Warren Magazine Reading Club! 7 7

[Jayman]

On 8/24/2024 at 7:59 PM, OtherEric said:

and on every copy I've seen the back cover is a reprint of the Eerie #2 cover, not the story from the Skywald Nightmare #9.

I was going to mention something about this, but wanted to wait till I could review my copies of Eerie and Nightmare. I do seem to recall a back cover mixup happening somewhere between these publishers. Not sure it happened with these issues though. Maybe @The Lions Den has some thoughts?

[The Lions Den]

On 8/24/2024 at 8:08 PM, Jayman said:

I was going to mention something about this, but wanted to wait till I could review my copies of Eerie and Nightmare. I do seem to recall a back cover mixup happening somewhere between these publishers. Not sure it happened with these issues though. Maybe @The Lions Den has some thoughts?

Thanks, Jayman! I do have a few random thoughts...but what the heck were they?  

For one thing I find it very interesting that not only is there an alleged mix-up with the back cover of Nightmare #9 and Eerie #42, there's also Warren's reuse of the front cover of Nightmare #9 for Creepy #145...sheesh!  

And I've never seen a copy of Eerie #42 with the Nightmare #9 back cover, but of course I'll keep looking... 

 

[Jayman]

On 8/25/2024 at 9:40 AM, The Lions Den said:

For one thing I find it very interesting that not only is there an alleged mix-up with the back cover of Nightmare #9 and Eerie #42, there's also Warren's reuse of the front cover of Nightmare #9 for Creepy #145...sheesh!

As far as the above, I believe at some point all Skywald properties became public domain. That could very well answer that situation.

As far as the back cover mixup, while I don’t believe it was between the #9 and #42, I seem to recall a mixup with a back cover that possibly had Berni Wrightson art on it for a Warren book that was used for Skywald by mistake. My recollection is a but fuzzy so I’ll have to double check.

[The Lions Den]

On 8/25/2024 at 10:05 AM, Jayman said:

As far as the above, I believe at some point all Skywald properties became public domain. That could very well answer that situation.

As far as the back cover mixup, while I don’t believe it was between the #9 and #42, I seem to recall a mixup with a back cover that possibly had Berni Wrightson art on it for a Warren book that was used for Skywald by mistake. My recollection is a but fuzzy so I’ll have to double check.

Please let us know if you find it...and "Butt Fuzzy" would be a good name for a band, no?   

[OtherEric]

Or this classic accidental reuse of somebody else's cover... Seaboard rather than Skywald in this case:

 

[OtherEric]

On 8/25/2024 at 7:05 AM, Jayman said:

As far as the above, I believe at some point all Skywald properties became public domain. That could very well answer that situation.

 

All Skywald MAGAZINES are PD as far as I know, they apparently actually managed to correctly copyright their color comic books.

[The Lions Den]

I just finished this book, so I thought I'd post a pic of it here before the next weekly installment of Warren mags. I thought it was an essential read for any Warren fan. If you haven't acquired it already, I strongly recommend seeking it out...enjoy!  

 

 

[This is Who We Are]

On 8/30/2024 at 3:29 PM, The Lions Den said:

I just finished this book, so I thought I'd post a pic of it here before the next weekly installment of Warren mags. I thought it was an essential read for any Warren fan. If you haven't acquired it already, I strongly recommend seeking it out...enjoy!  

 

 

I need that in my life 👍🏻🔥🔥🔥. Nice!!! 

[The Lions Den]

On 8/30/2024 at 6:31 PM, This is Who We Are said:

I need that in my life 👍🏻🔥🔥🔥. Nice!!! 

It's a keeper!  

[Jayman]

Eerie #42 thoughts:

Cover: Nice Luis Dominguez artwork but nothing to note this is an annual or anything special other than the top text. This would have been better suited for an average monthly issue.

1 The Mummy Stalks!:

A clever twist on your monster tropes here with some decent Reed Crandall art. Though some of the imagery was misleading (probably on purpose), to throw you off to guess the true monster, such as this shadow scene.

2 The Blood Fruit!:

What at first seems like a pretty silly premise that just by eating a rare fruit can bestow you the power over life and death, becomes a bit more deep as I thought about it. After reading this story, I thought that maybe what happened to the victims, was ultimately going to happen anyway. The professor’s greed and belief in the superstitions made him believe he was controlling things. To me that is a much scarier outlook.

3 It That Lurks!:

Another good story that delivers a predatory twist that you see very clearly towards the end. Adkins delivers very nice work on this one.

4 Dark Rider!:

A fairly simple western tale of three bandits being stalked by someone. 

This type of story has been done before but Severin does westerns so good that you drink in each panel. Some are pretty exceptional, such as this one with nice detail in the snow and mountains.

5 Life Species:

A pleasant enough little sci-fi ditty. Would have made a nice Twilight Zone episode.

6 The lighthouse!:

A nice moody “wronged undead” tale. I don’t necessarily agree that the descendants should bare the punishment though!

7 Ogre’s Castle:

A good sword and sorcery tale with some nice artwork. Unfortunately the girls expression gives the whole thing away from the start.

8 Room With A View!:

Steve Ditko shows his mastery over strange body postures, weird angles and perspectives. This time working with intricate line work instead of ink wash.

As the man looks into the mirror each time, the visions build in intensity until this last view. They all are just standing there staring and waiting. Truly eerie!

9 Voodoo Drum!:

Neal Adams flexes his artistic muscles on this one by almost saying: “Look, I don’t even need inks!” And none are needed here at all. Simply a great story beautifully rendered.

10 I Am Dead, Egypt, Dead:

A fairly good story that kind of over complicates itself. Two of the three archeologists decide to kill the third as he is too upstanding to steal the treasure. Only to find out he was trying to steal it from the start. They could have saved themselves all their trouble by just being truthful with each other and just split the treasure.

Back cover: The Thing In The Alley [Al Hewetson/Berni Wrightson] 1p text story.

Clearly this is a mistake by the indexer as this is the true back cover to this issue, and actually one befitting an annual.

However, I do believe there was a mixup at one point between publishers. As this week going into Labor Day leaves me precious little time, I will look int that at some later point.

Can’t say I have any major complaints with this issue other than it’s an annual in disguise. It was a nice memory jog seeing these old Halloween makeups too!

Edited August 31 by Jayman
Forgot Lighthouse!

[Stevemmg]

On 8/30/2024 at 5:29 PM, The Lions Den said:

I just finished this book, so I thought I'd post a pic of it here before the next weekly installment of Warren mags. I thought it was an essential read for any Warren fan. If you haven't acquired it already, I strongly recommend seeking it out...enjoy!  

 

 

I have the slipcase version on order but hasn’t arrived yet. Pretty excited for this one!

[Stevemmg]

 

20. cover: Luis Dominguez (Oct. 1972) 

                1) Vampi’s Feary Tales: The Matrimonial Murderer [Doug Moench/Rafael Auraleon] 1p   

[frontis]

                2) Inside 20/The Story Behind The Story: ‘A Man’s World!’ [Bill DuBay/Mike Jennings] ½p  

[text articles on letters’ page]

                3) Vampirella: When Wakes The Dead [T. Casey Brennan/Jose Gonzalez] 14p

                4) Tomb Of The Gods: Gender Bender [Esteban Maroto] 11p

                5) Vampi’s Books Reviews: Prince Valiant/A History Of The Comic Strip/Ghost Stories/The 

Phantom [Chuck McNaughton] 1p   [text articles]

                6) Love Is No Game [Steve Skeates/Luis Garcia] 6p

7) Eye Opener! [Martin Pasko/Rafael Auraleon] 7p   [miscredited to Doug Moench]

8) Vampi’s Flames: Greg Potter Profile/Spectre Of A Goddess/The Time Is Never/The Safe/The 

                Gift/Advance Guard [Greg Potter, Ron Martin, Wendy Crabtree, Richard Pickman, 

Henry C. Brennan & Douglas W. Justice/L. M. Roca, Richard Corben, Hudson Hill, Cara Sherman & Bill Bryan] 2p   [text article/stories w/photo]

                9) Vengeance, Brother, Vengeance! [Greg Potter/Luis Dominguez] 12p

                10) Vampi’s Feary Tales: The Headless Hauntress Of Shepton Prison [Doug Moench/Rafael 

Auraleon] 1p   [on inside back cover]

 

Notes: Editor: James Warren.  Back to 75 cents and 72 pages.  Dracula appeared again in the Vampirella strip.

 

 

Hey kids, comics!  It’s finally back to a non-annual issue!  The index was pretty cut and dried on this one.  A new feature and double your fun on Vampi’s Feary Tales. Included the cover and original artwork pages for the VFT’s for you. 

[OtherEric]

On 8/31/2024 at 1:56 PM, Stevemmg said:

 A new feature and double your fun on Vampi’s Feary Tales. Included the cover and original artwork pages for the VFT’s for you. 

Thank you so much for sharing the original art! 

[This is Who We Are]

On 8/31/2024 at 1:56 PM, Stevemmg said:

 

 

20. cover: Luis Dominguez (Oct. 1972) 

                1) Vampi’s Feary Tales: The Matrimonial Murderer [Doug Moench/Rafael Auraleon] 1p   

[frontis]

                2) Inside 20/The Story Behind The Story: ‘A Man’s World!’ [Bill DuBay/Mike Jennings] ½p  

[text articles on letters’ page]

                3) Vampirella: When Wakes The Dead [T. Casey Brennan/Jose Gonzalez] 14p

                4) Tomb Of The Gods: Gender Bender [Esteban Maroto] 11p

                5) Vampi’s Books Reviews: Prince Valiant/A History Of The Comic Strip/Ghost Stories/The 

Phantom [Chuck McNaughton] 1p   [text articles]

                6) Love Is No Game [Steve Skeates/Luis Garcia] 6p

7) Eye Opener! [Martin Pasko/Rafael Auraleon] 7p   [miscredited to Doug Moench]

8) Vampi’s Flames: Greg Potter Profile/Spectre Of A Goddess/The Time Is Never/The Safe/The 

                Gift/Advance Guard [Greg Potter, Ron Martin, Wendy Crabtree, Richard Pickman, 

Henry C. Brennan & Douglas W. Justice/L. M. Roca, Richard Corben, Hudson Hill, Cara Sherman & Bill Bryan] 2p   [text article/stories w/photo]

                9) Vengeance, Brother, Vengeance! [Greg Potter/Luis Dominguez] 12p

                10) Vampi’s Feary Tales: The Headless Hauntress Of Shepton Prison [Doug Moench/Rafael 

Auraleon] 1p   [on inside back cover]

 

Notes: Editor: James Warren.  Back to 75 cents and 72 pages.  Dracula appeared again in the Vampirella strip.

 

 

Hey kids, comics!  It’s finally back to a non-annual issue!  The index was pretty cut and dried on this one.  A new feature and double your fun on Vampi’s Feary Tales. Included the cover and original artwork pages for the VFT’s for you. 

I’ve always thought this was such an under-rated cover.  A masterpiece!..  at least in my mind 👍🏻

[OtherEric]

Vampirella #20 thoughts:

Cover:  All else being equal, I'm not a fan of the picture frame covers on the Warrens.  But I have to admit the yellow really pops on this one, and the axes breaking the frame make this one work very well.

Matrimonial Murder:  Another mostly accurate case history, well told.

Vampirella: When Wakes the Dead:  This wraps up the current storyline pretty well, with excellent art by Gonzales.  It feels less like filler than the other Brennan stories, but he leaves after this issue as well.

Tomb of the Gods: Gender Bender:  Beautiful art by Maroto, but the story crosses the line between "obscure" and "incoherent" and I don't really see the thematic connection to the other Tomb chapters we've seen.

Love is No Game:  A nasty, ugly little story.  Well done as far as it goes, but very much not my cup of tea.

Eye Opener:  A nicely creepy EC style story, Martin Pasko's first story for Warren according to the index. In fact, as near as I can tell it's his first story ever, he does a handful for Warren and has over 1100 credits at the GCD total.  So the debut of a major writer, despite him not getting a credit here.

Vengeance, Brother, Vengeance: An enjoyable little fantasy story, rather than horror.  It's neat that Dominguez got to do the cover for his own story, as well... that happens surprisingly infrequently in the Warrens.

The Headless Hauntress of Shepton Prison:  Much more impressive use of the single cover on this page than the inside front cover.  A cursory check didn't turn up the specific haunting discussed, but Shepton Mallet definitely has a reputation for being haunted... which is understandable, given that it was active as a prison most of the time from 1625 to 2013.  (It apparently briefly closed before the Second World War.)

Overall, a better than average issue... but not that much better than average.  I would have felt my 75c well spent back in the day, at least.

 

[Jayman]

Vampirella #20 thoughts:

Cover: More great Luis Dominguez artwork! I always thought the guy sitting on the throne was the main character, surprised to find out it was the hooded figure instead. I’m a fan of the yellow frame on this cover along with the choice of blue for the logo. 

VFT Matrimonial Murder:

Have had this issue for years but never read it, so when @Stevemmg posted the OA for this page, something clicked with that name that was familiar. Belle Guiness, the widow of death. Possibly the most bloody and violent precode crime story ever from Underworld #3. 

Although the Vampi mag probably paints a more accurate picture than the comic!

1 Vampirella: When Wakes the Dead:

We continue with our time traveling Vampirella tale where we find Dracula still struggling to try and redeem himself. 

And in the process, attracts the feelings of Vampi. Of note (or not) the first Drac/Vampi kiss!

2 Tomb of the Gods: Gender Bender:

I agree with @OtherEric that this entry did not fit with the theme of the previous stories. Sort of a vague premise that seemed to test which of the sexes had the dominant will. Not clear whether this was the man being entered into the test with his wife, or merely the Dr. administering the test. It was interesting and I’ll leave it at that.

3  Love is No Game:

A brutal unforgiving story that seemed to lash back at all the previously told “Women’s Lib” type tales we’ve seen in this mag. In this case though, the girl definitely did not deserve her fate!

4 Eye Opener:

Sort of an ok creepy tale playing on the typical “Farmers Daughter” trope. I mean, the guy is even a “Traveling Salesman” too! And despite the panel showing that he skipped out on paying alimony, again this character did not deserve his fate!

Interlude: Ad pages:

Just pointing out that some of these pages are burned in my memory. The Jack Davis Frankenstein, Brigette Bardot, Raquel Welch and especially “Candy”!

5 Vengeance, Brother, Vengeance:

The Dominguez cover story by Dominguez himself features his above average artwork. The story however left me kind of flat. The sorcerer brother that finally finds out his long lost brother is not only alive, but is betrothed to a beautiful young maiden, can only think of getting his own voice back? He should have died happy that his brother was going to have a good life. Wasn’t even clear how the Emperor took his voice. Nice art but sloppy storytelling.

VFT The Headless Hauntress of Shepton Prison:

A nice bookend lore about a haunted prison. As with the one at the beginning, the duotone works well on this!

Alas, not too impressed with this issue. Nothing clever or over the top that stands out for me. The Vampi story was good and Eye Opener had some creepy moments. But as has been said before, they can’t all be winners.

[The Lions Den]

On 8/30/2024 at 10:32 PM, Jayman said:

4 Dark Rider!:

A fairly simple western tale of three bandits being stalked by someone. 

One of my all-time favorites. Severin captures the bleak mood perfectly. The golden days of Warren publishing... 

[OtherEric]

On 9/3/2024 at 7:41 PM, Jayman said:

VFT Matrimonial Murder:

Have had this issue for years but never read it, so when @Stevemmg posted the OA for this page, something clicked with that name that was familiar. Belle Guiness, the widow of death. Possibly the most bloody and violent precode crime story ever from Underworld #3. 

Although the Vampi mag probably paints a more accurate picture than the comic!

So, if anybody wants to see this story, it's available here:

https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=23825

[OtherEric]

My apologies, everyone.  I had a screaming headache last night and crashed early, then forgot to post the book this morning.  I’ll do it when I get home tonight.  Again, sorry about the delay.

[This is Who We Are]

On 9/8/2024 at 3:35 PM, OtherEric said:

My apologies, everyone.  I had a screaming headache last night and crashed early, then forgot to post the book this morning.  I’ll do it when I get home tonight.  Again, sorry about the delay.

Take care of yourself! Great things are worth waiting for 👍🏻