Warren Magazine Reading Club! 6 6

[Axe Elf]

Once again, the "Monster Gallery" is more of a Loathsome Lore/Feary Tales kind of thing than a monster per se, but thanks to @OtherEric for linking to the background information from which this piece was embellished; it made the whole thing more interesting.

"Dear Cousin Eerie" was largely unremarkable this issue, other than a lot of the letter writers seemed a little dim--complaining that the werewolves were drawn with fangs on both their top and bottom jaws (when regular wolves clearly have both upper and lower fangs), and not knowing what the "cube" was that the teenagers ate in "The Drop" back in EERIE #31 (it was LSD, duh).  Cousin Eerie replied to one letter complaining about how stupid "Ice World" was in EERIE #32, with it's little universe taking place inside a freezer, noting that Shakespeare had written, "there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy."  That may be true of heaven and earth, but I'm not sure it is true of the kitchen refrigerator.

"EERIE Fan Fare" featured a nice encore illustration from a previously-published fan, and a competent drawing from an enlisted private whose letter requesting information on breaking into the art world was published on the letters pages.  The fan fiction, however, was as dumb as ever.

And I really hate it when @OtherEric has a lot of praise for a story that fell flat for me, because I don't want to feel like I'm arguing with him, but the lead-off story, "Parting is Such Sweet Horror," is one such story.  Sutton's art was as good as ever, but it felt like we were just dropped into the final chapter of a story that needed more set-up than what we got through the story itself.  It wasn't really clear why one twin killed the other, just that it was over "money."  The psychic connection they shared wasn't explained very well either, or why it needed to be severed for the living couple to receive the money.  There's no explanation for why the "house" was more like a spiderweb of claustrophobic tunnels, instead of the normal rooms, doors, hallways and windows.  And no particular reason given for the murdered twin to have turned into a tub of sentient acid jelly.  It was just kind of a bizarre little tale that probably would have been more engaging if it was twice as long and explained better--at least that's how it struck me.

I enjoyed "Eye of the Cyclops" more, especially as it turned out to be tied to the original Ulysses epic.  Upon learning the twist, I went back and noted that Brocal had been careful to draw the eye always staring straight ahead, so it fits the "glass eye" description in that sense, but I'm not sure that "seeing" through the little monkey pet really explains things like the cyclops' ability to punch the boulder that was falling on him to smithereens; it seems like that kind of precision couldn't be achieved by proxy sight.  The end where the guy gets squished in the fist of the cyclops is one of the more brutal and gruesome panels in recent memory--kudos to Brocal for that!

Ewww!

I don't really get the title of "He Who Laughs Last... is Grotesque."  The story itself was a lot of fun--seeing the people in "hell" (like the Nazi and the Playboy bunny) and having Satan and Cousin Eerie team up as part of the story itself was a cute idea--but I just don't get what the title has to do with anything.  It was kind of refreshing reading one of these "curses from beyond the grave" stories where the curse was never actually able to be executed--you know, just like in real life!

@OtherEric wasn't kidding about the "Williamsune" art for "Food for Thought" channeling Grandenetti--it's almost so Grandenetti as to be a cariacature of Grandenetti.  But in both senses, it's quite visually engaging.

The story itself is kind of lightweight, but it does provide, well, food for thought.

After not one but two stories in last week's CREEPY #40 in which the hero unwittingly kills the heroine due to the villain making the hero think he is killing a monster, a third such story was deemed appropriate for the concurrent issue of EERIE.  As with many of the distinct styles in this issue, the art for "The Vow of the Wizard" was very unique--ink over pencil drawings--and while it was kind of simplistic in that way, and in places almost comical (the rattlesnake is very cartoonish and the "wild jackals" look like cute lil puppies)...

...it also managed to be layered, detailed and provocative in places.

"Lovecraftian" was a good descriptor for "The Sound of Wings," and I would even add "Hitchcockian," in that the "monster" was never directly revealed, only the suspense of its arrivals and the aftermaths of its visits.  It wasn't an important story or anything, but it was solidly written and drawn and quite at home in a Warren magazine.

I do think it's kind of cool that Warren made an effort at "diversity" by including supernatural stories from various cultural backgrounds, as with the Native American theme of "Lair of the Horned Man."  (It probably could have been "Lair of the Horny Man," but that would have been a different magazine.)  Trying to depict Cousin Eerie as a Native American, though, might have been a bit over the line of respect.

 

It was a solid story with solid art for a newcomer, though, and it was nice that the issue ended on a happy note--villain vanquished, hero and heroine survive and live happily ever after!  We don't get much of that from Warren, for some reason...

This issue had some warts, but for the familiar art (Sutton and Williamsune/Grandenetti) and all the various styles of the newcomers, I think I would still say it was a good issue.  I'm certainly not taking for granted that the Warren team is cranking out 20+ brand new stories every couple of months now, rather than all the recycled reprints we had to trudge through during the Dark Ages.  In that sense, any all-original issue is a good issue.

[OtherEric]

On 2/23/2024 at 4:22 PM, Axe Elf said:

And I really hate it when @OtherEric has a lot of praise for a story that fell flat for me, because I don't want to feel like I'm arguing with him, but the lead-off story, "Parting is Such Sweet Horror," is one such story. 

I actually like it when we have different opinions, as long as it's not on EVERY story:  It's a good reminder that what works for one person doesn't always work for another, and while it's possible to objectively judge something on pure technical standards there's always going to be a big part of a story that comes down to personal reactions.

If we disagreed on everything, then it would be an argument.  But on something like this it's good, because if we agreed on everything there wouldn't be a point to the club at all.

On 2/23/2024 at 4:22 PM, Axe Elf said:

I do think it's kind of cool that Warren made an effort at "diversity" by including supernatural stories from various cultural backgrounds, as with the Native American theme of "Lair of the Horned Man."  (It probably could have been "Lair of the Horny Man," but that would have been a different magazine.)  Trying to depict Cousin Eerie as a Native American, though, might have been a bit over the line of respect.

Well said.  One of my favorite observations when looking at stuff like this is that a lot of social progress takes the form of finding new ways to screw up.  So stuff like this, which was undeniably a step forward when they did it, comes across uncomfortably now. 

[The Lions Den]

On 2/23/2024 at 7:22 PM, Axe Elf said:

I don't really get the title of "He Who Laughs Last... is Grotesque."  The story itself was a lot of fun--seeing the people in "hell" (like the Nazi and the Playboy bunny) and having Satan and Cousin Eerie team up as part of the story itself was a cute idea--but I just don't get what the title has to do with anything.

This is likely just Hewetson's way of being playful. Very similar to what he did in the Skywald mags...  

[Axe Elf]

VAMPIRELLA #12 - July 1971

According to the Warren Magazine Index...

12. cover: Manuel Sanjulian (July 1971)

1) Vampi’s Feary Tales: The Sirens! [Frank Brunner] 1p   [frontis]

2) Vampirella: Death’s Dark Angel [Archie Goodwin/Jose Gonzalez] 20p

3) Amazonia And The Eye Of Ozirios! [Gardner Fox/Billy Graham] 8p

4) The Quest [Jeff Jones] 7p

5) Annual Warren Awards At The New York Comicon… [Martin Greim/Ernie Colon] 2p   [text article]   reprinted from Comic Crusader #10 (1970)

6) Vampi’s Flames: Join Me!/The Leaking Bath Tub! [David Reiffal & Carl Daigrepont, Jr./J. Haney, Maria Hearley, Hollis Williams, Carlos Federici, James King & Brian Bunick] 2p   [text poem/story]

7) To Kill A God! [Wally Wood] 8p

Notes: Editor: Billy Graham.  The Spanish invasion began.  Jose Gonzalez debuted on Vampirella, and while he was immediately praised, this effort was only so-so, with somewhat scratchy looking art and mediocre storytelling abilities.  Same goes for the accompanying cover by Sanjulian.  Nice work from Jeff Jones but the real prize here was Wally Wood’s ‘To Kill A God!’  Just superb work!  Gardner Fox’s character, Amazonia, made her final appearance. Carlos Federici was a professional artist from South America, stuck side by side with amateur American artists on the fan page.  Future comic artist Brian Bunick debuted his work on the fan page.

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Well, just after I commented on how prolific the Warren stable had been lately, we only get four new feature stories this time around.  Given that one is the 20-page debut for Jose Gonzalez as he joins Sanjulian in triggering the Spanish invasion, one is a new Amazonia story drawn by new editor Billy Graham, and the other two are new solo pieces by Jeff Jones and Wally Wood, I don't think we will be too disappointed, "scratchy looking art" notwithstanding!

I wonder why they reprinted the Warren Awards from CREEPY #40 here, but didn't reprint them in EERIE #34?

[OtherEric]

Vampi 12 thoughts:

Cover:  We get the debut of Sanjulian, who is one of the most famous Warren comic cover artists.  A decent but not spectacular debut.

Table of contents:  Only four stories!

Feary Tales:  A nice little piece by Brunner, but it feels more like a Monster Gallery than a Feary Tales.  Although it's been clear for a long time now that we care more about the distinction between the features as readers than Warren ever actually did.

Death's Dark Angel: Jose Gonzalez makes his Warren debut here. Almost all of his work for Warren is on the Vampirella feature, other than a few stories in 1984/1994.  I'm having trouble tracking down a lot of details on other books, I don't believe he had much other work in the US.  But he's the definitive Vampirella artist at Warren, who will draw every Vampi story for over the next twenty issues, and dozens more stories, plus frontispieces, all the way up to the last issue.  As to the story itself, it's not his finest work on the character.  But that's the future skewing our perceptions, for an artist making their debut (in the US, at least) it's miles better than we would normally get, and the story by Goodwin is one of his best Vampi stories yet.

Eye of Ozirios:  Gardner Fox tells a pulpy tale that would have fit right into Weird Tales and Graham draws the heck out of it.  A story that aims low and then clears the bar it sets for itself by a mile, which is always fun in fairly small doses.  I want to call attention to the one silent page in the middle of Fox's purple prose... the sudden shift works extraordinary well.

Quest:  A very nonstandard format, taking a little bit from Sunday comics like Prince Valiant with the caption only format, mixing in some creative parallel story threads on each page, ending with a solid twist, and extraordinary art from Jones.  This one would definitely make the "Best Warren Stories" shortlist for me.  (Admittedly, a fairly long shortlist.)

To Kill a God:  We're nearing the end of Wally Wood's current return to Warren.  This isn't his best story in the batch, but it's still a minor masterpiece from one of the greatest comic creators who ever lived.

So, we've got the debut of two of the most important Warren creators, and two incredible stories from all-time comic book greats.  The Amazonia tale is far and away the low point of the issue and there are plenty of issues where it would easily be the best story, and not just by default.  A spectacular issue.

[Axe Elf]

On 2/25/2024 at 12:14 AM, OtherEric said:

Although it's been clear for a long time now that we care more about the distinction between the features as readers than Warren ever actually did.

Right?  It's so frustrating.  It wouldn't have been that hard to just shuffle them around a little and stick closer to the splash page format for the Monster Galleries and a more narrative style for the Feary Tales and Loathsome Lores.

On 2/25/2024 at 12:14 AM, OtherEric said:

Jose Gonzalez makes his Warren debut here. Almost all of his work for Warren is on the Vampirella feature, other than a few stories in 1984/1994.  I'm having trouble tracking down a lot of details on other books, I don't believe he had much other work in the US.  But he's the definitive Vampirella artist at Warren, who will draw every Vampi story for over the next twenty issues, and dozens more stories, plus frontispieces, all the way up to the last issue.

I believe he is the only artist to be featured in the Vampirella Special Edition, right?

On 2/25/2024 at 12:14 AM, OtherEric said:

As to the story itself, it's not his finest work on the character.  But that's the future skewing our perceptions, for an artist making their debut (in the US, at least) it's miles better than we would normally get, and the story by Goodwin is one of his best Vampi stories yet.

I don't really have much experience with him, so I can go into his debut pretty unskewed--looking forward to it!

[The Lions Den]

On 2/25/2024 at 1:14 AM, OtherEric said:

So, we've got the debut of two of the most important Warren creators, and two incredible stories from all-time comic book greats.  The Amazonia tale is far and away the low point of the issue and there are plenty of issues where it would easily be the best story, and not just by default.  A spectacular issue.

I agree. One of my personal favorites for any number of reasons...  

[Jayman]

On 2/25/2024 at 1:14 AM, OtherEric said:

Cover:  We get the debut of Sanjulian, who is one of the most famous Warren comic cover artists.  A decent but not spectacular debut.

One of my favorite covers. As a kid before I understood the art of design, the upward cape/wings made little sense to me. Having gone to art school and studying classic artists and techniques, I’ve come to appreciate the thought that goes into a composition. The cross in this layout draws your eyes intentionally to the central figure. And those black eyes are just too creepy! Pardon my crude visual…

[Axe Elf]

I assume that the cover was commissioned after the Vampirella story was written, so what @Jayman said about artistic composition is true--but the wings are also depicted upward like that in the story itself, from various angles, so it's not purely about composition; the demon just has upward-facing wings.  I don't think at this point Sanjulian had much of a reputation--given that they call him "San Julian" on the "Contents" page (in amongst a litany of giants in the field), so he probably just followed Gonzales' lead for the concept of the demon.

If it IS a demon.  The twist of "Death's Dark Angel" harkened back to "Death Plane" in EERIE #1/CREEPY #8, where the soul of whoever is shot down by the Death Plane becomes its pilot until he shoots down another to take his place.  And so this "demon" Skaar, not important enough to be included in the Crimson Chronicles, but still a vessel of the power of Chaos down through the ages, turns out not to really be a demon at all, but more of a "Dread Pirate Roberts" demon that is actually just the soul of our villain's father, at the moment, until he finds another soul blacker than his own to take his place--his son's soul.  It's a twist that is at the same time satisfying--the father and son connection--and ridiculous--at what point did the "demon" become just a series of successively blacker human souls?

But the Jose Gonzales art!  My perception is not skewed by his future work, since I'm not really familiar with it, but I was pretty dazzled by his work here.  If it's only going to get better, we must be in for some real treats!  I could hardly get past studying the opening splash page, but virtually every page made me stop reading and just admire at some point.

I can understand the Index's description of the art as "scratchy," but I thought it worked pretty well in terms of the demon, making its features somewhat indistinct (which would explain why the villain didn't recognize his father) as if it was blurry even in real life or something.  Despite the strange nature of the demon's identity, I really enjoyed this piece a lot--it was engaging to read and I love the Gonzales art--and I'm REALLY looking forward to more of the same in future issues.  I'm glad to hear Gonzales pretty much has the gig to himself for a while now.  And it's also interesting how they introduced the notion that Drakulonnes are "non-infecting" vampires (so that Vampirella doesn't go leaving a whole new generation of Drakulonnes in her wake), as part of the plot twist in this story!

"Amazonia and the Eye of Ozirios" was just as gorgeous to look at, with Graham's extensive shadings and contrasts taking center stage in a story that was ok, but definitely overshadowed by the art.

It's a little bittersweet that this is the last appearance of a short-lived running character, but on the other hand, she almost didn't seem like a running character--all of her stories could stand alone with a different heroine in each, if necessary--and I'm a little glad that her spoofy sword name of "Excalifer" is being retired.  That always seemed too satirical for the mood.

The relative simplicity of Jeff Jones' art for "Quest" stands in stark contrast to Graham's art preceding it, and while Jones has a beautiful style, the piece is really more text-based than art-based.  It's definitely a unique change of pace, and I can appreciate it as such, but the whole thing seems a little lazy to me--a 7 page story with 2 panels per page is really just a 14-panel story--and further, Jones' style uses a lot of white (and black) space, so it's kind of a sparsely-drawn 14-panel story to boot.  I don't mean that as a blanket condemnation, or as any condemnation at all, really; it's fine as it is.  I just wouldn't want to see a lot of pieces like this, as it's kind of a departure from the familiar Warren norm.

Finally, we have Wally Wood's "To Kill a God."  I wouldn't have guessed this was Wood's art, as it doesn't seem all that similar to his last couple of (master) pieces to my eye--but it's still pretty robust.  In that sense, it also stands in contrast to Jones' more simplistic art before it, with each page of Wood's work exploding with action and detail, while Jones can make a single flower in a white field captivating.  Tacking the story onto the Antony and Cleopatra legend was kind of clever, but moving them to Transylvania on top of it was kind of unnecessary.  After all, they supposedly became werewolves, and Transylvania is more vampire country.  Maybe they should have moved to London.

After those four expressions of artistic genius, it's kind of anticlimactic to talk about the minor features, but Brunner's work for the "Vampi's Feary Tales" about sirens fits right in with the high level of art in this issue, managing to cram three hotties and some fairly extensive text all into a single frontispiece.

"Vampi's Flames" brought us the first piece of fan fiction to be continued in a future issue.  On the plus side, the continued story is actually kind of worth waiting for--it's one of the better-written fan submissions I can remember (at least so far).  And I guess one of the fan art contributions is supposed to be pedo-Vampi?

The most interesting of "Vampi's Scarlet Letters" was sent in by the winner of the first "Miss Vampire Contest" reported in a previous issue.  Another letter was ABOUT a contestant, outing her as a "real" witch.  I'm not sure what he meant by that, because he referred to it as the "old" religion, and most "witches" these days are really Wiccans--but Wicca began in the 1950s, so it really wasn't that "old" in 1971.  I'm curious which tradition he meant, if not Wicca.

And then of course there was the reprint of the "Warren Awards," but I don't have much more to say about that, other than to wonder if they will ever get around to reprinting it in EERIE, too.

So this was just a massively over-the-top strong issue for me in terms of the artwork, and maybe even a little above average in scripting and execution (not too many errors).  Oh, and boobs.  Lots of boobs.  It seems like Warren is really starting to push the limits of their exemption from the Comics Code in that regard.  We've had a few issues with some suggestiveness and limited nudity before, but there was a LOT of full-on detailed boobage in this issue, which is only one of the many reasons I could look through this one over and over.  Mainly, it's really gotten me excited for the upcoming Gonzales installments of the Vampirella saga!

And then there were liberal hints of a new fan contest coming in Vampirella #13...

Edited March 2 by Axe Elf

[The Lions Den]

On 3/1/2024 at 7:06 PM, Axe Elf said:

Finally, we have Wally Wood's "To Kill a God."  I wouldn't have guessed this was Wood's art, as it doesn't seem all that similar to his last couple of (master) pieces to my eye--but it's still pretty robust.

This is an interesting observation, since Wood reportedly did this entire story without any help from his friends... 

[Axe Elf]

On 3/1/2024 at 6:25 PM, The Lions Den said:

This is an interesting observation, since Wood reportedly did this entire story without any help from his friends... 

Does that mean that this piece is more like "typical" Wood art than the other pieces we've seen in the Club so far?  My pool of experience with him is pretty much limited to those works.

[The Lions Den]

On 3/1/2024 at 9:12 PM, Axe Elf said:

Does that mean that this piece is more like "typical" Wood art than the other pieces we've seen in the Club so far?  My pool of experience with him is pretty much limited to those works.

Yessir, I'd say it reminds me more of some of his EC work than the other stories. The thing that I really respect about Wally is that his work always seemed to be at a very high level, and the folks who worked closely with him appeared to benefit from his creativity as well. I can think of very few artists that endeared themselves to their fan base in the same way he did...   

[Axe Elf]

On 3/1/2024 at 9:24 PM, The Lions Den said:

Yessir, I'd say it reminds me more of some of his EC work than the other stories. The thing that I really respect about Wally is that his work always seemed to be at a very high level, and the folks who worked closely with him appeared to benefit from his creativity as well. I can think of very few artists that endeared themselves to their fan base in the same way he did...   

See, that's interesting to me, because @AJD posted a comment on the VAMPIRELLA #9 cover in my Gallery to the effect that he thought the line art on the cover looked like Wally Wood's work, and sure enough, it was--so that led me to believe that THAT was Wood's traditional, recognizable style.  And "To Kill a God" is a quite different style.  But in any case, I thought it was pretty cool that @AJD recognized Wood from a previously unseen work.

And I love learning all this stuff.

[Axe Elf]

CREEPY 1972 Annual - August 1971

According to the Warren Magazine Index...

5. cover: photo of a rubber Zombie mask (1971)

1) Uncle Creepy’s Welcome [Archie Goodwin/Angelo Torres] 1p   [frontis]   reprinted from Creepy #2 (Apr. 1965)

2) No Fair! [Bill Parente/Tom Sutton] 6p   reprinted from Creepy #22 (Aug. 1968)

3) Spawn Of The Cat People [Archie Goodwin/Reed Crandall] 6p   reprinted from Creepy #2 (Apr. 1965)

4) On The Wings Of A Bird [T. Casey Brennan/Jerry Grandenetti] 7p   reprinted from Creepy #36 (Nov. 1970)

5) Tough Customers! [R. Michael Rosen/Tom Sutton] 6p   reprinted from Creepy #35 (Sept. 1970)

6) Creepy’s Loathsome Lore: The Body Snatchers Who Stole A Giant! [Tom Sutton] 1p   reprinted from Creepy #36 (Nov. 1970)

7) Pursuit Of The Vampire! [Archie Goodwin/Angelo Torres] 6p   reprinted from Creepy #1 (Jan. 1965)

8) The Judge’s House! [Archie Goodwin/Reed Crandall] 8p   from the story by Bram Stoker, reprinted from Creepy #5 (Oct. 1965)

9) Grub! [Nicola Cuti/Tom Sutton] 6p   reprinted from Creepy #28 (Aug. 1969)

10) Monster Rally! [Archie Goodwin/Angelo Torres] 8p   reprinted from Creepy #4 (Aug. 1965)

Notes: James Warren was listed as editor while J. R. Cochran was listed as the managing editor.  The Creepy Spooktacular 1972 Annual.  $.75 for 64 pages.  Final issue.  Following this issue the annual was incorporated into Creepy’s regular numbering.

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Before officially kicking off the first collection of reprints we've seen in quite some time, I'd like to point out that we are approaching a few dates of significance to both myself and the Reading Club as a whole.

We have now read 40 CREEPYs, 34 EERIEs, 12 VAMPIRELLAs, 4 Blazing Combats, and 6 Yearbook/Annuals.  This first and last full round of Annuals for all three current titles will thus be our 97th, 98th, and 99th books read in the Warren Magazine Reading Club--making CREEPY #41 our 100th book!  And if I make it to our 101st book, EERIE #35, well, that issue kicks off on my 61st birthday, which also happens to fall on Easter this year (for only the third time in my life).

The last time my birthday fell on Easter was my 50th birthday, and it was the day that I convinced the Beatrice, NE police department to break into the hotel room of an incoherently drunk, nearly naked woman whom I was meeting for the first time, and to release her into my custody for transport across state lines... but that should probly go in the Men's Magazines thread.

ANYWAY...

The editing team of Warren and Cochran really hopped into the Wayback Machine for this final "official" CREEPY Annual, drawing stories from 4 of the first 5 issues, including one of my all-time favorites, Uncle Creepy's origin story ("Monster Rally") and an appearance by my treasured Crandall rats ("The Judge's House").  The other half of the material was drawn from the most recent 20 issues, so on paper, this should be a pretty solid mix of CREEPY's offerings to date--although Sutton, Torres, and Crandall hog 9 of the 10 art credits.

Hopefully the EERIE and VAMPIRELLA Annuals will feature some of the other giants from their pages.

[OtherEric]

Going through this one a bit lightning round style, since it's all reprints.

Creepy Annual 1972 thoughts:

Cover:  Honestly, possibly my least favorite Warren cover, although I'm sure some others will underwhelm me going forward

Intro:  The green ink is certainly a bold choice, and it's still a nice illo.

No Fair:  Still a decent story, but less of a highlight when we're no longer in the dark ages and it doesn't have the striking cover to go with it.

Spawn of the Cat People:  Still a great story, but I'm not sure it's worthy of a third appearance quite yet.  Then again, the earlier two printings were 1965 and 1968, so the timing is probably OK.

On the Wings of a Bird:  A solid choice, but only a few months old... which is fine if you have a themed issue, even if the theme is "The best stories of the past year."  But when you lead with something from issue #2, that's not your theme.

Tough Customers:  See above, good but recent.

Loathsome Lore:  And again, good but recent.

Pursuit of the Vampire:  It's a great story from Creepy #1.  And Eerie #14.  And Eerie #24.  And enough already!

The Judge's House:  Another 3-peat.

Grub:  A good choice, a decent story that's neither too new, too old, or too many reprints already.

Monster Rally:  Another third appearance, and the third story this issue that turned up in Creepy #22... No Fair made its debut there, and The Judge's House and this both were reprinted therein.

Overall:  I can't see much to recommend this one.  A cover that's in the running for Warren's worst ever, and WAY too many re-reprinted stories.  If this was somehow your first Warren magazine ever it might be OK once you're past the cover, but otherwise skip this unless you're a completest.

 

[Axe Elf]

On 3/3/2024 at 12:05 AM, OtherEric said:

Monster Rally:  Another third appearance, and the third story this issue that turned up in Creepy #22... No Fair made its debut there, and The Judge's House and this both were reprinted therein.

Heh, good catch!  Yeah, the number of three- and four-peats is kind of lazy.  I kind of wish they had featured a wider variety of artists.

On 3/3/2024 at 12:05 AM, OtherEric said:

Overall:  I can't see much to recommend this one.  A cover that's in the running for Warren's worst ever, and WAY too many re-reprinted stories.  If this was somehow your first Warren magazine ever it might be OK once you're past the cover, but otherwise skip this unless you're a completest.

So tell us how you really feel! 

[OtherEric]

On 3/2/2024 at 10:57 PM, Axe Elf said:

Heh, good catch!  Yeah, the number of three- and four-peats is kind of lazy.  I kind of wish they had featured a wider variety of artists.

So tell us how you really feel! 

Sorry if I came across a bit cranky.  It's really not a bad mix unless you're in the middle of a crazy project like rereading all of Warren's comic output, but who would be nuts enough to do something like that?

[Axe Elf]

On 3/3/2024 at 1:01 AM, OtherEric said:

Sorry if I came across a bit cranky.

No, I get it... I hadn't thought about how many times some of these had been reprinted.  I LIKE a couple of them, but yeah, 3 and 4 times around is a little much, given the depth of the pool.

I'm just glad I don't have to be the cranky one this week!

[The Lions Den]

On 3/3/2024 at 1:00 AM, Axe Elf said:

The last time my birthday fell on Easter was my 50th birthday, and it was the day that I convinced the Beatrice, NE police department to break into the hotel room of an incoherently drunk, nearly naked woman whom I was meeting for the first time, and to release her into my custody for transport across state lines...

This actually sounds a lot more interesting than the Creepy Annual... 

[Jayman]

On 3/3/2024 at 1:05 AM, OtherEric said:

Cover:  Honestly, possibly my least favorite Warren cover, although I'm sure some others will underwhelm me going forward

No, it’s pretty bad. Lazy would be more accurate. Although I do wonder if it was some sort of a marketing scheme. I know I have seen this mask for sale (Capt. Company?) in the Warren mags. Is it for sale in this very issue? I believe it was a pricy mask even back then, $25-$30 range. I wonder if they were trying to give it more exposure for selling purposes. Not the best of issues considering the cover and reprinted content but a bear to collectors who want one in high grade!

Edited March 3 by Jayman