed that this guy wasn’t a furry reptilian faced monster, the story was just ok for me. The boy loosing his mind seeing his family and neighbors being forced out of their homes comes across well but the shock reveal of his hand at the end didn’t really add anything to the story for me. Sutton’s depiction of the character did remind me a bit of Evil Ernie though.

4 Dax The Warrior

Interesting that these Maroto stories were published in Europe years earlier. Being translated and rewritten makes me wonder how different these are from the originals. Dax seems to have a similar attitude to Conan with regard to not caring if one is a human, god or demon. If you get in his way, he’s gonna brawl! Nice art and I’m interested enough to see where the storyline goes.

5 Yesterday Is The Day Before Tomorrow

Wouldn’t today be the day before tomorrow? But I digress. A pretty good time travel story that does have its plot holes. He could have changed his name again or have been better prepared for when he arrived in the future since he knew exactly when he would arrive. Even Cousin Eerie questions a plot hole at the end. I liked the inclusion of the Barsoomian Thark too!

6 Ortaa!

Any story that has ancient Aztecs, reincarnation and a giant heart-octopus gets my attention. I liked this one more than I thought I would and the ending made sense too.

Overall I’d give this issue a grade of “C”. Head Shop being my favorite.

[The Lions Den]

On 6/17/2024 at 9:30 PM, Jayman said:

I’d personally like to imagine it to be the character from the 50’s movie “The Incredible Shrinking Man” after he has shrunk down to a sub-atomic size. He then passes through even smaller worlds within worlds.

One of my favorite movies when I was growing up and I wish they'd show it more often...  

[Jayman]

On 6/18/2024 at 8:38 AM, The Lions Den said:

One of my favorite movies when I was growing up and I wish they'd show it more often...  

Mine too! One of the best things about it was how the ending was not grim, but almost promised hope for a continued existence no matter how small he got. Would have been great if they ever followed it up with his adventures in a sub atomic universe. Hence why this story reminded me of the movie.

[The Lions Den]

On 6/18/2024 at 8:48 AM, Jayman said:

Mine too! One of the best things about it was how the ending was not grim, but almost promised hope for a continued existence no matter how small he got. Would have been great if they ever followed it up with his adventures in a sub atomic universe. Hence why this story reminded me of the movie.

A great ending which almost didn't happen due to a difference of opinion. And Richard Matheson's first screenplay, as I recall...

[FoggyNelson]

On 6/16/2024 at 1:27 AM, OtherEric said:

EERIE # 39- April 1972

From the Warren Magazines Index:

cover: Ken Kelly (Apr. 1972)

 

1) Eerie’s Monster Gallery: The Mysterious Men In Black! [Doug Moench/Richard Bassford] 1p [frontis]

 

2) Head Shop [Don Glut/Jose Bea] 6p

 

3) Just Passing Through [Steve Skeates/Rafael Auraleon] 8p

 

4) The Disenfranchised [J. R. Cochran/Tom Sutton] 10p

 

5) Dax The Warrior [Esteban Maroto & ?/Esteban Maroto] 8p   [story credited solely to Maroto]

 

            6) Yesterday Is The Day Before Tomorrow [Doug Moench/Dave Cockrum] 7p

 

7) Eerie Fanfare: Pity The Stranger/House For Sale/The Coming Of Apollo/Welcoming Committee [Greg Balke, Roy Decker, Gary Henry & Marcus Octavious/Steve Monsanto

 

& Jody Clay] 2p   [text stories]

 

8) Ortaa! [Kevin Pagan/Jaime Brocal] 8p

 

 

 

Notes: Another fine Ken Kelly Cover!  The best story & art was easily J. R. Cochran & Tom Sutton’s ‘The Disenfranchised!’  Maroto’s Dax character began an eleven chapter run in Eerie.  These stories had originally been published in Europe a couple of years earlier.  For this Warren run, the stories were translated and rewritten by American writers, none of whom were credited.  Apparently, each scripter got only one story to adapt so the quality of the scripts would range from quite good to so-so. 

 

 

 _______________________________________

Looking forward to this one quite a bit, with the first installment of Dax I believe we finally enter the era of Eerie being rather heavily driven by relatively short-run serial characters.  It's a major shift that I think is what ultimately gives Eerie its own reputation and character, rather than being the book that shows up months when Creepy doesn't.  Up to this point, while we could point at small differences and some notable stories, it seems like having two titles was mostly geared to having the books stay on the shelf longer by splitting the content between two titles.

 

 Great cover artwork

[Jayman]

On 6/18/2024 at 10:12 AM, The Lions Den said:

A great ending which almost didn't happen due to a difference of opinion. And Richard Matheson's first screenplay, as I recall...

Just learned about this:

Matheson scripted a sequel, titled The Fantastic Little Girl. The film has Louise Carey certain that Scott is still alive. She returns home and finds herself shrinking and is injected with a new cure. The script also featured Scott in his microscopic world where he encounters strange eel-like creatures.
 

Too bad this never went further than the script. 

[OtherEric]

Eerie #39 thoughts:

Cover:  An excellent cover by Ken Kelly, but I think the layout is somewhat flawed... I think it suggests that the character on the cover is Dax, which is incorrect.  We don't know the character yet, so we don't know that he couldn't be "The Disenfranchised".  Or maybe I'm overthinking it, as I am all to wont to do.

Monster Gallery:  A VERY early reference to the Men in Black.  I don't know enough about the lore to be certain, but this seems to be one of the earliest uses, at least in popular culture, of the specific term, rather than a more general reference to men dressed in black or something similar.  If anybody knows more for certain I would love to learn more.

Head Shop:  This feels so much like an EC story that I wonder if they did a version of it; I'm not as familiar with the EC horror books as I am the War, Humor, SF, and Shock.  It's fairly lightweight but absolutely first rate for what it is.

Just Passing Through:  @Jayman saw "The Incredible Shrinking Man" as a reference, I see borrowing from EC again.  In this case, it's a riff on the first story in the first issue of Weird Science, "Lost in the Microcosm", itself a swipe of "He Who Shrank" by Henry Hasse.  Amusingly enough, Ray Bradbury's first professional sale was a collaboration with Hasse, and of course EC famously swiped from Bradbury before doing official adaptations.  Back to Warren, the story is almost more a mood piece than anything else, with very little actual plot as opposed to events happening around the size changing man.

The Disenfranchised:  Excellent art by Sutton, but I feel the story is trying too hard to be two different things and they're getting in each others way:  It wants to be a morality play, but it's playing too hard into the crazed nature of the protagonist, and the two work against each other.

Dax the Warrior:  This, of course, is a major turning point for Eerie, with the the start of the first long-running serial, the format that will become the title's signature and what distinguishes it from Creepy.  But to start there's just not much there, other than a very bare bones introduction to the character and his world, neither of which have much to distinguish them from generic sword & sorcery yet.  But some excellent Maroto art has me looking forward to seeing where this goes. 

Yesterday is the Day Before Tomorrow:  A fairly generic closed time loop story, but Cockrum's art is perfectly suited to the story.  This issue is actually cover dated the same month as Cockrum's first Legion of Super Heroes story in Superboy 184.  This means this winds up being Cockrum's last story for Warren, I believe, as he moves on to other projects.

Ortaa:  A solid enough story, but at least one howler of a typo threw me on page one:  "blood curses in your veins".  There's definitely a good dark pun to be made there, but I can't see any indication it was deliberate.

Overall, a solid issue, with several good stories, but taken as a whole it felt rather slight, with nothing really standing out that much either.  A bunch of solid backup stories but nothing that really anchored the book as a lead.

[Jayman]

On 6/20/2024 at 1:33 AM, OtherEric said:

Cover:  An excellent cover by Ken Kelly, but I think the layout is somewhat flawed... I think it suggests that the character on the cover is Dax, which is incorrect.  We don't know the character yet, so we don't know that he couldn't be "The Disenfranchised".  Or maybe I'm overthinking it, as I am all to wont to do.

I do see what you mean here. The Dax introduction is bold enough to throw you off. I guess they could have done an inset illustration a la Vampirella #9, but I’m glad they didn’t.

On 6/20/2024 at 1:33 AM, OtherEric said:

The Disenfranchised:  Excellent art by Sutton, but I feel the story is trying too hard to be two different things and they're getting in each others way:  It wants to be a morality play, but it's playing too hard into the crazed nature of the protagonist, and the two work against each other.

You summed this up better than I ever could! 

On 6/20/2024 at 1:33 AM, OtherEric said:

Ortaa:  A solid enough story, but at least one howler of a typo threw me on page one:  "blood curses in your veins".  There's definitely a good dark pun to be made there, but I can't see any indication it was deliberate.

Axe Elf would be proud!