3 modern lesser known tv shows based on comic books.

 As a kid I would watch any movie ,cartoon or tv show based on a comic. Which it being the mid to late 70s meant I watched some good stuff,like the Superfriends every Saturday morning on ABC. And some crap like the first of the 2 made for TV Captain America movies.

Even skipping ahead till I was almost 18 and it was rare we got a good film,cartoon or tv show based on a comic. Sure there was stuff like Tim Burton's first Batman movie or Spiderman and his Amazing friends cartoon. But I would watch it all .

Now thanks to the explosion of the Marvel movies at the box office,and all the new streaming services their is demand for comic book tv shows,cartoons and  movies. With so many there is always a few that get over looked.

I figure if you are reading this blog you already know about stuff like Arrow and Flash on CW,Flash was decent for the first season and 1/2 Arrow on the other hand I never liked. And seems like I am one of the few that didn't watch all of Daredevil on Netflix.  No way would I have believed every 10 years ago that stuff like Preacher,The Boys and Sandman would get TV shows that are hits.

But as I said earlier there is some I feel get over looked. Here is my list of 3 that I think most people that enjoy comics or enjoy comic movies/tv shows/cartoons should check out.

Up first is the newest show on the list. Based on the famous underground comix Fabulous Furry Freak Bros is an animated TV Show on TUBI. Which means it is free. Each episode is close to 30 minutes long.

Now the comic was about the "adventures" of 3 stoners aka Freaks that lived in the 60s/70s.  It was a huge hit and even had it's own board game. In the first season of the cartoon these 3 get sent into the modern world. So the first season was about them and Fat Freddy's cat figuring out how to live in a very different world.

Good animation and a great voice cast,they got John Goodman as one of the bros,made this a can't miss show for me. IIRC new episodes hit TUBI on Sundays. Last I heard it was a huge hit and TUBI has comissioned a second season. 

AFAIK the comic is easy to find in various collections. I have read scans of the main series and it wasn't bad. 

So since I started with an Indie comic going to DC next. And the next show has had 3 seasons so far. Starting off on DC's short lived streaming service,which was a good idea but too nichie to survive,then folding into HBOmax,Doom Patrol  takes it's basic premise from not only the 60s Doom Patrol comics but also the late 80s thru mid 90s run from Grant Morrison.

Who are the Doom Patrol? Well they are a group of heroes/heroines that think they are freaks and hated by mankind. So a super genius in a wheelchair bands them together to fight crime. Yea I know sounds a lot like the X-men. And both teams appeared so close together there is little chance one was copied from the other. And like the X-men,Doom Patrol in the 60s wasn't a huge seller. It got cancelled and the writer killed off the entire team in their final issue.

Then in the 80s in the classic acclaimed New Teen Titans series Wolfman/Perez brought back Robotman. And the Doom Patrol's main villian team of bad guys. Then not long after that in a great annual of Secret Origins John Bryne retold the origin of the original Doom Patrol. Then retold the origin of the short lived revival of the Doom Patrol in the 70s. Then at the end of this comic it was strongly hinted that soon the Doom Patrol would come back.

When the comic did come back I loved it.But it wasn't selling well. So around issue 18 or so a new writer was brought on board and told "Do whatever you want. You got 6 issues to increase sales or the title is cancelled"

Grant Morrison was the new writer and he went wild. Killing off the DP members he didn't like. And even slowly over a few years bringing back most of the original members. 

So far,now I still need to finish season 2 of the TV show,the Doom Patrol series on HBOMax is really inspired by the Grant Morrison run. While also adding new elements.

You got Brandon Fraiser as the voice of Robotman.  Robotman was always my favorite on the team and Brandon is great as Cliff. Cliff was a race car driver. Got into a major accident and all that was saved was his brain. Which The Chief,Timothy Dalton as the leader of the Doom Patrol,puts CLiff's brain into this robo-body. Cliff is the defalt leader of the Doom Patrol.

Then there is April Bowlby as Rita Farr aka Elasti-girl. She was an actress,best known for her looks and many trips on the casting couch,who gains the ability to change the shape of her body. Her emotions control her body so once she gains these abilities she can't act anymore. IIRC in the Morrison run on the title it was revealed that when the original team "died" the only one that stayed dead was Elasti-girl.

Already mentioned that TImothy Dalton is The Chief. Who was the leader of the original team,and in the Morrison run comes back and has a nasty secret revealed about himself and the rest of the team.

Matt Borner as Larry Trainor aka Negative Man,is the other member of the original team. Well member of the original team that was there from the start. He got exposed to radiation while being a test pilot. This causes Larry to radiate radation out of his body. He is basically trapped in a lead cell to prevent him from hurting anyone. When he gets sent special bandages. Which stop the radation in his body from leaking out. Larry also learns that inside him is a radioactive duplicate. Who he can send out to do stuff.Larry so far is the character that is changed the most from the comic. Now I know that in Morrison's run and then in Rachel Polluck's run it is strongly hinted that Larry might be a gay man. In the show this isn't hinted it is flat out said.

In season 1 there is 2 other members of the team. First up is Diane Guerrero as Crazy Jane. Jane has 64 different personalities and each of them has their own superpower. Before this show all I had seen Guerrero in was Orange is a New Black. And well on that show she wasn't given much to work with. So I was a bit worried when I heard Diane had been hired to be Crazy Jane. I love Crazy Jane. She was my favorite member of the Morrison run of Doom Patrol.

Was suprised when I saw that Diane Guerrero is a great actress. She is perfect as Crazy Jane. Love how they have slowly introduced her alt personalities. Plus how like in the comic we are seeing how Cliff and Jane are falling in love. Maybe a slight spoiler,but when Morrison was leaving the title he asked if he could write his final issue as an ending for the series. He left it set up where the next writer could ignore what Morrison set up or use it. In this issue Jane is somehow in the real world. Trapped in a mental hospital. Jane is being told all her adventures with the Doom Patrol were not real. And the one thing that really gets to Jane is she is told that Robotman doesn't exist. Jane realizes she is gonna have to pretend to be better to get out. She does this. Gets out and goes to a bridge. Planning on jumping to her death. When out of nowhere Robotman appears. Tells her he has searched most of the multiverse for her. Then invites her to come with him and live the rest of their lives together on Danny the street. Great ending for a great comic. And one I hope they use on the show.

Now while he isn't an official member of the team yet on the show I gotta talk about Danny the Street. Danny is a sentient street. Who communicates by changing the text on the windows of the business on the street. Danny the street can travel and take whoever is on the street to anyplace in the world. After meeting him,assuming Danny is a male cause well Danny is usually a male name,the Doom Patrol starts using Danny the Street as their main form of transportation. Danny appears in season 1 and in season 2.

The last official member of the team in season 1,doesn't join into a bit into the season. That is Vic Stone AKA Cyborg.  Pretty sure in the comics Cyborg was never in the Doom Patrol. But he fits in perfectly in the tv show. Like the rest of the original members Cyborg feels like a freak. The actor playing him in this show is great. And I like how the FX crew managed to make Cyborg look so much like he did in the classic New Teen Titans comic. Keep hearing that DC wants Cyborg to be a huge hero for the company. Which is why he was added to the Justice League movie. So far besides the Teen Titans cartoon this Doom Patrol tv show is the only time I have seen Cyborg used right.

Most of season 1 is the team fighting MR Nobody and trying to figure out where the Chief has disappeared too. When this was airing it was one episode a week. And I didn't have the DC streaming service. SO whatever night it aired I knew which dailymotion channel was bootlegging it. Soon as they had their copy uploaded I would rip it and watch it.

When season 1 hit home video of course I grabbed it. Season 2 starts and I was doing a free trial of the DC Streaming service. Watched 2 episodes and my free trial ended. I figured I would just buy season 2 on DVD. I did that and watched 3  episodes and misplaced the dvds until recently.

Now my last show gonna goto Marvel. And to a property of theirs I am shocked they hadn't tried a live action show of before this. The show I am talking about is The Gifted. A 2 season long action/drama on FOX.

Set in the slight future,where all the X-men have vanished and the government uses robots to hunt down and capture mutants.

A dad who works for the government group in charge of capturing the mutants finds out his two teenage kids are mutants. These two are basically Fenris from the comics. Well power wise. 

The dad,mom and kids go on the run. And quickly get hooked up with the mutant underground. Which is made up of some great X-men characters that I rarely see used outside the comics. Warpath,brother of Thunderbird,is one. An Native American mutant. He is basically the mutant version of Captain America. Then there is Polaris,who in the first season is in jail. A lady mutant with magnetic powers like Magneto. Another is Blink. Blink can teleport. 

There is many other mutants introducedd in the 2 seasons the show got. Keep hearing that while the ratings were decent. The show cost a fortune to make. And wasn't getting good enough ratings to justify a 3rd season.

Well hope yall enjoyed that. Might do another of these soon. Cause there is shows like Legion,on FX and another X-men related show,Cloak and Dagger,2 seasons on ABC family. Or not from Marvel there is Constantine,DC show based on the same comic of the movie of the same name, and Umbrella Academy,based on a comic from Dark Horse wrote by the lead singer of My Chemical Romance.

Gold Key's Little Monsters comic

The above cover is what caught my eye last summer when I was going through the local comic book store's cheap bins. But back then when I saw the cover and place the comic into my buy stack I didn't know that this one forgotten comic would cause me to do a few hours of research...

Back in the fall of 1964 Gold Key was wanting a original comic series to tap into the ever growing interest in the classic Universal monsters. The kids of this time frame,known as Monster Kids ,were the godfathers of modern horror fandom. It is cause of these Monster Kids that my generation got stuff like Fangoria and all the other great horror themed mags and zines in the 80s through 90s.

The leads of  Little Monsters are 'Orrible Orvie and Awful Annie. Two Frankenstein's Monster looking kids. Going by the cover,which as you can see shows the kids parents too,I just assumed this comic was Gold Key's rip off of the Munsters/Adams Family. Then I went and looked and Munsters and Adams Family started on TV pretty much the same month that the first issue of Little Monsters was hitting the newstands. So I doubt Little Monsters was ripping off either TV show,and more Gold Key riding the cresting wave of Monster fandom that had started in the very late 50s thanks to Famous Monsters Of Filmland magazine and the Shock Theater packages of old horror films being syndicated all across the US.

This issue of Little Monsters has 4 stories. Back in this timeframe ,issue 29 came out in the summer of 1975,most Gold Key comics had multiple stores in one issue. The pacing and flow of the stories in issue 29 feels like the stuff Harvey comics was doing in the mid 70s on their various Casper,Richie Rich,Sad Sack and Hot Stuff the lil devil comics. Just fairly straight forward stories that while they are written for kids also work for adults and aren't talking down to the kids.

Gold Key's Little Monsters comic ran for 44 issues across 14 years.

The last issue,cover is over to the right,came out either the last month of 77 or early 78. Looking around at various online comic book sellers it appears that even a reader copy of this issue will run ya at least 6 bucks. I am assuming this high price is partially the last issue having a lower print run. Plus back in 78 most Gold Key stuff was sold outside the direct market. Which means instead of someone buying a copy reading it maybe once then boarding and bagging the issue,placing it into a longbox and the issue being perserved in good shape, you got kids buying a copy off the spinner rack. That comic got read 100 times,rolled up and put in a kid's back pocket. And then years later traded away to a friend for some baseball cards.

All of that means higher grade copies of most 60s and 70s comics that aren't superhero based are harder to find. Which is one of the reasons why anytime I find a 60s or 70s Gold Key comic for under a buck I usually grab them. Doesn't matter if it is Charlie Chan and his Chan Clan or The Hair Bear Bunch,if it is Gold Key/WHitman and a buck or less it will go into the buy pile.

One interesting tidbit I learned while doing some research on Little Monsters,is that pretty much every Gold Key title didn't come out monthly. To the left is issue 30 of Little Monsters. Issue 29 has a cover date of June 75.Issue 30 has a cover date of Sept 75.  I saw that and thought it was odd. I have heard of comics that come out say every other month. And comics that come out say 4 times a year.But looking at the year of 75 Little Monsters had 4 issues total published. Sometimes it was 2 months between issues sometimes it was 3. This got me to look at a few other Gold Key titles from the same timeframe and yep it looks like Gold Key comics just came out whenever. The more popular titles ,stuff like Bugs Bunny and the like,would usually have 10 issues in a year.






Sadly like most Gold Key titles you get no creator credits on the comics. And I do not like this at all. I want to know who wrote the comic,who did the pencils,inks and colors. Hell I want to know who did the lettering. With none of the online comic databases I know of having the writers or artists listed  I started using some Google-Fu to see if maybe the info was out there. This let me to at least 10 different comic book or/and horror themed blogs. It is from these blogs that I have gotten the cover images I am using through out this article. On one of these blogs I saw the name Chase Craig listed as the writer of Little Monsters and a few other Gold Key comics.

Mr Wingate Chase Craig started in the mid 40s editing and scripting comics for Dell and Gold Key. Including workng on some of their top selling Disney titles.From the mid 40s until the mid 70s Chase scripted and edited Gold Key/Dell titles quite of few of them selling 1 million copies each month. Think about that for a minute. How long has it been since a non-superhero non-DC/Marvel comic book sold 1 million copies? Gold Key had series that every issue for years was selling 1 million copies.


THere is so many of these forgotten comics like Little Monsters. And it looks like stuff like this will never be reprinted. Since to most modern comic fans the only original Dell/Gold Key creations they care about are Dr Solar,Magnusand Turok. The so called Gold Key Three. But there is many other Gold Key originals that deserve a second look.

I hope yall enjoyed this look at Gold Key's Little Monsters comic. Figured it was time to do another written piece up here at my old trusty blog. Plus to silence one insane person,who likes to claim that I don't buy comics and just pirate all of them,here is a pic of my copy of The Little Monsters #29. Sorry for the light. It has been a nice cool evening so been sitting out on my pier enjoying being out and away from everything while writing this.

Yep it is a well read and loved copy. Been tempted to take some tape and repair that cover tear on the inside. I love finding well read copies of comics like this. You just know that this one issue has been read by at least 40 people in the over 40 years it has been since issue 29 was published.

And as always if you want to see/hear more of me rambling on about various items from my collection of various media formats search for Asshat Podcast on Youtube. Mondays,Wednesdays and Fridays at 11:45 AM Central time zone a new video appears on that channel. Wednesdays are normally comic book related. The other two days can be almost anything. And this upcoming Saturday will be the first installment of a new series of videos. These videos will be made by Bat32,the insane brain behind Exploited Cinema Podcast and Sleaze Fiend Magazine. And he will be covering comic books from his collection. Bat32 has a smallish but very interesting collection of comics. So be sure to check the Asshat Podcast channel on Youtube. WWW.Youtube.com/asshatpodcast
This Saturday for the debut of this new series. And thank you to everyone that has read this blog.

Uncanny X-men Annual 11

Title-Uncanny X-men Annual #11

Every few weeks I will goto my local comic shop and dig through the cheap bins. Usually just grabbing various dead universe stuff to complete my collections. Last trip I found a copy of one of my favorite one in done X-men stories.

This annual came out back in 1987. I can clearly remember grabbing a copy off the spinner rack at K&B drugs. I had already been subscribing to Uncanny X-men for a few years by then. But the subscription didnt include the annuals. Underneath that well done cover is a great story written by Chris Claremont,pencils by the great Alan Davis and inks by Paul Neary.

The story starts off with a very drunk Wolverine walking back to the X-mansion. It is odd cause of Wolvie's healing factor it takes a huge amount of booze to get Wolvie drunk. Wolvie is so loud that he wakes up the rest of the people in the mansion. Which causes the X-men,plus Captain Britain,Megan and Psylocke to greet Wolvie at the front door.

While Wolverine goes up to his room we get treated to Captain Britain,Megan and Psylocke talking in the kitchen. Seems Psylocke not so sure she is fitting in with the X-men.  But up in Wolvie's room,after a long shower,we find out why Wolverine is drunk. This is the anniversary of Wolvie's wedding to Mariko that didn't happen.

Before we can get more from this very very saddened Wolverine the mansion is attacked. By a being calling himself the Horde. Horde is uber powerful. And over the course of the issue manages to kill/take out all of the X-men besides Wolverine.

At the end we get shown how powerful Wolvie's healing factor actually is. And I was very impressed by this the first time I read it.

As I had said before to me Uncanny X-men peaked with issue 200 and went downhill fast. I have sold off most of my X-men collection. Which at one time went from issue 100 to issue 300. But this annual is one of the few issues from that run that I enjoy enough to own. Sure I got it in one of the many Marvel Essential X-men trades,but that is b/w.

If you enjoy the X-men track down this annual. While there is a few small parts that won't make much sense unless you have read all the issues from this era,outside of those tiny parts the rest of the story is written to be read by people with very little prior knowledge of the X-men.

Uncanny X-men Annual #11 gets a BUY!

2017 Comic Challenge 296 Astro City vol 01 #02

TITLE-Astro City volume 01 #02
PUBLISHER-Image

Been 20 years since I read the first volume of Astro City. But recently found a bunch of them cheap in the local comic shop cheap bins.

A reporter in Astro City learns how hard it is to be a journalist in a city full of super powered beings. After witnessing a gigantic battle,were the fate of reality is in jeopardy,he writes about it. But quickly learns that he isn't working for a J. Jonah Jameson style rag.

The art is great. I love how with just a few panels and well written pieces of dialogue I feel like I have known the various heroes appearing in this issue for years.

Astro City volume 01 #02 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 176 Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #05

TITLE-Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #05
PUBLISHER-Archie Comics

After a way too long wait,I love most of the new stuff coming from Archie but am getting a bit sick of the constant late shipping on over half the titles,issue 5 of the not for kids Sabrina title is out. So was it worth the wait............. Yeah it was.

Sabrina has to face the Witch's Council cause of Harvey seeing her induction into the witch group. While on trial she has to face a few tests. Which she passes so she gets declaired innocent.

But it seems Sabrina had help passing the test. Ms Porter AKA Madam Satan made sure Sabrina passed. And now has recurited Betty and Veronica from Riverdale. Yep Betty and Veronica are part of a coven with Ms Grundy in Riverdale.

And with the help of the two ladies from out of town and Ms Porter,Sabrina casts a spell that will bring Harvey Kinkle back from the grave. She gets told it will take 3 days for him to come back.

3 days later we are in the Kinkle house. Ms Kinkle is still setting a place at the dinner table for Harvey,believing since his body hasn't been found he is still alive.Mr Kinkle is sure Harvey is dead. Harvey rises from the grave and makes his way home.

Once he gets there we see that his mother might have lost touch with reality in a major way. Then in the last few pages learn that while it is Harvey's body the mind controling it is someone from Sabrina's past.

The art is fucking stunning. I love the look of the coloring,looks a bit like chalk to me.And the story is not only well written,but also well researched.  I hope there is no more huge ass delays on future issues.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #05 gets  BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 168 Kid N Play #09

TITLE- Kid N Play #09
PUBLISHER-Marvel

With the final issue of the pretty damn good KiD N Play comic we get a fun crossover with lots of the Marvel heroes.

Play has just lost his woman. So is staying in his room. Kid and another friend come over to cheer him up. And they brought a coupon for a free delivery pizza plus a stack of Marvel comics. Play tells them thanks but then asks them to leave.

A bit later Play is hungry so he orders the pizza. After pigging out on what looks like a great pizza Play falls asleep. And in his dreams is where the Marvel Heroes crossover starts.

First up Hulk knocks on Play's front door. Then punches Play so hard he flies way out of the city. And once Play gets out of the trench his body created on the landing,he runs into the early 90s X-men team.

Play gets away from them,but runs into Venom in the sewers.Who throws him away. He lands in another part of the sewers,where Wolverine,Punisher and Ghost Rider happen to be. The heroes fight over who gets to I guess kill Play,still not sure why the heroes all want to kill him.

Plays escapes the trio and makes it home. But pretty soon the Avengers,FF and X-factor surround his house. Using dream logic Play ends up in armor and armed with a lightsaber fighting himself.He wakes up from this dream and lets the readers know he is better now.

Kind of a neat but odd way to end this series. It reads a bit like the new Archie and Jughead comics read. In that it is written for a 14 year old or older,but can still be read by younger kids.

Kid N Play #09 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 166 Old Man Logan #04

TITLE-Old Man Logan #04
PUBLISHER-Marvel

Steve Rogers and Hawkeye take out Logan. And then take him to where the 616 Wolverine is buried. Thus proving to Logan that this isn't the past of his universe. And Logan goes off. Just drifting around. Until one night he runs into a Sentinal and two old friends.

This issue was good. But not as good as the previous 3. I knew that one day soon Logan would learn this isn't his universe. But didn't expect it to happen this soon.

Old Man Logan #04 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 165 Southern Bastards #14

TITLE-Southern Bastards #14
PUBLISHER-Image

So after a few months wait we get the conclusion to the current story in Southern Bastards. Seems Earl,the guy who died in the first story,had a daughter. Who is ex-military and has come home. Also forgot she is half-black. Which of course goes over big with the racist inbreds of the town.

Even though I had to wait a bit over 2 months to get this issue,fuck was it worth the wait. Aaron perfectly captures how it is to live in a small southern town. And what it is like if you are living there and not white/straight and Christian.

Southern Bastards #14 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 118 Illuminati #02

TITLE=Illuminati #02
PUBLISHER-Marvel Comics

Our new team of villains wants to break into Asgard's armory. But to do this they need to talk to a Roxxon scientist that is rumored to have developed a artificial BiFrost Bridge.

Lots of info dumping and team building in this issue. And now I actually know who is on this team. Mad Thinker,one of the wrecking crew,Black Ant,Titania and the Enchantress.

Our team heads to a bar run by the Fenris twins. Which has Paste Pot Pete as the bar tender. It actually reminds me of the Bar with No Name from the Scrounge of the Underworld storyline.

Illuminati #02 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 081 Injustice:Gods among us Year One #01

TITLE-Injustice Gods Among Us Year One #01
PUBLISHER-DC comics

This was a tie in comic for a DC hero fighting game. So I skipped it. Cause really how good could it be. But then I had someone constantly talking about how great the series was. Plus it is free.

The story is fairly simple. We are a few years in the future. Gotham is free of crime. Thanks to Superman taking over control of the world. And now Batman is gonna stop him.

Up next is a flashback. Were we see Superman finding out Lois is pregnant. And doesn't want her to go on a semi-dangerous assignment. She goes anyway.

From this issue,and I went ahead and read 2 more,what I have been told about the series I see it for what it is. A watered down mash up of Mark Grunwald's Squadron Supreme 12 issue mini,the whole superhero takes over control of the world and the non powered superhero member of the same super team must stop him/them. And Mark Waid Irredeemable.So take those two really good comics. Mash them together. Then water it down so it won't offend anyone. And you get this turd sandwich.

I am gonna be fair and finish reading the rest of Year One of this series. Mostly to see if it gets any better or just gets worse.

Injustice Gods Among Us Year One #01 gets a Pass!

2016 Comic Challenge 077 Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #07

TITLE-Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #07
PUBLISHER-DC

Back in the 80s DC started up Who's Who. Which was like an encyclopedia for the DC universe.And I loved this series. Buying every issue I found.

Since Who's Who was a hit DC started doing similar series by with a narrower focus. Which brings us to the above comic. I had been reading the Legion of Super-Heroes since the late 70s. And this 7 issue mini series covers almost everything from the start of the Legion back in the Silver Age until 1988.

Being the last issue this one covers from Time Trapper,always loved him,to Zoraz. But one thing it does that I have never seen in any Who's Who is a 12 page story.At the start of the issue we get Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel talking to a group of Legion trainees. Ty Templeton wrote the story. And the legendary Curt Swan handles the pencils.

Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #07 gets a Buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 075 Star Trek #53

TITLE-Star Trek #53
PUBLISHER-Whitman Comics

Cover dated July 1978,this Whitman licensed comic has a gorgeous painted cover. I do wish I knew who did the cover.George Kashdan wrote the comic. With Al McWilliams getting pencils and ink credits.

Kirk,Bones and Spock are down on a planet and have a run in with the Greek Gods.Which turns into a recreation of the Odyssey.

One fun thing about the comic is say a story like this if done  on the show would look cheesy as fuck. Cause of the budget. But in a comic they can do anything. And it is the stories when the writers take it way past what the show could do that stand out the most from this comic that had a fairly long run.

Star Trek #53 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 001 Inquisitor #1

TITLE-Inquisitor #1
PUBLISHER-Verotik


I remember when Danzig announced he was starting up a comic book company.After hearing how big a comic fan he was in various interviews, I was expecting some decent horror comics from Mr Danzig.

It wasn't until a few years back that I finally read a comic from Verotik.I had recently gotten a bunch of VHS tapes.Which got traded to someone for a stack of comics and a few other things.

From what I can find this was the first issue of this series. Where the Inquisitor I am assuming was gonna be a host. Kind of like how the Crypt Keeper was in Tales from the Crypt. This issue has 3 stories.All of them written by Glenn Danzig.But each story has a different artist. J.H. Williams III is the only artist I knew.

So how is the comic? Sadly the best part of it is the cover. Which I must assume is stolen from one of the many magazine sized b/w comics Eerie publications put out in the 70s. The three stories are all crap.

Inquisitor #1 gets a borrow.

31 Days of Horror 2015 EXTRA 03 Gore Shriek comic book series

 Ahh Gore Shriek the comic book that every reader of Fangoria in the mid to late 80s wanted to read. I use to stare for hours at the ads for this b/w indy horror anthology comic from FantaCo. But being a young teen and having to be 18 or older to order the book,well I never got to get a copy back then.

Every con I would hit I would look for copies but no one would have them for sale. Then the summer after I graduated high school a record/used cd store opened up 2 towns over.Besides all the music stuff the owner had 8 short boxes of random comics. They were 2 bucks each or 15 for $10.While waiting on someone to figure out which "import" White Zombie CD they were gonna buy,the store had a huge selection of bootleg concert CDs. All labeled as imports,and all of them being $30 a pop.I started digging thru the longboxes.Seeinng if I could find 15 comics I wanted.It was the oddest selection of titles. You would have like 10 issues of Peter David's then current Hulk run,followed by an issue of Alan Moore's Miracleman,followed by a mid 70s Whitman/Gold Key Super Goof. Well so far all I had found that I wanted was 2 issues of V for Vendetta,and one of those colorized Judge Dredd reprints from Eagle.Then I saw the below cover.

 So now I had to find 11 more books. But finally after 5 or 6 years I had gotten an issue of Gore Shriek.I quickly grabbed enough comics to get the 15 for $10 deal. Went to the counter paid for my stuff. Then asked the owner if it was OK if while waiting on my ride to finish getting stuff if I could sit on the floor near the front and read my new comics. He had no probem with this.I quickly took the tape off the flap of the bag,for me unless it is a comic worth more than 100 bucks and one I am not gonna be reading often I never put a piece of tape to hold the flap of the bag down,and started to read Gore Shriek volume 1 issue 3.

 And what a nice gory treat it was. I got a front cover and a back cover from Chas Balun. Who not only ran one of the best horror magazines ever,Deep Red,but was a good artist and writer.He also wrote and drew the story Hell to Pay. And there was 3 other stories. Mall Rats written by Bill Townsend and art by Greg Capullo,this had to be the first time I had seen Capullo's work.Rain which was written and drawn by Rolf Stark.And the final story Idle Hands which has Bruce Spaulding Fuller handling the story and art.

 Months later I turned 18 and could now order issues straight from Fantaco. But I also joined the Army and kind of got out of reading comics for a bit.So issue 3 was the only one I had.

 Years pass.I was at my local mall,oddly enough waiting on the guy from the used CD store,but this time he was trying to figure out which Pantera shirt he wanted. I see they are having a general antique/collectibles show going on in the mall. Various booths are set up  and I notice one guy has at least 40 longboxes of comics.I start looking thru one box,noticing that nothing is priced and I see no sign saying prices,and ask him what he is charging. "Well depends on how many you want to buy. They are a quarter each,but spend at least 10 bucks and I can knock it down to 10 cents each.After scanning 3 longboxes I saw I could find more than enough to hit 10 bucks worth. By the time my buddy had picked out his shirt,I had talked the guy into selling me a longbox of comics for $40.And I don't know about yall but I can stuff 500 or so comics into a longbox. One of the  many comics I got was the above pictured issue. Gore Shriek Vol 2 #1.

 But enough on how I found 2 issues of this kind of now obscure comic. How about some history of it. Fantaco was a company that sold posters,vhs,and anything else horror related.The story I have heard if Chas Balum after he had started the Deep Red magazine,which was a huge seller for Fantaco,talked them into doing a b/w comic book. Now Gore Shriek never really had a set schedule. As in it didn't come out say every 2 months or whatever. Issues came out at random. With sometimes a long wait between them.

There was two series of Gore Shriek. The first that started in 1986,lasted 6 regular issues and a limited 6.5 issue,and ended in 1989 with the aforementioned 6.5 issue. The long waits I mentioned mostly happened in this series. Issue 1 came out in 86 and issue 2 wasn't on stands until 1988. Series 2 started in 1990 and we got 3 issues,an annual and a 2.5 issue.

Since finding that issue at the used CD store I have always been on the look out for issues at comic shops and other stores. Call me weird but with certain comics I want to find them "in the wild".Instead of just going on Ebay and getting them.Part of it is I like to support mom and pop stores. And comic shops and flea markets are mom and pop as you can be. Another part of it is I like the thrill of the hunt. And finally I like keeping a list of uncommon comics,stuff that odds are decent I might find copies in a comic shop.I have an almost complete run of Gore Shriek. From the first series I am only missing 6.5.Which you could only buy direct from Fantaco or if you ran into one of the artist featured in the issue at a con or a comic shop signing. At two different comic shops I have left my number with the owners in case someone comes in wanting to sell a copy of this issue.

 With series 2 of Gore Shriek.All I have ever found is issue 1 and Annual 1.I hear that this series had much smaller print runs. I have seen an old ad where issue 2.4 was selling for $20.

So if anyone reading this has any of the issues I mentioned I do not own. Wants to sell them,and doesn't want stupid prices for them please leave a comment.

 The series,well the issues I have read,is damn good. If you like gory horror and don't mind b/w artwork this is the series for you. Plus starting with issue 3 or so of the original series each issue you get 1 or 2 fairly long essays on various horror topics. Like the history of horror in the underground comix written by Rick Veitch. Or this really good piece on the history of the horror/monster magazine. So there is stuff for both the gorehound and the horror historian.

So next time you are in your local comic shop look and see if they have any copies of Gore Shriek. If so and they aren't wanting stupid prices for them,I wouldn't pay more than 5 for most issues and maybe 10 for a few,buy them.

Milltown Antique Mall finds part 1

A couple of weeks back I found out about an Antique Mall in Wesson. Which is a small college town about 20 minutes away from where I live.One of my neighbors had went recently and told me they had seen lots of comics. So early one morning I head up there.

Got to Wesson found the store and walked in. The booth to my right had a box of comics. And the sign on it said "10 for a buck"! I dove into the box.

To prevent this post from being way too long I am gonna divide it up into multiple parts.

Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters #1 second printing.

After the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic was a hit,lots of companies put out black and white marital art animal comics. And the Black Belt Hamsters was the best of the bunch. Originally produced by Eclipse comics,this series is still around. With various companies bringing them back for short runs. I love how the wraparound cover parodies the covers on the then new Frank Miller's Ronin series from DC.I haven't read this issue yet. But have read later issues in the series and it wasn't bad. I like the theme to the 4 hamsters names. With the Turtles being named after famous painters,the Hamsters are named after action movie stars. So we got Clint,Chuck,Bruce and Jackie.

Toyboy #1

When they were coming out I rarely bought anything from Continuity comics. Mostly cause their cover prices were always so much higher than DC and Marvel. I am currently trying to get a complete run of Continuity. And Toyboy was one of the series I had no issues of. I haven't read this yet. Looked thru it and it seems Neal Adams does most of the art. So even if the story is shit at least it has good art. The plot seems to be about a kid with a robosuit. Which he uses to fight crime. Yeah I know it sounds kind of stupid.

Bone Chillers VHS

From the mid 90s this Goosebumps inspired live action kids show aired on ABC Saturday mornings.I never saw it. But heard it was good. Plus it has Linda Cardellini. And I will watch anything she does. Doing some research this show is based on a series of kids books. But unlike the similar Goosebumps books,these books are all connected. With the same characters appearing in each book. Our leads in the show are Freshmen at Edgar Allen Poe High School. Each tape contains 2 episodes. And there was only 3 tapes released. So far this series isn't out on DVD. So these VHS are the only legal way to watch this show.

Harbinger #14

Back in the early 90s for about 2 years Valiant comics was the hottest comic company around. And Harbinger was their most popular series.I never read the series back then. But in 2008 I decided I wanted to own 1 copy of every comic Valiant put out. Thankfully most of them have very little value. So in 7 years I have gotten close to 80% of the way to a complete run of Valiant. Harbingers was a team of teens and young adults. Most of whom had super powers. It was Valiant's version of the X-men or the Teen Titans. I really like the cover of this issue. No clue who the lady is. But the guy in the red tunic is Magnus Robot Fighter. 

Little Monsters #4

Yep that is Fred Savage on the cover. From NOW comics,this was a 6 issue limited series. That adapted the kid's movie. NOW did lots of licensed comics. Stuff like Married with Children,Speed Racer and their most famous title Terminator. I don't remember Little Monsters being a huge hit. And really wonder who thought it was a good idea to turn it into a 6 issue series. Hell I had forgotten about the movie until The Hub network started showing it 10 times a week for what seemed like 2 years.This is a comic I grabbed just for the cover.I love comics with photo covers. Looking on ComicbookDB I see that every issue of the series had a photo cover. It is doubtful that I will get the rest of this series. But it is neat to have a comic with a giant picture of Fred Savage on the cover.

And the last item of this installment. Kickers INC #3,from Marvel's New Universe line.Kickers INC was a team of super powered football players. Who aren't allowed to play pro ball anymore since they got super powers. So now they are a team of bounty hunters. And it is just as stupid as it sounds. Back when the New Universe started I was reading all 8 titles they published. I stopped reading Kickers after the second issue. And this comic didn't improve with age. Hell it got worse.

Well that is all for now. Check back in a few days for the next installment.

3 Toys from the Junkbox 06/20/2015

PLASTIC MAN from the BRAVE AND THE BOLD toyline

One of the reasons I loved the Brave and the Bold cartoon was it brought Plastic Man back into the general public's mind. I grew up watching the old Ruby Spears Plastic Man cartoon. I got lucky and found this one on clearance. He comes with a giant hand you can attach to his right arm.Sadly his articulation isn't that great. With only the neck,shoulders,elbows and hips being jointed. The paintjob is great. And the sculpting looks great.

PUNK ROCK DONATELLO from the PLAYMATES TMNT line

One of the action figures I have owned for the longest time. This one I found at a thrift store in 96. And for years he hung from my rearview mirror in my car. Then sometimes in the early 2000s Playmates re-released it. I found one at Biglots. Bought it to get all the accessories. But that figure and the accessories got lost in a move.

LEGO BOBA FETT CLOCK

Yeah I know technically this isn't a toy.It is a clock made like a Lego figure. When these first came out I wanted one. But wasn't going to pay $30 for it.Then thankfully Walmart marked it down to $5. And I grabbed it. It is fully articulated like a normal Lego man. And the alarm is nice and loud.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 063 Mammoth book of Best Horror Comics

TITLE-Mammoth book of Best Horror comics
AUTHOR-Various
FORMAT-Trade Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-No
PRICE-$7.63

This collection of 50 or so horror comics is something I was always seeing at various bookstores. But I wasn't willing to spend cover price for it. Then a few years back was given an Amazon giftcard for my birthday. Was looking around and saw used copies of this were cheap.

Covering from the 1940s to current day,this collection does a good job of selecting some well done stories. Of course there is no EC stuff,nothing from Marvel or DC. And I don't remember anything from the Warren Mags.That really doesn't matter. Cause the editor Peter Normanjon did a good job selecting the best from what was available.

You get a few page essay on the various time periods. The first covering the 40s and 50s aka the pre-code days. A few of the tales in this collection I had read before. Mostly because I have bought many colletions of pre-code horror comics.The 60s and 70s section has a neat sampling of a few code approved tales. Then some fun stories from the non-Warren horror mags.The 80s,90s,modern day stuff is all indy comics. And some really really good stuff in that section.

Really since this is easy to find cheap it is worth grabbing. But there are 2 things that might cause someone to not want it. First off everything is reprinted in b/w. It looks good. But I know some people do not like b/w reprints of color comics. The other is the binding isn't the best. Unless you are careful I could see this trade one day coming apart.

Mammoth Book of Best Horror Comics gets a 4.59 outta 5.

Three Toys from a box of junk 03/31/2015

For close to 15 years I collected toys. Mostly action figures,but there was a decent amount of non-action figure toys in my collection. When I moved back to Mississippi close to 10 years ago I sold off a huge amount of my toy collection.What I did keep mostly got put up in boxes.

I was never one to keep my toys mint in package. With action figures it was much much easier to display them when they were loose. Plus I get to pose them and place the various accessories where I want them.

I have been slowly moving stuff out of my closet. And dividing the junk I am finding into two piles. One of course is stuff I want to keep. The other is stuff I am getting rid of. I doubt I can sell much of what I want to get rid of. So if you see a toy on this blog that I say I want to get rid of. Contact me,I am more than happy to trade them for whatever.

Now I am stealing this idea from Matt at Dinosaur Dracula.Go check out his site,it is a great read. Click to goto Dinosaur Dracula website.But every few weeks Matt will pick 5 random action figures from his humongous collection.Take some pictures of them and talk about them. I really enjoy reading them. So I stole the idea. But I am changing it up slightly. Matt does 5 Action Figures. I am doing 3 toys. No clue how often I will be doing one of these.

3 Toys from the Box 03/31/2015

Up first is the oldest of the three toys I picked out for today. Oldest as in the one I have owned for the longest.

A few years after LJN lost the WWF license it was picked up by Hasbro.The LJN figures we bigger,but had no articulation. Which is kind of dumb for a wrestling action figure.The Hasbro figures were much smaller but did have a few points of articulation. Plus each of them had an action feature.

I am pretty sure Hasbro made 2 Brutus Beefcake figures.And this is the first one. Brutus IIRC came with a pair of shears,so he could cut the heel wrestler's hair.There is only 3 points of articulation. The shoulders and neck. And the action feature is super lame. You press down on his head and release it and he jumps. Well most of the time he just falls over.

This is the second one of this Brutus Beefcake Hasbro figure I have owned.I got my first one back in the mid 90s. The local America's Thrift had got in what I must assume was some kid's wrestling figure collection. There was at least 30 of these Hasbro WWF figures. They were priced at 50 cents each. And I grabbed almost all of them.Something happened to that figure when I moved in the late 90s. The one in the picture I got in a trade with a fellow collector. He was just getting into VHS collecting.And one of my neighbors called me and told me their kids had just gave them "A wholea bunch of VCR videotapes." As a thank you for helping the husband stack firewood the previous fall I was told to come over and get any of the vhs tapes I wanted.

This is one of the toys in my collection I want to get rid of. Loose it has almost no monetary value. Anyone reading this that wants it leave a comment below and we can work a trade out.

This is the newest out of the three toys.Either late 2012 or early 2013 I found it in a three pack at Fred's.I rarely look at the toys in Fred's cause like Walgreens and other drug stores,they price the figures a few bucks higher.Fred's at least puts stuff on clearance,and then the price is usually really good.

Mattel had been making this sized DC superhero action figures for a number of years. Most of the time the figures had good paint jobs,good sculpting and decent articulation.Cause of the size of them they remind me a bit of the Kenner Super Powers line from the mid 80s. Unlike the Super Powers figures this line from Mattel has no action feature.To make up for this they have much more articulation.

As far back as I can remember I have been a fan of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern.I think it is for 2 reasons. The first is my favorite color is green. The other is I love Green Lantern's power ring. Such a great power. And what kid wouldn't want a ring like that.

Oh maybe you are wondering who else was in the three pack with old Hal here. The pack was called "The Hard Traveling Heroes" set. For the comic geeks out there that should be enough of a hint to figure out who the other two are.To be nice I will go ahead and tell you :P The other two figures are Oliver Queen the Green Arrow,and Dinah Lance the Black Canary.Back in the 70s DC merged Green Lantern and Green Arrow's comic books. And those 2 along with Black Canary traveled around the world fighting off social injustices.

I doubt I ever would want to get rid of this figure.With my action figure display areas being very limited,smaller figures like this are much easier to display. And for such a small figure it looks amazing.My only complaint,and it is more of me being an ass than anything,is that the Super Powers Green Lantern figure came with a Green Lantern Power Battery accessory. This figure didn't.I am sure I could check Ebay and buy one and add it to this figure.

While this is the oldest of the three toys,it came out about a year or two before Brutus Beefcake,I didn't get it until summer of 2012.I can't remember if I got in in the same trade as the Brutus Beefcake or if I was in another trade with the same guy.

In the late 80s or maybe it was very early 1990 Mattel started a new line of He Man action figures.The Masters of the Universe line had been dead for a year or so and they wanted to revamp it some.Gone was the exaggerated muscles of the old line. Replaced by a somewhat more realistic look. Also this line had more of a science fiction feel.I don't remember seeing this toy line in stores. And only saw the cartoon maybe 4 times.

I was a huge Masters of the Universe fan. I clearly remember saving up my dollar a week allowance up so I could buy my first MotU figure,which was Man-At-Arms.So when I saw this figure on my buddy's trade list I had to have it.

Compared to the MotU line,the New Adventures of He-man line looks kind of crappy. The action figures aren't nearly as inventive.The sculpting while more realistic isn't as good.The paint jobs are not as good. I have no idea about the accessories,since this one didn't have any when I got it.

If someone made me a good offer I would get rid of this toy. It isn't that I don't like it. It just isn't impressive enough to hold onto when I am very limited in space.

Well I hope someone read and enjoyed this.I am gonna have to figure out how to take better pictures of the figures. But I am working with an cheap camera and it isn't like I have much of a clue as to what I am doing :P