1984: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Part 2)

A scene from Rex Havoc

Today's post is part 2 in a multi-part series about 1984/1994. Find the previous part here.

Issues 5 through 8 of 1984 continues many of the themes of the first 4 issues of the magazine, while also taking it in new directions (sometimes good, sometimes bad). It should be noted that as a whole these next 4 issues are nowhere as controversial or offensive as the first 4 issues, with no story even close to the racism of issue 3's "The Harvest" (although racism would return later on to the pages of the magazine), and no plagiarism scandals either. The nudity and sex, as well as a general misogynist attitude is present as usual however. That said, in general I'd say the quality of these 4 issues is slightly down in comparison to the first 4.

I'll begin with the continuing series, which start to gain a larger presence in these issues. The Rex Havoc series, which premiered in issue 4, continues with several entries in these next 4 issues. The first story in the series, from issue 4, was terrific, and the first story here, issue 5's "The Spud from another World!" is a good one, parodying the movie "The Thing From Another World". By issue 6 however, the drawn out nature of the stories (which are generally around 20 pages each) becomes quite apparent and the series continues to dip precipitously in its final appearance later on (which will be in my next entry). Speaking of disappointing series, Idi Amin has two additional stories here. They are much like those from the first 4 issues; gorgeous artwork but an aimless story with idiotic dialogue. The series ends with Idi and Dogmeat finding a man even crazier than Idi, with multiple personalities, and Dogmeat runs off, being unable to take it anymore. I felt like doing the same as this series drew to a close! I'll miss the beautiful Esteban Maroto artwork, but not the story. Unfortunately Maroto goes on quite a long hiatus from 1984 after this, possibly as mentioned in the previous article because many of these stories may not have been intended for the magazine in the first place and they ran out of them.

On the other hand, Richard Corben and Jan Strnad provide 4 more fine installments of Mutant World. While its never the most in depth and thought provoking series, this series continues to be a blast to read and has typical quality color artwork from Corben. Unfortunately the final segment would be the last interior comic art Corben ever did for Warren. While I've never been a fan of Rudy Nebres' art style, Twilight's End, for which he provides the art and Jim Stenstrum provides the story is a fairly good one, with a rather apocalyptic and unexpected ending in its final part. Certain Warren series, particularly in the latter years could go on a bit too long, but they did a good job here in keeping the series relatively short and to the point.

The final part of Mutant World

Issue 7 premieres "Ghita of Alizarr", with story and art by Frank Thorne. Thorne had worked on Red Sonja for Marvel and produced the similar Ghita for Warren, albeit with an increased level of nudity and sex. While the sexual themes of the series can be a bit over the top at times (Ghita is a whore and is raped by a reanimated corpse in the first story, for starters), it is generally an entertaining series and a fine addition to the Warren line, appearing in the majority of the remaining issues of 1984/1994. Thorne's artwork is also quite good and a nice contrast to the styles of the Warren regulars.

Also beginning in this run, with issue 8 is "Herma", with art by Jose Gonzalez and story by Bill Dubay. This series was originally published in the publication Cunado El Comic es Arte: Pepe Gonzalez, which came out in Spain the same year as this issue of 1984, although the art had actually been done around 5 years earlier. For this appearance, the color was removed, the panels re sized and Dubay almost certainly rewrote the script. A rather light-hearted comedic series, that similar to Twilight's End is thankfully kept short enough such that it ends before it really goes down in quality. Gonzalez's artwork here is absolutely gorgeous and rereading these stories, this is easily the sexiest artwork to ever appear in a Warren magazine. I'm generally partial to Esteban Maroto's women, but Gonzalez outdoes even him here (and Maroto appears to have swiped several panels from both this initial story and the stories that appear in future issues). Along with the story "Lullaby", mentioned in the previous entry, and some of the latter Vampirella stories, this is the best Jose Gonzalez artwork you'll see in a Warren magazine.

If there's a highlight to these issues, aside from Mutant World, its the Alex Nino stories, of which there are 6 here. Nino's art is ultimately the best thing to come out of the 1984/1994 series as a whole, and he does a good job in all of the stories here. "Teleport 2010" and "Painter's Mountain" are 2 very strong efforts happily lacking the sex-antics that perpetuate throughout much of 1984's stories. "Timothy Sternbach & the Multi-Colored Sunrise!", "Once Upon a Holocaust" and "Zincor and the Fempire" are good efforts as well though, with really only "Liaison Aboard a Skylab" being a weak story where the sex-antics (among aliens in this case) are a bit over the top.

Issue 5's "I Wonder Who's Squeezing Her Now" is unique for having no science fiction or supernatural related themes in any fashion, rather focusing on how a man's life falls apart when his wife starts having an affair and he decides to do the same. The story was originally intended for the never realized magazine "POW" and sat on the shelves for several years before seeing print in 1984. It featured the last Wally Wood art to appear in a Warren magazine, as well as the first work from Ernie Colon to appear in a Warren magazine since Warren's dark ages.

Frank Thorne's Ghita of Alizarr

Among the remaining stories, issue 7's "Freeze A Jolly Good Fellow!" is the highlight, with an unexpected yet funny ending. Issue 5's "The Box" was another interesting story, although criticized a bit in the letter pages. Many of the remaining stand-alone stories come off as filler, and uninteresting filler at that. Issue 6's "The Warhawks" lampoons DC's The Blackhawks, yet is way too long and drawn out. "Issue 8's "Madmen and Messiahs", featuring a future where Ted Kennedy is a crazed President and his own nephew fights against him in a revolution is quite ridiculous. Other stories like "Luke the Nuke Brings It In!" "Kaiser Warduke and the Indispensable Jasper Gemstone" come off as boring drivel, there's little to get interested in with these stories.

Overall, there's definitely some interesting aspects to these issues, even with the controversy and general quality down a bit in comparison to the first 4 issues. We'll see both areas heading in different directions as we enter the next phase of issues, to be covered in my next entry.

1984: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Part 1)

Today's post is the first in a multi-part series covering 1984/1994 magazine, a part of the Warren publishing family that tends to get a lot less play than the other Warren magazines. This first post mainly focuses on the first 4 issues of the magazine.

1984 is kind of like the black sheep of the Warren publishing family. When one thinks of Warren, they think of Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella, but 1984 doesn't get much mention. All 3 of these titles are in the process of being reprinted in fine, hard covered volumes but we don't see that for 1984 and likely won't. 1984 will probably be most remembered for being way too over the top in its presentation and causing controversy after controversy.

1984 premiered in the summer of 1978, during an era when Warren's titles were on a slow decline from their heights during the mid-70s. 1984 ended up being the one concept for an "adult" Warren magazine that actually saw print. Seven years before, there had been plans to publish a magazine called "POW!", and there had even been a cover prepared by Frank Frazetta (which eventually saw print in Eerie #81), but it never came to fruition. In 1976 Josef Toutain of Selecionnes Illustrada attempted to develop an adult science-fiction style magazine called "Yesterday... Today, Tomorrow" which also never saw print. By 1978 however the competitor magazine Heavy Metal had come out and was extremely successful. I think it’s not much of a coincidence that Warren's adult science fiction magazine, edited by Bill Dubay, finally premiered not long afterwards.

Unfortunately for the readers of 1984, "adult" meant not necessarily mature storytelling, but rather a heavy reliance on sex. In fact a letter sent in and published in the fifth issue put it across pretty well, calling it "Bill Dubay's Future Sex Fantasies". Sex acts and misogyny is quite apparent through these early issues of 1984 and would remain so through its run. The very first story published in 1984, "Last of the Really Great, All-American Joy Juice" features a spaceship carrying all the semen left in the world whose pilots are soon come upon by some brutally ugly but sex crazed women. Ludicrous and bizarre plots like these fill the early issues of 1984. You've got men or women knowingly having sex with aliens or monsters ("Momma, Can You Hear Me" from issue 1, "Bring Me the Head of Omar Barsidian" from issue 3 and "Mondo Megillah" from issue 4). Issue 2's "Messiah" features a sex scientist who describes for pages on end the research he has done into the sex of numerous alien worlds. Oversized genitalia caused by radiation (which we thankfully do not see) is featured in both "Quick Cut" from issue 1 and "The Last Of the Red Hot Lovers" from issue 2. Radioactive semen which causes women to explode is also featured in the latter story. "Scourge of the Spaceways" from issue 2 features a plot point where anyone having sex with a woman will have their penis rot away and fall off. The big twist of "Lullaby" from issue 4 is a man having sex with his mother. Need I go on? This is just some of the craziness you get to see in these first 4 issues.

"Idi Amin", gorgeous art, horrible story

To its credit, 1984 has some amazing artwork, and for a while didn't feature any advertisements, so you've got a magazine full of it. Esteban Maroto in particular puts in an amazing job on his stories in these issues, although his story in issue 4 features some notable swipes from Jeff Jones' "Idyll". Richard Corben has 5 color stories in these issues, all of which are impressive. Alex Nino was the most featured 1984 artist throughout its run and he has  five stories here as well, all which look great. Jose Gonzalez's work in issue 4's "The Lullaby" is about as beautiful an art job as you'll ever see from him in a Warren magazine. The one unfortunate thing about this is it shows just how much better 1984 could have been. I think it’s very clear in a lot of these cases that these stories weren't originally supposed to be as over the top sex-centric as they ended up being. Many stories in these issues have plot and dialogue that hardly correspond with the artwork. The already mentioned "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" is a prime offender. None of the written storyline about the "Hungs", brutes with oversized genitalia taking on the "Glows", for whom having sexual intercourse with a woman will cause her to explode appears in the artwork. The art for this story was in all likelihood about a medieval battle between two armies. "Messiah" to a smaller extent comes off the same way. The "Idi Amin" series, which has its first 2 stories here in the first 4 issues comes off as a bit depressing to me as I so much would have liked to see what this story was originally about. The artwork, featuring an Egyptian queen and her brutish companion in a post-apocalyptic Egypt is just gorgeous. Unfortunately it’s overlaid with a story about how Ugandan Dictator Idi Amin was turned into a woman by the US Government's "Department of Dirty Tricks". This is a series where pages go by with the exact same story and concepts being rammed down our throats over and over again. The majority of dialogue from Idi is horrendously stupid. Only a few pages into the story there is blatant contradictions abound where it is said that Idi Amin was too well guarded to assassinate, yet the DDT was still able to gain access to him to change him into a woman? It’s absurd. No official source that I am aware of pegs down where these Idi Amin stories were originally from, but I would suspect they (or at least the first one) were intended for the "Yesterday... Today, Tomorrow" magazine, which was supposed to have a story featuring a Sphinx, which does appear in the first story. "Lullaby" likely was originally from somewhere else as well, as I can't see Warren having Jose Gonzalez do a non-Vampirella story when he was in so much demand on that title (and writer Jim Stenstrum is credited as "Alabaster Redzone" which was done when he would rewrite stories). Speaking of poor storylines, two back to back stories in issue 2 feature one of the most overplayed plot twists in science fiction when it is revealed that the planet where everything bad is happening or is about to happen is... Earth! This is a lame plot twist, but to see it used in back to back stories (both by the same author, Dubay) is quite ridiculous.

Wood's "The End" becomes a nonsensical tale about a TV writer

Continuing to focus on rewritten stories, the first 2 issues of 1984 feature a butchered Wally Wood story titled "The End" which was split up into 2 heavily rewritten stories titled "Quick Cut" and "One Night, Down on the Funny Farm!" Both rewritten stories are idiotic. Dubay's obsession with oversized genitalia is a major plot point of the first story which is pretty brutal in its treatment of women. While the second story is not as offensive, it’s just as stupid, featuring a nonsensical story about a network TV writer that appears in a fantasy world. None of which makes sense when you look at the artwork of course. Wally Wood was so upset at what Dubay did that he'd never do any work for Warren again.

Of course no article about the early issues of 1984 should be told without the story of "Mondo Megillah", the story that arguably caused the end of Warren Publishing. This story goes back to the very beginning of 1984, before it was turned into the sleazy magazine that it became. At one point in its development, 1984 was supposed to feature adaptions of science fiction stories from well-known authors (which unfortunately never came to pass). Writer Gerry Boudreau had convinced Bill Dubay that he could get permission from Harlan Ellison to do a comic book adaption of his story "A Boy and His Dog". Dubay gave him permission to write the story, but Boudreau was never successful in getting permission from Ellison, who refused to allow any such adaption to appear in a Warren magazine. Desperate for stories for the speedy Alex Nino to illustrate however, Dubay gave him the script that Boudreau had written, swapping out "boy" for "girl" and "dog" for
"monster". With the art being finished, there was no way Dubay could simply bury the story and not publish it. He handed it off to Jim Stenstrum, who rewrote the story as best he could and rearranged panels. Despite this, the story still came off as plagiarism and was later discovered by a writer from the Comics Journal, who had tipped off Ellison. Ellison sued Warren and the company went bankrupt not long after a settlement was made.

Sex filled, ruining what could have been fine stories, even committing plagiarism. Could it get any worse? It does! Issue 3 of 1984 features the single most offensive story in Warren history, "The Harvest". This story features a future where the corporations have set up various gaming preserves. A father and his son go to one of these preserves and go hunting where it is revealed that they are hunting black people. In fact all black people in the world have been gathered up and put in these preserves, treated as animals, and are brutally murdered to provide food for the white protagonists. Could it get even worse than that? It does! The ending of the story features the boy shooting a pregnant woman, with the father tearing her baby out of her and talking about serving it as veal. Responses in the letter column published in a later issue tries to explain this story as bringing the problem of racism to its extreme and to teach a lesson. But it truly has no redeemable value to it and is for all intents and purposes just trash. When you consider some other things that would appear in Warren's magazines (some more which will see in later issues of 1984), how does Bill Dubay not come off as a racist?

Richard Corben's "Ogre"

So is 1984 completely bad? I'd say no. I know I've spent a lot of time in this article on the bad things about 1984, but there is some good work here. I've already praised a lot of the artwork earlier. As misogynistic as it comes off, I do think "Scourge of the Spaceways" from issue 2 is a fairly good and unique story. "Mutant World" and "Ogre", the Richard Corben stories are all entertaining. All of the Alex Nino stories are fairly strong, admittingly with sex or gross out humor attached. "Rex Havoc and the Asskickers of the Fantastic" has a good start in issue 4, with a genuinely funny story about the Asskickers of the title and the monsters such as vampires and the like seeking the same rights as humans.

Anyway, that's my views on the first 4 issues of 1984. Please stay tuned for a follow up at some point in the future covering future issues.

The Various Sources for Warren Publishing

After another extended absence I'm happy to return with another article on Warren, this time on the various instances in the Company's history where they drew upon outside sources for stories. This article focuses on already produced material, and does not discuss stories that were simply adaptations, such as the various Edgar Allen Poe stories that appeared along the years. Three primary references utilized for this article are the Warren Companion by Jon Cooke and David Roach, Gathering Horror by David Horne and Richard Arndt's Warren bibliography from Enjorals World.

Warren's magazines drew source material from many different external outlets over the years, and this article highlights many of such instances. The reasons for drawing on outside material to fill the contents of Warren's magazines varies at times, but it typically occurred in those periods of time where finances were running low and it became necessary to draw on some other outlets to ensure that magazines had sufficient material to be published.

The first such instance where Warren drew on outside material occurred during the first down period of Warren, in 1968. At the time, Warren faced the crippling blow of the loss of editor/main writer Archie Goodwin, as well as the vast majority of all freelance artists who worked for the company due to a reduction in funds to pay such contributors. In order to bide time until the company could get back on its feet, Warren started using a number of reprinted stories from the first 17 issues of Creepy and first 12 issues of Eerie. Warren also reprinted the entire contents of Christopher Lee's Treasury of Terror, a book published in 1966. Each of the stories in this book, which were done in comic form, was based on stories by well known writers such as H.P Lovecraft, Bram Stoker and Ambrose Bierce. The five stories, including the Warren issue that they appeared in, are as follows: Creepy #19 - The Mark of the Beast!; Eerie #12 - The Past Master; Eerie #13 - Wentworth's Day; Eerie #16 - Dracula's Guest; and Eerie #17 - The Death of Halpin Frayser. Surprisingly enough, the editor of the book was Russ Jones, the original editor for Creepy, who had a falling out with Warren and had left the company several years earlier, and any involvement he had with these stories was left out entirely when they appeared in the Warren magazines. A sixth story, which was intended for a second, never published volume of the book, "Carmilla", also appeared in Creepy #19.

Following the usage of these stories, the usage of outside source material for Warren ceased for the next few years. Starting in 1971, when Warren began a relationship with Josep Toutain's Spanish artist agency, Selecciones Illustrada, it resulted in not only the addition of a great many Spanish artists to the Warren line for new stories, but also started the beginning of the usage of many stories by these artists that appeared originally elsewhere. The most notable example of this in these first few years of their involvement with Warren was the inclusion of two series by Esteban Maroto, “Dax the Warrior” and “Tomb of the Gods”. Dax the Warrior originally appeared in Spain under the name "Manly el Guerrero". Dax first appeared in his self named story "Dax the Warrior" in Eerie #39, and had an appearance in every non-reprint issue of Eerie through issue 52, marking 12 total appearances. Each of the original Dax stories had been written by Esteban Maroto but were translated and rewritten by various Warren writers who were never credited. The majority of the Dax stories were later compiled and rewritten as "Dax the Damned" in Eerie #59, the 1975 Eerie Yearbook. "Tomb of the Gods" had originally been published in Spain and was featured in five straight non-reprint issues of Vampirella starting with issue 17. Similar to Dax, these stories had also been rewritten and rearranged at times; for example the stories "Gender Bender" from issue 20 and "Orpheus" from issue 22 feature a page of identical artwork although the written content is different. "Tomb of the Gods" was rather unpopular compared to Dax and there may have been other segments that never appeared in the Warren magazines.

“Dracula”, a magazine originally published in Spain by Buru Lan, and in England by New English Library, was probably most notable for the "Dracula Book 1" that was featured heavily in advertisements for Warren for many years following the joining of the Spanish artists at Warren. Esteban Maroto and Jose Bea were two of the principal artists of this publication and each had a story from it published in the main Warren magazines. "The Viyi", written and drawn by Esteban Maroto is notable for being the first full color story published in Warren's horror magazines and was featured simultaneously in Creepy #51 and Vampirella #22. Surprisingly enough it took Warren quite a bit of time to be able to match the color quality appearing in this story after they started using color on their own original stories a few issues later. "Invasion", drawn by Bea and written by Maroto appeared in 1976 in Eerie #75, this time with the color removed. Surprisingly enough Warren also used the final panel of the story as the central part of the pink colored cover to the issue, resulting in one of the most bizarre looking Warren covers of all time.

The next notable outside material that Warren utilized was five stories from the French Magazine "Pilote" that were written by Victor Mora and drawn by Luis Garcia (with collaboration in one instance by Carlos Giminez). The first such story appeared in Vampirella #42, with one additional story appearing in each non-reprint issue through #47. As with the earlier Dax and Tomb of the Gods stories, each of these stories were rewritten or rearranged in some form, including at times, the moving of pages from one story to another, removing of panels or the addition of color. Unfortunately this resulted in the dropping of writing credits from the story entirely for Victor Mora for some of the stories. I've written about these stories in my earlier article on Luis Garcia and found each to be very strong and a highlight of Warren publishing, it’s just unfortunate that they didn't include more of them, as Mora and Garcia later had additional collaborations that never saw print in a Warren magazine. These five stories included the following: Vampirella #42 - Around the Corner… …Just Beyond Eternity!; Vampirella #43 - The Wolves At War's End; Vampirella #44 - Love Strip; Vampirella #45 - Janis!; and Vampirella #47 - The Secret Legacy of Gaslight Lil!

"Tales of Peter Hypnos", a short lived series that appeared in Eerie #72, 73 and 76 also had outside origins and was originally produced by Jose Bea as part of a larger series of at least 7 stories. The first story in the series had originally appeared in Spain in the Spirit, and the entire series had been printed in a single compilation in Australia in 1976 as well. As with the previously discussed stories, this appears to be another set of stories that was largely rewritten, although Jose Bea was the only one credited.

There were various one-shot usages of source materials through the mid to late 1970s in the Warren magazines. "Now You See It" in Creepy #83 featured the return of Al Williamson to Warren after an absence of nearly 10 years, but it wasn't due to a commissioned story, as the story was originally intended for the magazine Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction that had been cancelled by Marvel before it could see publication. "Warmonger of Mars" by Ralph Reese (art) and Wally Wood (story) appeared a few issues later in the all Mars issue of Creepy #87, but was apparently originally intended for an underground comic. "Scheherazade" by Esteban Maroto, the color story in Vampirella #72 was supposed to be the first part of a series, "Thousand and One Nights" as published in Cuando el Comic es Arte: Esteban Maroto in Spain, but this was the only story of the series to see print, at least in the Warren magazines.

Jose Gonzalez was most notably Warren's Vampirella artist and was featured almost exclusively on her stories. He did have a 3 part non-Vampirella story, "Herma", although the story was originally published in Spain in 1974 in Cuando El Comic es Arte: Pepe Gonzalez". All 3 of the stories were rewritten by Bill Dubay and resized to fit the magazine format. Leo Duranona had a trio of stories under the title "Fallen Angels" appear in Eerie #96 as well as an additional story titled "A Nightmare for Mrs. Agatha" in Vampirella #72 that appear to have been originally published in South America, with a 1976 date and Guillermo Saccomanno storyline. Saccomanno never wrote any other stories that appeared in a Warren magazine which lends credence to the theory that these stories were not originally commissioned by Warren.

Towards the end of Warren's run in the early 1980's, the usage of source material from previously published works in Europe picked up steam in a big way. By this point in time that Warren's finances were quite strained was very apparent, with reprint issues appearing with increasing intensity. Victor de la Fuente drew only a single story directly for Warren, appearing in Eerie #35, but the 1980's saw him appear in over 20 issues of 1984/1994 and Eerie. Seven stories from the "Haxtur" series appeared in 1984/1994 #10 and 11 and Eerie #111, 113, 114, 116 and 117. Haxtur originally appeared in the Spanish magazine Trinca and was approximately 10 years old by the time it appeared in Warren. As with most stories there was some rewriting and the original color had been removed. Haggarth was a bit more recent than Haxtur and had a longer run of 14 appearances in Eerie starting with issue #118. Warren also went back even further than Haxtur, to the 1960s, where the strip "Spacewrecked" by Paul Gillon (art) and Jean Claude Forest (writing) appeared. Four stories from this series appeared in Eerie issues #129, 132, 134 and 136. More work from Paul Gillon, "Jeremie: Les Dieux Barbares" which was originally published in France in 1971 appeared in Vampirella issues #104, 106, 108 and 110. Unfortunately both series never saw their conclusion appear due to the bankruptcy of Warren publishing in 1983. The series "Torpedo 1936" saw print in the last 3 non-reprint issues of Vampirella, with writing by Sanchez Abuli and art by Abuli or Alex Toth. These stories originally appeared in the Spanish version of Creepy and as with some of the other series discussed here never saw a conclusion due to Warren's bankruptcy.

Various other stories or series that were shorter in scope also appeared during the waning days of Warren. "Pyramid of the Black Sun", which appeared in two parts in Eerie #124 and 126 originally appeared in Europe in the late 1970s, with story by Antonio Segura and art by Luis Bermejo. The story originally appeared in one part in its original publication, but was split in two for its Warren appearance and was rewritten by Jim Stenstrum, under the pseudonym "Alabaster Redzone". "Korsar", another series spearheaded by Esteban Maroto originally appeared in the magazine Cimoc in Spain in 1979 and was featured in Eerie #126, rewritten again by Stenstrum. Although there were other parts to the series, this was the only one that saw print in a Warren magazine. Two stories from Fernando Fernandez's Bruce Bloodletter educational series appeared rather far apart in Eerie #94 and #117, both originally appearing in the Spanish publication Space and Adventure. The following issue saw another Fernando Fernandez story, "Space Kids" which first saw print in 1978 in Italy in the magazine Alter Ego. That said, I've also heard that this story was originally created around the time of Fernandez's other stories for Warren which appeared in the early to mid-1970s and that it sat around for many years. It may have originally been intended for a Warren magazine but due to its more science fiction related nature (and poor quality compared to other Fernandez stories) was held off on until the time it saw print, which was a time when many old inventory stories saw use by Warren.

Many additional Warren stories that saw print through the years, particularly the late 1970s and early 1980s likely appeared elsewhere, although the true source is unknown (or at the very least I haven't found an English-language source mentioning it!). Warren was notorious for rewriting stories that had been drawn previously. While oftentimes there was no way to tell this for sure simply by reading the Warren magazines, two writers, Bob Toomey and Jim Stenstrum made this known by using aliases for stories that they had rewritten based on already created artwork. Bob Toomey used the name "Gary Null" while Jim Stenstrum used the name "Alabaster Redzone". Both rewrote some Jesus Blasco-drawn stories that appeared in Creepy #110, 120 and 123. The first of these stories, "The Clockmaker" was about as obvious a rewrite as possible as the art makes it very clear that it’s an adaption of the Telltale Heart, while the writing goes in a completely different direction. That Jesus Blasco was miscredited in all 3 stories lends credence to the theory that none of these stories were originally created for Warren. A pair of Leo Duranona stories in Creepy #117 and 118 was also rewritten by Toomey, although they don't feature his Gary Null alias. Whether these were originally commissioned for Warren, or like previously mentioned Duranona stories saw print in Europe or South America earlier, I am not sure. The "Alabaster Redzone" stories by Stenstrum are typically a lot harder to pin point about whether they were originally commissioned for Warren or came from elsewhere. "Lullaby" by Jose Gonzalez in 1984 #4 is one such story, and given that Gonzalez drew only one other non-Vampirella story for Warren that was commissioned by them makes me think this could have been a story originally done in Europe. Much of the "Mac Tavish" series by Pepe Moreno Casares features Alabaster Redzone as the writer, although I cannot say whether these were Warren commissions or not. Most of his other "Alabaster Redzone" stories appeared in 1984, which frequently saw rewrites, so most may have been originally commissioned stories. 1984/1994 features so many stories where the story and artwork differ greatly (the entire Idi Amin series comes to mind) that many of these stories may have been originally done for Warren. Three stories by Carlos Giminez, who has been mentioned previously regarding his collaboration with Luis Garcia in Pilote, appeared late in Warren, in Eerie #114 and 1994 #15 and 16. All three were both strongly drawn and written, and it’s unfortunate that Warren did not utilize more stories by him in the waning years of the company.

Warren's hero-themed magazine "The Rook" hasn't been featured much on this blog due to my lack of interest in the subject matter, but is notable for featuring a large amount of outsourced material. Issues 2 through 9 featured "Voltar", as drawn by Alfredo Alcala. The barbarian themed series originally appeared in the Philippines and had actually been printed in America previously in Magic Carpet. Bill Dubay rewrote the story for the entire series. "Viking Prince" as drawn and written by Jose Ortiz originally appeared as "Sigur the Viking" in Spain, and first appeared in the late 1950s. Two of these stories appeared in issues 5 and 6 of the Rook. "Kronos" by Lee Elias originally appeared in the Joe Kubert publication "Sojourn" and first appeared in The Rook #8. This series was unique in that its appearance in Warren resulted in the creation of new stories which appeared for several more issues. "Eagle" by John Severin (art) and Colin Dawkins (story), who had worked together back at EC comics, also originated from "Sojourn" and appeared in the final 3 issues of the Rook.

This article has focused primarily on the interior stories, but Warren also had a number of covers that originated from outside sources. Patrick Woodroffe had a series of covers that appeared in Warren's magazines, particularly for the early issues of 1984, each of which had been originally painted for paperback books. Vampirella #31 heralded the return of famous cover artist Frank Frazetta, but the cover had actually been originally commissioned for the book adaption of the movie Luana. Interestingly enough, each of Richard Corben's late Warren covers had originally appeared elsewhere, including from the book "A Feast Unknown" (used for Creepy #141), the cover to the 1975 Annual World's Best Science Fiction (used for Creepy #140), and an painting that had been originally commissioned by Selecciones Illustrada (used for 1984 #26). Many other paintings originally commissioned by S.I. as painted by Richard Courtney (Creepy #136, 142) and Sanjulian (Eerie #129, 132, 133 and 135) also were used in the late days of Warren. Creepy #120 featured a cover painting from Jeff Jones, his sole that appeared for Warren, although it was originally intended for the magazine Weird Tales of Macabre but never saw print. In what must have been humiliating for Warren, towards the very end they even used covers that had been used by their competition back in the mid-1970's, including the covers for Vampirella #111 by Pujolar (originally used as the cover for Devilina #1) and Creepy #145 by Jose Miralles (originally used as the cover for Nightmare #9).

Eerie 81

Frank Frazetta provides the famous cover for this issue of Eerie, featuring a giant naked woman on the top of the Empire State Building, holding a gorilla in her hands (an obvious parody of King Kong). This cover was originally produced six years earlier when Warren was planning on publishing an adult magazine called "POW!". That magazine never came to be, so Warren held onto the cover for years, eventually using it here in February 1977. All of the stories in this issue are based on this cover.

First is "Goodbye, Bambi Boone" by Carmine Infantino & Dick Giordano (art) and Cary Bates (story). Bambi Boone is a giant sized actress who grew to a great size after an experiment to increase the size of her breasts went horribly wrong. Bambi is upset at people not taking her seriously in her roles, and when she takes part in a movie similar to King Kong she asks her manager to assist her in feeling actual pain when she is fired upon by planes during the shooting. The manager loads the planes with real bullets however and she is killed during the shooting. The manager knew that she was dying due to her great size, so he set up this up to have her killed.

Second is "Taking of Queen Bovine" by Ramon Torrents (art) and Gerry Boudreau (story). Queen Bovine of the title is a secret agent who takes responsibility for helping Gnik Gnok, a member of a chimp race that is planning on invading Earth. Thinking they are going to be wiped out, he defects to the human race to prevent the invasion from taking place. Bovine assists him and in order to protect him climbs a skyscraper where she is killed by the chimp invaders.

Third is "The Bride of Congo: The Untold Story" by Carmine Infantino & Gonzalo Mayo (story) and Bill Dubay (story). This story takes place after the original King Kong story. Amy, the woman captured by him is still obsessed with Kong, even after her death and even after getting married to a human man. She eventually finds out that King Kong didn't actually die, but is wounded and needs a blood transfusion. She volunteers but it ends up turning her into a giant size as well. She leaves and grabs onto her husband, who is dressed in an ape suit, heading to the Empire State Building. King Kong comes after her and the two leave to his home, to be happily ever after.

Fourth is "You're A Big Girl Now" by Richard Corben (art) and Bruce Jones (story). Except for the first and last pages, this story is in color. This story features Rachel, a girl who is born at a huge size and continues to grow larger and larger as she gets older. Lowery, a newspaper reporter befriends her when she is still a child. When she grows up she gets upset when she finds out he doesn't love her like she loves him. Fearful of her continuously growing size the military tries to destroy her and she goes on a rampage in New York city, looking for the Statue of Liberty, which she believes to be her mother. Many years later aliens find her body and realize that she grew so large that she ended up destroying the Earth.

Fifth is "Starchild" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Louise Jones & David Micheline (story). The 'Starchild' of the title is an artificially created giant woman who is sent to another planet with her normal sized brother to build a city. There she meets some apes that live nearby and befriends them. Her brother is ordered to either retrieve her or destroy her. Not wanting to harm her, he leaves her there, deciding to lie about her being destroyed.

Sixth is "The Giant Ape Suit" by Luis Bermejo (art) and Roger McKenzie (story). In this story it is revealed that King Kong was actually a giant robot. The brother of the man who controlled the robot seeks to build another one years later by finding the lab where it was built. He is betrayed by a pair of criminals that he was going to work with, and they head to the lab, where they find a robot of a giant naked woman. One of the criminals betrays the other and takes control of the robot, heading through the city and climbing a building before being knocked off and destroyed.

Last is "Golden Girl" by Leopold Sanchez (art) and Nicola Cuti (story). A company inspector arrives on a planet but quickly forgets her mission when she hears that there is a city of gold nearby. The men there bring her there, where the city is revealed to be a miniature version of New York City. When she heads into the city she is attacked by the miniature locals, sprayed with gold, and turned into their own version of the Statue of Liberty.

Eerie 86

This issue is an all Richard Corben reprint special, from September 1977. Corben provides the art for the entire issue, including the coer.

First is "Unprovoked Attack On A Hilton Hotel" with story from Jim Stenstrum. This story is from Creepy 73. This story is a comedic parody of World War II. It features the feud between two space hotel companies, the Hiltons and the Waldors. A war is started between the two when the Waldorfs attack a Hilton hotel. The Hiltons find a sculpter/scientist who helps them create a bomb to destroy the Waldorfs, but as the story ends it is revealed that the blast of the bomb will kill them too. Multiple characters here are parodies of World War II era people including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Albert Einstein.

The next story is "The Oval Portrait", an adaption of the Edgar Allen Poe story. The adaption is provided by Rich Margopoulos. This story was originally printed in Creepy 69. A man is wounded in a duel so he is brought into a large house nearby. Inside he finds a very realistic oval portrait of a beautiful woman. He reads a diary within the house which reveals the history of the portrait. The woman was the wife of the artist. He showed her little love, and made her be the model for the portrait. As he worked on the portrait, and it became more and more lifelike, she became exhausted and eventually collapsed dead when he finished the portrait.

Third is "Shadow", also an Edgar Allen Poe adaption, once again by Margopoulos. This story is from Creepy 70. Some very surreal artwork in this story by Corben. Pestilence and war plagues the countryside. In the city of Ptolemais a group of men sit to eat dinner next to the body of a fellow warrior, Zoilus. Soon a mysterious shadow appears on the wall. They then all die, due to catching a disease that the corpse had.

Fourth is "Pinball Wizard!" with story by Doug Moench, from Creepy 66. Mobsters pressure the owner of a candy store to put in a pinball machine and when he refuses kills him. A boy who befriended the old man summons a demon who kills the mobster, and brings him to hell where he acts as the ball for a pinball game.

Fifth is "Change... Into Something Comfortable" with story again by Doug Moench (story), from Creepy 58. A werewolf runs around on Halloween, enjoying himself by killing trick or treaters, gang members, and pretty much anyone else who he encounters. He eventually comes across a mansion which he attacks, only to find that the inhabitants are fellow monsters like him, part of the freak show he used to work for. The monsters then make him their dinner!

Sixth is "The Slipped Mickey Click Flip", another story written by Doug Moench (story), from Creepy 54. This is one of the most bizarre and nonscensical stories in Warren's history, but is very good. It features Diment, a crazy old man taking over hosting duties from Uncle Creepy and telling some bizarre tales about a pyschologist and his family. The psychologist is attacked by butterflies, a TV eats his wife, and a bone buries his dog. Very, very bizarre.

Seventh is "Friedhelm the Magnificent" with story by Greg Potter (story), from Creepy 46. A daredevil is famous for his ability to jump from high heights and survive the fall. In actuality he only survives the falls because of a deal he has with two men who have the power to keep him alive. When they request he uphold his part of the bargain by killing himself however, he refuses and instead kills one of the men. The next day he goes on his latest jump however and falls straight down to hell, into the hands of their master, Satan.

Last is "Frozen Beauty" with story by Corben himself, from Creepy 36. This story was Corben's Warren debut in its original printing. A hideous queen, Maleva, summons Darman, a sorceror, offering him gold in exchange for making her look like her beautiful niece. They head to a cave in the icy mountain where he casts a spell such that Maleva will have her niece's exact appearance. Her niece is left frozen there in the cave so she'll always look the same. Instead of paying the sorceror however, Maleva has him stabbed and left in the cave. Maleva doesn't get to enjoy her beauty for that long, as Darman, still left alive due to the cold starts eating the corpse of Maleva's niece, resulting in her body being torn to shreds.

Creepy 73

Ken Kelly provides the cover for this sci-fi issue of Creepy, dated August 1975. For years fans on the letter pages requested a sci-fi magazine, and while it would still be a few years before 1984 came out, they at least got their wish temporarily with this issue. Berni Wrightson provides a one page intro from Uncle Creepy.

First is "Playpen of a God!" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This three page story features an old man and some wounded children in an apocalyptic world. The old man starts reading them some stories, telling them of how mankind destroyed itself.

Our first full length story for this issue is "The Argo Standing By!" by Paul Neary (art) and Budd Lewis (story). This story is about an astronaut who is part of a crew in space that is in suspended animation. When he wakes up he reports to Earth, where things are getting worse and worse due to a war. Eventually it gets so bad on Earth that everyone is killed off. Our protagonist decides to go back into suspended animation.

Next is "A Beast Within!" by John Severin (art) and Budd Lewis (story). This story features a man who lives in the wilderness, in an age where people need to wear a device on their chest in order for them to be able to breathe outside. At night bizarre creatures try to break into his cabin again and again but he always fights them off. Eventually he finds a young woman whom he marries but she ends up being killed by the creatures. He has one final confrontation with them outside and ends up being killed.

Next is "Unprovoked Attack On A Hilton Hotel" by Richard Corben (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story). This story is a comedic parody of World War II. It features the feud between two space hotel companies, the Hiltons and the Waldorfs. A war is started between the two when the Waldorfs attack a Hilton hotel. The Hiltons find a sculpter/scientist who helps them create a bomb to destroy the Waldorfs, but as the story ends it is revealed that the blast of the bomb will kill them too. Multiple characters here are parodies of World War II era people including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Albert Einstein.

Next is "Purge!" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Bruce Bezaire (story). The color is provided by Bill Dubay. This story takes place in a future society where men called 'Enforcers' enforce the law, often with over the top results. This story features two stories in one, the top of each page features one of these enforcers while the bottom of the page features a fugitive on the run with a suitcase of illegal material. Eventually the two converge and the fugitive is killed. The illegal material he was carrying is revealed to be none other than Warren magazines!

Next is "Last Light of the Universe!" by Esteban Maroto (art) and Budd Lewis (story). This story is a retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque of the Red Death. Aboard a space station in space, a man, Block, argues with the head of the station, Hersey, who refuses to provide help with plague ridden people outside the space station. Space has been infested with a plague and the space station is the only place in the universe not infected. Block recalls the Poe story and gets more upset when he finds there is going to be a celebration later on, similar to what happened in the Poe story. Eventually Hersey has Block killed and torpedoed out of the space station. But by doing this he ends up letting the plague into the space station, and infects everyone else, wiping out humanity once and for all.

The issue concludes with one final page from the Playpen of a God story with the old man wrapping up his stories that he is telling to the children.

Creepy 62

Today I'll be covering issue 62 of Creepy, featuring a cover by Ken Kelly. This issue is dated May 1974. This is one of Creepy's best issues, certainly a pleasure to read. Berni Wrightson provides a one page intro from Uncle Creepy.

First is "The Black Cat" by Berni Wrightson (story & art). This was Berni Wrightson's first appearance in a Warren magazine. A tremendous horror artist whose style was perfect for the black and white format of Warren, Wrightson was one of those artists who usually made an issue worth having even if the rest of the issue was poor. A very talented writer too, in fact his best stories are probably those he wrote as well. This story is an adaption of the Edgar Allen Poe story. A man and his wife own a beloved black cat. Eventually the husband grows tired of the cat, then upset at it. After the cat bites him, he cuts out one of its eyes and soon after hangs it. That very night his house burns down. Wandering into a bar, he finds another black cat that has one eye that starts following him. He brings it home and the wife quickly becomes fond of it. The husband loses control and tries to kill the cat. When his wife gets in the way he kills her by slamming an axe into her head. He hides her beneath a brick wall and is confident that the police won't find it when they stop by. The cat however, which was also walled behind the brick wall ends up attracting them to her corpse due to its screams.

Second is "Buffaloed" by John Severin (art) and Larry Herndon (story). Another western themed story perfectly fitting Severin's style. A buffalo Hunter, Hawkins, is nearly killed by a buffalo stampede. When he comes to he is being taken care of a native american woman, Little Fawn. Little Fawn's father is One Eye, who wants to kill him but is convinced by his daughter to speak to the buffalo spirits to see what he should do. Hawkins eventually recovers and spotting a group of white buffalo nearby starts firing on them, even though Little Fawn tries to stop him. One such buffalo however, one with only one eye, doesn't go down and stampedes him to death.

Third is "Firetrap" by Vicente Alcazar (art) and Jack Butterworth (story). This story is Vicente Alcazar's Creepy debut (he had appeared for a few issues in Eerie before this). A landlord visits his inner city property to collect rent because his superintendent quit. He refuses to do anything about the terrible condition of the place and is attacked by a woman who blames the death of her baby on him. As he's about to leave he is pushed down into the basement where the tenants lock him into a coffin, dump rats on him, and eventually light him on fire.

Fourth is "Judas", this issue's color story, by Richard Corben (art) and Rich Margopoulos (story). A group of aliens head throughout the galaxy, destroying worlds. Their next target is Earth. Earth sends a spaceship to stop the invasion that is piloted by St. John, a man who desires fame and fortune above all else, who even killed the original pilot of the ship to be in the position he is in. When his ship approaches the alien fleet, he is contacted by the alien commander who says he'll make him immortal if he permits them to attack Earth. St. John agrees to the deal. He is brought onto the alien ship, where his body is changed to an alien version that lives forever. He convinces the aliens to bring him to their leader so he can thank him; when he arrives there however he beats the leader to death and tells the aliens that he is their new leader and they are going to return to their home. The alien fleet departs, calling off their invasion of Earth.

Fifth is "Survivor or Savior!" by Gonzalo Mayo (art) and Steve Skeates (story). In the future the Earth is a wasteland due to pollution and war that has occurred. A man is sent back in time by a scientist to find a Chester P. Hazel, who he thinks can help prevent the war by doing something about the pollution. Our protagonist heads back in time, meets Chester, who oddly enough ends up being a woman, and saves her from an attempt on her life. Because the time machine can not return him to his present, he ends up dying of radiation poisoning, not knowing if what he did actually saved the future or not.

Sixth is "The Maze" by Leo Summers (art) and Steve Skeates (story). My favorite story of the issue, and one of Warren's odder tales. A man, John, is sick of his worthless life with his low paying job and nagging wife. He decides to start a new life, stealing money from where he works and heading down to the subway to run off. He is attacked by a group of maniacs and wakes up later deep in the subway tunnels, still possessing the money, but having no idea how to get out. He tries to escape from the subway numerous times but the maniacs prevent him from doing so. Eventually he finds their 'king', a grotesquely fat quadruple amputee who is fed the body parts of living people that his maniac 'subjects' bring to him. John continues to fail to escape and decides that by attacking the maniacs he'll be able to escape. He attacks their 'king', chopping his head off with a blade, and is declared by the maniacs their new king. He demands they let him out, but they refuse, and attack him. On the final page we see his fate, he has permanently become their new 'king', and like the previous one has had all his limbs chopped off and gleefully watches his 'subjects' brutally murder people to feed to him.

Last is "The Demon Within" by Isidro Mones (art) and Steve Skeates (story). A woman believes that she is cursed, that a demon lives with in her bringing death to everyone around her. We flash back to her past, where her parents were murdered and her sister was killed in a car accident. Eventually she gets married and has a son, but he too ends up dying. She flips out and stands outside a window on a tall building, about to jump. Her husband arrives to try and stop her, but when he's about to help her off he falls of the ledge to his death. She too jumps off seconds later to her death as well.

Creepy 103

Walt Simonson and Kim McQuaite provide the animal themed cover for this reprint issue of Creepy, dated November 1978. This reprint issue seems to be animal themed, except for the ridiculous inclusion of "Thumbs Down" which was reprinted numerous times throughout the years.

First is "Angel of Doom!" by Jeff Jones (art) and Goodwin (story), from Creepy 16. This story features Thane the barbarian, a recurring character throughout the years in Creepy. In this story Thane is part of a tribe that continously makes sacrifices to a monster. When his lover is killed, Thane heads out, ignoring the tribe's warnings and battles the monster, a giant insect creature. He defeats the creature, but the tribe decides to continue making sacrifices anyway, so Thane leaves. The tribe is soon plagued by the monster's children and are all killed after Thane leaves.

Second is "Bookworm" with art by Richard Corben and story by Gerald Conway, from Eerie 32. A man goes to work as an apprentice to an elderly man with a large book collection. The elderly man tells him how he's studying the black arts. One night our hero discovers the old man dragging a corpse with him and follows him. The elderly man is in a crazed state and attacks him, but is killed by the apprentice. Suddenly a giant worm appears, who the elderly man had been finding food for, and forces the apprentice to start supplying him with food from now on.

Third is "On Little Cat Feet!" by Auraleon (art) and John Jacobson (story), from Vampirella 38. A witch, Kitty, lives in a rooming house with her artist friend Eulalia. Kitty is kicked out of the place by the landlady and plots revenge by turning into a cat and poisoning her claws. She kills the landlady's cat, taking its place, then kills the landlady as well soon after. Eulalia meanwhile recruits an actor as a model for her latest work, a statue of Nero. Kitty, still in her cat form, wanders by and Eulalia has the actor hold her in his arms. Eulalia reveals herself to be Medusa, and when she reveals herself ends up turning both the actor and Kitty into a statue.

Fourth is "Thumbs Down!" by Al Williamson (art) and Anne T. Murphy (story), from Creepy 6. This story features a crooked arena games master who has his top gladiator killed only for him to com e back from the dead to take revenge. This story would probably be reprinted by Warren over the years more than any other story.

Fifth is "Lucky Stiff" by Ramon Torrents (art) and Gerry Boudreau & Carl Wessler (story), from Vampirella 38. A very cautious man ignores a beautiful young woman who starts at the place where he works. At the end of the day she invites him to come to her home at the other side of town. The story shows what would happen if he went. He arrives there, only to be attacked by cats. She tells him he doesn't deserve to live and that he is going to be fed to him. The narrative then reveals that he actually didn't go there, as he was hit by a car along the way.

Last is "The Black Cat" by Berni Wrightson (story & art), from Creepy 62. This story is an adaption of the Edgar Allen Poe story. A man and his wife own a beloved black cat. Eventually the husband grows tired of the cat, then upset at it. After the cat bites him, he cuts out one of its eyes and soon after hangs it. That very night his house burns down. Wandering into a bar, he finds another black cat that has one eye that starts following him. He brings it home and the wife quickly becomes fond of it. The husband loses control and tries to kill the cat. When his wife gets in the way he kills her by slamming an axe into her head. He hides her beneath a brick wall and is confident that the police won't find it when they stop by. The cat however, which was also walled behind the brick wall ends up attracting them to her corpse due to its screams.

Eerie 125

This issue of Eerie is an all Neal Adams special, aside from the reprinted Richard Corben cover from Eerie 77. This issue is dated October 1981.

First is "Curse of the Vampire!" by Neal Adams (art, his Warren debut in this story's original appearance) and Archie Goodwin (story), from Creepy 14. The story features a family curse where every member of the vampire is supposedly supposed to turn into a vampire after death. A doctor who has fallen in love with a young woman who is part of the family refuses to let the family servent drive a stake through her since he believes she is just in a coma. It ends up that the servant is the true vampire, and has been able to blame everything on the family due to the curse. The doctor kills him and the girl awakens. However it ends up that the doctor is a vampire, and now knowing that she's human, he makes her his next victim!

Second is "The Terror Beyond Time!" by Neal Adams (art) and Archie Goodwin (story), from Creepy 15. Searching for a professor, a man heads deep into a cavern where he had dissappeared. Inside he finds a prehistoric world with dinosaurs and prehistoric men. In addition various other people throughout time have been summoned here including a beatiful woman from England. The professor is found, but it ends up that he's working for an evil being who is responsible for summoning everyone there as well as controlling people's thoughts. Our hero refuses to work under his control and instead kills the professor and the evil being. Afterwards he awakens in the modern age, with the woman there with him. A fairly good story although as discussed by Neal Adams in the Warren companion, the evil being ends up looking like an ice cream sundae rather than something supremely evil.

Third is "Goddess From the Sea" by Neal Adams (art) and Don Glut (story), from Vampirella 1. Adams' art is pencils only. A woman, Lanora, appears outs of the sea and tells a man who lives nearby that she's from Atlantis and is fleeing from those of her kind. Her fellow sea dwellers soon come out after her and grab ahold of her. He heads into the sea after her and ends up drowning.

Fourth is "Thrillkill" by Neal Adams (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story), from Creepy 75. A truly great story, and arguably the most famous Warren story of all time, being ranked #1 overall as best Warren story in the Warren Companion. A young man with a sniper rifle shoots random people from the top of a building and is eventually killed by the police. While the artwork shows these events taking place a priest who knew the young man as a boy talks to a reporter, trying to explain why this happened.

Fifth is "A Curse of Claws!" by Neal Adams (art) and Archie Goodwin (story), from Creepy 16. This story features a man in the jungle who encounters a woman who says she is Lillith, Goddess of Cats. The man fights her and kills her, but turns into a panether like creature and ends up scratching himself to death.

Sixth is "Voodoo Drum!" by Neal Adams (art) and Archie Goodwin (story), from Eerie 10. The story, which is done in pencils only, is about a plantation owner who finds workers difficult to obtain, so a native brings him zombies in exchange for payment. The man kills him, seeking to use the zombies for free, but they come after him and turn his skin into a drum.

Last is "Fair Exchange" by Neal Adams (art) and Archie Goodwin (story), from Eerie 9. An old man whose soon to die plots to steal a young man's body when he discovers of a ridiculed doctor who has experimented on switching bodies. The switch is performed successfully and the old man now in his new body kills the doctor so he doesn't have to pay him. Only he soon discovers that he is a vampire when he is destroyed by the sun.

Creepy 132

This issue is an all Richard Corben special, including the cover, which is reprinted from Eerie 90. This issue is dated October 1981.

The first story is "A Tangible Hatred" by Richard Corben (art) and Don McGregor (story), from Creepy 43. A very incomprehensible poor story from McGregor which has some very nice Corben artwork. It features a rotting corpse hitchhiker who is created due to people's hatred. The story features, Detective Turner, a recurring character in many McGregor stories. As is often seen from him, absolute crap from McGregor with a lot of political/hippie nonsense.

Second is "Bright Eyes" by Richard Corben (art) and Doug Moench (story), from Eerie 43. The story features a plantation owner who uses a lot of dead corpses, revived from the dead, to do work for him. One of the dead men's brothers arrives and wants to take him away from there. The plantation owner refuses and in a struggle with the brother is killed. But this results in all the corpses rotting away to nothing since their summoner is dead.

Third is the story, "A Woman Scorned" by Richard Corben (art) and Bruce Jones (story), from Eerie 90. This story features a girl and the talking blue lizard she travels with in a desolate world, who keeps trying to get her to remember things, which appears as soon as she does. This includes a car, a house, trees, etc... We head to the past where we learn about the girl's childhood and her ability to cause anything she want to happen. She is soon able to get everything back to normal, including turning the lizard back into her boyfriend, but when she remembers him cheating on her, she resets everything to nothingness once again.

Fourth is "Bowser" by Richard Corben (art) and Jan Strand (story). This story is from Vampirella 54. The story is about a boy who owns a unique pet, Bowser, a tentacled monster. The monster eats dogs, humans, etc... causing the boy's parents to want to get rid of it. He lets the creature go free but it ends up the problems were due to Bowser being pregnant, and it has babies, many more little tentacled monsters.

"The Pest" is next, by Richard Corben (art) and Al Hewetson (story), from Eerie 33. A bug killing device is created that uses toxic gas, and causes problems for ill adults or children. Its creator is getting rich off of it and could care less until he turns into a bug himself, well at least thinks he does, and dies of a heart attack.

Sixth is "The Mummy's Victory" by Richard Corben (art) and Roger McKenzie (story), from Creepy 84. A mummy in a museum comes back to life and takes the place of an injured player in a football game, winning the game for them! Funny art by Corben on the mummy.

Seventh is the first part of a two part series, titled 'The Butcher'. This story's called "Forgive Us Our Tresspasses", with art by Richard Corben and story by Bill Dubay. This story is from Eerie 62. This gangland melodrama features a crime lord who is killed on his deathbed by assassins hired by one of his sons, hoping to frame a rival crime family. During the murder the priest who was tending the crime lord is mutilated and apparantely killed. After hiding out the assassins are all killed... by the priest, who survived the attack and now swears revenge as 'The Butcher'.

Last is the second and final part of the Butcher, titled "Bye Bye Miss American Dream" by Richard Corben (art) and Bill Dubay (story), from Eerie 64. The mob war continues, with the youngest Gambino brother wiping out the leaders of both mobs and taking all the power for himself... only for the Butcher to arrive and kill him seconds later. Realizing he enjoys killing however, the Butcher retires.

Creepy 57

Sanjulian provides the cover for this issue of Creepy, dated November 1973.

First is "The Destructive Image" by Ramon Torrents (art) and Don McGregor (story). A rather disjointed, odd tale featuring lots of bizarre events occuring as a man and wife sit down watching TV. Repairmen appear to fix it, but this only results in even more bizarre events occuring. Some very nice art from Torrents here.

Second is "The Hope of the Future" by Jaime Brocal (art) and Doug Moench (story). Some very nice art by Brocal in this pencils only story. It features a man barricaded in a house, surrounded by evil children who are trying to get in. He eventually gives in and heads downstairs where the children, including his son, await him.

Third is "The Bloodlock Museum" by Martin Salvador (art) and Jack Butterworth (story). Two parents carry a bound man through their own museum, featuring various corpses of people that did them wrong in the past, brutally murdered. The bound man finds a similar fate awaiting him, as he was the military recruiter that convinced their dead son to join the military, resulting in him dying in Vietnam.

Fourth is this issue's color story, "The Low Spark of High Heeled Noise!" by Richard Corben (art) and Doug Moench (story). A traveling salesman comes across a house during a storm. The couple inside reluctantly lets him sleep there. The man overhears the couple arguing, apparently they killed the man's former wife, but suspect each other due to them hearing footsteps of the other during the night. Eventually the man kills the woman and the salesman kills him in self defense. He soon dies however when he drinks something that the woman had poisoned. Only then is the one who started the footsteps revealed, the ghost of the man's dead wife.

Fifth is "The Red Badge of Terror" by Jose Bea (art) and Doug Moench (story). This story takes place in the civil war. A pair of soldiers pursue an enemy, eventually coming across an abandoned town. Only the town isn't abandoned after all, but contains a vampire, that attacks them. They then wait for more soldiers to come along who they can attack.

Last is "Sense of Violence" by Isidro Mones (art) and Doug Moench (story). This story takes place in a city filled with violence. The first three and a half pages or so come off like a Don McGregor story with lots of various unconnected scenes of violence. We get into an actual story around the fourth page. A nervous man wanders down an alley and when a man approaches him he stabs him in self defense and runs off. Only it ends up that the man who approaches him was actually just a cop asking for ID, and our protagonist is soon arrested.

Eerie 106

This issue of Eerie is a reprint issue covering Hard John Apple. The cover is based on art by Jose Ortiz from one of the Hard John stories, along with additional artwork by Walt Simonson. This issue is cover dated November 1979.

First is "An Angel Shy of Hell", by Richard Corben (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story), reprinted from Creepy 64. This story was originally printed in color. It stars Hard John Apple, a bounty hunter hired by "Protstns' in the far future, who goes about the state of Kansas, killing as many 'Catlicks' as he can, including an injured helicopter pilot with a burned face that looks just like the cover painting of Creepy 64. A terrific story, although probably somewhat offensive with the parodies of various relgious groups. Originally published in 1974, it would be approximately 3 years before the next story featuring Hard John Apple appeared, making it clear that this was likely intended to originally be a stand alone story.

Second is the start of the series Hard John's Nuclear Hit Parade, with the story "Kansas City Bomber", from Eerie 83. Art is by Jose Ortiz and story is by Jim Stenstrum. This story takes place in the post-apocalyptic future where 'Catlicks' and 'Protstnts' fight each other. Hard John Apple has fooled the Prot leaders into giving him the state of Kansas, which is filled with nuclear weapons which he plans to use with the help of an orangutan. This story introduces Tarara, a woman who captures John and discovers his plans.

Third is "Brass Monkey", by Jose Ortiz (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story), from Eerie 84. Ortiz uses a new art style in this story, which results in his art looking a lot like Alfredo Alcala's. John and Tarara go to a Catlick base in order to get plans to assist in John's attack on the world. There it is discovered that Zinger, the man who originally told John about the nukes in Kansas is a member of the Catlicks, Protstnts and Tarara's group. He plans to finish off our heroes, but the General (the orangutan introduced in the prior story) arrives and helps our heroes escape.

Fourth is the finale for Hard John's Nuclear Hit Parade, "Gonna Nuke Mankind right Outa My Hair" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story), from Eerie 85. The Catlicks, Protsnts and Red Threats are all heading towards John's nuclear weapons site to get their hands on the nukes. John and Tarara visit a church then prepare for Zinger's arrival. John outsmarts everyone by launching all his nuclear weapons into the ocean except for one, which he aims right at his base just as everyone is arriving, a blast powerful enough to destroy all the armies left in the world. A pretty good finale to this serial, even though John and Tarara are clearly going to perish when the bomb hits.

Last is "The Super-Abnormal Phenomena Survival Kit!" by John Severin (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story), from Creepy 79. This hilarious story is a parody of the Captain Company ads that appeared in the back of each Warren magazine. Eight pages of parodies and horror movie staples/homages results in a fairly good effort, one of Warren's best humorous stories.

Vampirella 36

Sanjulian provides the cover for this 5 year anniversary issue of Vampirella, dated September 1974. The back cover is provided by Enrich, a redo of the cover originally intended for issue 31. Jose Gonzalez provides one page features of Vampi on both the inside front cover and inside back cover.

First is "The Vampire of the Nile" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Mike Butterworth (story, as Flaxman Loew). In this story Vampi and Pendragon suddenly find themselves in ancient Egypt. Vampi is Cleopatra and Pendragon is her slave. Vampi is summoned before her husband, Ptolemy, who is a vampire and bites her. Later she meets Marc Anthony whom she falls in love with, but he kills himself when he learns her true nature. Vampi drives a stake through Ptolemy's heart, then summons Amun Ra, who permits her to be reincarnated after she gets herself bitten by a snake. Vampi awakens back in the modern era, with a Doctor Antonioni tending to her.

Second is "A Wonderful Morning!" by Fernando Fernandez (story & art). Color is provided by Richard Corben. This story takes place in a world where there are only children. The lone remaining adult left in the world is found by them and killed. Not much of a plot here, but some very nice art and atmosphere from Fernandez.

Third is "The Tiara of Dagon!" by Esteban Maroto (art) and John Jacobson (story). A tribal priest comes to a museum, seeking the tiara of dagon. The curator refuses to give it up, and when provided with gold for it instead pulls out a gun and holds on to it anyway. The priest reveals there is poison on the gold that the curator touched and that he'll only give the antidote if the tiara is handed over. The curator still refuses, flees, and turns into a bizarre scaly creature.

Fourth is "Good to the Last Drop!" by Ramon Torrents (art) and Martin Pasko (story). The president of a food company mistakenly kills his wife when he slaps her. He destroys her body in the garbage disposal, then gets an idea and deep freezes her remains, turning it into coffee. Thinking she was having an affair with an employee at the company, he invites him over and puts her remains in his drink. The employee switches cups unknowingly however, and our protagonist drinks her remains. He manages to switch it though and the employee also drinks it. It ends up that she died due to ingesting poison, and as a result the poison kills both of them.

Fifth is "Swordplay" by Felix Mas (art) and Martin Pasko (story). The mysterious Alexander Deroth arrives at a school as a fencing instructor. While fencing with a female student, he strikes her with his sword, and when she starts bleeding he is revealed to be a vampire and bites her. When her corpse is found by some other students, she springs to life and attacks those who found her as well.

Sixth is "Prey For Me!" by Auraleon (art) and Rich Margopoulos (story). A rich man, Alexander Guileford captures men and has them fight to the death a werewolf like creature. His latest victim is unable to win and dies. Alexander soon finds himself in the same predicament however when his servent, upset at him for letting him be in danger earlier, poisons him then releases the werewolf to come after him.

Last is "Puppet-Player!" by Jose Bea (story & art). Michelle Brand provides the color. This story features a puppet player in the 17th century. When he goes to sleep, his puppets come to life and bring him through a bizarre world, controlling him with puppet strings. He is eventually beaten to death with a club he uses in his act. It ends up that he's been dead along and is revised to act as puppet player to hide suspicions.

Creepy 70

Ken Kelly provides the cover for this issue of Creepy, cover dated April 1975. This issue is another all Edgar Allen Poe issue, with Rich Margopoulos providing the adaption for all stories within. Berni Wrightson provides the one page frontis intro from Uncle Creepy.

First is the cover story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", with art by Jose Ortiz. This story surrounds a mysterious murder where a woman is killed in her room, with no motive apparent. It eventually becomes clear that an escaped orangutan is responsible for the murder.

Second is "Man of the Crowd" with art by Luis Bermejo. Bermejo's art is terrific here, as was much of his early stories for Warren. A man sitting in a restaurant spots a mysterious old man walking by. He heads outside and follows the man, who always is staying close to a crowd. He eventually realizes that the old man is some sort of psychic vampire, drawing the energy from the souls of others.

Third is "The Cask of Amontillado!" with art by Martin Salvador. This story, which had already been adapted earlier in Creepy by Archie Goodwin features a man who gets even with a collegue of his who loves wine. Telling him of his favorite wine, Amontillado, he convinces the friend to come down into an underground passageway with him where he bricks up the friend in a passage and bricks it off, trapping him there forever.

Fourth is "Shadow" with art by Richard Corben. Some very surreal artwork in this story by Corben. Pestilence and war plagues the countryside. In the city of Ptolemais a group of men sit to eat dinner next to the body of a fellow warrior, Zoilus. Soon a mysterious shadow appears on the wall. They then all die, due to catching a disease that the corpse had.

Fifth is "A Descent into the Maelstrom!" with art by Adolfo Abellan. This story tells of a ship that travels past a large waterfall, then gets caught in it. One of the men saves himself by tying himself to a barrel.

Last is "Berenice" with art by Isidro Mones. Like the Cask of Amontillado, this story was originally adapted by Archie Goodwin years before, but is adapted anew by Margopoulos here. This story tells of a man who is obsessed with his cousin Berenice, whom he plans on marrying. Berenice gets sick and the protagonist starts obsessing over her teeth. After her death he digs up her corpse and tears all her teeth out.

Eerie 126

Richard Corben provides the cover for this issue of Eerie, featuring a robot themed battle. This issue is dated November 1981.

First is "Crabs" the latest Zud Kamish story by E.R. Cruz (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). Zud is commissioned to go to a planet filled with crabs that are one of the favorite foods in the galaxy, but the crabs are now going crazy. Zud heads down and finds some villains that are controlling the crabs. When Zud arrives however, one of the men ends up destorying the computer they use to control them when firing at Zud. Not that good a story, but at least somewhat better than past Zud stories.

Second is "Pyramid of the Black Sun: Blekos", a continuation of the story from issue 124. Art is by Luis Bermejo and story is by Jim Stenstrum (story, as Alabaster Redzone). Orka meets with the priest Alugar who confirms that Ulzan R on Arkaran is the Blekos he has been searching for. Alugar introduces Orka to his daughter Janul, who can read minds and due to that found out about Blekos. Orka plots with her to take out Blekos, and later reveals that he has the same abilities as her. Janul says that Lord Gasul, leader of the planet is the real one in charge. Orka kills him, and with Blekos, now released from his control, they bring rain to the planet. Continues to remain earily similar to Dune, and the ending actually is exactly the same as the ending in the movie (although this story predates the movie). Is quite a good story though, even if it isn't that original.

Next is "Korsar" by Esteban Maroto (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story, as Alabaster Redzone). An appearance from Maroto is a pleasant surprise in an Eerie issue from this period. Korsar is a warrior captured and locked up by villanous Queen Naja, and forced to compete in an arena. He meets and befriends Sayda, a slave whose role is to sleep with the prisoners. Korsa defeats Naja's warrior and then stabs her. They depart, battling a dragon then encountering a tribe of cannibals. Pretty good story and great Maroto art (I'm fairly certain this was originally printed in Europe, so it was likely drawn long before the date of this issue). An open ended ending, but this was its sole appearance in a Warren magazine.

Next is the latest segment in "Haggarth" by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). A priest meets with Borin, telling him he needs a manuscript which was stolen by Haggarth's beggar friend Ethan (who is finally named in this story). Ethan is on the run after his thief colleague is caught and killed. Ethan flees, but the manuscript is stolen by a thief, who is actually the priest, by the time he reaches Haggarth and Borin. Borin finds out that Haggarth was hired to kill him and departs. Haggarth catches up with him in a bar later, but a fight ensues, due to men hired by King Thall. Haggarth and Borin escape alive, and head towards the palace to confront Thall.

Creepy 69

This issue of Creepy is the first of two Edgar Allen Poe specials. Ken Kelly provides the cover for this issue, dated February 1975. Berni Wrightson provides a one page intro from Uncle Creepy on the inside front cover. Rich Margopoulos did the adaptions for all the stories in this issue.

First is "The Pit and the Pendulum" with art by Jose Ortiz. The Warren Companion reveals that Berni Wrightson was originally intended to do the art for this story. A man is sentenced to death and put in prison. Inside, he nearly falls into a giant pit. When he drinks some water, it is poisoned and knocks him out. He awakens tied up on a wooden slab, with a giant pendulum swinging over him. By rubbing meat over the ropes binding him, some rats come and eat the rope, freeing him. He is able to escape to freedom afterwards.

Next is "Premature Burial" with art by Vicente Alcazar. A man is deathly afraid of being buried alive, particularly because he has an illness where he can appear dead when he's still alive. His wife comes up with a plan to install a rope within his coffin so if he is prematurely buried, he can notify her he's still alive. He later wakes up though to find himself in another coffin, with no way to notify her. Luckily for him he is actually on a ship, not in a coffin, and this helps him get over his fear for good.

Third is "The Fall of the House of Usher" featuring art by Martin Salvador. A man goes to see his friend, who is part of the Usher family. The man is worried for his sister, who is quite ill. Eventually the sister passes away and is buried in the basement. Usher is still quite nervous however and one night his sister, who wasn't actually dead appears and attacks him. The two of them die from the ordeal and the house collapses just after our protagonist departs.

Richard Corben provides the art for the next story, "The Oval Portrait". "The Raven", a color story published in issue 67 was originally intended to appear here instead, but got mistakenly published two issues early. A man is wounded in a duel so he is brought into a lare house nearby. Inside he finds a very realistic oval portrait of a beautiful woman. He reads a diary within the house which reveals the history of the portrait. The woman was the wife of the artist. He showed her little love, and made her be the model for the portrait. As he worked on the portrait, and it became more and more lifelike, she became exhausted and eventually collapsed dead when he finished the portrait.

Fifth is "Ms. Found in a Bottle" with art by Leo Summers. This story is told by a man on a ship that faces a huge storm. Eventually there is just him and one other man left. Soon the ship sinks when it comes across another, our protagonist flees onto it. There he sees a number of spectral crew members. He writes down his encounters, putting it in a bottle, and the ship comes across a whirlpool, sinking in it.

Last is "Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" with art by Isidro Mones. This story is about an old man dying who is visited by a hypnotist who hypnotizes him to stay alive. It works, and he lives through the night, then for days and eventually months. The hypnotist, not feeling good about the matter releases the trance, and the man immediately decomposes.

Eerie 97

Val Mayerik provides the dinosaur themed cover for this issue of Eerie, featuring four dinosaur themed stories, three of them from a single series. The issue is dated November 1978.

First is "Within You... Without You" the first part of the series from Richard Corben (art) and Bruce Jones (story). This issue was originally from Eerie 77. A group of scientists manipulate the mind of a telepathic young woman, who happens to be the wife of one of them, such that she thinks she is in prehistoric times, finding dinosaurs. When an Earthquake hits her link to reality gets screwed up, so they recruit Lydecker, a man who has similar telepathic abilities, but he also had a prior relationship with her. When a dinosaur attacks however, Lydecker is eaten, and while its not technically reality, whatever happens in their mind effects his real body, killing him. An interesting story that becomes even more complicated over the next few stories.

Next is "Time and Time Again" by Richard Corben (art) and Bruce Jones (story), from Eerie 79, a continuation of the "Within You Without You" story. Karen is requested to go back in time through her mind to retrieve a gun that had been left behind. While there she seeks revenge on the Tyranosaurus that killed Lydecker. She gets her timing mixed up however, and ends up killing the dinosaur before it killed him, so she encounters the past version of him and herself. The scientists bring her out of it, but Lydecker ends up occupying her mind when they do that.

Third is "Years & Mind Forever", the conclusion to the Within You Without You trilogy. This story is from Eerie 87. Art is by Richard Corben and story is by Bruce Jones. In this story it is revealed that Lydecker has been setting up everyone, and that many of the trips into the past have actually been staged by him and an actress pretending to be Karen. Meanwhile he himself has actually made it to the past where he has found the ancestor of humanity. The scientists send another telepath after him and he finds Lydecker in a lab with the ancient man. During a struggle with 'Karen' however the ancestor is shot by him, wiping out humanity. A terrific end to a terrific trilogy, which would be ranked as one of the top 10 Warren series in the Warren companion.

Last is "The Terror Beyond Time!" by Neal Adams (art) and Archie Goodwin (story), from Creepy 15. Searching for a professor, a man heads deep into a cavern where he had dissappeared. Inside he finds a prehistoric world with dinosaurs and prehistoric men. In addition various other people throughout time have been summoned here including a beatiful woman from England. The professor is found, but it ends up that he's working for an evil being who is responsible for summoning everyone there as well as controlling people's thoughts. Our hero refuses to work under his control and instead kills the professor and the evil being. Afterwards he awakens in the modern age, with the woman there with him. A fairly good story although as discussed by Neal Adams in the Warren companion, the evil being ends up looking like an ice cream sundae rather than something supremely evil.