Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Eerie 11

Here's an early issue of Eerie, which came out shortly before the collapse of the Warren line in 1967. The cover is done by Joe Orlando, his only cover for Warren. The frontis is by Neal Adams (art) and Archie Goodwin (story), entitled "Eerie's Monster Gallery: The Minotaur". With a whopping 8 stories, we've got quite a lot of stuff here.

Up first is the cover story, "Witch Hunt!" by Joe Orlando (art) and Archie Goodwin (script). A group of men head through a swamp, fighting a witch as well as the monsters she creates. Eventually the witch is defeated by one of the men, who reveals that he is a warlock and will now take over her territory.

Up next is "To Slay a Dragon!" by Jeff Jones (art) and Archie Goodwin (story). A knight and his squire search for a dragon, with the Knight believing that bathing in Dragon blood will make him invinsible. They defeat the dragon, but the squire then kills the Knight and bathes in the blood himself. The blood does make him invinsible, but also transforms him into a dragon.

Third is "The Mummy" by Wally Wood & Dan Adkins (art, Adkins is uncredited) and Russ Jones (story, miscredited to Wood). This is a reprint of a story that originally appeared in Famous Monsters, regarding the Mummy from the Hollywood movie of the same name.

Next is "Berenice!" by Jerry Grandenetti (art) and Archie Goodwin (story). This is an adaption of the Edgar Allen Poe story, featuring a man who obsesses over his cousin who passes away, eventually digging her up and pulling out her teeth. This story would later be adapted again by Warren in Creepy #70.

Our fifth story is "The Blood Fruit" by Johnny Craig (art & story). A group of four students and a professor arrive on an island where the professor discovers 'The Blood Fruit', which when eaten causes whatever he wants to occur. He uses this to kill two of the students and summon a lizard like monster. But when one of his colleagues eats the fruit and wishes him dead, he finds the tables turned.

Sixth is "The Monster From One Billion B.C. by Tom Sutton (art & story). A movie monster maker who actually creates real monsters to use in the movies is confronted by the studio owner who knows his secret. Our hero responds by turning him into a monster.

Seventh is "Big Change!" by Larry Woromay (art) and Ron Whyte (story) about a pair of con artists who con an old man into marrying one of them and kill him by taking away his medication. Only it ends up that the medication wasn't keeping him from dying, but keeping him from turning into a werewolf, and he kills them. This is Woromay's only Warren appearance and it isn't too good.

Last is "First Blood" by Eugene Colan (art) and Archie Goodwin (story) about a man who awakens as a vampire and plans to attack his girlfriend, only it ends up that she was a vampire all along and the one who bit him in the first place.

Overall a fairly good issue!

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