OtherEric Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Creepy #20 thoughts: Cover: They resort to reprinting a particularly weird Famous Monsters cover. And not really good weird, just weird weird. But if it gets us new material, I suppose it's a trade-off we need to accept for a bit. I can see where a picture of a frog might of been the starting point for the illustration since the index mentions it, but it looks to me like a cyclopean creature to me in the finished picture as well. Thumbs Down: An excellent choice of reprint... but leading with a reprint when you have new material is probably not a good sign. Inheritors of Earth: Castellon's last story for Warren. His art starts out stronger than his previous stories but seems to become poorer and rushed as it goes on. I'm still not clear at all on the point of the story... it's supposed to be human-like cockroaches, but the formula would kill them too, as established on page 1? Just a mess. Beauty or the Beast: Much better than the other new story, but still nothing spectacular. Len Brown didn't write that many comics, what he did was mostly for T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and Wally Wood borrowed his name for Dynamo's alter ego there. This is his only Warren work. The legendary D. Giordano makes his Warren debut here, helping his brother-in-law Trapani as a ghost on this story. He'll be back doing credited work for Warren eventually, but not for quite a while, I believe. The rest of the book is reprints, decent enough choices but nothing spectacular. Well, that was certainly a magazine that went out as an issue of Creepy. I've been able to find nice things to say about the first few dark ages books, but this one has me close to stumped. I suppose I'm happy enough with the Beauty or the Beast story... Giordano is one of those creators who only ever did "less good" stories, not bad ones, that I've seen . Axe Elf, Jayman, Artifiction and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share Posted January 22, 2023 On 1/22/2023 at 12:34 AM, OtherEric said: Len Brown didn't write that many comics, what he did was mostly for T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and Wally Wood borrowed his name for Dynamo's alter ego there. This is his only Warren work. The legendary D. Giordano makes his Warren debut here, helping his brother-in-law Trapani as a ghost on this story. He'll be back doing credited work for Warren eventually, but not for quite a while, I believe. Good info! And a nice copy you have, too--but yours looks more green and mine looks more brown? Is that how it looks in hand, too? The Lions Den and OtherEric 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lions Den Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 On 1/22/2023 at 1:00 AM, Axe Elf said: It's interesting that the Index says Warren had TWO horror magazines to publish but only enough of a budget for one, when in actuality they had three--in addition to the two horror COMIC magazines, they were also still publishing Famous Monsters of Filmland during this period, were they not? Does anyone know how that title was doing during these "Dark Ages"? Seems like FMoF kind of anchored the company, going strong from 1958 right through the end in 1983, but I'm curious if it suffered any from the crunch the way that CREEPY and EERIE did. The evidence would seem to support this theory... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayman Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 On 1/22/2023 at 1:00 AM, Axe Elf said: The Nuetzell cover appears to be a tree-frog, with an arm growing out of one eye. Pretty dreadful image (and not in a good way). This quote from the Index blows my mind! How could they not know this is a rendering of the Martian alien from the classic 1953 War of the Worlds movie! The artist simply replaced a human type eye for the Martian tri- colored one. The Lions Den, OtherEric and Axe Elf 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtherEric Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 On 1/22/2023 at 12:07 AM, Axe Elf said: Good info! And a nice copy you have, too--but yours looks more green and mine looks more brown? Is that how it looks in hand, too? Yes. My copy is definitely more green than brown. Axe Elf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtherEric Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 On 1/22/2023 at 6:59 AM, Jayman said: This quote from the Index blows my mind! How could they not know this is a rendering of the Martian alien from the classic 1953 War of the Worlds movie! The artist simply replaced a human type eye for the Martian tri- colored one. I didn't, I haven't seen the movie... or if I did, it was decades ago when I was a kid. Thanks for pointing out the source! Jayman, Axe Elf and The Lions Den 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share Posted January 22, 2023 On 1/22/2023 at 12:21 PM, OtherEric said: Yes. My copy is definitely more green than brown. That's really weird. I've never heard of green/brown variants of CREEPY #20, but doing an image search, it does seem like there are copies that look more green and copies that look more brown out there, and some kind of seem to be in-between (but that could just be variations in lighting). I wonder if, rather than an actual color variant, we're just seeing various stages of the cover ink's decomposition? Maybe it started out more green, and as it ages, the ink tends to turn more brownish? Or vice versa? OtherEric and The Lions Den 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtherEric Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 I don’t think it’s a true variant, but either fading or ink level fluctuations. But who knows at this late date? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lions Den Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 On 1/22/2023 at 2:00 PM, OtherEric said: I don’t think it’s a true variant, but either fading or ink level fluctuations. But who knows at this late date? I think you're on the right track... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share Posted January 22, 2023 Didn't I read on these forums somewhere that red ink fades the most over time? If they start out brown and the red ink fades out, that would leave them turning more greenish over time. That means that the more brownish your CREEPY #20, the more pristine it is, and therefore, the more it is worth. ::: beams with pride ::: OtherEric 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayman Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 On 1/22/2023 at 1:22 PM, OtherEric said: I didn't, I haven't seen the movie... or if I did, it was decades ago when I was a kid. Thanks for pointing out the source! I wouldn’t expect everyone to know, but if you are writing an index of Warren magazines, I would hope the research would be a little better than to say it’s a tree frog with an arm growing out of one eye! Axe Elf and OtherEric 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share Posted January 22, 2023 On 1/22/2023 at 5:21 PM, Jayman said: I wouldn’t expect everyone to know, but if you are writing an index of Warren magazines, I would hope the research would be a little better than to say it’s a tree frog with an arm growing out of one eye! IKR? Especially after identifying it as a reprint from an early FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND cover. Wouldn't that kind of be a clue that it might be a rendering of some famous film monster? OtherEric and Jayman 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayman Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 On 1/22/2023 at 6:33 PM, Axe Elf said: IKR? Especially after identifying it as a reprint from an early FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND cover. Wouldn't that kind of be a clue that it might be a rendering of some famous film monster? Maybe the indexer got confused with this issue? OtherEric, Axe Elf and The Lions Den 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lions Den Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 On 1/22/2023 at 5:54 PM, Axe Elf said: Didn't I read on these forums somewhere that red ink fades the most over time? If they start out brown and the red ink fades out, that would leave them turning more greenish over time. That means that the more brownish your CREEPY #20, the more pristine it is, and therefore, the more it is worth. ::: beams with pride ::: This is a fascinating concept. From everything I've read, Red is usually the first color to fade, and apparently Blue and Green aren't far behind. But I was under the impression that had to do with the amount of exposure to UV light... In this particular case, I'd be more inclined to think the color variation would likely be an issue that took place during the manufacturing process... Axe Elf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted January 27, 2023 Author Share Posted January 27, 2023 On 1/27/2023 at 5:05 PM, The Lions Den said: This is a fascinating concept. From everything I've read, Red is usually the first color to fade, and apparently Blue and Green aren't far behind. But I was under the impression that had to do with the amount of exposure to UV light... In this particular case, I'd be more inclined to think the color variation would likely be an issue that took place during the manufacturing process... I guess what we need to do is find a cheap brown CREEPY #20 on daBay and park it in the sunlight for a few weeks and see if it becomes green--the trusty ol' scientific method for testing hypotheses! Maybe THIS one? I might be willing to donate $10 to science, if we can all agree that this is a CREEPY #20 in its "brown state." The Lions Den 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted January 27, 2023 Author Share Posted January 27, 2023 On 1/27/2023 at 5:28 PM, The Lions Den said: What interests me is how certain parts of the cover already appear green...at least compared to the rest of the cover... Yes, I've seen some that I would describe as being in "transitional states" too. I just don't know if that's because they were between the green and the brown issue in the printing queue, or because they got less sun than the fully green copies. The Lions Den 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted January 27, 2023 Author Share Posted January 27, 2023 (edited) Welp, there's not much to review this week--no frontispiece, no Dear Uncle Creepy, no Fan Club page, no Loathsome Lore; I guess this is what the Warren Dark Ages is all about. Maybe the most interesting thing about this issue is the Amazing Transforming Cover, which seems to turn from brown to green with the fading and/or lean spraying of the red ink. (Wrote this before the experiment was proposed.) @OtherEric pretty much nailed the review of the first new story in this issue in three words: "Just a mess." I too am confused as to who's on who's side, what is serving what, and which is afraid of which. Just a bunch of bugs flying and people screaming and an elevator in a pillar of rock. And some flesh-eating bug people. Most of the bugs didn't even seem to be cockroaches. I didn't mind Castellon's style of art for "Snakes Alive" back in CREEPY #14, but for some reason for "Inheritors of Earth" it just looks juvenile and sloppy. Maybe because it's sandwiched in between some beautiful pieces by Williamson, Crandall and Morrow, or maybe because it's just juvenile and sloppy. Like does this mean that he is speechless, or did they just forget to put words in the balloon? The other new story, "Beauty and the Beast," was indeed much better, and I probably liked it even more than @OtherEric. I assumed that the twist would be that the girl really was a mute human girl that he could have saved if he hadn't let himself become suspicious of her, so I wasn't really expecting her to be the WIFE of the monster! I have to give credit to a story with a twist that I didn't see coming. And I loved the full-length Uncle Creepy in his space helmet! So because it's new and not half bad, I'd call that story the highlight of the issue--although all of the reprints are just fine in their own right (other than tacking on Goodwin's own epilogue to the Poe story, which I always disdained). Edited January 27, 2023 by Axe Elf Jayman and OtherEric 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lions Den Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 On 1/27/2023 at 6:33 PM, Axe Elf said: Yes, I've seen some that I would describe as being in "transitional states" too. I just don't know if that's because they were between the green and the brown issue in the printing queue, or because they got less sun than the fully green copies. To be honest, I suppose I never looked that closely at this cover because of...well...you know. But this is really blowing my mind right now... Axe Elf and OtherEric 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lions Den Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 On 1/27/2023 at 6:33 PM, Axe Elf said: Yes, I've seen some that I would describe as being in "transitional states" too. I just checked the Creepy Archives edition and even that cover appears to have color fluctuations. I need to sleep on this one... OtherEric 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtherEric Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 On 1/27/2023 at 7:01 PM, The Lions Den said: I just checked the Creepy Archives edition and even that cover appears to have color fluctuations. I need to sleep on this one... That's likely to cause spine ticks or worse structural damage, but not sure if it will impact the color... Axe Elf and The Lions Den 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
