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.

1994 #29

John Berkley provides the cover for this issue, the final issue of 1994, from February 1983.

First is "Grandmother Running Box" by Vic Catan (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story features the character of the title, from the Little Beaver series. Running Box is in pursuit of Little Beaver, and also teams up with some women warriors as well. This story ends with a to be continued, but was never concluded.

Second is "Goddess" by Peter Hsu (art) and Timothy Moriarty (story). This bizarre story features humans fighting some bizarre ape like aliens. They land on a mountain that ends up being a large naked woman, who is also a spaceship. Yes, the story's that odd. Rather obvious that the story is little more than an excuse for Hsu to draw lots of naked women.

Third is "Ghita of Alizarr" by Frank Thorne (story & art). In this story Ghita is able to chop off Rahmuz's arms and Dahib helps drop him into a chasm, killing him. With Rahmuz dead, his minions all vanish. Ghita and the others leave Urd, with Runthar and Dakini now in charge. A fairly good ending to the Ghita saga, I wonder if this was meant to be its ending or if it was meant to continue further had the magazine not died.

Fourth is "Farmed Out" by Delando Nino (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). This story takes place in Luna City in the future. An enforcer (a cop) hopes to win the lottery which permits the winner to be sent to the lovely nature of Earth. Our hero and his wife end up killing the real winners, blowing up their home, and taking their place on the ship being sent to Earth. But it ends up that the whole lottery is a trick, and that those who win it are actually gassed and turned into fertilizer. A very good ending for this issue's best story.

Fifth is "The Warhawks" by Abel Laxamana (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story is the second part of a story started in issue 27, unfortunately an issue I do not own. This story features the Warhawks, a group of astronauts fighting aliens in space, who end up being actors. The entire thing ends up being part of a movie.

1994 #28

Steve Fastner & Rich Larson provide the cover for this issue, published in December 1982.

First is the final "Young Sigmund Pavlov!" story by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story). Pavlov crashes on a planet filled with various robot creatures. He and the robots end up recreating the Wizard of Oz, albeit with various robot creatures in place of the notable characters from that story. This story ends with a to be continued sign, but this would be the last story in the series. This story is very unlike the other stories in this series, as it doesn't contain the usual extremely bizarre Nino art and over the top sex filled story by Dubay.

Second is "Too Many Termarrows" by Vic Catan (art) and Tim Moriarty (story). This story features two men who land on a planet carrying a secret weapon. One of the men has a key robbed by a woman he sleeps with, so they pursue her through the desert and eventually find that she is part of a group of wives of a sultan. Our two protagonists release their weapon, human eating termites that kill everyone but them.

Third is "Ghita of Alizarr" by Frank Thorne (story & art). This story features Ghita taking part in a ceremony with Rahmuz where she is brought underground, where oddly enough, stars start appearing. A mummy which is Khan Dagon appears, then soon varous other corpses and monsters as well.

Next is "Angel" by Rudy Nebres (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This dull series finally comes to an end with this story. Angel and Ape find a group of savages that have captured a communist scientist who plans to destroy them. They end up being saved by a Tin Man superhero.

Last is the finale of "Diana Jacklighter, Manhuntress!" by Esteban Maroto (art) and Dan Hallassey & Bruce Jones (story). Lots of revelations in this story, where it is revealed that pretty much the entire quest of Diana to this point has been a lie. Her ally Jason has been the true villain all along, and the convict Frank Branner was actually an engineer named T. L. Hoyt who is a good guy on her side. With his help she returns to Earth and defeats Jason once and for all. A very good end to the strongest series of the latter part of 1994's life.

1994 #26

Richard Corben provides the cover of this issue of 1994, which bears an artwork date of 1977. The actual cover date of this issue is August 1982. One wonders why Warren waited 5 years to use this cover! Sorry, once again, I couldn't track down an image of this cover on the web to show you all (its days like this I wish I had my scanner! :()

First is "Young Sigmund, Sr." by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story). Not much to say regarding this story, its the latest in a long line of stories by Dubay and Nino where the art from each page can be combined with one another to form a seemingly infinite image. Quite impressive artwork as a result, with a rather poor story which is forced to work around the artwork.

Next is the latest story in "Diana Jacklighter, Manhuntress!" by Esteban Maroto (art) and Bruce Jones & Dan Hallassey (story). Diana and Branner go after the latest criminal, Marella Chryseis, who is currently hiding within a Sargaso. While there Marella seemingly kills Branner, but it is actually just a robot, which goes berserk and kills her. They then head to another planet where Branner takes off, marooning her. The planet contains shape shifters, and she ends up being confronted by Conley, another one of the escaped criminals. He ties her up and tries to escape on a ship, that ends up being a monster which kills him.

Third is "Ghita of Alizarr" by Frank Thorne (story & art). Dakini realizes Ghita's plot to deatroy Rahmuz when she attacks her while dreaming. Ghita later meets him for the first time. She also soon finds out that Dahib is alive. Thats it for this issue, a shorter Ghita segment than usual.

Fourth is "Little Beaver" by Vic Catan (art) and Dan Hallassey (story). Similar to the previous story in this series, it features Little Beaver, her grandmother Running Box and Worm, their tentacled monster pet. In this story they meet some revolutionaries who plan to use Little Beaver as a bomb to blow up their Russian enemies by planting it within a certain, ahem, part of her anatomy which will blow up when they try to have sex with her. Luckily Little Beaver makes it out okay.

Fifth is "The Trials and Tribulations of Ariel Hart!" by Peter Hsu (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story is somewhat better than the previous Ariel Hart story. The President seeks to kill Ariel, and she ends up falling into a large chasm. The President sends one of his governors to ensure that she is dead. She hasn't actually died however, and has fallen into a pool where a tentacled creature attacks her. She is luckily able to escape.

Last is "Retard" by Alex Nino (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). Aliens take over Earth, and many deformed children are born soon after. The alien overlords require all people to do labor for them, and any child who cannot work by a certain age is disposed of. All the 'retards' are set to be disposed of, but instead they end up destroying the aliens entirely, although they die as a result.

1994 #25

This issue, dated June 1982 features a Ghita of Alizarr themed cover by Lloyd Garrison. Actually not that bad an issue. Everything here is at least somewhat memorable in its own way, rather impressive considering this was an era where Warren's work was very substandard. Sorry, was unable to find an image of the cover for this issue to show you all.

First is "The God of the Month Club" by Alex Nino (art) and Kevin Duane (story). Similar to issue 22's Young Sigmond Pavlov segment, this story is pretty much all nonscensical garbage, but Nino pulls off an amazing art job where the art from each page can be combined with the other pages to form a giant image, in this case, the phrase "God of the Month Club". In fact if you own multiple issues, you can expand the art to form a seemingly infinite image. Very bizarre, but very well done.

Second is "Diana Jacklighter, Manhuntress!" by Esteban Maroto (art) and Bruce Jones (story). In this story Diana heads after Frank Branner, the escaped convict who is reported to have a plague. Diana crashes her ship on the planet he's on, with her only hope to steal the ship he had. Unfortunately for her, she is captured by him, who seems to be completely unaffected by the plague. At gunpoint he forces her to fix the ship for him and she ends up falling for him, even though she may be infected as a result. Looks like the series will start going in a different direction after the events of this story.

Third is "Ghita of Alizarr" by Frank Thorne (story & art). In this story Ghita is brought by her captives to Urd, managing to kill two of them along the way, but stopped by the third. She arrives at Urd where she is paraded in front of the people, who aren't all that impressed with her. She meets Runthar while there, the boy she had met in Urd during her youth.

Fourth is "Angel" by Rudy Nebres (art) and Bill Dubay (story). In this story Angel and Ape are in South Africa, where a conflict has been going on between white and black people. They meet a white hunter, who got caught in a bear trap. After freeing him and healing his wounds, he discusses the conflict, which involved chemical warfare, which resulted in mutations occuring. They meet one such mutation, a baby who was responsible for leaving the bear traps. Although Angel tries to heal him, the mutant instead tries to kill her, and she is saved by the white hunter. The best story thus far in this rather poor series.

Last is "Small World, Isn't It?" by Delando Nino (art) and Timothy Moriarty (story). In this story a man creates a device which permits him to shrink anyone to an extremely small size, albeit it temporarily. Unfortunately for him the government seizes him, with the intent of using his device to defeat their enemies. Eventually enemy forces get their hands on it too and the entire Earth blows up, with only the man and his wife surviving, with him in a shrunken size inside of her space suit.

1994 24

Skipping issue 23 of 1994 as it is an all reprint issue (the magazine's only one, thankfully). The cover for this issue, dated April 1982, is by Steve Fastner & Rich Larson. There are no credits on the stories in this issue, so I've based the writing credits here on the ones posted in Richard Arndt's wonderful Warren analysis.

First is "The Ugliest Woman in Creation!" by Vic Catan (art) and Bill Dubay (story). Rumors are abound about the "Cosmo Girls", Amazon women that are the ugliest one could ever imagine. By having sex with them, a man will become as ugly as them and spread this 'disease' to anyone he sleeps with. Anyway, this story features a woman who is hired by a Sultan to find him an extremely ugly woman, and she turns to a friend of hers, who manages to find one of the Cosmo Girls. While the woman is provided to the sultan, it is not before she has sex with him, and he soon has sex with our heroine, spreading the disease of ugliness...

Second is "Diana Jacklighter, Manhuntress!" by Esteban Maroto (art) and Bruce Jones (story). Diana is now on another planet, looking for the second of the seven escaped convicts. She travels through a wintery landscape that nonetheless feels rather warm. The man she is after takes off his boots and heads back to her ship, trying to steal it, but he dies as the snow they have been traveling on is instead tiny, but deadly white little worms that manage to kill him.

Third is "The Star Queen" by Delando Nino (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). This story features a humanoid woman who lives with some ape creatures after being born there when her mother's ship crashed. Some evil humans arrive which she is able to defeat.

Fourth is "Ghita of Alizarr" by Frank Thorne (story & art). Rahmuz continues to come after Ghita, this time 'killing' Thenef and Dahib and being able to kidnap Ghita by taking Thenef's form. Rahmuz plans on the wedding he hopes for himself and Ghita while Dakini, the four breasted harem member of his wonders what will become of her then. Luckily at the end it is revealed that Thenef and Dahib survived after all.

Last is "Coming of Age!" by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story). An interesting story featuring mankind from their very beginnings through the present and apocalypse. A nice way to end the issue.

1994 21

An odd looking cover for this issue by Alex Nino. There are no credits on any stories in this issue; credits are based on those included in Richard Arndt's well known Warren listing, and the writer names given on the content page.

First is "Lord Machina!" by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story features a new computer device from a company called Futura that needs to be reviewed by a government agent first. The agent soon acquires a huge debt from gambling with the machine and after losing all his money is forced to perform assassinations by the device. Eventually he can't take it anymore and destroys it.

Second is the second part of "Diana Jacklighter, Manhuntress!" by Esteban Maroto (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story). Diana travels along the planet she has crashed on with her companion Jason, who has taken the form of a penis and balls. During her search for the first of the seven escaped criminals, she encounters a creature she lets live, which saves her later on when she encounters the criminal.

Third is "Love is a Many Tentacled Thing" by Delando Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story features a planet of tentacled monsters that release nuclear energy when they make love, forcing them to not make love with each other as it'd cause a large explosion. There is a connection between one such beast and a human woman who makes love to it. Eventually the beast transforms to Earth and the woman, who is transforming into one herself makes love with him again, and it results in the Earth blowing up.

Fourth is "Ghita of Alizarr" by Frank Thorne (story & art). In this story Ghita meets up again with the mute witness from the previous part and engages in some lesbian sex with her in which it is revealed that she is not mute after all. Unfortunately a monster from Urd, masquerading as a human arrives and kills the waitress, attacking Ghita before she is able to save herself.

Fifth is "Angel!" by Rudy Nebres (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This is the kick off of a new series, starring a young woman named Angel and her companion, a monster called Ape, who rescue a pair of archeologists from some humanoid monsters.

Sixth is "Mars Bar: Tales of the Red Planet Saloon" by Redondo Studio (art) and Gerry Boudreau (story). A martian creature called Snort convinces a woman he likes, Slut to marry him due to money he'll make by being in the army and patenting inventions. She soon falls in love with his commanding officer Mungo however, and cheats on him, then gets him to kill himself by saying she doesn't love him. He comes back as a robot however and kills both of them.

Last is "Freefall!" by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story features an astronaut caught outside of a ship in space, but he screws up while trying to get back to it, ending up blowing up the entire thing.

1994 20

Given the total ineptitude of Eerie 113, I'll be covering a second issue as well today.

The cover of this issue is by Nestor Redondo. Only a so-so issue at best unfortunately. It is cover dated August 1981.

First is another "Young Sigmond Pavlov" story by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (as Will Richardson, which is how he's referenced throughout the issue). This story is actually a vast improvement over the previous one. It features Pavlov once again talking to a patient, this time a guy who claims that God sent him a giant spaceship-like ark and ordered him to gather bizarre creatures from across the world. He does so only to find out its only a joke being played on him by God. Similar to the previous story, this story is primarily two page spreads by Nino, although the artwork is considerably toned down in terms of content compared to the last story.

Second is "Diana Jacklighter, Manhuntress!" a new series by Esteban Maroto (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story, as Alabaster Redzone, which is how he's credited throughout the issue). The most interesting thing in this issue, it kicks off a pretty long series. Jacklighter is a pilot responsible for what was supposed to be an easy mission, transporting a group of 7 criminals that are in suspended animation. When her ship is struck by a meteor however, the ship crashes and all the criminals, who also happen to be suffering from a plague, escape. Jacklighter is now forced to head out and capture all of them. Some nice art by Maroto although the suspended animation chamber appears to be ripped off from the movie Alien.

Third is "Little Beaver" by Vic Catan (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story takes place in a future where the communists and capitalists have battled, wiping out most of the world. A teenage native american girl and her grandmother Running Box think they are the only humans left and live with a tentacled monster, but some communists still alive arrive and end up getting blown up by a nuclear bomb they possess.

Fourth is "Ghita of Alizarr" by Frank Thorne (story & art). This story's considerably shorter than the usual Ghita story, at only 8 pages. Ghita and friends come across an inn where they stay. There they witness a mute maid being decapitated as part of a magic trick. During the trick her head tells Ghita not to return to Alizarr.

Last is the return of "Spearchucker Spade: Intergalactic Eye" by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story). The previous story was so-so, this one is rather lousy, although the art is nice. Spade heads out to a space station to help fight against Ronald Reagan's crazy descendent. Thankfully this was it for this particular character.

1994 19

This issue starts off with a good cover by Jordi Penalva.

First is "Young Sigmond Pavlov!" by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story, as Will Richardson, which is how he's credited throughout the issue). Its around this point in this magazine's life where you truly start to wonder whether Bill Dubay and Alex Nino have lost their minds. This story kicks off a completely nonscensical series of stories with little to them in terms of plot, but with by far the most bizarre and over the top artwork Warren ever published. Not just extremely bizarre, but also incredibly offensive as well. This story, which has Pavlov, a psychologist, talking to a patient, consists pretty much entirely of two page spreads of incredibly over the top material (much of it sexual in nature). And trust me, its gets even more over the top in the stories to come. You wonder how Nino even thought of much of the stuff he starts drawing with this story. This stuff has to be seen to be believed. Probably on its own makes this issue, and the later ones featuring this stuff a worthwhile purchase.

Second is "Fugue for a Ferrite Fugitive" by Vic Catan (art) and Bill Dubay & Kevin Duane (story). This story features a robot who is accused of murder who is innocent, as another robot who looks just like him committed the murders. Unfortunately things don't go well for the robot; even though he does find the other robot, the both of them end up getting destroyed. A so-so story at best.

Third is "The Holy Warrior!" by Delando Nino (art) and John Ellis Sech & Bill Dubay (story). This story takes place in a future where there are Jesus clones. Our hero, the Holy Warrior, is seeking to rescue one, which is just a child from communist enemies. He is able to do so, but the two of them are so hungry that he ends up killing the clone and eating him! Quite a bizarre and heretical ending for this story.

Fourth is "Ghita of Alizarr" by Frank Thorne (story & art). Rahmuz, leader of Urd, is introduced. He desires for Ghita to join his harem, which already includes a four breasted woman (!). He hopes to make Ghita his Queen and as a result rule over Alizarr as well. Ghita meanwhile meets an old lady who reveals that the unicorn she's traveling with has the spirit of Khan Dagon within it. Sartan arrives and cuts off the horn from the unicorn, hoping to make himself rich with it. Ghita bids farewell to the old woman and meets back up with Thenef and Dahib.

Fifth is "Et Tu Casey!" by Abel Laxamana (art) and Kevin Duane (story). This story, as one would think from the title, is heavily inspired by the story of Casey, the great baseball player who struck out when his team needed him most. The twist on this story is that first, it takes place on an alien planet, and second, Casey does manage to hit the ball, but it explodes, blowing up the entire ballpark.

Last is "Steele!" by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay & Budd Lewis (story). This story makes a hell of a lot more sense than Dubay and Nino's first story for this issue. It features a man who is severly wounded, losing the bottom half of his body. He is put in suspended animation then later brought back to life to become an assassin, assigned to killing demons. Eventually the original Hunter makes an appearance and after being severly injured, our protagonist is transformed once again, into the Exterminator featured extensively in the Hunter II series. A pretty good prequel story tying in to the Hunter and Hunter II serials from Eerie.

1994 18

This issue of 1994 features a cover by H.R. Giger, most well known for his designs on the Alien movies. Unfortunately this was his sole work for Warren.

First is "The Lost Loves of Cranfranz P. Thitwacker" by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story, as Will Richardson). 'Cranfranz' has been a name that I've seen excessively in Alex Nino drawn stories in this issue for a while now. Anyway, Cranfranz is a forty seven year old virgin who buys a 'make your own woman' kit, which he promptly screws up, creating a horrific creature that immediately falls dead. He later tries to creatue another woman, and screws up her even more. By trying to dispose of the remains, he is caught and brought to jail. His neighbor meanwhile decides that she'd like to look into such a kit herself to create a man for her.

Second is "Lone Wolf" by Delando Nino (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). This story takes place in the future, where much of humanity has moved underground, leaving above ground to mutants. People underground known as Seekers head above ground to kill them. One such Seeker is Lone Wolf, who is generally disliked by all. He goes above ground where he meets a woman taking care of some deformed children. When they are attacked by fellow seekers, he fights them off, and decides to stay above ground for good.

Third is "The Mad Planet" by Vic Catan (art) and Gerry Boudreau & Bill Dubay (story, Dubay is creited as Will Richardson). A prisoner is on a planet that is hit with a plaugue, killing all but him and a guard, a monster whom he falls in love with. Due to the plague, he is quarantined on the planet. Eventually his lover passes away of a heart attack and soon after astronauts arrive with a cure for the plague, wanting to use him to help a candidate be elected president. The prisoner wishes not to leave however, and kills them all. Some pretty good art here by Catan in the best story of the issue.

Fourth is the latest "Ghita of Alizarr" story by Frank Thorne (story & art). Ghita and friends meet an old friend of her, Sartan. They take part in a performance, but trolls interrupt it and they head after them. Along the way they encounter Noads, tiny troll like creatures that take Ghita capture. Ghita is able to escape due to a unicorn.

Last is thankfully the final part of "The Starfire Saga" by Rudy Nebres (art) and Bill Dubay (story, as Will Richardson). Chris heads back to the base from the first part, but is attacked due to being a suspect in the murder of a character from the first part (about half this story is a recap of the first part of this series). Instead it is revealed that a pedophile man stationed there killed the man, and Chris has a happy reunion with her father. In the end this series ends dissappointing, but then again this entire series has been a poor dissappointment. I can't believe they wasted eight appearances on this boring drivel.

1994 17

Jim Stenstrum is responsible for the cover for this issue of 1994, with Bill Dubay providing the color.

First is "Asshole of the Universe" by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story, as Will Richardson). Nino's art is very good here, resembling his brother Delando's art throughout much of the story. This story is about a astronaut who reaches the edge of the universe, destroying his ship, but somehow leaving him alive. He finds himself in a landscape where other living beings start appearing. He gains the power of a God, but alas, all doesn't go well.

Second is "Mad Amy" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Kevin Duane & Bill Dubay (story, as Will Richardson). This story tells of the future where robots have run amok, resulting in the destruction of most of the world. This story surrounds Mad Amy of the title and her programming friend who encounter a number of robots and eventually are able to outsmart them into being friendly to humans once again.

Third is "Ghita of Alizarr", returning after a two issue absense. Art and story is by Frank Thorne. Ghita and Thenef and Dahib are invited to a neighboring land of Urd. Along the way Ghita and Thenef tell Dahib a story of years before when they were recruited to obtain a cup from the queen's bedroom. Naturally there's lots of nudity and sex involved.

Fourth is this issue's color story, "Kid Rust" by Jose Ortiz (art). The writer is uncredited. This story is about a robot boxer and his manager. The manager refuses to work with a gambler and fix a fight so the gambler has him killed. The manager is able to resurrect himself in the robot's body however, ensuring he stays alive.

Fifth is "The Big Celebration" by Abel Laxamana (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story). This story, which I would probably rank as the best of the issue tells of aliens asking Earth to send a representative, which ends up being a has been quarterback who had one big game a few years ago. No one is able to figure out why they're asking for him, even the quarterback himself. He heads to the stars where he meets the aliens, who are a few years behind on their TV which is why they like him so much, the last they saw of him he was a star.

Last is "Man is God!" by Alex Nino (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). This is a very quick 2 page story about a pair of astronauts arguing over the universe while a giant sneezing interferes with their flight.

1994 14

A pretty good cover starts of a pretty good issue of 1994. The Sanjulian cover, featuring Ghita of Alizarr and the various characters from her serial wraps around to include the back cover as well, a rarity for Warren. Sorry, couldn't track down an image of the cover for this issue!

First is "Womb With a View!" by Alex Nino (art) and Nicola Cuti (story). A husband and wife who are about to have a baby consent to allow a doctor to use a machine on her that will enable the baby to learn from inside the womb. This soon has major effects on the baby (known as Cranfranz) however, who gains the ability to read their minds and force them to do things from within the womb. He forces the father to do things for him including killing people. The father manages to stop him by permanently becoming his twin brother in the womb, and strangling him.

Second is "The Benevolence" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story). The best story in this issue, and a pretty long one, at 22 pages long. 'The Benevolence' is a program where supplies are brought to colony planets around the universe. The last ship on their trip is filled with horrifically mutated scientists. When there is a malfunction with their ship, they have the ability to escape unharmed, but only if they drop off part of the ship down to the planet, killing everyone there. The captain doesn't want to do it but his crew mutinies and causes it to happen anyway. Wishing to keep the Benevolence program alive, the captain accepts all the blame himself for the events that occurred.

Third is "The Galaxy Grand Prix" by Vic Catan (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story, credited to Alabaster Redzone). The worst story of the issue, it features an intergalactic race taking place in spaceships. Nothing all that interesting here.

Fourth is the latest "Ghita of Alizarr" story by Frank Thorne (story & art). Ghita leads her forces towards Nergon's city and she surrenders to them unarmed. There Nergon shows her to everyone in order to humiliate her, but when Ghita's forces, including Drill arrive, the trolls become scared and Ghita uses the opportunity to seize a sword and kill Nergon's soldiers, and soon Nergon himself. Victorious over the enemy, Ghita decides to share her rulership with Thenef and Dahib. A pretty good conclusion to the first series of Ghita stories. This series would take a few issues off before starting up again with issue 17.

Last is the second part of "Baby Makes Three" by Abel Laxamana (art) and Kevin Duane (story). Turner and Kelly come across the space station seen at the end of the last part, and meet Chulmann, the head of the place. While there Turner listens to a report from his superior. Only 6 pages long and ending abruptly, I wonder if this was originally meant to be part of the next story and got split off for inclusion here.

1994 13

This issue of 1994 features Jose Bea's only real cover for Warren (his other cover, Eerie 75 was actually just a colored panel from a story of his). Its a really good cover, but unfortunately was Bea's only work at Warren between 1977 through 1983.

First is "Imaginary Lover!" by Alex Nino (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). A spaceship carrying 500 embryos, which are to be used as laborers is hit by a meteor and crashes into a foresty planet. As a result all of the embryos are killed but one, who is taken care of by Servo, a robot. Marx, the embryo, quickly grows up but longs for a woman. When one suddenly appears they have sex but Servo reveals that it is actually a figment of his imagination that Marx has turned into reality. Marx's thoughts also create a monster, that ends up killing Servo. Marx defeats the monster and kills the woman too, blaming her for Servo's destruction. While some investigating it afterwards don't believe he really created the woman or monster, the discovery that he has V.D. lends some credence to them being real.

Second is "Cyberman" by Delando Nino (art) and Rich Margopoulos (story). In the future people are able to live longer by transporting their bodies into androids. One such android man finds his wife harrassed and murdered one day, so he goes on a quest to destroy those that killed her.

Third is "The Crop!" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Bill Dubay (story). Another over the top, disgusting story by Dubay. this story takes place in the future after a famine and rough winter causes many to starve. A new food source arises that saves humanity, cloning. This story takes place from the perspective of one of the factory workers. While claimed to be cloned beef, the clones instead look exactly like human babies. Eventually after multiple pages showing these 'babies' being carved up, disaster happens as tapeworms ruin the supply of clones and all are destroyed. The main character, overhearing some scientists, hears them say that the clones were human all along and were used to get humans to get used to eating human meat. Discovering him listening, the scientists put him on the assembly line to use for food. While an interesting story, the fact that so much of it features carving up human babies to eat and the sheer ignorance of the main character to realize that they are humans is a severe flaw.

Fourth is the fifth story in the "Starfire Saga" series. Art is by Rudy Nebres and story is by Bill Dubay. Chris is dropped off by the pirates on a new planet where she is rescued from an octopus by a man named Sledge. They find a spider nearby that has killed Chris's friends, Snuffy and Drago. A short story this time at only 6 pages.

Fifth is "Ghita of Alizarr", the sixth story in this series. Art and story are both by Frank Thorne. Continuing from the previous story, the evil priest Sef brings Ghita before his God, Drill, who appears to be a giant worm. When Thenef and Dahib arrive and Ghita is knocked into the chasm that Drill came from, it is revealed that what we saw was actually just a tentacle of Drill, who looks like the inside of an oyster. Dahib beheads Sef and Thenef manages to control Drill using the gem he has. Planning to use Drill to help them in their battle later, Ghita and their troll underlings head off the battle.

The issue concludes with "Voyage to the Bottom of the Barrel" by Abel Laxamana (art) and Budd Lewis (story). A very over the top, racist story, it features a professor who states that black people are descended from neanderthals and whites are so much better than them that they must be aliens. This results in a war where white people try to exterminate all the black people on Earth, led by President Jimmy Carter. When aliens do arrive, it ends up that it is actually black people who are aliens, not white people. This story combined with 'The Crop' makes this arguably the most offensive issue Warren ever published.

1994 12

Sanjulian provides a rare cover for this latest issue of 1994. Only six stories in this issue, not too many compared to how many it usually has, but a very good issue.

First is "The Seed!" by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story, as Will Richardson). After a major interstellar war has ended, the various races of the universe discover that they are now sterile. The only race left in the world that can procreate is incidently enough, the Earth. The universe sends two creatures with the appearance of human women that sleep with many men; the semen is then used to populate the universe once again. When the Earth destroys one of the ships heading there to get more semen however, it triggers an even bigger interstellar war.

Next is "Jailbreak... On Channel 69" by Jose Gonzalez (art) and Bob Toomey (story). This is a very short story at only four pages long showing a jailbreak at an all women's prison. It is used as a TV program, but ends up getting cancelled partway through. This story's reminisent of the story "The Box" from issue 5.

Third is "Over Four Billion Served" by Delando Nino (art) and Kevin Duane (story). This story features a man writing a letter to the Secretary General of the UN explaining why he should be compensated for spending a lot of money on feeding an alien ambasador. The alien was at an event with the man, and stated that his race would like to start eating humans. Our protagonist tries to change his mind by feeding him various types of common Earth food. The alien is so disgusted by the food that he thinks it is poison and starts barfing it up. This ends up saving humanity as the alien tells his planet that they can't eat us.

Fourth is the fourth part of "The Starfire Saga" by "Rudy Nebres" and Bill Dubay (storym as Will Richardson). This story continues to be the poorest part of the magazine. Kris and Snuffy are still being attacked by the strange monster by the prior part, but are saved by Drago, a strong man in a prehistoric getup. When some starfighters arrive and blast him, his true form, a very small creature comes out of Drago's 'body'. The people from the Starfighters come out and Kris awakens after being knocked out having been raped by one of them. This is where this latest segment ends.

Fifth is the fifth part of Ghita of Alizarr" by Frank Thorne (story & art). This latest segment continues the upward trend started in the previous one. We return to the cave that Ghita, Theneff and the others are training their army of halftroll soldiers. The rogue halftroll, Sef, summons his lord, which appears to be a giant worm. He then captures Ghita and brings her to it, trying his hardest to resist the urges he feels by carrying around her naked body. This part ends just as his lord approaches the passed out Ghita.

Last is the first part of a new series, "Baby Makes Three!" by Abel Laxamana (art) and Kevin Duane (story). This interesting new story starts with an extended history lesson about the discovery of the outer planets in our solar system. An unknown entity in the universe, called 'Baby' is discovered in space. Our hero, Turner is about to go on leave when he is summoned to be sent out into space to encounter 'Baby'. Along with his ship mate, Kelly, he heads outside our solar system and they approach a large space station called George Peterson Field.

1994 11

With this issue 1984 becomes 1994. The official reason, as listed on the letter page was to avoid confusion with George Orwell's novel of the same name. More likely reason was due to actual complaints from the Orwell estate. In addition, a magazine about the future named 1984 certainly was starting to make less sense when it was already 1980, the year this issue came out. The cover is by Alex Nino, credited to 'A2-120'.

First story is "East of Euthanasia" by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story, credited as Will Richardson). It is the future, where politicians caused the apocalypse and our heroes are traveling across the Earth, working to wipe out the remains of humanity. Using biologial warfare they succeed in some of their plans, but end up getting infected themselves and dying. The politicians who were hiding out come into their vehicle however, which ends up infecting them as well.

Next is "The Jewels of Araknid" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Rich Margopoulos (story). This story features a small bug like humanoid creature on a planet filled with dinosaur-like creatures, including some half human half dinosaur creatures which he helps. They bring him to a temple where they worship a giant spider. Our hero finds some jewels there which he takes, and must fight a giant spider to escape. Only he soon discovers after taking a nap that they're not jewels, but spider eggs and he's quickly eaten by all the baby spiders.

Third is "Outpost 1017" by Mike Saentz (art) and Rich Margopoulos (story). This story features a lone astonaut in a large space shuttle that is responsible for warning earth if there are any dangerous aliens found. He discovers some alien spaceships that don't respond to him, so he blasts them. Only he discovers that what he blasted were actually peaceful aliens with some armor on them.

Fourth is "Live Large" by E.R. Cruz (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). This story features some hunters in the prehistoric era. Some of them get into a fight over some gambling, which gets some dinosaurs involved. A very poor story with some even poorer art by Cruz. Cruz was a horrible, horrible artist who unfortunately did many stories in the last few years of Warren's existence. All his faces look exactly the same

Fifth is the third part of "The Starfire Saga" by Rudy Nebres (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story is in color. Kris, Snuffy and the others fight the pirates that come aboard their ship. After saving themselves they crash on a strange planet where a bizarre creature comes after them. This series continues to be quite dull.

Sixth is the fourth part of "Ghita of Alizarr" by Frank Thorne (story & art). Ghita, Theneff and Dahib work on recruiting an army of half trolls they find in a cave to join them. Ghita also meets the handsome Temmen whom she has sex with frequently. Theneff realizes that he is actually a traitor working for the evil troll Nergon who will kill her. Ghita initially doesn't believe him, but the next time they have sex he does try to kill her, but she saves herself and kills him, revealing him to be a troll. A pretty good story, my favorite of the Ghita serial so far.

Seventh is the second part of "Haxtur" by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). Haxtur ends up releasing a sorceress from a tree, as warned by an old man. He kills the sorceress only to find that the old man is the real evil one, so he kills him too. He then is encountered by an armored man on an elephant that he defeats. Haxtur leaves, depressed by all the killing he has done. This series would switch to Eerie after this issue.

Last is "Once There Was... A Master!" by Alex Nino (story & art). This is a short three page dialogue/caption less story featuring a bunch of mechanical parts coming together that form a humanoid giant robot.

1984 10

1984's last issue under this title, starting with the next issue it would become 1994. The cover is by Patrick Woodroffe, featuring a character from the Starfire Saga.

First is "The Whatever Shop!" by Alex Nino (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story). Looking to get a new popcorn popper, a man instead finds a store where the storeowner can get him anything he wants. He initially asks to for just a new popper, but comes back later when he realizes the owner gave him something else. He finds the owner trying to sell stuff to terrorists, and when the owner offers to give him anything he asks for a girl from a porno magazine, causing the machine to go crazy. The owner is arrested, as it ends up he was stealing and teleporting things using the machine. A pretty good, light hearted story to start off the issue.

Next is the finale for "Herma" by Jose Gonzalez (art) and Bill Dubay (story). Herma finds out that the movie career promised to her is all a lie, and she is instead locked up by a woman (who looks quite a lot like Vampirella) who gets off on people's pain and anguish. Luckily Herma's rescued by Dr. Pitts and Sir Robert Bolt, who had originally discovered her.

Third is "The Little Spaceship That Could!" by Jose Ortiz (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). A fleet of ships is asked to deliver an anti-toxin through a black hole. The smallest ship volunteers for the very dangerous mission, aware that he may not make it out alive. He heads through the black hole, is about to get out safely... then blows up. A rather unexpected ending to an otherwise dull story.

Fourth is "The Klanks Are Coming! The Klanks Are Coming!" by Vic Catan (art, his Warren debut) and Rich Margopoulos (story). This is a rather boring story featuring robotic aliens attacking and eventually destroying Earth. A Margopoulos clunker, what a surprise.

Fifth is the second part in the "Starfire Saga". Rudy Nebres now takes on the art duties, with Bill Dubay handling the story. Kris Starfire, revealed to be a girl who is masquerading as a boy (clearing up a very confusing ending to the last issue's story) heads to another planet and is a stowaway on a ship where a pervert attacks her. She is saved by Dr. Snufflesniff and some other men. Just then, space pirates arrive. Only two stories in and I'm already bored to death by this serial.

Sixth is part three in "Ghita of Alizarr" by Frank Thorne (story & art). Ghita and friends head through a forest where they encounter a unicorn, then is confronted by some trolls, whom she tricks and defeats by showing them her breasts. With three parts under our belt, I've still not really gotten all that into this story, which is a shame.

Seventh is "Haxtur" by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). This series was originally published in Europe in the early 70's and was reprinted for a couple of issues of 1984/1994 before being moved to Eerie. Alas, this means that after these first two parts we won't be seeing this series for a long, long time since its very far off compared to where I am in Eerie right now. Haxtur is a man apparantely killed by a giant lizard who is visited by four men calling themselves the Timeless Ones. They tell him he's cursed to discover man's destiny. Haxtur awakens to find himself attacked by lizard like men. He is rescued by some men who tell him of the Tyrant, a man who has created some robot creatures called Greyks who dominate the lizard men. Haxtur defeats the Greyks, which enables the Lizard men to kill the Tyrant.

Eight and final story is "Thinking of You" by Abel Laxamana (art) and Nicola Cuti (story). This story features a pilot whose ship has a woman-like personality, who gets jealous over the fact that he's with a human woman. Eventually the ship takes advantage of the opportunity to fire off a missile at her, eliminating its competition.

1984 8

This is the first issue of 1984 I ever owned. The cover is by Jim Laurier. The aliens featured in one of the spaceships on this cover would get a cover dedicated to themselves on Creepy 119 in 1981.

First is "Painters Mountain" by Alex Nino (art) and the team of Bill Dubay & Budd Lewis (story). The star of the story, Painter is a man who grows a distaste of the tribe he lives with and leaves them. He forms his own society but realizes that his old tribe is in danger. He tries to warn them, but they ignore him and are all killed by a mass flood.

Next is "All You Need is Love" the first part of the 'Herma' series. Art is by Jose Gonzalez and story is by Bill Dubay. The Herma series was originally drawn by Jose Gonzalez about five years before this issue and was published first in Europe. It features a frozen warrior woman, Herma being discovered who is thawed out and comes back to life. This being 1984, naturally Herma is obsessed with sex and sleeps with anyone she sees, man or woman. At the end of the story a sultan captures her to be one of his many wives. Gonzalez's art is quite good here, with lots and lots of naked beautiful women

The finale of "Twilight's End" is third, with art by Rudy Nebres and story by Jim Stenstrum (credited to Alabaster Redzone). Zev heads back to rescue Rena, whose colony of Enlighteneds has been completely destroyed and overtaken by the Throwbacks. A fellow observer suddenly arrives and reveals the truth, that Zev is a human being, and that humans have become so evolved that the Supreme Being of the universe seeked to wipe them out. Zev was used to see if humans could hide themselves in a primitive world. While he succeeded, it is too late and humanity, including Zev and his fellow observer are wiped out. This series ended up being quite a lot better than I originally expected it, particularly this very good final segment.

Fourth is the finale of "Mutant World" by Richard Corben (art) and Jan Strnad (story). Dimento gets tricked once again by a pair of fellow mutants who try to steal his food. He meets his lady friend, Julie (finally named for the first time here), but it ends up that she is actually a clone of the real Julie, who is long gone. Dimento gets to have sex with her, and the series ends once and for all. Overall this was a rather slow moving series, but put all 8 parts together and as a whole it ended up being pretty good. The art was quite nice throughout and featured a vast range of bizarre Corben creatures.

Fifth is part two of "Ghita of Alizarr" by Frank Thorne (art & story). Ghita and Thenef recruit a new ally, a half troll called Dahib. The three of them find some armor for Ghita and using Khan Dagon's sword, battle a number of trolls. Not as good a segment as the first in this series from a story standpoint. Thorne's art continues to be interesting and unique however.

Sixth is "Madmen and Messiahs" by Abel Laxamana and Bill Dubay (story). A so-so story featuring a future Earth where of all people... Ted Kennedy!?!?!? is President. The government has gone out of control and the people have decided to rebel. In the end it ends up that the main character is Kennedy's own nephew, but is killed off by the soldiers.

The issue wraps up with "Once Upon a Holocaust" by Alex Nino (art) and the team of Nicola Cuti & Bill Dubay (story). In a post apocalyptic world a soldier, Zero leads another soldier, Hardtack into a cryogenics lab where the only 3 women left in the world rest in suspended animation. Hardtack screws up on thawing one of the women, killing her, but the other two come out alive. Zero kills Hardtack so the women will be just his, but the truth is soon revealed, that it was all for nothing as they are both androids!

1984 7

This issue features a cover by Patrick Woodroffe of a beastly looking alien creature.

First is "Teleport: 2010" by Alex Nino (art) and Budd Lewis (story). This story is about a madman who hijacks a teleportation shuttle used to transport thousands of people a day. He kills numerous people, demanding the captain transport him to a place out of government jurisdiction. They fight, more people die, and eventually the captain transports him and everyone else, who he hopes to use as hostages... into the middle of space by accident, killing them all.

Second is "Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Budd Lewis (story). This story surrounds a rich man who has himself and girlfriend placed into suspended animation in space so he can outlive the war, famine and other things plauging the world. They awaken over 120,000 years later only to get sucked out into space to their deaths when they open an elevator door.

Third is "Kaiser Warduke and the Indespensable Jasper Gemslong!" by Jim Janes & Alfredo Alcala (art) and Rich Margopoulos (story). This story is about a mutant man, Kaiser Warduke with a talking gem on his head who saves a woman named Nymph from a monster that wants Kaiser to leave the planet. They encounter another alien which Kaiser kills as well. Only it ends up that the aliens wanted to save him, as Nymph sucks all his power out of him.

Fourth is the latest segment in "Mutant World" by Richard Corben (art) and Jan Strnad (story). The priest mutant goes on a rampage but is killed by one of the lab technicians. The head doctor decides to shut down their entire project. Dimento meanwhile escapes from the lab with the help of the human soldier he met before. He gets upset seeing him and the woman he has a crush on together, but the man simply knocks him out when he objects. One more story in this series which we'll see in the next episode.

Fifth is the second segment in the "Twilight's End" series by Rudy Nebres (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story, credited as Alabaster Redzone). Our hero Zev discovers the woman he met, Rena can talk and she tells him that she's part of the enlightened tribe, who is fighting the throwback tribe. They head to a colony of enlighteneds, where Zev is suspected as a devil because of his Snitch Scope companion. He is imprisoned and attacked by a lizard like creature, but manages to escape.

Sixth is the premiere of a new series, "Ghita of Alizarr" by Frank Thorne (story & art). This series would appear in most of the remaining issues of 1984/1994. Ghita is a woman who lives in the city of Alizar, which is soon to be under attack by trolls. King of Alizarr, Khalia is severly wounded and asks Ghita's fake wizard friend Thenef to bring back to life Khan Dagon, a great warrior. Using a gem they do so, but Khan goes crazy, killing Khalia and tries to rape Ghita. Luckily Thenef helps Ghita kill him.

Last is "Zincor and the Fempire" by Alex Nino (art) and Gerry Boudreau (story). This story takes place in the future where women have abandoned men, and are seeking out and destroying any they can. Our hero Zincor along with some of his fellow men spots a Fempire warship which lands near them and attack, spawning a battle between them and the women. Zincor rapes one of the women, Marta, which causes her to betray her allies and join the men. The women's battleship is destroyed by her and only one woman is left. Marta spots her with Zincor however, killing them both, leaving her as the only person left.