Warren Magazine Reading Club! 6 6

[Jayman]

On 3/3/2024 at 9:47 AM, The Lions Den said:

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... 

The AxeElf 50th Anniversary Annual? 

I’d give that a read! 

[OtherEric]

On 3/3/2024 at 7:18 AM, Jayman said:

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!

I've got to assume that marketing was at least part of the motive.

I'm not saying it won't wind up the winner on personal all time worst cover list.  I'm saying that, until we hit EERIE #75, we need to keep the topic open.

[Jayman]

On 3/3/2024 at 10:42 AM, OtherEric said:

I've got to assume that marketing was at least part of the motive.

I'm not saying it won't wind up the winner on personal all time worst cover list.  I'm saying that, until we hit EERIE #75, we need to keep the topic open.

Well at least I can vouch for Eerie #75 capturing my attention on the rack when I walked into our local 5&10 corner store. Man, did that pop amidst all the other books!

[OtherEric]

On 3/3/2024 at 8:07 AM, Jayman said:

Well at least I can vouch for Eerie #75 capturing my attention on the rack when I walked into our local 5&10 corner store. Man, did that pop amidst all the other books!

Which brings up the point that what works on the rack isn't always the same as what looks good as a standalone piece of art.  I could see Annual cover grabbing somebody's attention on the rack pretty well, actually.

[Axe Elf]

I haven't done this in a while, but this week, instead of re-commenting on the stories re-printed in the actual CREEPY 1972 Annual (yawn), I thought I would present the collection of stories that I would have reprinted if I were publishing the best pieces from the past year's 6 issues--CREEPY #35 through CREEPY #40.  I can appreciate them wanting to go back to the first few issues for a sense of nostalgia--but at the same time, enough is enough.  To avoid all the multi-multi-re-re-prints, I think every Annual should be limited to the material published since the previous Annual.  Or maybe mostly from the past year, with a "classic" story thrown in to acknowledge their roots.  And I guess we're still going to get Annuals; they just won't be called "Annuals"--but we'll still get an all-reprint issue every year, is that the way it works from now on?

Anyway, if I was publishing the CREEPY 1972 Annual, I would start by reprinting Jim Warren's "Anti-War Editorial" from CREEPY #35 as the frontispiece again.  It probably deserved to be said at least annually.  And then the stories...

1.  "Where Satan Dwells" (Al Hewetson/Sal Trapani) from CREEPY #39.

I love the Uncle Creepy origin story in "Monster Rally" (which was printed in the actual CREEPY 1972 Annual), but even though we haven't seen it in almost 20 issues, I agree--3 reprints is enough; time to move on.  Thus, I have "the further adventures of Uncle Creepy" leading off this year's retrospective (in his "comfy sweater").

In-joke frivolity aside, I would then hammer home the anti-war point of the opening editorial with a barrage of war-related stories fit for Blazing Combat:

2.  "Army of the Walking Dead" (R. Michael Rosen/Syd Shores) from CREEPY #35.

The anti-war editorial and this supernatural war story appeared in the same issue the first time around, but bringing it closer to the front of the issue helps connect it to the mood set by the editorial.  It would probably be even more effective to run the war trilogy first, but our host deserves the lead-off dibs (as he did when the story was first published).

3.  "The Fade-Away Walk" (Donald F. McGregor/Tom Sutton) from CREEPY #40.

Human nature ultimately interacts with itself to determine the consequences of mindless war versus human compassion.  @Jayman testified to the impact of this piece with his 7-year-old self's memory of the iconic setting of the epic climactic sequence--almost a "Planet of the Apes" moment (a movie which had been released three years earlier).

4.  "On the Wings of a Bird" (T. Casey Brennan/Jerry Grandenetti) from CREEPY #36.

This is the only one of the stories actually printed in the CREEPY 1972 Annual that I agree needs to be included.  And while it's not strictly a "war story," the statue of the soldier and the despair of loneliness harken back to the sort of sole survivor scenario we were given at the end of "The Fade-Away Walk."  It also serves the purpose of acknowledging Grandenetti in the Annual, although this isn't really his best work.  (At all.)  Still, there are some stories I would include for their art alone; this one I would include for its script alone.

This would be a good place to draw a conceptual line under the war trilogy with the first of my two selected "Loathsome Lore" reprints, "I Was Buried Alive" (Tom Sutton) from CREEPY #37.

5.  "Secret of the Haunted Room" (Bill Warren/Ernie Colon) from CREEPY #38.

I would then make up to readers for Grandenetti's artistic "indiscretions" by slapping them with the best artistic story of the past six issues.  I raved about it back when we first read this issue, and it's still amazing.  This one really blurred the lines between fantasy and reality.

6.  "Harvest of Horror" (Phil Seuling/Frank Brunner) from CREEPY #39.

As the only story in which we've been treated to a multiple-choice ending, this fun piece deserves a place in my Annual--and Brunner's art isn't a disappointment, either!

7.  "Godslayer" (Bill Stillwell) from CREEPY #35.

The high-contrast art was the highlight here as well, being reminiscent of medieval woodcuttings in places--which tends to complement the heroic fantasy subject matter.

8.  "Dual Dragon" (Gary Kaufman) from CREEPY #40.

Kaufman's eastern-flavored solo piece also featured high-contrast art as the yin-yang subtext to the "duality" inherent in the concept.

Here I would insert kind of an extended "Fan Club" feature, reprinting "The Annual Warren Awards" from CREEPY #40, a reprint of the "Artist Biography" of Ken Barr from CREEPY #35, and a new "Puzzling Monsters" feature similar to the one in CREEPY #39, but with a list of the artists provided to match with the sketches, so you don't have to pull their names out of your head.

9.  "Death of the Wizard" (Pat Boyette) from CREEPY #39.

For the amount of work he has done over the past year, it feels like we need a Pat Boyette story in the Annual, and this was one of his best.  I was at first a little put off by the ending, but upon learning that being turned into a tree is actually one of the traditional fates of Merlin, I can live with it--and it's so meticulously drawn, as is Boyette's custom.

10.  "Frozen Beauty" (Richard Corben) from CREEPY #36.

How could I not include Corben's debut?  How could Warren not have included Corben's debut??  I guess I have the advantage of historical perspective now to correct that oversight.  And it fits right in here in the witches and wizards section.

Time for the second of my "Loathsome Lore" reprints, "The Body Snatchers Who Stole A Giant" (Tom Sutton) from CREEPY #36.  Both of my selected Lores crammed a lot of information--and art--into a single page and deserve further recognition for Warren Award winner Tom Sutton.

11.  "The Cosmic All" (Wally Wood) from CREEPY #38.

It's maybe not his best piece for Warren over the past year, but it's his best piece for CREEPY, and it leaves readers with something to think about, which is good for a penultimate story.

12.  "The Cut-Throat Cat Blues" (T. Casey Brennan/Ernie Colon) from CREEPY #37.

As the only artist other than Tom Sutton that I have featured more than once in my version of the CREEPY 1972 Annual, I would publish Ernie Colon's second story exactly the way it was published the first time around--ending on the inside of the back cover in color.  As the first use of color in a Warren magazine, it deserves to be commemorated in the Annual.

So there you have it--likely the biggest issue in Warren history so far, maybe a 96-pager!--but no, I just can't narrow it down any more than that.  Sorry...

And oh yeah, I'm using a different mask on the cover, too.

There's your nostalgia for ya... (promoted to the front cover of my CREEPY 1972 Annual from the back cover of CREEPY #6).

[Axe Elf]

EERIE 1972 Annual - August 1971

(This is one of my most recently-upgraded books--so recent I haven't even posted it as an upgrade in my own thread yet!  I obtained it as kind of a throw-in among three also-as-yet-unposted CREEPY upgrades purchased from a forum member a few weeks back.)

According to the Warren Magazine Index...

3. cover: John Pederson (1971)

1) Eerie’s Monster Gallery: The Golem! [Tom Sutton] 1p   [frontis]   reprinted from Eerie #27 (May 1970)

2) Fair Exchange [Archie Goodwin/Neal Adams] 8p   reprinted from Eerie #9 (May 1967)

3) Deep Ruby! [Archie Goodwin/Steve Ditko] 6p   reprinted from Eerie #6 (Nov. 1966)

4) Spiders Are Revolting! [Bill Warren/Tom Sutton] 9p   reprinted from Eerie #26 (Mar. 1970)

5) In Close Pursuit [Gordon Matthews/Jerry Grandenetti] 8p   reprinted from Eerie #30 (Nov. 1970)

6) …Nor Custom, Stale… [Johnny Craig] 8p   reprinted from Eerie #12 (Nov. 1967)

7) The Monument [Archie Goodwin/Alex Toth] 6p   reprinted from Eerie #3 (May 1966)

8) Eerie’s Monster Gallery: The Number 13 [Bill Parente/Tony Tallarico] 1p   reprinted from Eerie #16 (July 1968)

9) Fly! [Archie Goodwin/Steve Ditko] 6p   reprinted from Eerie #7 (Jan. 1967)

Notes: Final issue.  James Warren was listed as editor & J. R. Cochran was managing editor.  $.75 for 64 pages.  From this point on the annual was incorporated into Eerie’s regular numbering.

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We went from one of the worst Warren covers of all time to one of the best (at least among the annuals), giving readers a clever glimpse inside the Warren studios.  The cover artist's name doesn't ring a bell, though; have we seen him before?

We've seen the rest of the work before, of course, and it will be nice to see some of the forefathers like Ditko and Adams again--but with more than half of the material coming from EERIE's first 10 issues, this issue has the same problem that the CREEPY 1972 Annual had--we've seen some of these stories reprinted more than once now.

I won't say too much here, since I probably won't have much to say in my weekly book report, either--and even less if I start here!

[Jayman]

The Norman Rockwell tribute cover! 

[OtherEric]

Eerie Annual 1972 thoughts:

Cover:  Now this is more like it!  This seems to be John Pederson's only Warren cover, but at least in concept it's one of my absolute favorites.  Norman Rockwell does Pickman's Model is just a brilliant idea for a cover.  To be fair, I think they slightly screwed up on the layout; the picture is clearly designed for a full size Eerie logo and the caption to fall beside the model's head, above the easel.  The way they actually did it, with the small logo, there's a little too much dead space on the cover.

Monster Gallery:  Nice use of spot color to enhance what was already a pretty good page.

Fair Exchange:  I'm never going to say reprinting Neal Adams is a bad choice, but this isn't his best work for Warren so far and I personally wouldn't have given it the 3-peat.

Deep Ruby:  I stand my description of the story as magnificent, just like the previous two times we've seen it.  But it's still a 3-peat.

Spiders are Revolting:  Still one where I respect the craft more than personally like it, but it's a solid enough choice that hasn't already been reprinted.

In Close Pursuit:  I'll just repeat my earlier conclusion: A minor masterpiece by a master whose work I don't care for. A good choice for the annual even if, like the previous story, it's not one I personally care for even if I think it's good craft.

...Nor Custom, Stale...:  An excellent Craig story that hasn't been reprinted, and they even fixed the Cousin Eerie image at the end that @Axe Elf was annoyed with the first time.

The Monument:  Not my favorite work by Toth, but Toth is one of those artist I never actually dislike.  This one is a 3-peat again, but the previous reprint was from Eerie #16, pretty early in the dark ages, so at least it's been a while.

Monster Gallery:  Without even the context of "this should have been in issue #13" it's utterly ridiculous.

Fly:  A Ditko story that hasn't been reprinted is a strong way to end the issue.

So, a definite step up from last week.  I think the overall selection of stories was marginally better this time, although once again they clearly forgot to check to see what had already been reprinted.  And the cover goes from one of my least favorite to one of my most favorite.  But it still has a distinct feel of being thrown together carelessly; they just got luckier on their choices this time.

[Jayman]

On 3/10/2024 at 12:22 PM, OtherEric said:

I think they slightly screwed up on the layout; the picture is clearly designed for a full size Eerie logo and the caption to fall beside the model's head, above the easel.  The way they actually did it, with the small logo, there's a little too much dead space on the cover.

[OtherEric]

On 3/10/2024 at 10:45 AM, Jayman said:

Thank you for this.  Still a little dead space, but I think overall it looks quite a bit better.

[The Lions Den]

On 3/10/2024 at 1:45 PM, Jayman said:

What a big improvement over the other version...   

[Axe Elf]

Well, I don't have a lot to say about the EERIE 1972 Annual, in part because I haven't had a lot of time this week to put towards reviewing it, and partly because I didn't think the past year's worth of EERIEs is as strong as the past year's worth of CREEPYs, so I don't have an exceptionally strong group of stories that I would have chosen myself.

In that regard, I can kind of understand why they would want to draw from more than just the past year, and it seems that Warren went for a kind of "Artist's Gallery" theme in selecting early works from Neal Adams, Johnny Craig, and a couple each from Sutton and Ditko.  In that respect, I can't really fault the selection of stories--the art is pretty much top-notch throughout--but the scripts were not really among my favorites.  The only story that was included from the past year was "In Close Pursuit," which is a reasonable representation of Grandenetti's work, but it was one that I didn't like much the first time around--climbing up the stairs and jumping off a building seems like an odd escape route if one thought they were being followed.  And "...Nor Custom, Stale..." has always annoyed me because I don't understand what the title has to do with anything.

"Fair Exchange," "Deep Ruby," and "The Monument" were all at least average stories--but we've also seen them all twice before, so...  meh.

Really, the cover might be its best feature...

Now if I were picking material for the EERIE 1972 Annual from the past 6 issues, I could only find 8 stories I would consider (compared to the 12 I had to include in my CREEPY 1972 Annual):

"Point of View" (Buddy Saunders/Tom Sutton) from EERIE #31.

This was by far the best story from the past year of EERIE.

"Superhero" (Steve Skeates/Tom Sutton) from EERIE #32.

Playing with the superhero genre was obviously fun for Sutton.

"Vorpal Sword" (Nicola Cuti/Tom Sutton) from EERIE #29.

A nice sword-and-sorcery cover story with an amazing double-page splash.

"The Entail" (Pat Boyette) from EERIE #30.

Boyette's usual fine work is accentuated by the grotesque finale.

"Bookworm" (Gerry Conway/Richard Corben) from EERIE #32.

Can't have a proper artist's gallery without more early Corben work.

"Eye of the Cyclops" (Buddy Saunders/Jaime Brocal) from EERIE #34.

The brutality of the conclusion struck a chord with me the first time around, so I'm including it here.

"Escape into Chaos" (Steve Skeates/Ernie Colon) from EERIE #33.

Probably the dumbest script of all the stories I'm including, but the avant garde art from Ernie Colon is worth plodding through the story.

"The Alien Plague" (Billy Graham) from EERIE #31.

A Billy Graham solo piece with lots of inside jokes and Warren easter eggs.  I wasn't real fond of the "vampiric staples" device, though.

And of course, I would reprint the Frazetta anti-smoking ad, "The Easy Way to a Tuff Surfboard" which appeared in EERIE #29, EERIE #30, and EERIE #31!  (Bang that ad counter!)!

[OtherEric]

On 3/15/2024 at 3:07 PM, Axe Elf said:

And of course, I would reprint the Frazetta anti-smoking ad, "The Easy Way to a Tuff Surfboard" which appeared in EERIE #29, EERIE #30, and EERIE #31!  (Bang that ad counter!)!

Sadly, not a valid choice, I think... it already appeared in the 1970 Yearbook, and they have avoided reprinting material from earlier Yearbooks/ annuals, at least.

[Axe Elf]

On 3/15/2024 at 8:51 PM, OtherEric said:

Sadly, not a valid choice, I think... it already appeared in the 1970 Yearbook, and they have avoided reprinting material from earlier Yearbooks/ annuals, at least.

Heh--good call!  I just realized I didn't have any Monster Galleries or anything, so I thought I ought to have ONE supporting feature--and I knew the Frazetta ad had appeared a few times in the past year.

But yeah, talk about re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-what are we up to now?-re-reprints--"The Easy Way to a Tuff Surfboard" takes the cake!

[Axe Elf]

VAMPIRELLA 1972 Annual - August 1971

According to the Warren Magazine Index...

1. cover: Aslan (1971)

1) Vampi’s Feary Tales: The Bride Of Frankenstein [Tom Sutton] 1p   reprinted from Vampirella #2 (Nov. 1969)

2) Vampirella: The Origin Of Vampirella [J. R. Cochran/Jose Gonzalez] 15p

3) The Curse Of Circe [Gardner Fox/Jerry Grandenetti] 6p   reprinted from Vampirella #6 (July 1970)

4) Goddess From The Sea [Don Glut/Neal Adams] 6p   reprinted from Vampirella #1 (Oct. 1969)

5) The Curse [Wally Wood] 8p   reprinted from Vampirella #9 (Jan. 1971)

6) Snake Eyes [Nicola Cuti/Jack Sparling] 7p   reprinted from Vampirella #8 (Nov. 1970)

7) Vampi’s Feary Tales: Love! [Tom Sutton] 1p   reprinted from Vampirella #8 (Nov. 1970)

8) Forgotten Kingdom [Bill Parente/Ernie Colon] 10p   reprinted from Vampirella #4 (Apr. 1970)

9) Vampi’s Feary Tales: Lilith [Nicola Cuti/Jeff Jones] 1p   reprinted from Vampirella #9 (Jan. 1971)

Notes: Publisher: James Warren.  Editor: J. R. Cochran.  $.75 for 64 pages.  The cover by Aslan was done in 1969 and originally intended for Vampirella #1.  This was the only Vampi Annual issue as, beginning in 1972, the annual was incorporated into Vampirella’s regular numbering.  Unlike either Creepy or Eerie’s annuals, Vampi’s usually had an original Vampirella story included.  This one retold Vampi’s origin, revamping it from the rather silly Ackerman/Sutton origin story from #1, to reflect the more serious approach the Vampi’s strip was taking.  It was later rewritten by Budd Lewis, although the same art was used, to further revamp Vampi’s origin.

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Welcome to our 99th book in the Warren Magazine Reading Club--and to the one and only VAMPIRELLA Annual!

I was really looking forward to this one, given how many amazing stories have appeared in the first dozen issues of VAMPIRELLA, but I'm not sure how I feel about the inclusion of a new Vampi story in the Annual--and a double-length one at that!  I kind of like it in terms of it being "new material" and all, but I kind of don't like it in that it breaks form with the CREEPY and EERIE Annuals, which are all-reprints, and I hate that the long reboot only leaves room for five reprints from all the strong candidates that otherwise could have been chosen.

Surely the Index writer intentionally used "revamp" in regards to Vampi's new origin story--twice?  Once might have been a coincidence, but twice has got to be intentional, right?

And I hope someone can tell me about this cover artist--Aslan?  I loved the Chronicles of Narnia...

[OtherEric]

Vampirella Annual 1972 thoughts:

Cover:  It's Aslan's only work for the Warren comics and apparently his only work for any US comic.  Which makes the fact that this cover was supposedly done for the first issue of Vampirella seem odd... surely they would have hired somebody more of a known quantity for the cover a debut issue?  Or do they have other work, say on Famous Monsters, in the US?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aslan_(artist)

After all that, it's a nice cover.  Does anybody know where the story that it was for the first issue originally came from? Because it just doesn't make any sense to me at all on the surface.

Origin of Vampirella:  Most of the credits I can find for J. R. Cochran are editorial, with only a few scripts.  I don't have much to say on this one, the art by Gonzalez is mixed, with some beautiful images of Vampi but the rest of the art is less impressive.  As far as the story goes, the plot introduces some elements that stick, but the actual script is so rough I can see why it was rescripted when the story gets reprinted.  I wonder why Goodwin wasn't grabbed to write this.

I'm not going to bother with a story by story rundown of the reprints, other than to note they're a very good mix of the material from the earlier issues of the title.  This is easily the best of the Annuals this year.

I suspect that, having introduced a serious version of Vampi, they didn't want to reprint the first story here.  But they did want a Vampi story, so they did the new origin in a hurry.  This introduced the habit of having a new Vampirella story in the Vampirella Annuals, unlike Creepy and Eerie... I don't think we have an issue without a new story until issue 63 in 1977, and even then in several cases they do some reworking on the stories to make them work better as longer tales.

[Axe Elf]

That is strange, that this cover is Aslan's only work for Warren, or possibly even any other US books.  The Bat Wings/Spread-Legged Vampirella/Skull trilogy of elements are consistent between Frazetta's VAMPIRELLA #1 cover, Aslan's VAMPIRELLA 1972 Annual cover, and even Sanjulian's VAMPIRESS CARMILLA first (2023) Annual for Warrant, though, so that's kind of interesting.

I almost forgot I had a new story to read this week, but as much as I was looking forward to the new origin story--and more Gonzales art!--I was actually a little let down by "The Origin of Vampirella."  It wasn't even so much a "new" origin story as it was a retelling of the original origin story in a less frivolous tone--but I guess it served to introduce what I assume will become a continuing character in Tristan/Mercado.  In that sense, it's more the origin story of THAT character, but even that story is kind of dumb--he "swam through the Earth" to get back to her, but he wasn't on Earth, he was on Drakulon.  Drakulon's rivers of blood are drying out and disappearing, but apparently the "earth" is just soaked with blood right under its surface, which is what brought Tristan back to life.  So the plot is dumb and the writing is incredibly stilted; I can see why they later re-scripted it.

Artistically, I think @OtherEric nailed it--Gonzales gives us some beautiful renditions of Vampirella, but the rest of the art is less impressive--especially the "scribbly" animals, like the bats and "Gronos."  I'm still largely intrigued by his work, though, and still look forward to his ongoing efforts.  Since there has been some talk in the Comic Magazines forum lately regarding the VAMPIRELLA Special Edition, I immediately recognized one of the first images from its colorized version on the lower right front cover of the Special:

As for the selection of reprints, it would have been an absolute travesty if they had not included Wally Wood's "The Curse."  That may be the single best story we've been given so far in the Reading Club.  I also agree that the "spirograph god" device in "Forgotten Kingdom" makes it worthy of inclusion.  It's hard to disagree with the inclusion of a Neal Adams vehicle in "Goddess from the Sea," but I'm not sure I would have included it on its own merits.  "The Curse of Circe" and "Snake Eyes" were both adequate, but maybe not among my personal favorites.

I dove back into the first dozen issues of VAMPIRELLA this week, expecting to find at least 20 stories that I would have included in the first VAMPIRELLA Annual, given my pleasant memories of my experiences with them the first time around, but when I actually examined my reviews, it looks like I enjoyed the art in the VAMPIRELLA title more than the stories--a lot of really beautiful artistic pieces were marred by stories that had significant plot holes and/or editorial failures that I probably wouldn't want to put on display for a second time.

And then I'm probably riding the glow of all the hawt chicks in VAMPIRELLA too.  I just wish they could get some decent script writers to match the quality of their artists.

That said, even though I didn't find as many reprintable stories as I expected I would, I still probably would have culled the following 7 stories from the first dozen issues for my own version of the VAMPIRELLA 1972 Annual (plus the new origin story, of course, but limiting myself from including any previous Vampirella stories):

"Rhapsody in Red" (Don Glut/Billy Graham) from VAMPIRELLA #2.

A non-traditional love story with Billy Graham art.

"Forgotten Kingdom" (Bill Parente/Ernie Colon) from VAMPIRELLA #4.

For the "spirograph god" device.

"The Black Witch" (Nicola Cuti/Billy Graham) from VAMPIRELLA #7.

I don't know; just acknowledging the Witch Trilogy I guess, with my favorite of the three.

"The Curse" (Wally Wood) from VAMPIRELLA #9.

Simply the best.

"A Thing of Beauty" (Len Wein/Billy Graham) from VAMPIRELLA #10.

A lot of fun, with the celebrity parodies and all.  (Might be too much Billy Graham, though.)

"Prisoner in the Pool" (Buddy Saunders/Dave Cockrum) from VAMPIRELLA #11.

Also a fun and fanciful tale, with a double twist.

"She'll Never Learn" (Steve Skeates/Ken Barr) from VAMPIRELLA #11.

A dark psychological piece punctuated by Warren easter eggs.

And now, bring on the new material--and our 100th issue!

[Axe Elf]

On 3/22/2024 at 4:47 PM, Axe Elf said:

The Bat Wings/Spread-Legged Vampirella/Skull trilogy of elements are consistent between Frazetta's VAMPIRELLA #1 cover, Aslan's VAMPIRELLA 1972 Annual cover, and even Sanjulian's VAMPIRESS CARMILLA first (2023) Annual for Warrant, though, so that's kind of interesting.

I almost forgot the Bat Wing/Vampirella/Skull trilogy was also present on VAMPIRESS CARMILLA #1, though not as pronounced--more like on the VAMPIRELLA #1--and she kept her knees a little closer together this time, too.

[Axe Elf]

CREEPY #41 - September 1971

(This is also a fairly recent upgrade, purchased from a board member at the end of last year--meaning I'll have a physical undercopy to dig into this week--yay!)

According to the Warren Magazine Index...

41. cover: Kenneth Smith (Sept. 1971)

1) Creepy’s Loathsome Lore: The Hangman Of London [Richard Bassford] 1p   [frontis]

2) The Thing In Loch Ness [Bruce Jones] 8p

3) Skipper’s Return! [Ernie Colon] 6p

4) The Final Ingredient! [Bill DuBay] 7p

5) Prelude To Armageddon [Nicola Cuti & Wally Wood/Wally Wood] 12p

6) Extra Censory Perception [Steve Skeatess/Gary Kaufman] 5p

7) The Creepy Fan Club: Gary Kaufman Profile/Poem/The Duplicating Machine/Blood River! [Gary Kaufman, Darrell McKenney, Steven Semiatin & ?/Gary Kaufman, William Fugate, James Boehmer & Martin Greim] 2p   [text article/stories & poem]

8) A Tangible Hatred [Don McGregor/Richard Corben] 10p

Notes: Future Marvel editor & writer John D. Warner sent in a letter.  Bruce Jones made his Warren debut.  The lead character in Don McGregor’s ‘A Tangible Hatred’, police detective Dave Turner, would appear in two more McGregor scripted stories over the next three years.  Fanzine writer Martin Greim & fanzine artist Bill Fugute did illos for the fan page.  Pretty impressive issue with good (although not great) art and stories from everyone involved.

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Welcome to the 100th Issue of the Warren Magazine Reading Club!

And since we've been reading them in chronological order, CREEPY #41 is therefore also the 100th comic magazine that Warren ever printed!

I had only read a combined total of about 20 CREEPYs and EERIEs when I was in high school (from issues numbered in the high 80s to low 100s) before starting my Warren collecting journey a couple of years ago, and subsequently forming the Warren Magazine Reading Club.  I was basically only aware of the four main titles in the Warren empire at that time, and I was really only interested in CREEPY and EERIE.  Now here I have acquired just about every Warren magazine ever printed (other than the Famous Monsters title), and I've read an additional 100 Warren comic magazines, thanks to the Reading Club!  It's been a great two years!

And I feel like I've learned so much about the roots of the Warren comics.  Names I was barely aware of, but would have never associated with Warren (like Ditko, Adams, Severin and Davis), now have their place in my Warren universe.  I've learned about the Golden Years and the Dark Ages.  I've learned more about Frazetta and how integral he was to Warren's success, and I'm learning to recognize other names of the fantasy masters as well.  And the Blazing Combat title, though woefully short-lived, was a blessing to experience--and I probably never would have actually read them without the Reading Club.

I appreciate everything that you all have taught me from your own knowledge and experience too!  I appreciate everyone who has contributed to the Warren Magazine Reading Club over the past couple of years; @OtherEric and his reliably consistent reviews each and every week, @The Lions Den for his in-depth knowledge of many of these books, @Jayman and @Artifiction for their regular contributions, and everyone else who has added anything or simply enjoyed what the rest of us have added--I appreciate all of you!!!

It's hard to believe we've been doing this for almost two years now, but here we are.  I feel like after 100 issues, we're kind of leaving "the early years" of the Warren magazines, and entering a steady phase of equilibrium that will see us cycle through another three years worth and 60ish more issues of our three main titles before The SPIRIT #1 debuts for the Reading Club in June of 2025.  May we all be here to read it.

And with that, here we go with CREEPY #41.  It looks like a pretty awesome issue, featuring both Wood and Corben, and I feel like I should probably know who Bruce Jones is too.  But I'm sure that's something I will learn this week...

[OtherEric]

Congrats to us on 100 weeks of the Reading Club!

Creepy #41 thoughts:

Cover:  A very odd piece by Ken Smith, I'm torn if it's supposed to be a portrait of Uncle Creepy or not.  I don't think I would like a lot of covers like this but it's a stunning change of pace.

Loathsome Lore:  My first reaction to this was that it sounded completely absurd. But a little research shows that no, this is actually possibly the most historically correct lore page we've seen yet.  Truth really is stranger than fiction.

The Thing in Loch Ness:  The Warren debut of Bruce Jones, who is better known as a writer but has a lot of art credits as well.  He's one of the major Warren writers, with well over 100 credits for Warren and over 1800 total listings at the GCD.  This is an OK debut, but it's trying way too hard to be an EC style story.  In particular, it's trying to replicate the text-heavy style of the EC's but doesn't really have enough story to make that necessary or desirable.

Skipper's Return:  Nice art and an interesting idea from Colon, but I don't think they mesh terribly well.  But I do like to see a story aim high and miss rather than aim low, so I'll put this narrowly on the win side.

The Final Ingredient:  I could see this story working as an amusing palate cleanser after a particularly intense couple of stories in some issues. Here it's just annoying, really.

Prelude to Armageddon:  This one is odd.  It almost feels like Wood drew a dozen pages worth of what was supposed to be a longer story, and Cuti was brought in to try and make what they had work.  Beautiful artwork, and some interesting underlying ideas, but I'm not sure I can say it really works as a story on its own terms.  Still, it's hard to complain too much about 12 pages of gorgeous Wood art.

Extra Censory Perception:  An excellent little story from Skeates, brought down by amateurish art from Kaufman.  I would have loved to have seen this story drawn by an artist who could have done it justice.

A Tangible Hatred:  A couple nice ideas by McGregor, nice art (if still developing) by Corben.  I'm just not sure the two work together terribly well, and while I like the story idea I'm not sure the execution is there in the script.  In some ways, I think McGregor is trying to tackle two subjects that don't really fit that comfortably in the same story.  Part of it is a response to the Altamont Free Concert and part of it is a more general critique of policing, and they don't really dovetail well.

Overall, this is one of those issues where there are a lot of bits to really like, but as a whole the book is far less than the sum of its parts.  With maybe a couple of exceptions there's nothing you can say shouldn't be here but they really just don't go together very well.