2016 Comic Challenge 237 Buried Terror #01

TITLE-Buried Terror #01
PUBLISHER-NEC Comics

While NEC is mostly known for publishing all the various Tick comics,they also for awhile had a line of pre-code horror reprint titles. Buried Terror was one of the last of this line.

Thankfully the interior art is much better than that cover. Sure it's horrible,but it just looks like something a bored fanboy would doodle in 7th grade study hall.

Now all these stories in Buried Terror are reprinted in b/w. Which to me isn't a big deal,but I know it can be a issue with some comic fans.The first story is Curse Castle.Which is drawn by the amazing Bob Powell.I discovered Bob Powell through all those various pre-code reprint titles that Eclipse was putting out in the 80s. The story is nothing special,but the art makes up for that.

Up next is Fog was my Shroud.A post Nuke story.The art is thought to be done by Robert Webb. A name I do not know. It is a decent sci fi horror story from the latter years before the Code took over.

Webb supposedly does the next story,In a Lonely Place. Which is decent. A bit short but decent.

The final story is Happily Dead. Which takes a neat twist on the living dead gimmick.

But my favorite part of the issues is the many pages on the history of Ajax comics. Thanks to the Digital Comics Museum I have gotten into the Ajax pre-code horror stuff.This article is well written and full of info.

Buried Terror #01 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 114 Curse of the Weird #02

TITLE-Curse of the Weird #02
PUBLISHER-Marvel Comics

Starting in the fall of 1994 and lasting for 4 issues Curse of the Weird was a Marvel mini series that reprinted lots of pre-code horror/weird stories. I have no clue why I skipped this mini when it was coming out. But got lucky back in 2010 and found the complete run cheap at a con.

Like the titles the stories originally appeared in Curse of the Weird is an anthology title.In this issue we get 5 stories. Ghost of Grismore Castle is the first story. Written by Stan Lee,it has pencils by one of my favorite Silver Age artists Steve Ditko.The second story is titled Bat's Tale. Once again Stan Lee is the writer but this story has Russ Heath Jr doing the pencils. Up next is Innocent Bystander.Sadly the name of whoever wrote this story is unknown. And Dick Briefer handles the pencils.The 4th story is The Unsolid Man.Written by Carl Wessler and the legendary Joe Orlando handles the pencils.And the final story is No Sign of Life. Were once again Stan Lee does the writing. And the great Steve Ditko does the pencils.

Not only do you get 5 pretty good weird/horror stories. But also a bit of backstory for each story. With this being only a 4 issue mini I doubt we will ever see a trade of it. So it is nice that the single issues are worth at most cover price. And aren't that hard to find.

Curse of the Weird #02 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 041 Mr Monsters 3D Hi-Octane Horror #01

TITLE-Mr. Monster's 3D Hi-Octane Horror #01
PUBLISHER-Eclipse

In the mid 80s Michael T Gilbert took his Mr Monster comic book and started putting old pre-code horror comics in the backs of lots of the issues. This must have done well,cause not to long later it spun off into the Mr Monster Super Duper Specials. With most issues of  the specials focusing on a genre. I actually discovered Mr Monster cause of these specials. I was in a comic shop in Mobile Alabama. And was digging thru the cheap bins,which were 25 cents a comic. Ended up with a Mr Monster comic reprinting lots of crime comics. I loved it and have slowly over the past 25 years managed to get every issue.

In 2008 Mile High Comics was having a big sale. Which is the only time I will buy from them. Mostly cause their prices are usually way high. But when they have a sale you can get stuff for a good price. I was on  a 3D comic kick. And saw not only did Mile High have the 3D horror issue of Mr Monster.But it was extremely cheap.  I of course bought it.

So how is the comic? It starts off with a 3 page intro with Mr Monster and his lady Kelly. Then we get the first pre-code story. Which is Joe Kubert's Picture of Evil. A story that according to some sources is the first horror comic story in 3D. Being a fan of Mr Kubert I loved this story.

The second story, The Damned, is the only original story in the comic. Written and drawn by Gilbert,it is a neat exercise in graphic storytelling.

The final story is a classic from the late Bob Powell,Until I started getting all the various public domain comic reprints that Eclipse put out I had never heard of Mr Powell. And "The Blind,The Doomed and the Dead!" is classic Powell. Great artwork  and a great story. With your kind of standard horror comic twist at the end.

After the Powell story we get a one page wrap up from Gilbert.Followed by a letters page. I so miss comic book letter pages. As a kid and a teen I would write into my favorite comics. And the first thing I would do when I got my new comics was flip to the letters page and see if my letter got published.

Unlike lots of the comics I have reviewed this year,this one isn't a cheap find. To get a mint copy with the 3D glasses you are gonna have to spend at least $5 if not more. If you are a fan of pre-code horror comics this is totally worth tracking down.

Mr Monster's 3D Hi-Octane Horror #01 gets a BUY!

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.

Pre-code comics 001

Quick bit of history here. In 1954 the comic industry created a ratings/self censorship board. The comic code authority. This was done cause of all the bad press the industry had got over the past few years. Which lead to a Senate investigation.

Like how the Hayes Code changed the way movies were made,the CCA changed the entire comic industry.I had heard for years how graphic and wild the pre-code comics were. And in the early 90s started collecting reprints of pre-code comics. With the pre-code horror and crime comics being the ones I spent the most time searching out.

Fast forward to 2007. I was listening to an episode of the sadly defunct Golden Age of Comics podcast. The host,the ever knowledgeable Bill Jourdain,mentioned how the comic he was reviewing was in the public domain. And not only that but there is a website full of public domain comic book scans. So I quickly went to the site. Now that site has changed hands. And a sister site has popped up.

This site is The Digital Comic Museum. Where all you have to do is register. Which is easy to do and free,then you get access to a huge amount of public domain comics.

Once you download the comics,you will need a comic reader program. There are many free ones. I have been using Cdisplay for close to a decade now and it works great.

So with that bit of history explained onto the first of what hopefully will be many reviews of great public domain pre-code comics.

Yellowjacket Comics #1 is from September 1944. Published by Charlton comics,who most modern comic fans will know as the original home of Captain Atom and The Question. This comic was like most comics of it's era. An anthology title made up of stories of many genres.

The  reason I selected this comic is for a 7 page horror story. Famous Tales of Terror,which is a fairly faithful adaptation of the Edgar Allen Poe short story "The Black Cat".

While the story isn't as graphic or brutal as some other pre-code horror,it  is still a really fun read. That has some very nice art. Being a Poe fan since I first read "Murders in the Rue Morgue" back when I was 7 or so,I love seeing a comic book version of what is one of Poe's best stories.

Yellowjacket Comics #1 also has other stories in it. Like the titular superhero Yellowjacket.Where Yellowjacket fights gangsters. Back in the Golden Age lots of heroes mostly fought gangsters. There wasn't that many recurring super villains back in this era. Unless you are reading stuff from DC or maybe Fawcett.

Then there is Diana the Huntress. Where the Greek Goddess is sent to Earth to fight Nazis. Now one word of warning. With lots of these Golden Age comics that came out during WWII,there is plenty of racial stereotyping. So don't be shocked when you see "Evil" Japanese villains that have yellow skin and slanted eyes and buck teeth.

Up next is a short text only piece. Back during this time-frame every comic would have a 1 or 2 page text only story. These were done so comic books would fall under the old "book rate" mailing label. That way the publisher could save money on shipping out his wares.

The next story is the Black Cat adaptation. Then there is a one page titled "Debunker" Which tries to teach the readers that a few pieces of commonly accepted knowledge are not true. Sadly on this page we get a very racist drawing of a black man.

Then there is "King of the Beasts" Which is a 6 page story about a lion tamer. The art is kind of crap. And the story is bland. But part of that might be I am so accustomed to modern comic book art and storytelling techniques.

"Harbor Lights" is next on deck.Again this one has sub par artwork and the story,which tells of a merchant marine fighting off a u-boat full of Nazis,isn't that appealing.But I bet when this came out the kids that made up most of the audience ate it up.

"Bee Lines" is a one page humor comic. Made up of 8 one panel gag strips. Humor is a thing that doesn't always translate to later generations. And none of the 8 strips made me even chuckle.

"Filipino Kid" is a war story. And while it does have some nice looking art,once again the writing just doesn't grab me. And it is also the final story in the comic.

But there is one last thing I have to mention. Anytime I get any comic made before the mid 90s,the first thing I do is sit down and look at all the ads. And Yellowjacket Comics #1 has a great ad on the back cover. One that I remember seeing a slightly updated version of in the comics I was reading back in the late 70s.

Yep a blackhead remover gun. Never seen one of them in person.But seen ads for them for years in older comics.

Yellowjacket Comics #1 is a decent comics. You get 3 good to great stories,Yellowjacket,Diana and Black Cat. If you are interested in reading it here is a link to download it.

Yellowjacket Comic #1 download Right click and save as

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 02

Web of Mystery was a pre-code horror comic from Ace comics.Lasting 29 issues. The first issue has a cover date of Feb 1951. And the final issue ,#29,came out in Sept 1955. The first 28 issues were all pre-code,but the final issue has the CCA stamp on it's cover. This issue published some older stories that had been changed cause of the Comics Code Authority guidelines.

The issue I read today was issue 11 from July of 1952. I picked this issue out cause of the cover.You got a giant werewolf. A well drawn beautiful woman and a guy that looks kind of like Mark Trail. There is 4 stories in this issue.

The first story is "Bride’s Dowry Of Doom" which has artwork by Louis Zansky.A douche bag is wanting to drill for oil on what is an old American Indian burial ground. He gets warned by an old lady that if he does this he will be cursed. But of course he doesn't listen.He sets fire to the caskets that have been dug up and put to the side. And in the smoke from the fire he sees a beautiful Indian maiden. The next day he is at a diner and sees a waitress that looks just like the Indian maiden.He uses his money to quickly sweep her off her feet and they are married soon. At the wedding the old lady shows up and stabs the bride. But there is no wound. The bride tells him that he must have been mistaken. That she wasn't wounded by the old lady's knife. That night they are getting ready for bed. And he ask his new wife about the old lady. She blows him off and then changes into a vampire.She knocks her new husband on the head and flies off to feed her craving for blood. After getting full she comes back home. He wakes up and sees her. But she tells him he must have been hallucinating. And that he attacked her,while fighting him off he hit his head and was knocked out. A few days later he nicks his face while shaving.She sees the blood and freaks out. He quickly wipes the blood off his face and she admits to being a vampire.She explains to him how she was an "Indian Princess" who was caught practicing "vampireism". Then burned at the stake in the burial ground. But when he burned all the old coffins the fire temporarily purified her. And she was reborn as a pretty young woman.The old lady that attacked her at the wedding is her great-great-great grandmother who is an Indian witch woman. She has her new husband tie her up,so that when that night her cravings come back she won't be able to go out and kill people. Later that night she is begging him to release her,but then the old lady enters the house.The old lady puts a spell on him that causes him to pass out. And his new wife is released to go feed.She comes back the next morning but is stuck in her vampire form. They start fighting and end up on one of his oil drilling towers. He manages to lasso her with a rope to prevent her from flying off. But this also causes him to stumble off the tower and fall to his death. His body is found by the oil workers and next to him is some old moldy bones. And the story ends with the old lady informing us he died in the exact same place as his wife did many years ago. While this isn't the best horror story I have read,it is fun. The artwork is pretty good for the era it came out in.

Up next is a one page story that is supposed to be based on true events. Nothing about it really stands out. The next full story is the one the cover is based on. "Dreaded Duo’s Blood Banquet" is the title of this story.It is about a traveling circus. Where the dog faced boy Georgie is in love with the owner's beautiful daughter Lil Damion. He will do anything for her. But she only uses him for kicks.One dark and rainy night she gets fed up with him and punches him. Then has the other carnival workers run him off.Georgie is walking through a graveyard when he runs into a mysterious man. This man offers to change Georgie's face. If Georgie will help the man dig up a grave. Georgie is told to dig up the grave and remove the stake in the corpse's heart. After being told this a bolt of lightning strikes right where the mysterious man was standing. Georgie digs and digs and finally gets down to the coffin. He opens it and is about to pull out the stake when some demonic looking things appear.They warn him that if he removes the stake his wish will be fulfilled but with a penalty. Then they disappear right when a bolt of lightning strikes the area they are in. Georgie reaches down and removes the stake. As soon as the stake is removed Georgie is struck by lightning. When Georgie wakes up the mysterious man is there and tells him he has been unconscious for weeks. During this time the man has preformed many surgeries on Georgie's face. Georgie gets up and removes the bandages from his face and sees that now he is a handsome man. So he leaves and goes back to the circus. He finds Lil and ask her out on a date. She agrees,and then he spots the mysterious man in the crowd. He runs over to the man and is told "No! Not now! It is almost midnight!Leave me alone!" And the mysterious man started turning into a werewolf. Georgie sees the werewolf attacking Lil and goes to protect her. The werewolf attacks him,but some of the carnival's roustabouts come up and drive off the werewolf. Georgie heads back to his home and when he gets there he turns into a werewolf. As the werewolf he runs off to the hospital where Lil has been taken. He attacks and kills her. At her funeral he figures out that maybe if he kills the man that turned him into a werewolf is killed he might lose the curse of the werewolf. Georgie goes to the house where the mysterious man performed the surgeries and waits for him to show back up.They both fight and Georgie manages to kill the man. But as the fight is going on the demons show back up and inform us that after the fight Georgie will have to face the penalty they mentioned earlier. It seems the penalty is that Georgie's face has changed back to it's dog like appearance.The old house burns down and the story ends with some people finding Georgie's body in the ruins of the old house. Pretty good story with some very well done artwork.

We get another one page "based on a true story" story that again isn't worth reading. Then the third story "Satan And The Devil-Bull" starts which has artwork by Lou Cameron and Rocco Mastroserio.Set in Central America,this is a  story about a bullfighter. It seems this small town is right at the foot of a volcano. And they have a ceremony ,where a stuffed "devil-bull" is hung in the town square and it is stabbed many time with swords and knives. This supposedly keeps the volcano from erupting. There is a jealous bullfighter in the town. He receives a visit from the devil and is told that on the next day he will become the master bullfighter of the town. He tells the devil this won't happen cause of a better bullfighter in the town. But the devil informs him if he goes and removes a special sword from the stuffed "devil-bull" he will win the bullfighter event. The devil tell him that after he removes the sword he must take it to a certain cave. Then the devil disappears. Miguel ,the bullfighter,goes and removes the sword and takes it to the cave. But once he is in there lightning comes in and hits some stones that look like demons. These stones come alive and tell Miguel he must take the sword and throw it into the lava of the volcano. When he does this he sees the devil. He tells him by destroying the sword the Devil is now free from his imprisonment. Miguel passes out and when he wakes up he is back in his hotel room.The villagers see that the sword has been removed and believe this means they are all doomed to death.At the arena,Miguel watches as a bull kills the rival bullfighter. Satan appears to Miguel and tells him he has given him some of his powers. Miguel uses this to kill the bull and become the villages new master bullfighter. All the women of village start flirting with Miguel. Miguel knows that this is cause of his new satanic powers. And he starts making plans to use his powers to get rich. But Satan appears and warns him to not use the powers he has. Miguel of course doesn't listen.Satan uses a car to kill Miguel. But at Miguel's funeral he rises up from his casket. Satan tells him he is now cursed to be one of the devil's minions He is told the only way to get out of this is to get all the villages to surrender their souls to Satan. At this same moment the volcano erupts and lava is headed to the village.The villagers start to run away but Miguel stops them. He tells them to only way to save the village and their lives is to sell their souls to the Devil. They don't believe him. So to prove he now has powers he walks out into the lava. Then all of the sudden the sword from earlier appears and stabs Miguel throw his heart. He dies and now that the sword is back in the village Satan is again imprisoned in the volcano. This was a fun story but the ending gets a bit wonky. But artwork is really well done and helps make up for some of the wonky parts of the story.

Up next is a two page text only story. Followed by the final story. Titled "The Druid Dirge" it has artwork by Bill Molno.Set in England at Stonehenge. This story while it has beautiful artwork is pretty badly written.It is about a guy who has a song that causes Druids to reappear. And the Druids start sacrificing people at Stonehenge. Sadly like I said the story is pretty much crap. But it does have the best artwork in this issue.

Since this comic is in the public domain it can legally be downloaded. I found my copy at Digital comic museum .  Which is a great site filled with lots of scans of public domain comics. Web of Mystery #11 gets a C+.