Creepy 65

Ken Kelly provides the cover for this all reprint issue of Creepy, dated September 1974. Albert Michini provides the back cover in his sole Warren appearance.

First is "The Land of Bone" by Esteban Maroto (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). This story features a warrior Costan who finds himself in a world where every person he meets is a skeleton. He is joined by a skeleton wizard, Wikkander, who tells him that his lover Aruna has been captured by the Wizard Poxxalt. The two of them fight off various creatures and then defeat Poxxalt. Costan is surprised to find Aruna a skeleton herself, and gives Wikkander a ring on her finger. Once he gets the ring, the truth is revealed. Costan was a skeleton himself, and only thought that he was human and everyone else was a skeleton. Wikkander, a descendent of his brought him to life to free Aruna from Poxxalt.

Next is "Star-Slaughter" by Ramon Torrents (art, his Warren debut) and Rich Margopoulos (story), from Creepy 51. 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 "The Men Who Called Him Monster" by Luis Garcia (art) and Don McGregor (story), from Creepy 43. An extremely nice art job, with the werewolf being obviously influenced by the original Wolfman movie starring Lon Chaney Jr. The main character, a black detective, who is hired to find the boy that is the werewolf, was based on Sidney Poitier. This story featured the first inter racial kiss in mainstream comics, although it only occured because Garcia misunderstood McGregor's line "This is the clincher" in his script. As usual, the story features McGregor's nonscensical political ramblings.

Fourth is "The Quaking Horror" by Auraleon (art) and Gardner Fox (story), from Creepy 42. This HP Lovecraft-esque story features a house that has a dark horror underneath it, a bizarre tentacled monster that was summoned hundreds of years ago. The entire house eventually collapses, destroying the demon for good. Some very nice art by Auraleon here.

Fifth is "Bed of Roses" by Felix Mas (art) and Doug Moench (story), from Creepy 51. 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.

Sixth is "The Accursed Flower" by Jose Bea (story & art), from Creepy 49. A farmer, Jordi, is overwhelmed by all the work he has to do on his farm. He hears of the 'Maneiros' who come from a flower and will work endlessly; killing their master if he can't find enough work for him. Jordi finds seeds of the flower and plants them, causing hundreds of Maneiros to appear the next day. He gives them plenty of work to do, but they complete them all with rapid speed. Eventually he can't think of something for them to do and they claw him to death.

Seventh is "A Chronicle!" by Jorge Galvez (art, his Warren debut) and Steve Skeates (story), from Creepy 42. This short story at only 4 pages tells of a man who pays little attention to his life, focusing instead on a research project that ends up being meaningless when someone else completes it. He then gets fired from his job and tries to rob a bank but is killed trying to escape. Not much of a point to this story, wasting Galvez's pretty good art.

Last is "The Third Night of Mourning" by Jaime Brocal (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story), from Creepy 49. This story takes place during the french revolution and features Jacque, a blacksmith who is framed for treason and executed via the guillotine. His headless corpse raises from beyond and goes after the man who framed him, sending him to a similar fate at the guillotine.

Eerie 51

Sanjulian provides the cover for this all reprint issue of Eerie, featuring none other than Cousin Eerie himself. This issue is dated September 1973.

Up first is "A Stranger in Hell" by Esteban Maroto (art) and T.Casey Brennan (story), from Eerie 38. The majority of Brennan's stories were nonscensical garbage and this is one of them. A man in hell is unable to die. I think thats what it means. While Maroto's art is great, as usual, this story just makes no sense whatsoever. It would get a sequel in Creepy #61 not too long after this issue.

Second is "Pity the Grave Digger" by Auraleon (art) and Buddy Saunders (story), from Eerie 40. An old grave digger warns his young colleague of the dangers of the graveyard including a vampire he destroyed and corpses being found completely devoured. The colleague doesn't believe him, but the old gravedigger is soon found consumed by a group of tiny demons.

Third is "The Caterpillers" by Luis Garcia (art) and Fred Ott (story), from Eerie 41. A professor from a government research facility passes away during a meeting, resulting in an investigation. It is revealed that caterpillers created in the facility had been taking over the minds of people and eating their brains. Quickly the entire lab is wiped out by them and when our protagonist reports to his superiors, it is revealed that they have been taken over as well. Terrific art as always from Garcia, but the story is extremely similar to the story "Spiders are Revolting" from Eerie 26.

"Evil Spirits" is fourth, by Johnny Craig (art) and Archie Goodwin (story), from Eerie 16. The story features a woman who is in a haunted castle and is confronted by bad dreams and perhaps even ghosts. Her husband is cheating on her and the lover shows up, and they both kill each other. The husband, now with yet another lover, comes to the castle, where their ghosts remain waiting for revenge.

Fifth is "Head Shop" by Jose Bea (art) and Don Glut (story), from Eerie 39. A man passing a hat shop one day finds a head dummy that looks almost real. The man becomes obsessed with the head and passes it each day as it goes to work. After a while passes though he notices the head decomposing. The man tries to get himself to stop looking, but he can't control himself and the head gets worse and worse looking. Eventually he confronts the owner of the shop, who hadn't realized that the head was rotting and replaces it by chopping off our protagonist's head.

Sixth is "Vision of Evil" by Alex Toth (art) and Archie Goodwin (story), from Eerie 2. This story features a rich man who becomes obsessed with the art of a madman living in an asylum. He heads to the asylum to see the artist, who is a usually comatose man except when he's painting. It soon becomes clear however that the monsters in his paintings are real, and they come for the rich man after he is featured in one of the madman's paintings.

"The Curse of Kali" is last, with art by Angelo Torres (art) and Archie Goodwin (story). This story is from Eerie 6. The story, taking place in the Middle East, features a man who stops a woman from being sacrificed to the god Kali, so he is cursed, which ends up turning him into a vampire.

Eerie 40

Sanjulian provides the cover for this issue of Eerie, cover dated June 1972. The two page feature "Eerie's Monster Gallery: Dracula's Castle" by Auraleon (art) and Fred Ott (story) is on the inside front and back cover.

First is "The Brain of Frankenstein" by Mike Ploog (art) and Fred Ott (story). This story features a story within a story, told by the son of Dr. Frankenstein. The son revives his father by putting his brain in a corpse's body. At the same time a friend of his, Hans, plots to kill him because of the rampage from his father's monster. Hans's attempts to destroy Frankenstein and the monster his father become fail however, and the father's brain is put into Hans's body.

Second is "The Once Powerful Prince" by Jaime Brocal (art) and Steve Skeates (story). This story features Targo, the prince of Atlantis, who had previously appeared in Eerie 37. In this story a ring that Targo wears that permits him to breathe underwater has been stolen, so he goes after the man that took it and after a long confrontation is able to take it back.

Third is Dax the Warrior in "The Paradise Tree" by Esteban Maroto (story & art). Dax finds himself seized by a tree when he tries to cut it apart for firewood. The tree carries him down into an abyss and he finds a palace with an entrance in the shape of a snake. Inside he finds Astartea, a beautiful woman, as well as many other women. Astartea can have anything she wants, but is a prisoner there, forced to remain there by a demon. When Dax rebels against this, the demon appears, and she is turned back into her true form, a snake.

Fourth is "Deathfall" by Sanho Kim (story & art). This is a rather surrealistic story featuring a man on death row and him recalling why he was put away. Eventually he is put to death. Not much to say on this one.

Fifth is "The Prodigy Son" by Jose Bea (art) and Don Glut (story). The "son" of the title is a man at a freak show whose twin brother's body (all but the head) hangs out of his chest. A woman in the crowd gets him to marry her, thinking its all fake. When she realizes once and for all that its real, she starts sleeping with other men. Her husband meanwhile starts having horrible pains in his chest. He comes across her sleeping with another man, but before he can kill her his twin brother finally breaks free of his body.

Sixth is "Pity the Grave Digger" by Auraleon (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). An old grave digger warns his young colleague of the dangers of the graveyard including a vampire he destroyed and corpses being found completely devoured. The colleague doesn't believe him, but the old gravedigger is soon found consumed by a group of tiny demons.

Creepy 47

Ron Cobb provides the cover for this issue of Creepy, dated September 1972. The cover was originally to have been done by Sanjulian, featuring the interior story The Land of Bone (and that cover actually appears on the preview page), but it failed to meet the deadline and wouldn't be used until Eerie 123. The frontis for this issue is "Creepy's Loathsome Lore: Not Sherlock by a Long Shot" by Jose Bea (art) and Doug Moench (story).

First is "The Land of Bone" by Esteban Maroto (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). This story features a warrior Costan who finds himself in a world where every person he meets is a skeleton. He is joined by a skeleton wizard, Wikkander, who tells him that his lover Aruna has been captured by the Wizard Poxxalt. The two of them fight off various creatures and then defeat Poxxalt. Costan is shocked to find Aruna a skeleton herself, and gives Wikkander a ring on her finger. Once he gets the ring, the truth is revealed. Costan was a skeleton himself, and only thought that he was human and everyone else was a skeleton. Wikkander, a descendent of his brought him to life to free Aruna from Poxxalt.

Second is "Mark of the Phoenix" by Reed Crandall (art) and T. Casey Brennan (story). This story features a student drug dealer who finds that he is dying of cancer. In order to live forever, he makes a deal with a Phoenix which will enable him to live forever, unless his body is completely destroyed. The Phoenix tells him that he will have to be set ablaze and reborn every 10 years however, and this frightens him terribly. He gets so nervous of a pigeon following him that he ends up killing himself for good.

Third is "The Law and Disorder" by Luis Garcia (art, his final Creepy appearance) and Dennis P. Junot (story). This story features a man who is angry at the board of trustees of a college, thinking they are responsible for his father's death. He creates a disintegration ray which he lets into their hands, and they die of radiation once using it. The protagonist then dies suddenly at the end of the story, with little explanation.

Fourth is "The Eternity Curse" by Martin Salvador (art) and John Thraxis (story). This story features an enemy of the pharoah who is cursed to live forever. His corpse lies in the ground for thousands of years, getting out in present times, when he starts attacking some victims of a plane crash, absorbing their life force until he is restored to a normal appearance. A similar theme as to what takes place in the modern version of the Mummy movie.

Fifth is "Point of View" by Luis Dominguez (art) and Steve Skeates (story). This story features a number of stories all converging into one. A man is fearful of a powerful being that he suspects is after him. In another a woman leaves her boyfriend very frantically. In the third, an older man drives drunk despite his wife's warnings. All converge when the car is about to hit the woman, and our protagonist notices a caped woman distracting her, who is actually the person he is fearful of. A rather confusing summary? Probably cause this is a rather confusing story that ends rather abrubtly.

Sixth is "This Burden, This Responsibility" by Jerry Grandenetti (art, his final Creepy appearance) and Steve Skeates (story). Another odd story by Skeates, featuring a man in a future where computers run almost everything. He gets a bigger office for his good work, then gets in trouble when he comes in late, being killed by his computerized superiors.

Seventh is "Futurization Computation!" by Bill Dubay (story & art). This short three page story tells of a modernized computer device, which ends up robotic teachers for a school.

Last is "The Beginning!" by Tom Sutton (art) and Seve Skeates (story). In contrast to Skeates's two earlier odd stories, this one is quite good. It takes place in a future Earth where normal humans are fighting mutants who have mutated due to contaminated food. One of the human soldiers sees a beautiful woman whom he becomes obsessed with seeing. He finds her, then fights off a superior who calls her Queenie. She brings him through a wall where he finds out the truth, that she's a mutant and she's lured him to other ones who seize him.

Eerie 8

For the first time in a while I'll be covering an older issue of Eerie, this one from March 1967. The cover is by Frank Frazetta, featuring the interior story Demon Sword. The frontis for this issue is "Eerie's Monster Gallery No. 7 - Demon!" by Angelo Torres.

First is "Oversight!" by Eugene Colan (art) and Archie Goodwin (story). Like many of the Colan/Goodwin stories in early Eerie, probably the best story in the issue. A man being given glasses for the first time realizes that it gives him the ability to see monsters that are masquerading as humans. He follows his doctor to a graveyard where he witnesses a group of the monsters plotting to kill him since they know he has the magic glasses. After they kill the doctor for screwing up, our hero hides there, only to be confronted by one of the creatures, which he kills. He returns to his apartment where he hides out, and lets some police in when they come by. Only it ends up the police are monsters themselves, as he accidently mixed up his glasses with those of his dead doctor's during the struggle and isn't able to tell who they are.

Second is "Dark Rider" by John Severin (art) and Archie Goodwin (story). A trio of horsemen in the snowy mountains are followed by a mysterious rider in the distance. They die one by one until only one remains. He shoots at the rider, which causes an avalanche that kills him. The rider reveals himself to be Death.

Third is "Type Cast" by Jerry Grandenetti (art) and Archie Goodwin (story). A stage actor gets upset with being typecast into the role of a killer or monster in many horror movies. In order to draw inspiration, he becomes a killer. Eventually he goes really crazy and kills his agent too. Years later he is let out of the looney bin accidently and returns to his crazy ways.

Fourth is "The Day After Doomsday!" by Dan Adkins (art) and Archie Goodwin (story). A man finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world, and confronts multiple mutated beasts which he fights off. Eventually he finds normal humans whom he stays with, only to find that they are cannibals, who eat him! Some very nice art by Adkins here, perhaps his best work for Warren.

Fifth is "The Covered Bridge!" by Bob Jenney (art) and Archie Goodwin (story). Set in colonial times, a farmer is hung by some soldiers, who ignore his recommendation that they not go through a nearby covered bridge. The soldiers ignore his advice and send some men there, but each who goes through the bridge dissappears. Eventually the leader goes in, with a rope around him so his subordinate can pull him out. He discovers the truth, that the bridge actually goes to another dimension, where the dead are. The dead farmer himself is discovered to be grabbing on to his body.

Sixth is "Wolf Bait!" by Rocco Mastroserio (art) and Archie Goodwin & Buddy Saunders(story, the credits say based on a story written by Saunders). A series of werewolf murders occur in a small town. The local sheriff is upset at a girl he likes, as she instead plans to be wed to a chemist. The chemist tries to create a formula which can kill the werewolf. The sheriff, who ends up being the werewolf kills him, but it ends up that he ingested a poison, which results in him dying soon afterwards.

Last is the cover story "Demon Sword!" by Steve Ditko (art) and Archie Goodwin (story). A demon sword is recovered as part of an archeological find. Soon after however murders start occuring. Two of the archeologists witness a battle between the demon using the sword and a warrior, and when the demon is defeated so too is one of the archeologists. The other ponders whether to destroy the powerful but dangerous demon sword.

Vampirella 7

A classic Frank Frazetta cover starts off this issue of Vampirella.

The first three stories of this issue are a Witch trilogy, all written by Nicola Cuti. Vampi has a one page intro and one page conclusion surrounding the stories. Despite being called a trilogy, all three stories are self contained.

First is "The White Witch!", with art by Tom Sutton. The White Witch is a singer who cannot go into the sunlight as it will harm her. Her elderly brother asks a painter to paint a portrait of her, and he stays at their house. He soon finds out the truth, that she isn't human, but rather was found in a haunted tower by the brother in a cocoon. The next day the painter opens the curtains, thinking its midnight, but it is actually noon and she dies due to the sunlight.

Second is "The Mind Witch" with art by Ernie Colon. The Mind Witch is a woman who steals the soul from men, leaving them mindless husks. A pair of men plan to investigate it. One of them arrives at her home finding she already knows their plan, as the other one has become her latest victim. She reveals that she is an alien and has the power to do what she does because of that. Yet the man is actually from outer space as well and has come to punish her for her actions.

The third and final witch story is "The Black Witch" with art by Billy Graham. The Black Witch kills the man she loves who is going to marry another woman, then goes to the woman and turns her into a praying mantis. The man ends up surviving the attack and comes after her, killing many witches over the years. When she finally comes for him, she turns into a spider in order to avoid him shooting at her, but the praying mantis arrives and eats her.

Fourth is "Plague of the Wolf" by Frank Bolle (art) and Doug Moench (story). A werewolf is plauging the city. A man warns his girlfriend to stay away from him, because he has a pentagram on his arm, showing that he'll be the next victim and he doesn't want her there when the werewolf arrives. But she arrives anyway, as she is the werewolf!

Fifth is "Terror Test!" by Tony Williamsune (art) and R. Michael Rosen (story). This story features astronauts arriving on a strange planet where they kill a strange creature. One of the astronauts becomes a vampire and is killed by another one, but he finds the other astronaut to be a monster as well. The man awakens, it all was a dream, but that doesn't stop him from going crazy and killing those that put him under the test with an axe.

Sixth is "The Survivor" by Ernie Colon (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). This story is about an entity that has occupied a planet for many years by occupying the bodies of the people there. When a group of astronauts arrive, the entity plans to take one of them over. He waits until one of the men is alone then hits him in the back to knock him out. He kills his current body in order to take over the new one, but the man is paralyzed from the blow!

Last is "The Collection Creation" by Jerry Grandenetti (art, miscredited to Tony Williamsune) and R. Michael Rosen (story). A woman with eternal life who needs to steal the youth from others finds a painter whom she hopes to make her next victim. She shows him her great painting collection of old men. It ends up that they were her victims, and she takes his youth, making him the model for the next painting.

Eerie 29

Ken Kelly provides this issue's cover, his first for Eerie. A so-so issue; the stories for the most part aren't particularly great, and one artist gets three stories in this issue alone, which takes away some of the variety.

First story is "Loophole". Art is provided by Jack Sparling, his first of three stories this issue. The story is by Nicola Cuti. This story is about a group of time travelers who go throughout time killing people, which of course eventually results in them vanishing after doing away with their ancestors.

Second is "The Fiend Planet" by Dan Adkins (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). Astronauts head through space for a hundred years to reach a colony planet, but when they reach it they find bizarre creatures and many end up getting killed. It later becomes apparant that the creatures are actually humans who came to Earth long before due to advanced technology, changed in appearance due to adapting on the planet.

Third is "The Bloodstaff" by Rich Buckler (story & art). A warrior uses a weapon provided to him by his dying father, the Bloodstaff to fight a woman in the woods who is killing people to feed a vampiric plant. He soon discovers that she didn't kill his allies through, his bloodstaff did. He soon dies himself, appearing in an impish form to those around him.

Fourth is "Gallery of Horror" by Carlos Garzon (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). A writer buys a haunted house hoping to draw inspiration from it. He finds horrific paintings inside which were actually the inspiration for classic stories by Poe and other authors. The house is clearly haunted however, and even a dog he obtains ends up dead. He destroys all the paintings, thinking they are responsible, but it is actually a giant spider living on his ceiling that is responsible for the horror within.

Next is "The Vorpal Sword" by Tom Sutton (art) and Nicola Cuti (story). A young warrior is given the 'Vorpal Sword' by a wizard and heads off to save the wizard's daughter. He rides a giant slug as he heads through the medieval landscape. It soon becomes apparant that the sword transforms to a beautiful woman, Nina whenever he says her name. When he finally faces his enemy, she saves him by using a dagger... which ends up being their son! A fun ending to this story.

Sixth is "Strange Gateway" by Jack Sparling (art) and T. Casey Brennan (story). This story is about a poor man who buys a mirror for his wife which ends up being a gateway to another dimension; a paradise as long as the person who comes there has a good heart. The man and his wife head there to live the rest of their life. Quite an optimistic ending for a Warren story!

The issue concludes with "Snow Job!" by Jack Sparling (art) and Doug Moench (story, his Warren debut). A group of men head to the snowy mountains where it is rumored the abominable snowman lurks. As they soon discover however, its not a snowman, but rather werewolves that are occupying the mountain.

Eerie 25

A whopping eight stories in this issue, six of them new. This issue features a cover by Jim Steranko, his sole one for Warren. The frontis is "Eerie's Monster Gallery: Vampire!" by Tony Williamsune (art) and Bill Parente (story).

Up first is "Isle of the Vrukolakas" by Ernie Colon (art) and Don Glut (story). A town is plagued by a vampire. Zorko, a sheep herder is convinced that the vampire is the corpse of a man recently brought to the town. They consult a priest, who says the vampire's body will not be decayed. They find the corpse of the man brought to the town, but it is completely decayed so they now have no clue who the vampire could be. Yet it ends up that he was the vampire after all as he had leprosy, and he comes to kill Zorko!

Next is "Mistake!" by Bill Black (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). A mob boss plans to hide from the law by faking his death in Italy. There, in his home town he bribes various people to fake his death, declare him dead, and bury him in a maesoleum in a coffin with air holes so he can live. When he awakens he tries to escape the graveyard, only for people to mistake him for a vampire and kill him!

Third is "Hijack to Horror" by Tony Williamsune (art) and R. Michael Rosen (story). This story features a group of vampire like creatures that hijack a plane and bring it to their new Transylvania where they plan on using the plane passengers to be a never ending supply of blood for them.

Fourth is "To Pay the Piper" by Eugene Colan (art) and Larry Ivie (story), originally from Eerie 2.. The story takes place in a town plagued by vampires. A piper offers to rid the town of the vampires by playing a song on his pipe in exchange for money. He does so and rids the town of vampires, but the town refuses to pay, so using his pipe he lures the children away, as in the classic Pied Piper story. Men wait for him in the woods however and kill him with arrows. They soon find however that he lured the children into wolfsbane, turning them all into werewolves!

Fifth is "Southern Exposure" by Tom Sutton (art) and Bill Parente (story). This is the first part of a two part story that would be concluded in the next issue. A woman faints at a family party and an old woman who hasn't spoke in years says she must be destroyed. Her boyfriend refuses to do so, but at the end of the story, it is revealed that she is a vampire!

Sixth is "The Thing in the Cave" by Mike Royer (art) and R. Michael Rosen (story). Finally, a story not about vampires! A young man and his wife come to visit his parents. The man, who studies funguses, as investigating a mushroom that transforms anything that touches it into a monster! When he and his wife visit a cave and approach some, he turns into a monster and kills her, exactly what he had done to a friend when he was a kid. His mother meanwhile plans on cooking dinner with the mushrooms, unaware of their power.

Seventh is "House of Evil", with art by Jerry Grandenetti (uncredited) & Joe Orlando, and story by Archie Goodwin. This story is originally from Eerie 4. A man comes to a large house where his brother lived but finds only a tape recording there, telling him of how he came to the house, which has an evil past, for inspiration. Suddenly a rotting corpse arrives. The man destroys the corpse, but soon finds that it was his own brother! He then looks at his hands and realizes that he's starting to rot as well.

Last is "Hex Marks the Spot" by Bill Barry (art) and R. Michael Rosen (story). An evil man summons demons to attack those that won't sell their farms to him. But anyone who has a 'good hex' symbol at their house will cause the demon to go back and kill the one who summoned it instead of them. Once such man has a new wife who demands he take down the good hex signs as she doensn't believe him. He does so, but creates another hex sign in his wheat field which results in the evil man getting his just desserts.

Creepy 39

A whopping four artists' Warren debuts highlight this issue of Creepy. The art is by Basil Gogos. The frontis is "Creepy's Loathsome Lore: The Evil Eye!" by Clif Jackson (art) and Richard Grose (story).

First story is "Where Satan Dwells..." by Sal Trapani (art) and Al Hewetson (story). This story is a rarity, it actually stars Uncle Creepy himself! Uncle Creepy, getting bored of just telling stories seeks to find an adventure of his own. He comes across a bookstore where the bookkeeper gives him a book with the same title as this story. He reads the book and suddenly finds himself in a position where he has to save the bookkepper and his family from the evil spirit Groton. It ends up being a dream, and the bookkeeper ends up being Cousin Eerie!

Second is "C.O.D. - Collect on Death!" by Dave Cockrum (art, his debut) and Dave Wood (story). A man makes a deal with the devil to spurn death, but in exchange he must kill someone each day. If he misses even a single day, he will die himself. This eventually forces him to kill his own fiance when he loses track of time due to her. Her brother leads him to a desert to kill him. He does so, but is told that he's so far away from society there's no way he'll be able to kill someone else within a day, which results in his ultimate demise.

Third is "The Water World", featuring the debut of artist Pablo Marcos. The story is written by Buddy Saunders. A trio of astronauts crash on a water filled world and drift aimlessley on a raft over very clear water. Soon two are dead and the last remaining one fishes using the remains of one of the others. This catches a fish, but one so huge that it ends up eating him!

"Death by the Wizard" with art and story by Pat Boyette is next. Not as good a story as usual from the usually excellent Boyette. It features the Wizard Merlin who is facing his own demise due to a woman he was with. He is turned into a tree by her.

Fifth is "Harvest of Horror!" by Frank Brunner (art) and Phil Seuling (story). This story interestingly enough features three different endings, surrounding a man who is on the run, finding a scarecrow in a field. A rather interesting concept, surprised that Warren didn't use it more often.

Sixth is "The Dragon Prow!" with Richard Bassford (art, his debut) and Steve Skeates (story). The story features a serf who wishes for freedom so he tries to steal a horse and escape, but he is captured and put aboard a boat as a slave. A sea storm causes the ship to crash and he thinks he finally has his freedom only to realize that he died in the crash.

Last is the debut of Gary Kaufman, in "Mad Jack's Girl". The Jack of the title is a gang leader who does a lot of bad deeds. His girlfriend tries to steer him right but can't do it. Eventually she gathers up corpses of his victims then kills him and sets him up in a dinner setting with them.

Eerie 34

This issue of Eerie features a cover by Boris Vallejo with a warrior battling a harpy. The frontis for this issue is "Eerie's Monster Gallery: The Man Who Played God" by Tom Sutton.

First up is "Parting is Such Sweet Horror" by Tom Sutton (story & art). This story features a man whose twin brother is a hideous mutated monster. The man tells his lover that he's killed his brother but is obsessed about there being a link between them. She brings him to a mansion to convince him that no such link exists, but the monster brother ends up being there, and absorbs her, then kills his brother.

Second is "Eye of Cyclops!" with art by Jaime Brocal, in his Warren debut, and story by Buddy Saunders. The story features soldiers battling a giant cyclops, who has a small creature always accompanying him on his shoulders. The cyclops captures many of the men and starts eating them. One of the men attacks the cyclops, blinding him, but the cyclops still manages to kill him as he was always blind, and used the creature on his shoulder to see.

Third is "He Who Laughs Last... Is Grotesque!" by Mike Royer (art) and Al Hewetson (story). This story features a rich Scottish Baron who is killed by the townspeople. He swears revenge, but he is refused the ability to do that in hell, which just ends up being his personal hell to him.

Fourth is "Food for Thought" by Tony Williamsune (art) and Steve Skeates (story). The story features an astronaut who kills his fellow astronauts and eats them when they run out of food. He arrives on an alien planet, where the plants eat him! A pretty good art job by Williamsune in his final Warren appearance.

Fifth is the cover story, "Vow of the Wizard" by Ernie Colon & Frank McLaughlin (art) and Ernie Colon (story). A wizard tells a warrior that he'll take his woman from him someday. The warrior battles a harpy, but it ends up that it was his lover, transformed by the wizard!

Sixth is "The Sound of Wings" by Carlos Garzon (art) and F. Paul Wilson (story). The story features a pair of men in the desert who come across a journal. The journal tells of a man who summoned a demon to kill the man who was going out with his daughter, whom he felt unworthy of her. He is killed, but upon finding out that his daughter needs to be sacrificed, he runs away to the desert, where he dies. They don't believe the story, but the ending shows the giant footprint of the bird demon.

Seventh and final story is "Lair of the Horned Man" by Alan Weiss (story & art). The story features a native american chief fighting a horned beast to save a woman. It ends up that the beast was created by the local medicine man, who changes the woman, his daughter into a snake to fight him. She ends up biting her father, killing him.

Eerie 35

A terrific cover for this issue of Eerie by Enrich. Unfortunately most of the stories are only so-so. The frontis for this issue is "Eerie's Monster Gallery: Monster Sightings!" by John Cornell.

Up first is "Retribution" by Steve Englehart (art) and Englehart & Gardner Fox (story). It features an army that kills a priest in a snake chamber. The priest comes back to life due to the snake god's powers and seeks revenge.

Second is "The Comet's Curse!" by Frank Brunner (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). The story features a prisoner who tells his captors that a comet will come and curse them while he will live forever. All of the soldiers but one die, and chaos runs supreme in the city. The prisoner escapes and the last soldier is killed when a ceiling falls on him. Thousands of years later the soldier's body is dug up and comes to life, killing the prisoner.

Third is "The Tower of the Demon Dooms!" by Mike Ploog (art) and Gardner Fox (story). It features a man whose lover is killed, but brought back to life by a sorcerer. He kills the sorceror and claims her back, but she ends up being a vampire. So they can stay together they summon a demon to bring them to hell, but he is forced to be a vampire there as well.

Fourth is "I Am Dead, Egypt, Dead" by Victor De La Fuente (art) and Doug Moench (story). The story is about three archaeologists, Jim, Diana and Ray who find a tomb filled with treasure. Jim and Diana conspire to kill Ray and take all the treasure for themself. They do it by inducing a heart attack when Jim dresses up as a mummy. Only when the two of them head into the tomb Ray ends up not being dead after all and dressing up himself as a mummy, kills Jim. Ray and Diana having been together laugh about their plot, but end up dying when they drink water that Jim had poisoned in their canteens.

Fifth is "Cats and Dogs" by Jerry Grandenetti (art) and Bill Dubay (story). A man comes back from the war to stay with his parents and brother, whom he always fought when they were younger. Everyone in the town is afraid because of a werewolf that has been around. The brother ended up being the werewolf, but the soldier is a leopard man and the two battle it out.

Last is "Money" by Sanho Kim (story & art). The story features a man obsessed with money who meets an old man on the mountain who warns him to look, but not take it. The man comes across some money but others want to take it from him so he goes to the mountains himself where he stays alone permanently.

Eerie 27

A terrific cover for this issue, by Jeff Jones and Vaughn Bode. Unfortunately the contents itself aren't as good. The frontis is "Eerie's Monster Gallery: The Golem!" by Tom Sutton.

"Journey Into Wonder" with art by Kenn Barr and story by Bill Parente is about a imp like man that asks the king to let him be a knight. The king sends him to defeat a sorceress, who ends up being an innocent woman. he defeats a monster, and then after some questioning upon returning to the castle, wins a fight and transforms into a normal man.

"Amazonia" by Miguel Fernandez (art) and Gardner Fox (story) is yet another in a long line of barbarian/warrior stories set in a medieval setting. Amazonia would get another story, which I've already covered, from an early Vampirella.

"The Machine God's Slave" is this issue's best story, by Ernie Colon (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). An astronaut finds a planet with an ancient civilization which he angers by killing a priest. They chain him to a machine which drags him along throughout the planet, and eventually to his death when it goes into a body of water.

"Swallowed in Space" by Tom Sutton (art) and Bill Parente (story) features a spaceship of people who keep vanishing until only one man is left, who finds the secret of the universe.

"Enter Dr. Laenru!" by Disck Piscopo (art) and R. Michael Rosen (story) features a man who is able to deflect magic. A princess's younger sister turns her into a werewolf, and after he finds her out, he gets her turned into a pig, who is prompstly eaten by some hungry people! Funny ending to a not that great story.

"All Sewed Up!" by Mike Royer (art) and Buddy Saunders (story) is about a taxidermist who turns into a werewolf. His assistant desires his fiance and steals from him, and eventually kills him while he's in his wolf form. He sews him up for display in his store, only for him to turn back human, revealing the truth to everyone.

Last is "Face It!" by Jack Sparling (art) and Nicola Cuti (story) about a hooded man who joins a circus with a robot woman. He hides his face, but a curious girl in the circus keep trying to see it and its eventually revealed that he has a shrunken face and his wife has a shrunked body, hidden inside the robot.

Eerie 31

This issue of Eerie features Richard Corben's first cover for Warren, featuring a trio of monsters over a dead body.

Up first is "Point of View" by Tom Sutton (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). It takes place from two points of view, monsters inhabiting Earth, and the last few humans left. Both view each other as aliens and fight until only one remains.

Next is "The Drop" by Tony Williamsune (art) and Chris Fellner (story). A basketball player quits drugs but gets one more hit from his dealer. He and is girlfriend take it while in a haunted house. The guy grows to a large size while she shrinks, and he ends up stepping on her!

"The Devil's Hand!" by Bill Dubay (story & art) is third. It features a society that cut off the hand of Satan and keeps it in a cage. It passes down over the years to an old man who wants to bargain with it to gain wealth power and eternal life. He brings in another man to help who is greedy and kills the old man. However Satan's hand kills him when he opens the cage it is in and escapes.

Fourth is "The Alien Plague!" by Billy Graham (art & story). This story, featuring a pair of teams investigating an aliens has as a mysterious monster... staples! Pretty good art and not bad a story.

The Oasis is Fifth, by Carlos Garzon (art) and Buddy Saunders (story) about a battle between men and spiders over an oasis in the desert, which ends up having a monster that destroys the victors.

"The Lady in the Ice" is sixth, by Frank Bolle (art) and Nicola Cuti (story). This is the second and last October Weir story, featuring the psychic detective visiting an old friend whose wife dissappeared. She was actually murdered by the friend and his lover and comes back from the dead to take revenge.

Another Carlos Garzon drawn story ends the issue, "The Killer Slime", writen by Steve Skeates. Garzon's artwork channels Angelo Torres's throughout the story. The story features a slime that can actually think and communicate which plots to take over the world.

Creepy 34

Our next issue is Creepy #34, featuring a cover by Ken Barr, of his interior story "Lifeboat!". The frontis for this issue is "Creepy's Loathsome Lore" by Dan Adkins.

First up is "X-Tra X" by Jack Sparling (art) and Robert (Michael) Rosen (story). A man who is a werewolf approaches a professor whose been studying genes and believes that an extra chromosome is responsible for criminal behavior. The man volunteers to be experimented on by the professor to cure him from being a werewolf. He ends up dying from the procedure, which ends up being okay with the professor as he's a werewolf too.

Next is "Lifeboat!" by Ken Barr (art) and Bill Parente (story). Astronauts come across a planet with a died out race, except for one man, Aceles, a man of large stature and great strength. He goes back on the ship with them peacefully, but it soon becomes clear that the entire race on that planet are contained within him and he is seeking to revive the species by transforming the astronauts into those of his species. The astronauts respond by throwing him out of the ship to his death. Pretty good story.

Next is "The Cool Jazz Ghoul" by Ken Kelly (art) and Al Hewetson (story). This story's unique by being Ken Kelly's sole interior story, outside of this and a single frontis, he did exclusively covers for Warren. His art's okay here, but not great. Covers clearly suited him better. The story surrounds a jazz musician who ponders making a deal with the devil, but instead embalms his body and sells it for lot of money.

Fourth is "Minanker's Demons" by John G. Fantuccio (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). This rather poor story is about a wizard who captures a princess and the knight that tries to rescue her. When the knight reaches his castle, the wizard summons a demon, who kills him because of a crack in his pentagram that prevents him from being protected.

"The Forgotten Prisoner of Castlemare" by Tony Williamsune (art) and Robert (Michael) Rosen (story) is about dueling barons who try to get rid of each other. One ends up getting locked up in a jail cell and the other is killed by a trap. This story is based on the Castlemare prisoner ad in the Captain Company section of the Warren mags.

Next up is "The Swamp in Hell!" by Don Vaughn (art) and Al Hewetson (story). A swamp beast rises out of the swamp and heads to a nearby town. All are frightened except a blind old man who befriends the monster. The monster ends up vanishing because of the kindness of the old man.

Last is "Ando!" by Syd Shores (art) and Robert (Michael) Rosen (story). This story is about a baron and his powerful henchman, Ando, who bullies the local populace into paying the baron high taxes. The baron's quest to create a super race of people continuosly fails. He realizes that he must find a strong person to experiment on, so he uses Ando. Only it makes Ando too strong, he refuses to obedient to the baron anymore and kills him.

Creepy 35

This issue is a rarity in that its Creepy's only non-ad issue ever. From what I've heard, a competitor of theis was putting out a no ad horror magazine, so Warren decided to do the same thing. Unfortunately the experiment only lasted for a single issue (although 1984 would be no ads in the early days of its existence as well). As a result, this has more stories than any other Creepy issue with new content (I believe some of the all reprint issues may have more). The cover, by Kenneth Smith features a small green creature on a skull.

Our first story is "Tough Customers" by Tom Sutton (art) and R. Michael Rosen (story) about a group of mobsters that hustle a butcher for protection money who always refuses. Each hit man sent to kill him never comes back, so finally the boss himself arrives, and realizes that the butcher has killed all his men and served them to ghouls, which quickly arrive for him as well.

Next is "Legend in Gold" with art by Roger Brand and writing again by Rosen. This story features a pair of men searching for a rock that can turn things into gold. One of the men gets too greedy and touches it, turning himself into gold. Somewhat of a fantasy story which seems out of place with all the horror stuff here.

Third is "Polly Want a Wizard?" by Ernie Colon (art) and Howard Waldrop (story). A man tells the police about what happened to a magician he was working for, Mr. Black. Mr. Black was a talented magician who was teaching our protagonist various tricks, some of which involved the killing of birds. As our protagonist is about to kill a parrot for Mr. Black, demons suddenly arrive while he's working on his magic and kill him. Not a good story, but Colon's art is very nice here.

Fourth is "Army of the Walking Dead!" by Syd Shores (art) and R. Michael Rosen (story, yet again!). In Germany during World War II, a doctor finds a way to bring dead soldiers to life as zombies. The zombies initially result in things turning out quite well for the nazis, but the zombies go out of control and the doctor, the only one who can control them, ends up getting killed. Hitler orders the zombies and anyone who knows about them to be wiped out, erasing the story from the history books.

"Godslayer" is next, with art and story by Bill Stillwell. A swords & sorcery tale with nice art, but a just horribly boring story, as many in this genre were.

"It's Grim" features art by Syd Shores and story by Al Hewetson. A businessman who owns a taxidermy store fears that his business partner and wife are going to kill him. He gets all worked up over his partner's bizarre behavior, only for it to end up that he was simply working on stuffing a puma. Or was he? Uncle Creepy explains in the ending that he actually just coated the puma with a substance that would temporarily freeze it and as soon as it wears off, the puma will kill him. None of this is ever shown though, making this an odd way to finish the story.

Next is "The Druids Curse" by The Ciochetti Brothers (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). Its about a crucified druid who curses the soldiers who killed him, saying that they will all drown. Soon all but one have died from drowning. The last survives a shipwreck and heads to the desert, thinking he's beaten the druid's curse, only to drown in his own blood when he's mortally wounded. Rather odd and unique looking art by the Ciochetti Brothers in their only Warren appearance.

"Gunsmoke Charly" by Alan Weiss (art and story) is our next tale, about a gunfighter who makes a deal with the devil such that he'll never be harmed by a bullet. It works and he becomes a great gunfighter, but eventually is done in by something other than a gun, the heat of the desert.

Last is "Justice!" by Pat Boyette. An accountant whose boss catches him leering at his wife can't resist doing it again, but goes overboard and kills her when she screams. He then kills his boss as well and tries to get away with their dismembered bodies, but is chased by the police. He hides in the sewers but is eventually put on trial for being a ghoul. He tries to prove himself innocent by putting their bodies back together, but isn't that successful.

Creepy 33

TWO issues of Creepy today to make up for the all the recent days I've missed. Pat Boyette handles the cover duties for this issue, featuring his own story, which I'll cover soon. This issue's frontis is "Creepy's Loathsome Lore: Mermaids!" by Tom Sutton.

Up first is "One Too Many!" by William Barry (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). A man leaves a planet killing all of the zoo animals he possesses except for one, which escapes. A year later he comes back with colleagues to retrieve his property, only for the creature who have escaped to have breeded into thousands within the year, which completely overwhelm them.

"Royal Guest" with art and story by Pat Boyette is second. It tells the story of a boy whose grandfather kept a woman locked up in a golden mask. When the grandfather became sick and passed away, the boy brings her food. Years go by and the plague follows him everywhere he goes. Thinking she's actually the Queen, he returns to where the masked woman is, and finds that she had died of the plague long ago and that he was a carrier of the disease and was responsible for spreading it around Europe. Knowing this, he kills himself. Really good story, best of the issue.

"Blue Mum Day" by Reed Crandall (art) and R. Michael Rosen (story) is next. A group of archeologists find an egyptian tomb of a cursed mummy. Inside they also find a glowing meteorite and the mummy, which is an odd blue color. The mummy becomes alive then turns into a blob like creature. While it is trapped in the tomb with the use of dynamite, our heroine ends up turning into a blob like creature as well.

"Dr. Jekyll Was Right" by Tony Williamsune (art) and Bill Warren (story) is our next story. It features a descendent of Dr. Jekyll who pays scientists to create a formula that will bring out the good Mr. Hyde in people. While the formula works, one of the scientists kills him after he uses it. Didn't get that ending.

"I'm Only In It For the Money" by Juan Lopez Ramon (art) and Al Hewetson (story) is fifth, featuring a tv host who travels to see a voodoo tribe. Although they initially let him video tape them, they eventually chop off his head and shrink it.

"The Full Service" by Jack Sparling (art) and Nicola Cuti (story) is next. A man mourning the death of his wife in a car crash is given the opportunity to bring her back to life by the funeral home. He is brought back in time and is given the opportunity to save her. A rare Warren story with a happy ending.

This issue wraps up with "Boxed In" with art and story by Tom Sutton. A boy playing with friends is forced to play a corpse and is buried alive. When adults come, his friends are forced to run off without rescuing him. One of the friends sees the coffin crushed and then sees the boy's ghost. While it ended up being a joke, he ends up trapped in a refridgerator that falls into a body of water, such that he is essentially buried alive.

Overall, a so-so issue. Boyette's story is terrific, and Sutton and Rosen's stories are okay. Nothing particularly special from the remaining stories.

Eerie 28

Up today is Eerie #28. It features a cover by Pat Boyette, one of only two covers he did for Warren (the other being Creepy #33, which came out right around the same time as this issue). the frontis is "Eerie's Monster Gallery: Saucerians!" with art and story by Tom Sutton.

Up first is "The Hidden Evils!" by Dan Adkins (art) and James Haggenmiller (story). The son of a mayor is possessed by an evil demon. The church attempts to stop him to no avail. A mysterious man named Astan arrives and says he'll be able to stop him. Through an exorcism he is able to get rid of the demon from his body. The demon swears revenge until Astan reveals that he is Satan himself, upset that the demon didn't go after a bigger target like the mayor himself.

Second is "The Beast in the Swamp" by Billy Graham (art) and Bill Warren (story). This rather dull story is about a barbarian and the various creatures he encounters. He eventually kills a 'monster' that ends up being an astronaut from Earth. Nothing all that interesting here.

"The Rescue Party" is third, with art by Jack Sparling and story by Buddy Saunders. An owner of a mine repeatedly puts little effort in saving the lives of those trapped in mine cave-ins, not wanting to spend too much money. When he is trapped in a cave in he finds a group trying to dig him out... the corpses of those killed before! Sparling's art seems somewhat better than usual here.

"Follow Apollo" with art by Tom Sutton and story by R. Michael Rosen is the 'true' story about what happened during the first moon landing, where one of the astronauts apparantly passes away after his spacesuit is torn apart on the moon's surface. During quarantine back on Earth the truth is revealed, germs from the moon infected him and take over the other astronauts. When the astronauts are released from quarantine a few weeks later, they're ready to infect the entire planet.

"Ice Scream" with art by Bill Dubay and story by R. Michael Rosen is up next. This story is about the dissappearance of multiple bodies from the cryogenics section of the hospital. No one is able to solve the mystery, and even the Director falls victim when he suffers from a blood clot that forces him to go under cryogenics as well. It ends up that the janitor, a ghoul, has been stealing the bodies to feed his ghoul body.

Sixth is "Pit of Evil" by Dick Piscopo (art) and Al Hewetson (story). This story features a boxer who is transported to a mysterious dimension where he must fight a large humanoid creature, with the prize being a planet for a whole year as a reward. This story isn't very interesting at all, and Piscopo's art is hardly too good.

Last is the cover story, "The Last Train to Orion!" with both art and story by Pat Boyette. In the far future the young of society have taken control and either kill the old or force them to cover themselves with masks. They travel from planet to planet finding more space to live. Suddenly, an atomic mass arrives and wipes all of them out. It ends up that they, and all of humanity were just germs within the body of a giant hideous alien. A pretty good story, although it goes a number of different directions for such a short story. Probably this issue's best.

Overall, not that impressive an issue; then again few from this period of time were.

Vampirella 6

Another early issue of Vampirella, with no actual Vampirella story. The cover is by Ken Kelly, his first for Warren, featuring a young woman walking down a dark alley were a ugly creature lurks with a club. The frontis for this issue is "Vampi's Feary Tales: The Centaur" by Dan Adkins.

Up first is "The Curse of Circe" by Jerry Grandenetti (art) and Gardner Fox (story). A man is lost at sea and ends up landing on an island, populated by beautiful women, the most beautiful of which is named Circe. After a night of passion, he wakes up, to find that he's been turned into a pig! With the help of another woman he is able to return to his human form and the two escape, only to end up dying while at sea.

Up next is "The Brothers Death" by Jack Sparling (art) and Nicola Cuti (story). A girl obsessed with death is transported to a medieval type world where the Brothers Death battle the evil Gurn. The girl is captured by Gurn, then rescued by the brothers. A rare Warren tale with a happy ending, this is not all that good of a story, probably the worst of the issue.

"Darkworth" by Mike Royer (art) and Nicola Cuti (story) features a stripper who becomes the assistant to a Magician, Darkworth. Darkworth becomes famous through his magic, but seeking more, plans to escape from being buried alive. Upon finding out that she's cheating on him, Darkworth's assistant Togo clubs the stripper to death and while he's digging from underground, Darkworth finds her corpse. This story seems like it just ends right in the middle, without much of an ending.

"A New Girl in Town" by Dan Adkins (art) and Gardner Fox (story) is about a girl who goes to visit her parents in a weird town. The address her parents gave her ends up being a graveyard, as she's dead and doesn't know about it. A very short story, at just 4 pages in length.

"Victim of the Vampire" by Frank Bolle (art) and Vern Bennett (story) is next. A rich man's wife is being pursued by a vampire. With the help of a priest they're able to rescue her by hiding in a coffin. An okay story, but not that great.

Sixth is "One Way Trip!" by Tony Williamsune (art) and Larry Herndon (story). A man overdosing on drugs encounters a horrific monster in his dreams. After getting treatment he thinks he's okay, only to find out that the monster is real.

Last is "The Wolf-Man", once again by Frank Bolle (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). A woman plots with her lover to kill her husband, Roger. Finding him with another woman in the woods, they follow, and end up killing a wolf whom his lover claims is Roger. The lover is killed soon afterwards, but upon finding a tape recording, it is revealed that Roger switched minds with a wolf, and his human body, occupied with the wolf's mind kills both his wife and her lover. Not a bad story, one of the issue's better ones.

Overall this issue is average at best. It'd be another year or so before Vampirella as a magazine really started turning out high qualify stuff consistently.

Vampirella 10

After two days away, I'm back with a new issue of Vampirella.

This early issue of Vampirella is a rarity in that there is no Vampirella story. While she hosts the majority of the stories in the issue, her usual own story is strangely absent.

Behind the Bill Hughes cover is the frontis, "Vampi's Feary Tales" The Face of Medusa", by Billy Graham.

First up is "Fiends in the Night!" by Tom Sutton (art) and Buddy Saunders (story). This story was clearly meant for Creepy, as it is hosted by Uncle Creepy instead of Vampirella. The story is about a crook who steals a small chest from an old man, who curses him. Finding only a book in the chest, he tosses it aside. Fleeing from the city in the midst of winter, he is confronted by ghouls, werewolves and a vampire. He goes back to get the book, thinking that it holds spells that he'll be able to use to defend himself, only to find it frozen shut as a bunch of rotting corpses start after him.

Up next is "The Marriage" by Ralph Reese (art) and Steve Skeates (story). Its about a man so obsessed with building a machine that his girlfriend leaves him. He punches the machine and is electrocuted to death, but is brought back to life by the machine which keeps him alive solely to do chores for it. Reese's art kind of looks like Richard Corben's in this story.

"Eye of Newt, Toe of Frog" is third, with art by Frank Brunner and story by Gerald Conway. It's about a woman whose annoyed by her husband so she looks into the black arts. She soon finds things too much for her to handle, and it ends up that her husband was into the stuff the whole time too.

"The Soft, Sweet Lips of Hell!", with art by Steve Englehart & Neal Adams and written by Denny O'Neil is next, about a succubus who falls in love with a boxer being pressured by the mob. The boxer is killed, but she uses her power to bring him back to life, with the price being her life.

"War of the Wizards" is the fifth story, and is both written and drawn 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.

"A Thing of Beauty" is this issue's cover story, with art by Billy Graham and written by Len Wein. Its about a very beautiful actress who fakes a relationship with a very ugly special effects producer to get publicity. Upon finding out how she really feels about him, he switches her with a dummy of hers that gets set on fire, killing her.

Last up is "Regeneration Gap", once again with art by Tom Sutton and written by Chuck McNaughton. With over-population, food shortages and pollution destroying the Earth, a spaceship departs to space. Returning to Earth 100 years later, a man returns as all that's let of humanity and finds Earth a wasteland except for a single beautiful woman who keeps talking about 'purifying him'. The woman ends up being a blob-like creature and turns him into one too. I'll probably lean towards this one as my favorite story from the issue.

A so-so issue. Sutton and Wood's stories are quite good, while the others are average at best.