31 days of horror Year 3 day 30 comics 05

Curse of the Weird #3

First off I love this cover. The homage to Basil Wolverton caps off what is already an eye catching cover. This issue we get a total of 4 stories. First off is "The Return of the Brain" with pencils and inks by Russ Heath Jr. The brain of  a dead Nazi scientist goes around causing mayhem. Wacky idea that works pretty well. "The Hog" is next,with pencils and inks by the legendary Joe Kubert.Good story about a guy who is a road hog. Really if it wasn't for the Kubert artwork I doubt this story would have been reprinted. But the art is up to Joe usual standards. "Till Death do us part" with pencils and inks by Vic Carrabotta is the next one. Typical husband wants to kill wife story. Sadly nothing really made this stand out,and the artwork is the normal blah stuff from this era. "Where Monsters Dwell" which is written and drawn by the great ,and sadly kinda forgotten,Basil Wolverton. Scientist make a beam that allows them access to another dimension. And it is full of monsters. Lots of great Wolverton artwork that takes what is really a below average story and raises it up a few levels. We get another few pages telling us about the history of these stories and it is a nice piece giving some much needed context. Curse of the Weird #3 gets a A.

31 days of horror year 3 day 29 comics 04

Curse of the Weird #4

The final issue of this forgotten mini series. We start off pretty good with a great cover by Tenneyson Smith. This moody cover really stands out. The first story is the never reprinted in color and uncensored classic "Zombie". Written by Stan Lee and with Bill Everett on the art chores this a great slice of pre-code horror. It even was spun off into it's own b/w magazine by Marvel in the 70's. The dark moody artwork must have been a shock to the comic reading public back when this was first published. "The End of the World" is a nice slice of Sci fi. But it not for the great Basil Wolverton artwork it would be just your average story. "Worlds at War" has art by Jack Davis. This funny sci fi story has fun artwork from a guy mainly known for his time working on Mad magazine and his stuff at EC."There'll be some changes made" is the finaly story. And it helps end this issue and the series on a high note. We get stunning artwork from Steve Ditko,and a story that isn't completely predictable. I get the feeling that this mini didn't sell too well. Which is sad cause I would have loved more pre-code reprints of stories. But at the time people seemed more interested in buying gimick covered crap. Curse of the Weird #4 gets a A.

Monster Menace 1-4

Monster Menace 1-4

This was a kinda companion piece to Marvel's "Curse of the Weird" 4 issue mini. This series focused on the various Marvel pre-Silver age giant monster stories. This is the place were Fin Fang Foom and Groot showed up for the first time. So highlights from the 4 issues are. "I spent Midnight with the Monster on Bald Mountain" written by Stan Lee and art by Steve Ditko is a great moody story that shows both men at their artistic peaks. "The Terror of Tim Boo Ba" again by Lee and Ditko not only has a monster with a great name,but a fun twist ending that had to be mind blowing to the kids that read these stories many years ago. "When the Totem Walks" starts off the second issue with another blast of pure fun from Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. They take the stupid idea of a killer monster Totem Pole and make it into something believe able for a comic book. "Save me from the Weed" besides the laughable title,is a fun science fictionish story from Stan Lee with Jack Kirby doing the pencils and Dick Ayers on inks.This is one of the many radiation gone wrong stories that were all through out pop culture during this era. "I can't escape from the Creeping Things" is another mortality tale from Lee and Ditko that has a very early ecological slant to the story.Then wrapping up issue 2 is the highlight of the issue. "I fought Colossus" written by Stan Lee pencils by Jack Kirby and inks by Steve Ditko. Another of this era's "The machines are gonna take over " scare tales."I Live again" is the sequel to "The thing from Bald mountain" comic. It has the team of Lee and Ditko again and their talent shines through.Issue 4 starts off with a fun cover by Floyd Hughs. We start off with a sequel to the walking Totem story from a few issues back. "Orrgo the unconquerable" is a amazingly fun tale by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Then we get what I consider the highlight from the entire 4 issue series "Rorgg,King of the Spider Men!!". Written I am pretty sure by Stan Lee this has pencils from Jack Kirby and I think Dick Ayers did the inks. Small town gets invaded by a group of aliens that have 6 arms and look kinda like Spiderman when he grew the extra arms. This story was the best way to end what was a decent mini series. I enjoyed "Curse of the Weird" more,mostly cause the Marvel giant monster comics are not some of my favorite stuff. But judging this on all 4 issues "Monster Menace" gets a B.

Curse of the Weird #2

Curse of the Weird issue 2

Published back in the comic glut of 94,this 4 issue mini series was over looked by most of the comic fans. This is a series that reprinted "weird" tales from Marvel's Atlas era books. You get 5 stories. The first "The Ghost of Grismore Castle" has amazing artwork from the comic genius Steve Ditko. Kinda a normal ghost story,but it is elevated from an average story to a great story by art. Ditko has an energy and aura around his artwork that I can't really describe. Up next is "Bat's Tales' written by Stan Lee and pencils and inks by Russ Heath Jr. Passable vampire story with a predictable ending. "Innocent Bystander" is third,with pencils and inks by Dick Briefer. Never heard of Dick before but his artwork is a little below average for the time period. The story is like a 3rd rate "Crime Suspense Story". "The Unsolid Man" pencils and inks by the great Joe Orlando.Besides the art this one is not worth reading. And it isn't as good as Orlando's great stuff with EC. Wrapping up the comic is "No Sign of Life" written by Stan Lee and pencils and inks by Steve Ditko. Very cute Sci Fi story that doesn't over stay it's welcome. And beside the usual pages of ads,we get a few pages giving us some background on the stories,writers and artists that worked on this issue. I found this issue along with the following 2 at Coast Con last year. Got them outta the cheap bin and just the 2 stories with Ditko artwork are worth 10 times what I paid for them.

Showcasing the Essentials 07

Harvey Comics Classics Volume 3-Hot Stuff the lil devil

As far back as I can remember I have been a fan of Hot Stuff. I believe this is because my father has a tattoo of this cute little devil on his left forearm. Sadly besides a short lived relaunch in the early 90's,Hot Stuff hasn't been published in many years. So when I heard about Dark Horses series reprinting various Harvey characters in the "essential/showcase" format I had to get it. We get 110 stories in this volume. Most are in black and white but in the middle of the volume we get 7 stories in full color. These were printed from the original art,so they look even better than they did when first printed. Hot Stuff was kinda an oddity in the Harvey universe. He was the only major character that didn't cross over with any of the others. He is a young devil ,who wears an asbestos diaper. He loves all thing hot,and hates the cold. His stories were usually very short,and as far as I know he had no multi-part stories in his entire history. He is also the only one of the major Harvey comic characters that never had an animated appearance. I believe this is cause of concerns of how he would be perceived in the bible belt. Even though Hot Stuff is a devil ,there is nothing at all Satanic about him or his stories. In his 3 decade publishing history he ended up building up a small supporting cast which was mainly his aunts and other relatives. Hot Stuff was also the only Harvey character to get his own title without a tryout in another title. Most of his adventures were drawn by Warren Kremer,for his first few years. Then Howard Post took over the artistic chores. And finally the very underrated Ernie Colon drew most of his stories up until the title ended in 1982. This Lil devil was one of the many "bad boys" in the comic scene. And stood out in sharp contrast to the other Harvey creations. Going back and reading the stories reprinted in this volume,which reprints various selections from the years 1957-1966,one can see how He had the same basic plot line in most of the issues. This is one of those trades that you don't really want to sit down and read all at once,it works better if you read a few at a time. I am hoping this series of reprints sold well enough for Dark Horse to come back with a second volume of Lil Devil adventures. Harvey Comics Classics volume 3 Hot Stuff gets a B.

Showcasing the Essentials 02

Showcase presents House of Secrets Volume 1

Art by Neal Adams,Dick Giordano,Gray Morrow,Alex Toth,Don Heck,Bernie Wrightson,Gil Kane,George Tuska,Micheal Kaluta,Wally Wood,Murphy Anderson,Jim Aparo,Sergio Aragones,Nick Cardy,Jack Sparling and various others

Written by Gerard Conway,Marv Wolfman,Len Wein and various others

This reprints issues 81-98 of the first volume of House of Secrets,which was a long running horror anthology title from DC comics. This title along with House of Mystery was used a lot as a place to try out new artists and writers. An average issue most of the time had four or so short stories of various lengths. Hosted by Abel,of Cain and Abel fame,he is the caretaker of the house of secrets and introduces each story with a short usually funny blurb. One of the things I love about this trade is that it is perfect for a quick pickup and read. I has held the top spot on the back of my toilet for almost a year now. Most of the stories have O Henry twist endings, and thankfully they are not always obvious from the beginning. The three main highlights to this collection for me are the origin of the House of Secrets,Swamp Things first appearance,and one panel gag strips by Sergio Aragones. The origin story is the first story in issue 81,with great moody art by Jerry Grandenetti and written byMike Friedreich. It tells how the House was built by Senator Sandsfield who was a few cards short of a deck and how every piece of material used to build it all came from Kentucky. A man buys the abandoned house for cheap and is trying to move it to Tennessee. But not too far from the Kentucky/Tennessee state line all hell breaks loose. The first appearance of Swamp Thing has stunning Bernie Wrightson artwork and was written by Len Wein. It is the Swamp Thing origin that most comic fans already know but with a few small changes. I have read this issue before in a reprint but find that Wrightson's artwork looks even better in black and white. Abel's Fables is the short gag strips by Sergio Aragones,and are very much like his gag strips you used to find in between the panels of Mad Magazine. Sure with so many stories there will be a few clunkers,and some of them just haven't held up. But over all 80% of the stories are worth reading,and it is a great sampler of many great artist. Some of whom are barely remembered now. Showcase presents House of Secrets gets a B.

Showcasing the Essentials 01

Essential Killraven

published by Marvel comics

Killraven is a mostly forgotten 70's sci fi series. First appearing in Amazing Adventures 18,May 1973. Killraven works on the premise that the War of the worlds actually happened,and the Martians come back in 2001 and take over the world. Jon Killraven is a child that is raised by the Martians to be a gladiator in the arenas. The storyline starts in 2018 when Killraven escapes from the slavepins and with a rag-tag band of humans fights back against the Martian overlords. This storyline runs from issue 18 of Amazing Adventures to issue 39,and covers 2 years in the story of the series. Killraven was created by Neal Adams and Roy Thomas,but sadly Adams only did the first 11 pages of the first issue. The rest of that issue was done by Howard Chaykin. By issue 21 Don McGregor takes over the writing duties and last till the final issue. The art chores passes from Herb Trimpe to Rich Buckler to Gene Colon. But finally at issue 27 P. Craig Russell takes over the art and besides a few fill in issues stays on till issue 39. One thing that Killraven is remembered for most now is the first interacial kisses in color comics. One thing I love about the series is how even though it is perfect for a child to read,it has multiple levels so that adults will enjoy it. Killraven mainly appears in Amazing Adventures,besides a one time appearance in Marvel team up. In that story he teams up with Spider-man who is traveling thru time. Sadly Killraven's run in Amazing Adventures was cut short. So in the early 80's McGregor is allowed to wrap up most of the main storyline in one of the first few Marvel Graphic Novels. This Graphic Novel has some of the best P. Craig Russell art I have ever seen. After the publication of this GN Killraven disappeared and didn't show back up till a Marvel Knights 2001 One-shot,that is written and drawn by Joe Linsner. While this one-shot has the best art ever for a Killraven story some plot point contradict stuff from the original run. I first encountered Killraven by his entry in the Deluxe Official handbook to the Marvel Universe. And never got to read any of the story until I bought the Essential TPB last year. So to wrap it up,If you are a fan of Sci-fi,space opera,or fantasy check out Essential Killraven. I give it a A.