Curse of Dracula comic from Dark Horse

 

TITLE-The Curse of Dracula

SOURCE-3 issue mini series from Dark Horse Comics

Yea  I read the classic Marv Wolfman/Gene Colan run on the Tomb of Dracula comic. Loved what I read and  wanted more. Then maybe 2 years ago was in a local pawn shop and saw a longbox behind the counter. Knowing the shop owner is a collector I assumed it was his personal collection. Asked if I could look through it. Got told sure and every comic was priced. Found all 3 issues of Dark Horse's late 90s Curse of Dracula mini and saw it was Wolfman/Colan working on it so grabbed them. And like what happens with piles of comics in my collection ,these got put in a short box and I forgot about them.

The other night wanted something to read after dinner,been trying to each night after dinner is ate and kitchen is clean sitting at the bar and reading for an hour. Plan was read the first issue and head out to the pier to relax. Got so into issue 1 and went ahead and finish the other two.

Now going into this mini I figured it was Wolfman/Colan taking ideas from their Tomb of Dracula run they didn't get to use and changing stuff enough where Marvel couldnt sue. Nah this is very different. This Dracula is based on the Bram Stoker original. And while we got a team of vampire hunters like TOD had this team is so different.

Modern day a new member is added to the team and we learn Dracula is working on getting political power in the USA. Having a connection to a Senator that is about to run for President. Then we get a twist,that I didn't see coming. And issue 3 ends with a new person possibly becoming President while Dracula has control of them. Guessing Wolfman/Colan figured this would sell great and get another mini series. It sadly didn't.

The writing is great,sure for the late 90s it feels a bit wordy. But unlike a Silver Age X-men comic I read recently this isn't wordy without needing to be. This wordy works on setting the mood and tone.

And the art OMG! Appears they just used Gene Colan's pencils,have read before he prefered to not have his pencils inked. Which makes this art stand out.

Like this gorgeous 2 page spread from the first issue. Sorry for the crap picture. Look at how smooth the coloring looks. And you can see the linework in the art.

And this cover from issue 3. Would love a poster of it.  Always loved Gene Colan's art and that is a major reason I bought this series.

Do not think there is a tpb of this mini. Appears you can get the three issues for close to cover price. And it is worth that. 

The Curse of Dracula gets a read if you love horror and a buy if you are a Gene Colan fan.

The Saga of the Victims TPB from Gwandanaland Comics

 

TITLE-The Saga of the Victims
SOURCE-Gwanadanaland Comics #2420

Off and on for the past 20 years I have heard about "The Saga of the Victims". This was a 6 chapter comic serial. Appearing in issues of Skywald Publishing's Scream horror magazine. Scream was a clone of Warren's better known Eerie and Creepy

 

Josey Foster and Anne Adams are college students. Going to a fancy private college. Then one night their dorm gets invaded by demonic looking beings from below the Earth's surface. They learn that the leader of these dwellers from below is the Head Mistress of their college. Using their brains and a bit of luck our two college ladies escape. But end chapter one in a room where a man with no skin has just walked in.

And with this first chapter ,running 20 pages of gorgeous B/w art from artist Suso,establishes the forumula we would get in the next 4 chapters. Each starts off with "the Victims" escaping a cliffhanger from the last chapter. They run into something even more odd and creepy. End up about to die and chapter ends.

Like how they end up on a pirate ship full of zombie pirates. Josey and Anne are made to walk the plank. They fall into a shark infest sea. But a giant squid grabs them and drags them deeper into the sea.

But wait that Giant Squid is actually a submarine. Captained by a midget Nazi,who goes around the world in his Squid-Sub terrorizing various seaside towns and cities.

Just when I thought the writer,Alan Neweteon,couldn't top a Midget Nazi who piloted a Squid-Sub he strands the Victims deep in the darkest jungle. Where they get captured by a tribe of cannbials lead by a giant man who got a masters in psyhcology from Harvard

In the final chapter in this trade,Chapter 5,our leads faced all kinds of insane deathtraps

Before being put into a odd looking spaceship. Being taken to a huge castle.

Which in the final panel takes off into space. All through out the 5 chapters we keep being told that someone/something is torturing the Victims and will keep doing it till they two ladies give up. In Chapter 5 they strongly suggest that in chapter 6 we will learn who/what this ringleader is. And why they chose Josey and Anne to be the Victims.

Now I have hinted that this TPB doesn't contain every chapter of this sadly forgotten batshit insane comic serial.And there is a major reason for that. See Scream was a magazine sized comic that got published by Skywald. Skywald never put a proper copyright notice in their comic mags. Which means they are all public domain now. The issue of Scream that Chapter 5 ,issue 11 aka the Winter of 75 special,was the last issue of Scream to be published.

So what about the final chapter? Well from what I can find it has been published 2 times now. Once was in a horror comic that was published in Spain. This version is of course in Spanish. Then in the early 2000s there was a small print run of a hardcover collection. This collection has ,IIRC in color,all 6 chapters of The Saga of the Victims in English. This hardcover is long out of print. I keep checking a few used book sites and never find a copy for less than 200 bucks.

Honestly even with the story being incomplete this collection is worth grabbing. All of Gwandanaland Comics can be found for sale on Amazon. Or you can buy direct from Lance,the guy who runs Gwandanaland. If you buy direct from him you can get the volumes a slight bit cheaper but have to pay for shipping. Either way you get them they are made by Amazon's print on demand service. I think for the cheap price this volume is worth it. 

2017 Comic Challenge 307 The Walking Dead #163

TITLE-The Walking Dead #163
PUBLISHER-Image
FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know Alexandria was prepared for a zombie herd attack,but no way were they prepared for a herd this large.

Andrea,Eugene,Jesus,Michonne and others are out on horses. To try to lead off large amounts of the herd away from the town. Back at the community Rick has everyone ready with knives to stab all the zombies pressing up against the front gate. But there is so many zombies the ones on the gate start to get crushed and become liquefied.
While our leads might have survived the war with the Whisperers fairly well it doesn’t look like they have a chance of surviving this herd. I am guessing that before issue 175 what is left of our leads will be back living on the run.

The Walking Dead #163 gets a buy!

2016 Comic Challenge 294 Zombies! Feast #01

TITLE-Zombies!Feast #01
PUBLISHER-IDW

I have no clue if or when this IDW Zombies! series connects to any of their other Zombies series/mini series.

A prisoner transport bus has a wreck out in  the middle of nowhere. It is up to 3 guards to lead 8 prisoners across a few miles. Mostly cause neither radio or cell phones work in this area.

They stumble upon a farm house,no it's not going there I think.While there,and looking for a phone,they run into a child zombie.

This time Shane Maccarthy does the writing chores and the art is by Chris Bolton. Again no clue who either is.The decent wraparound cover is by Bolton,but there is a variant that has Ted McKeever art. I wish I would have gotten that one.

I do have one later issue in this series. Might read it soon. But honestly unless I found later issues for a buck or less I wouldn't bother with this.

Zombies!Feast #01 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 281 Ghostly Tales #147

TITLE-Ghostly Tales #147
PUBLISHER-Charlton

Pretty sure I grabbed this at an auction almost 10 years ago. Grabbed it back then cause I was pretty sure from a quick glance that the cover was by Steve Ditko. And I was right. By this time,cover date March 1981,Ghostly Tales was pretty much all reprints. The cover is from issue 118. And the interior stories seem to be reprinted from issue 116.

We get three stories. Up first  is one written by Joe Gil and Sanho Kim handles the pencils and inks. It is serviceable and that is about it.The middle story has no credited writer,but the pencils and inks are by Steve Ditko. For that alone it is worth buying this comic.The final story has Joe Gil back writing.Then Bill Fraccio doing pencils and inks.

Outside of the Ditko cover and story this isn't anything special. But for those two things alone it is worth grabbing if you find it cheap. Sadly over the past 5 years I have seen the prices on all Charlton comics go up a bit.

Ghostly Tales #147 gets a Buy!

2016 Comic Challenge 246 Afterlife with Archie #10

TITLE-Afterlife with Archie #10
PUBLISHER-Archie

I knew it would happen,that finally a crappy issue of this series would come out. And what a pile of crap this one is.

Instead of continuing on the main story,the one we are lucky if we get 2 issues of a year,we get what really feels like a fill in issue.

Before the zombie outbreak a reporter is out west interviewing Josie of Josie and the Pussycats. The rest of the issue a 3rd rate hack of the highly over-rated Interview with  the Vampire book from Anne Rice.

The art was great as always,but really there was no need for this issue. Not when we are lucky to get 3 or so a year.

Afterlife with Archie #10 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 245 The Walking Dead #158

TITLE-The Walking Dead #158
PUBLISHER-Image

Part 2 of the Whisperers war is out.Gabriel is on lookout when he falls,loses his rifle and breaks his ankle. So he is left hanging there as a herd of walkers and Whisperers go by. One of the more gruesome deaths in this comic in a long ass time.

Out on the frontlines Dwight has a line of troops ready. Negan is with them but unarmed. Then the herd gets to them. Thanks to some flanking manuevers and Negan's quick thinking most of them manage to escape.

But it looks like this war has just begun. Like pretty much every month Kirkman and Adlard have me gladly forking over right at 4 bucks for my fix.

The Walking Dead #158 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 205 The Walking Dead #156

TITLE-The Walking Dead #156
PUBLISHER-Image

The entire issue is Negan trying to join the Whisperers. And through this we get to learn a bit more about them.

Once he is allowed to join the group Negan quickly lets it be known that he is attracted to the groups female leader Alpha.

After the last 3 pages  I am now wondering where the fuck Kirkman is going with this. That is not a bad thing,it is stuff like this that keeps me reading this monthly instead of waiting half a year for a 6 issue trade.

The Walking Dead #156 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 204 The Walking Dead #155

TITLE-The Walking Dead #155
PUBLISHER-Image

Like the tide the pace of TWD ebbs and flows. This is obviously the start of a big story arch. Michonne is trying to rush back with a wounded man. Dwight is leading a group of troopers in a hunt for Negan. And Negan well.. Negan is in love with Alpha of the Whisperers.

Even the slow issues like this one are engaging enough I don't mind getting this monthly then later on grabbing a physical copy in the Compendium format. The letter page confirms my thoughts on this being the start of a big story arch. Our monthly cast of people will be going to war with the Whisperers. And it is promised to be different and top the All Out War plotline from a bit over 2 years ago.

The Walking Dead #155 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 191 Bissette & Veitch's Fear Book #01

TITLE-Bissette&Veitch's Fear Book #01
PUBLISHER-Eclipse

Wow this was a great cheap bin discovery.For 4 years at Coast Con I had a guy that would bring between 12 to 20 longboxes. All packed with 70s thru early 2000s stuff. Lots of 80s indy stuff. And if you bought a bunch he would really cut ya a deal. So I grabbed this and stuck it in the to read pile.

Now if this just was a bunch of Steve Bissette written or drawn short horror stories it would be great. Same if you replaced Bissette with Rick Veitch. But nope this is even better. And I do wonder if this might become one of those books that goes from the cheap bins to being 20 bucks once word gets out. Jovial Bob Stine and Jane Stine written most of the stories. Bob Stine is better known as R.L.Stine of Goosebumps fame.

So I read through what is 12 or so 2 or 3 page horror stories,and then find a multipage text piece on where all this came from. Seems Schoolastic had a mag in the late 70s thru early 80s called Weird Worlds. And each issue had a few page long horror comic. Using at the time current students at the Joe Kubert School. Which of course Bissette and Veitch were part of the first class.

So unless something has changed this is a great collection of what has to be some hard to find fun horror comics.

Bissette&Veitch Fear Book #01 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 179 Baron Weirwulf's Haunted Library #070

TITLE-Baron Weirwulf's Haunted Library #070
PUBLISHER-Charlton Comics Group

I never read much of the Charlton horror anthology comics back when they were coming out. Then in the late 90s my local comic shop got in a huge stack of reader copy condition of them. The shop owner had said how much he wanted an issue but was offering a decent discount if you bought at least 10. So I went thru the stack found 20 that caught my attention and went up to the counter. The shop owner chuckled and said "Yeah I knew when I got them you would go after the one with the Ditko cover."

Now I haven't bothered doing much research for this issue. But under that Ditko cover you get your normal Charlton horror short stories. They never reach the levels of say the greatest stuff from EC or all the 70s DC horror titles or even Creepy and Eerie. But they are almost always worth a read. And usually have some good art.

Seems over the past decade the demand for these titles has went up. And I am seeing more and more shops/con dealers wanting $5 an issue for a beat up copy. Now for me yeah I would pay $5 for a reader copy version of this issue.Mostly cause of the Ditko cover.

Baron Weirwulf's Haunted Library #070 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 175 Crossed Badlands #098

TITLE-Crossed Badlands #98
PUBLISHER-Avatar

Smokey has run into a pair of "Smart" Crossed twins. After impregnating them he wants to move them to a safer location.

They relocate to an organic farm outside Key Largo.And Smokey scavenges all the local cities for supplies.

And finally at the end one of the twins gives birth to a boy. The final panel has Smokey smiling and holding his newborn son.

2 more issues and I am loving how it seems like we are getting a bit of Crossed history happening.

Crossed Badlands #98 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 174 Crossed Badlands #97

TITLE-Crossed Badlands #97
PUBLISHER-Avatar

Our lead Smokey is in Port Arthur Texas aka the armpit of Texas. But quickly makes his way across the  gulf coast area of Louisiana before ending up in Gulfport Mississippi.

It is in this city where Smokey and his gang attack a Navy vessel off the coast. After gaining control of it,Smokey enlists the help of a sailor. And they head off to the Florida keys. An area that supposedly has a pair of female Crossed twins that are "smart" like Smokey.

Of course seeing mention of quite a few cities I goto often or lived in made me enjoy this issue a bit more than normal. Really my only complaint is the cover. It looks wonky.

Crossed Badlands #97 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 173 Dead of Night Werewolf by Night #01

TITLE-Dead of Night featuring Werewolf by Night #01

PUBLISHER-Marvel Max

After having enjoyed Duane Swierczynski's work on The Black Hood,I tracked down this mini series from a few years back. And he didn't disappoint me.

Jack is a werewolf. Since the month before he turned 18 every month during the full moon he becomes a killing machine. During his first transformation he killed his parents and went on the run.

Current Jack is living in Philidelphia with his fiance. Who is pregnant. Every month he tells her he has to go on a work trip,then locks himself inside a steel room.

At the end of the issue he returns home from one of his trips to the room,but finds his fiance dead,her stomach ripped open. And the message It was a girl written in blood on the wall.

Dead Of Night Featuring Werewolf by Night #01 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 171 Grizzlyshark #01

TITLE-Grizzlyshark #01
PUBLISHER-Image

The title caught my eye so I had to check this out. Father and son are out in the woods camping. And get attacked by the Grizzlyshark.

We cut away to a group of large creature exterminators. Who thanks to a faulty A/C and some bad driving end up covered in Cinnamon bear ice cream.

Thankfully that is also the one thing that repels the Grizzlyshark. So the exterminators think they are safe. Then it starts to rain.

Grizzlyshark #01 reads like a 80s DTV creature feature. Sure it is kind of brain dead,and a bit silly. But it also is really entertaining.

Grizzlyshark #01 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 157 Tales from the Crypt #02 Gladstone run

TITLE-Tales from the Crypt #02
PUBLISHER-Gladstone/The Bruce Hamilton Company

Somehow this short lived run of EC horror reprints from Gladstone escaped my attention.It wasn't until 2 years later and Russ Cochran took over the reprints that I really got into collecting these affordable reprints of some of the best horror comics to ever come out.

Under the great Jack Davis cover,there is eight stories.The lead story has the Crypt Keeper as our host,makes sense to me since Tales from the Crypt was CK's title.And this story has some beautiful Jack Davis.Plus is were the cover image comes from.

Up next is a Vault Keeper hosted story.Joe Orlando provides the art,and I have always loved all the horror stuff he has done.And since the first story focused on a werewolf,the Vault Keeper is bringing us a story about vampires.

CK is up again with "Busted Marriage"Jack Kamen does the art. He was known for his gorgeous women. EC did lots of bad marriage stories in their horror titles,and this isn't one of the better ones.

A mummy story,hosted by the Old Witch,is next.Ghastly Graham Ingels handles the artwork.With Ingels the gorier the better. So I was a bit disappointed he got a mummy story.Since those usually do not have huge amounts of gore.

Ahhh OK seems the second half of the issue is a reprint of an issue of Crime SuspenStories.The Russ Cochran reprints would do this. The cover is by Johnny Craig.And shows a man freezing to death in a meat locker.While a sinister butcher looks on. What I don't like is they removed the issue number off the cover.

"Out of the frying pan..." has Johnny Craig art. For some reason he uses his Jay Taycee pen-name.It is your typical EC crime story. This time I didn't guess the twist before it happened.

Jack Kamen appears again with "A Trace of Murder".This one is better than the previous story.And again we get some more of Kamen's gorgeous women. Something about Kamen's art reminds me of Matt Baker's art in the Golden Age.

"The Escaped Maniac" is a very forgettable story. EC would put out a dud some times. And when they did they were really bad. The art is credited to George Bell,who is a name I do not remember seeing associated with EC.

To end the issue we get a final story. This one with Ghastly Graham on the art chores.And it is a Haunt of Fear tale hosted by the Old Witch. And ends up being the best story from this reprint of Crime SuspenStories.

I really have no clue what a copy of all these late 80s thru mid 90s EC reprint comics would cost ya on Ebay or one of the many online comic shops. I just know I find them fairly often in comic shop/convention cheap bins. This issue I dug out of the dollar bins at a local comic shop. And for a buck or two you really can't go wrong with reprints of pretty much anything from EC.

Tales from the Crypt #02 gets a Buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 152 Crossed+100 #02

TITLE-Crossed+100 #02
PUBLISHER-Avatar

Our group of scavengers ends up in Memphis. And after running into a herd of elephants,they stumble upon what they think is the Governer's mansion. Which is actually Graceland. While exploring it they find another shrine like they found in Jackson.

Again Moore has dropped quite a few clues as to were this story is heading. But they are subtle. Very subtle.

Crossed+100 #02 gets a Buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 148 The Walking Dead #153

TITLE-The Walking Dead #153
PUBLISHER-Image

Picking right up from where the last issue ended. We got Rick and a few others knowing that Negan has escaped his cell. Maggie leading a big group of people back to Hilltop. And Dwight training a new group of soldiers.

The Negan parts were my favorite of this issue. And after that last page I am really wondering what the hell Negan's plan is.

Now it might just be my bad memory,but I really didn't know any of the people that were part of Dwight's training session.

Anyways once again another month and another damn good issue of TWD.

The Walking Dead #153 gets a Buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 136 2001 Maniacs Special

TITLE-2001 Maniacs Special
PUBLISHER-Avatar

I discovered the 2001 Maniacs film about 6 months or so before it finally hit DVD.Someone I knew had been sent a screener DVD of it and gave it to me. I loved the film and wanted more out of this rebooting of the Hershal; Gordon Lewis gore classic.

This comic tells the story of when the town the maniacs live in was attacked by a army from the North.So we get to see the slaughter and destruction of the town. Which is a good idea. It is a nice way to fill in some gaps but also not contradict what we already know from the first film.

Tim Sullivan gets the story credit.And Raulo Caceres is credit as the artist. Pretty sure Mr Sullivan was the director of the film. Caceres I do not know. But his art has that sameness look that most art on Avatar books has.

2001 Maniacs Special gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 135 Gore Shriek Vol 01 #04

TITLE-Gore Shriek Volume 01 #04
PUBLISHER-Fantaco

Ahh Gore Shriek! I have written about my love and pursuit of this b/w gory as hell horror anthology comic at least one time before here at my blog.

There are 5 stories in this issue. Plus a nice piece on Monster Magazines by Steve Bissette.That is one thing I love about Gore Shriek it not only has some great comics,but it also after a few issues started putting nice articles in every issue.

And while all 5 stories are entertaining,the first one by Steve Bissette is the best. Titled Sleeper. It is about a kid who hates Sundays.Mostly because while his parents goto church,he is forced into a dresser drawer and has to stay in it until they come back. Then one day something happens and they don't come back.

Gore Shriek #04 gets a BUY!