Eerie 131

This issue is an all reprint issue covering Wally Wood. Rudy Nebres provides this issue's cover.

First is "Killer Hawk" with story by Bill Dubay, from Eerie 61. While no official title appears, this story is in the 'Exterminator' series, although stand alone in nature. Killer Hawk is a military officer who rises through the ranks and becomes bodyguard for the President of Mars. In actuality, Hawk is an exterminator robot whose mission is to kill the President and take him place. He does exactly that, but is deemed too powerful and is disposed of by his leaders soon afterwards.

Second is "Overworked". Dan Adkins provides art on this story along with Wood. The story is by Archie Goodwin. This story, which was Wood and Adkin's Creepy debut (from issue 8) is about a comic book artist who is finds himself plauged by the monsters from the stories he creates. He tries to stop, but keeps getting more jobs and finds himself in horrific situations. Eventually he becomes trapped within his own strip.

Third is "The Cosmic All" with Wood providing the story. This issue is from Creepy 38. Astronauts heading across the universe find a blob like creature on each planet they come to. When they finally find a planet with humanoid people who attack them and are killed, leaving behind a message that their death was clean compared to whats going to happen to the astronauts. They decide to sleep there and the next morning two of the astronauts find everyone else reduced to skeletons. They escape, but one of them sends their ship crashing to Earth. Immediately after the flesh falls off their bodies, turning into the blob seen before, known as the 'Cosmic All' that is bringing peace to the universe by turning everyone to blobs. A very interesting sci-fi story.

Fourth is "The Battle of Britain!" with Adkins assisting on art again and story by Wood. This story is from Blazing Combat 3. It takes place in 1940 featuring allied planes facing off against Nazi planes. The hero of the story fails miserably his first time in the air and narrowly survives the second, but they call of the fighting in order to bomb the German cities instead, sparing him future combat.

"War of the Wizards" from Vampirella 10 is the fifth story, and is also written by Wally Wood. It's about a pair of rival wizards who use a soldier in their fight between each other. The soldier is able to defeat both wizards, and is revealed to be a wizard himself. As usual, Wood's art is quite good, and the story, while not having a horror theme, is pretty good too.

Last is "The Man Hunters" with story by Gerry Boudreau, from Eerie 60. Apparantly this is one of many Wood stories rewritten based on editor Bill Dubay's request. The story features a woman on a spaceship with two other men, searching for her husband, who had dissappeared months earlier. They arrive on a planet with a tentacled monster, who quickly kill the two men. The monster leads her to a city where it puts a helmet on her which causes her to discover that her husband crashed on this planet and was saved by the monsters, who switched his brain to one of them! She decides to stay on the planet with her husband in his new form.

Creepy 51

Sanjulian provides the cover for this issue of Creepy, dated March 1973. The two page frontis, "Possessed From Beyond the Grave!" is provided by Auraleon (art) and Fred Ott (story), featuring a possessed child.

First is "Deja Vu" by Esteban Maroto (art) and Doug Moench (story). A psychologist hypnotizes a young woman, who tells him of a past life where she was a witch who was burned at the stake after being accused by a man who ends up being her ancestor. She curses him, saying that his descendents will be killed by cats. He tries to convince her to stay, but she runs off, and ends up being killed by a cat, just like the curse said. He is revealed to be a descendent of the witch. This story would later be printed in color, with some edits, in Creepy 82.

Next is "Star-Slaughter" by Ramon Torrents (art, his Warren debut) and Rich Margopoulos (story). This futuristic story features humanoid robots battling each other. One of the robots kills one of the other ones, and realizing what he has done, kills himself. He is repaired by his creators, who mention that this is not the first time he has tried to kill himself.

Third is "Death Wish" by Adolfo Abellan (art) and John Warner (story). This story takes place in Mexico, where a large zombie, Esteban, attacks people for his master, but wishes his own life to end. He eventually kills his master only to find his master was another zombie, brought to life by a witch. This causes him to go on yet another murderous rampage.

Fourth is "Package Deal" by Jose Bea (art) and Martin Pasko (story). A man murders his first wife, then disposes of the body by chopping it up and putting it in a mail box, which in a storm gets blown away. Time goes by and the man is remarried. He starts receiving packages in the mail, which contain his dead wife's body parts and notes from her. This eventually causes him to snap, chopping the head off the mailman. His body is later found crushed under the very mailbox he had put her corpse into.

Fifth is "The Viyi", by Esteban Maroto (story and art). This story, which was originally printed in Europe in the Dracula anthology is the first full color story to be printed in a Warren mag. It was also printed at the same time in Vampirella 22. The story features a man coming to destroy a beautiful woman who has become a vampire. He becomes enamored with her looks however and she awakens and turns him into one too.

Sixth is "His Brother's Grave" by Auraleon (art) and Kevin Pagan (story). A man, coming to see his sister runs over a wolf in the road. Further details arise surrounding the wolf's owner, a local handyman and his brother. Soon the man dies himself and is buried alongside the wolf, but he later returns from the grave to attack our protagonist.

Last is "Bed of Roses" by Felix Mas (art) and Doug Moench (story). This story is about a seriously deranged young woman, Rose, who works at a flower store and was apparently traumatized by being locked up by her mother as a kid. She goes completely out of control, killing with scissors a man who comes into her store, then later attacking her mother too. As the story ends she is kept in a padded cell at an institution.

Vampirella 34

Enrich provides the cover for this issue of Vampirella, cover dated June 1974. Jeff Jones provides the frontis "Extraordinary Verse" based on the William Blake poem "Tyger Tyger". Quite a good issue, with only one poor story.

First is "The Carnival of Death" by Jose Gonzalez (art) and Mike Butterworth (story, as Flaxman Loew). Traveling in Venice, Vampirella and Pendragon meet Zymer, a cruel man who Vampirella gets upset at after he forces participation in a russian roulette type game. Meanwhile a rich couple invites many old friends to a ball they are having, and an invitation ends up going to Zymer too. A large group heads to the ball with Zymer, where they find that the other guests are actually corpses! Vampirella finally snaps, killing Zymer by draining his blood. They depart, leaving the rich couple with their dead friends.

Second is "Miranda" by Felix Mas (art) and Fred Ott (story). A rich man obsessed with marrying women with deformities visits an old woman, wanting to meet and marry her niece, Miranda. The old woman allows him to meet Miranda, who is a freak with praying mantis arms, but the old woman refuses to let him take her, even with him offering a million dollars for her. When the old woman sleeps, the rich man and Miranda run off together however. The old woman heads to their house, but it is too late. As part praying mantis, Miranda has already killed and eaten him.

Third is "From the Spain of Legend" featuring the character Fleur, in her first of four appearances. Art is by Ramon Torrents while story is by John Jacobson. Richard, a traveling Earl visits a fellow noble, Chelidonius, seeking lodging while he returns home from the Crusades. Chelidonius tricks the Earl, having him locked up as an accussed witch so he can take over his property. Within the prison Richard meets Fleur, a woman who claims to actually be a witch. When it is time for the 'witches' to be burned at the stake, Fleur kills their captors and escapes with Richard. Richard however attacks her since she is a real witch, and Fleur kills him.

Fourth is "Black and White Vacuum to Blues" by Esteban Maroto (art) and Doug Moench (story). Bill Dubay provides the color. Despite some very good art and coloring, this is a poor, very confusing story about a clown being pursued through the old west, space, and other places. It ends up that the clown is just a character on television.

Fifth is "Recurrence!" by Jose Bea (art) and Steve Skeates (story). A young woman murders her husband by pushing him down an elevator shaft. After collecting the insurance money from his death she starts having strange dreams of being pushed off a cliff by a small dwarf like creature. Eventually she sees him for real while driving and drives off a cliff, which results in her falling to her death.

Last is "Cold Cuts" by Jeff Jones (art) and Berni Wrightson (story). Terrific contributions from these two, with Wrightson providing his only writing credit for a story he didn't draw as well. The story features a man in a winter wilderness who shoots a deer and carries it with him. Meanwhile his wife is snowbound in a cabin with a colleague of his who attacks her. While the hunter thinks about providing for his wife, the colleague's body is mutilated, as if he was being prepared to eat.

Eerie 130

This issue compromises the single worst issue in the history of Warren publishing. The cover is by Steve Fastner and Richard Larson, and is dated April 1982. The artwork is by E.R. Cruz, with story by Rich Margopulos. This issue is comprised of four stories, titled "Stitches in Time", "Corridors of Doom", "Vortex" and The End of Time". This is an issue long feature about Vampirella and the Time Force, which is actually a number of characters from Eerie's history. Recurring characters in this issue include Vampirella, Pendragon, Conrad, Adam, Pantha, Hunter, Schreck, Exterminator, Dax, Child, Pie, Mac Tavish, the Spook, Coffin, Hunter II, Darklon, the Rook, Bishop Dane and Manners. Very few of which act like they did in their original stories by the way. That Margopoulos would bring back so many characters, many of whom were dead, and make them behave in no manner whatsoever like their original characters reeks of a pathetic attempt to simply increase interest in the quickly declining Eerie magazine by bringing back popular characters from Eerie's past. The problem is that most of these characters were not superheroes, and to act here like they were shows that Margopoulos has no concept of Eerie's history. He even urinates on his own creation, Hunter here. And not just that, Cruz's artwork here is among the worst artwork to ever appear in a Warren magazine. Vampirella and Pantha look exactly the same, and as unsexy as they ever appeared in their Warren life. Conrad appears with regular glasses in many panels, and sunglasses in others. Adam has blond hair. Some of the characters from Eerie's past look nothing like they did in their original appearance. Just pathetic. No other issue in Warren's publishing history is so embarressing.

Oh, and for those who want to know what the plot is, it features Tenichi, a recurring villain from Vampirella's storyline who comes up with a plan to summon various characters from Eerie's past from the past and future to use them to fight Vampirella. To do this he needs the amulet that belonged to Pie. Eventually these characters realize that they shouldn't fight Vampirella, so they team up with her and Tenichi summons even more characters. Eventually the Rook becomes involved as well. And so on. In all honesty, its just not worth discussing this issue any further.

Creepy 119

Jim Laurier provides an interesting and somewhat funny cover to this issue of Creepy. This issue is an all Alex Nino reprint special, dated July 1980.

First is "A Boy and His Thing" by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story), from Creepy 101. A young boy visits a ship captain who is a friend of his. The captain tells him of a giant tentacled creature they fought and killed at sea. He brought back the baby of the creature, which he gives to the boy.

Second is "Keep Kool" by Alex Nino (art) and Bob Toomey (story), from Creepy 104. An old man who is quite wealthy despises humanity so he heads off to another planet where his only companions are robots. He has the robots fight one another, then receives a giant box that he can create monster from to fight one another.

Third is "Always Leave 'Em Laughing!" by Alex Nino (art) and Len Wein (story), from Creepy 105. All clowns are banned from Earth and forced to head to the moon if they want to remain a clown. There they fail to generate any laughs from the robot population and decide to bomb the surface of the moon to turn it into a clown face It is successful, but they are killed by Earth who misunderstand their intensions.

Fourth is "Sisters" by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story), from Creepy 97. This story contains two parallel stories featuring a human girl and alien girl facing extreme mental anguish. It ends up that both had twin sisters that were stillborn, and that the two are connected to each other as the alien is the human girl's dead sister and vice versa. Both girls end up killing themselves, reunited when reincarnated as twins on yet another alien planet.

Fifth is "Backwater and Timing Circles" by Alex Nino (art) and Budd Lewis (story), from Creepy 94. A boy takes a trip to the past to go fishing in the prehistoric era through the company Timing Circles. His guide warns him that they can't take anything back with them and must not kill anything, but when the guide gets in trouble, the boy stabs the dinosaur attacking him. This changes the present such that everyone becomes bizarre looking monsters. This story is blatant plagarism of Ray Bradbury's story A Sound of Thunder. Luckily for Warren, they never got in trouble with this as they did with Harlan Ellison's A Boy and His Dog.

Sixth is "Alien Strain" by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story), from Creepy 96. A 'Banggi' and his human friend are attacked by various aliens when they arrive at a planet where they have transported some robots. The mob has good reason to fear him however, as by arriving the Banggi has caused an epidemic where thousand of Banggi larva work their way through various prostitutes, infesting the planet. Very odd looking aliens here by Nino, as usual for him.

Eerie 1

Today will be covering the first ever issue of Eerie. I'll start off by saying I don't actually own this issue. I do own all the content in it in some form or another though. This is the rarest Warren magazine of all time, only approximately 200 issues or so actually existed. The story goes that back in September 1965 Warren was planning on creating a companion magazine for Creepy called Eerie, but heard that a rival publisher was planning on using the same title. By rushing this issue to publication with a reprinted cover and all reprinted stories, Warren was able to copyright the name. What was supposed to be the first issue of Eerie became the second issue of Eerie.

The cover for this issue is by Jack Davis, and is a reprint of a subscription ad from the second issue of Creepy.

First story is "Image of Bluebeard" by Joe Orlando (art) and Bill Pearson (story), from Creepy 7. A mysterious assassin plagues the countryside. Meanwhile a young woman marries an older man who cares for her, but forces her to stay on his estate in the woods. He has a cabin near their house that he refuses her to see. After finding out that he's married three times before and discovering a book about bluebeard in his library, she becomes convinced that he's the killer and stabs him just as he is about to bring her into the cabin. But it ends up that the killer had already been captured and the cabin was just filled with animals he had gathered to keep her company.

Second is "Death Plane" by George Evans (art) and Larry Ivie (story), from Creepy 8. Evans was a terrific artist at EC but unfortunately did very few Warren stories, just this and a few for Blazing Combat. This story features a mysterious plane that is taking out both American and German planes during the war. One of the American officers is killed and realizes that the ghost of each person killed appears in the plane until they can kill someone else.

Last is "The Invitation" with art by Manny Stallman and story by Russ Jones, Larry Englehart and Maurice Whitman, from Creepy 8. A Baron gets in a car accident and comes across a mansion where vampires live. He convinces them to let him live as long as he brings them victims. He does, but eventually they turn him into a vampire as well. Whitman would very lamely repeat this exact same story in Creepy 17 in the story "A Night Lodging".

Vampirella 87

This reprint issue of Vampirella is from May 1980. Enrich provides the cover, a somewhat edited version of his cover from issue 52. An odd reprint issue here, melding together six Vampirella stories from issue 60, 61, 62, 65, 66 and 67. All stories were drawn by Jose Gonzalez and written by Bill Dubay. The stories used were "The Return of the Blood Red Queen of Hearts" from issue 60, "An Eye for an Eye" from issue 61, "Starpatch, Quark & Mother Blitz" from issue 62, "The Mad King of Drakulon" from issue 65, "To Be a Bride in Death" from issue 66 and "The Glorious Return of Sweet Baby Theda" from issue 67. The entire story is told under the overall title of "The Return of the Blood Red Queen". Some of the pages here have been edited, removed or rewritten.

As the story begins, the Blood Red Queen of Hearts, who lost her eyes to a demon in her first appearance (issue 49) tries once again to gather hearts so she can become Chaos's bride. She also seeks revenge on Vampirella by taking her eyes from her. Pendragon meanwhile meets a beautiful woman who steals his book on Chaos from him after knowcking him out. Once Vampi is captured, the Queen of Hearts takes her eyes. Meanwhile, the woman who stole the book on Chaos ends up causing a demon to come and attack her. Vampi escapes, but without her eyes is quite helpless. Suddenly a group of aliens arrive and save her, giving her her eyes back. They also restore Pendragon's heart, which had been stolen by the Queen. Vampi is returned by the aliens to near Drakulon where she meets the sole living person there, Cedrin, who actually lives on a moon near Drakulon. She is happy with him for a while until she realizes he stays alive by keeping captive various tourists to Drakulon, sucking the blood out of them. Vampi responds by drinking his blood, killing him. Vampirella then heads down to Drakulon where she has visions of those on Drakulon before its destruction, including her husband Tristan. Eventually she encounters Pantha, who joins her. Vampirella and Pantha return to Earth and head to Hollywood and immediately get picked by an old woman, Theda to take part in a movie about her. In actuality, Theda seeks to take Vampi's face and Pantha's body and attempt her own comeback. Luckily for our heroines, Theda's butler saves them and they are able to escape.