The Various Sources for Warren Publishing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eerie 136

Nestor Redondo provides the cover for this issue of Eerie, featuring the interior story Starlad. This issue is dated November 1982. Lots of stuff coming to an end in this issue.

First is the Rook in "The Fallen Part Two" by Luis Bermejo (art) and Budd Lewis (story). This story was the last Warren appearance of the Rook. This story continues from the previous issue, where the Rook has traveled into the future and encounters a crashed spaceship. In this story an evil alien being breaks out and starts killing people. The Rook and the others realize that the ship's pilot caused the creature's creation and that any exposure to it will cause the person being exposed (or animal being exposed) to also turn into a monster. The Rook solves things by traveling back in time and removing the alien pilot from his ship such that the alien monster was never created.

Second is "Space Force: Shipwrecked", by Paul Gillon (art) and Jean Claude Forest (story), in its final appearance. Chris and the others travel to one of Saturn's moons. The natives tell them of rat-like aliens gathering and of Valerie, that she is there and is considered a goddess. Chris heads there and finds talking frog creatures who attack him. After escaping he finally comes across Valerie, still encased in the orb that he too was encased in while in space. Mara meanwhile is confronted by the frog creatures as well. Unfortunate that the series suddenly ends here when it is getting interesting.

Third is "Starlad" by Vic Catan (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story is another color insert story in the style of the one appearing in Eerie 134. This story features a sick boy who is about to die. His doctor tells him that he is actually an alien superhero, and he makes the boy into a superhero as well. In reality, the boy has died. I could tell by page two exactly where this story was going as Bill Dubay simply rips off his own story "Dick Swift and His Electric Power Ring" from Creepy 86. Very lame.

Fourth is "Haggarth" by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). Haggarth's last appearance, this story resolves a number of running storylines such as the amazonesses, the stones, and the spirit Haggarth had encountered earlier. A fairly good finale, although not as well resolved as the earlier Haggarth storyline. Still the best story in the issue though.

Eerie 132

Sanjulian provides the cover for this issue of Eerie, featuring Haggarth (although the character painted here looks nothing like Haggarth!). This issue is cover dated July 1982.

First is the return of the Rook to Eerie, in "The Dane Curse!" by Luis Bermejo (art) and Budd Lewis (story). A pretty good story, but we kick off right in the middle of things, meaning this story probably originated from the Rook magazine (which by this point was cancelled) and is continued here. In this story the Rook is in the past, helping a woman who others are accusing as a witch. The Rook takes the blame himself to save her and is jailed, then they go ahead and jail her too. It ends up that the mob is possessed with a demon and that when they are about to execute him, the demon comes out and he destroys it. The past changed, the Rook appears back in the present, not remembering what happened.

Next is Zud Kamish in "Hero of the Milky Way" by E.R. Cruz (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). In this story Zud is recruited to guard an ambassador. He agrees to do so, then helps save the ambassador from an assassination attempt. The assailant responds by blowing up Zud's home, apparently killing his son, lover and robot friend. Or so it seems. The story ends here, to be continued later.

Third is "Space Force: Shipwrecked", by Paul Gillon (art) and Jean Claude Forest (story), continued from Eerie 129. In this story Chris is on Venus, battling aliens with some soldiers in a facility. One of the robots he comes across has the face of the woman that he was jettisoned out into space with. They are able to narrowly escape from the facility before it explodes.

Last is "Haggarth" by Victor de la Fuente (story and art). Haggarth once again runs into Ethan and his friend Eco. Haggarth agrees to help them search for the treasure they are looking for when they let him borrow their canoe. They later come across an amazoness that Haggarth helps. Later when Ethan and Eco are captured by them Haggarth captures their princess, enabling them to escape.

Eerie 129

Sanjulian provides the rather cluttered cover for this issue of Eerie, dated February 1982. Like the previous issue, this is actually quite a step up from what Eerie had been providing over the previous few years.

First is "Ode to a Dead Thing!" by Rudy Nebres (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story features Marvin the Dead Thing, who originally appeared back in Eerie 49. While the writer of that story, Al Milgrom, made it a parody of Swamp Thing, this story is anything but a parody, actually quite serious. Marvin and the girl who became a swamp monster as well watch a couple drop a dead baby into the swamp. The father is a man who conspires with an old woman to get women pregnant, then make money off of aborting them. Here, the mother refused to abort the baby, so the old woman strangled it when it was born. The baby comes to life out of the swamp, as does the mother when she dies and is placed there as well. The villain of this story has got to be one of the most detestable people in a Warren story ever.

Second is "Ms. Liberty" by Jun Lofamia (art) and Rich Margopoulos (story). A woman travels throughout a post-apocalyptic world, searching for her husband. The vast majority of humanity has turned into mutant cannibals. As she searches, she comes across some other normal humans, but finds them either crazy, or ends up killing them due to herself going crazy. In the end she finally finds her husband, but ends up killing him, thinking he's one of them.

Third is "Mercenary!" by Pat Boyette (art) and Nicola Cuti (story). Quite pleased to see another Boyette story, he's an artist I quite enjoyed during the stories he did with Warren during the late 1960s and early 1970s. This story is an oddity here in that it doesn't feature any supernatural theme to it. It is about Ed Skinner, a Mercenery, and his adventures in various south american countries. Along the way, he learns a president is also the leader of revolutionaries. He takes a large payoff to keep quiet, and escapes the death the president plans for him.

Fourth is a new series, Space Force, with the story "Shipwrecked". This story was originally published in France in 1964. Art is provided by Paul Gillon and story is provided by Jean-Claude Forest. In the future Earth is attacked by alien spores. To ensure humanity stays alive, a man and a woman are put into capsules and sent out into space. The man, Chrisopher, is recovered many years in the future and is resusitated. The man finds that the spores are still around, and bigger than before. He flees, with one of the women who recovered him, in search of the woman who was shipped out to space along with him. A fairly interesting story here and some good art too. One of the panels here is strikingly familiar to one from Esteban Maroto's "Scourge of the Spaceways", one of my favorite art jobs in a Warren story ever. As this story came out first, its obvious Maroto's work was a swipe however.

Last is the latest story in the "Haggarth" story, with story and art provided by Victor de la Fuente. In this story a strange man appears before Haggarth and warns him Desirra and the Amazon warriors in the jungle. Heading through the woods, he comes by an injured man who was hurt by the Amazon warriors. As Haggarth's part in this story ends, he is attacked by the Amazon warrior he met before and her eagle. Ethan meanwhile is captured when some village dwellers find him in the canoe used by their dead comrades. Accusing him of their murder, they are set to execute him but proof of his innocence is found and he is permitted to leave in the canoe.

Eerie 128

Kirk Reinert provides a terrific cover for this issue of Eerie, probably the best of its latter day covers. This issue is dated January 1982. Aside from the horrible Zud story, this issue is quite a lot better than those we've been seeing for quite a while now.

First is "Dr. Coven: Ashes to Ashes!" by Rudy Nebres (art) and Rich Margopoulos (story). Dr. Coven is a man who comes to the jungle with his wife to study voodoo. A voodoo priestess invites him to a ceremony and captures his wife, he then passes out. When he awakens he finds himself surrounded by zombies, including his wife, who is now one. He dismembers his wife to escape her, then kills the zombies and priestess.

Second is "The Demon Queen" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Jonathan Thomas (story). A professor who has one of his students as a lover is writing a book on demons and soon starts seeing them, suspecting that he is being pursued by a demon queen. He sees the demons more and more and his behavior to get rid of them gets more and more out of hand, resulting in him being fired and his book's publication being suspended. His book's chances of publication finished, his lover reveals that she is the demon queen. He is found later, gone completely insane. The demon queen in this story is modeled after that on the cover of Eerie 41.

Third is the retitled Zud and Son in "Heroes at Large!" by E.R. Cruz (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). In this story, it is revealed out of nowhere that Zud has a thirteen year old son, Raz. Raz dissappoints Zud, as he is interested in the ballet and other odd stuff rather than normal boy stuff. While at the ballet Zud is captured by an old enemy of his who tries to kill him. Raz is able to rescue him, then at the end reveals that he is interested in football and other standard male interests after all.

Fourth is "Blackstar and the Nighthuntress" by Peter Hsu (art) and Gerry Boudreau (story). Jason Blackstar and Rowena, the stars of this story originally appeared back in issue 85. In this story the appearance of a medallion at someone's home means assassins, the Rectifiers (sent by the three Governor who rule the galaxy) will come after them and kill them unless they can stay out of their hands for seven days. Killing a Rectifier is illegal, and when Rowena mistakenly kills one, the Governors send other ones after them. Rowena and Blackstar eventually come across the Governors and convince them to stop coming after them.

Fifth is "Avenger!" by Jim Starlin & Neal Adams (art) and Archie Goodwin (story). This story was originally intended for Creepy 64 back in 1974. Odd enough it was held back for eight years before finally appearing here. A pilot, Thomas Flagg climbs out of the sea, ten years after his death from a plane crash into a body of water. Flagg, now a rotting hulk, has the ability to cause others to succumb to his will and soon gathers an army to go after he whom he finds responsible, his father, who forced him into duty in Vietnam. His army of followers are killed, but he still encounters his father and causes him to succumb to his will as well.

Last is "Haggarth" by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). Haggarth is attacked by an eagle and its amazoness owner who tries to kill him with a poison spear. Meanwhile a trio of men look for precious stones and come across Ethan and a friend of his who accidently take their canoe. Two of the men take back the canoe and leave, only to be killed by the amazonesses.

Eerie 127

Nestor Redondo gives us the cover for this issue of Eerie, dated December 1981. This cover features Haggarth taking on King Thall and his tiger.

First is "Justin, King of the Jungle" by Rudy Nebres (art) and Bill Dubay & Rich Margopoulos (story, Dubay as Will Richardson). Justin King , who spends much of his time in the jungle gets upset when poachers kill an elephant. They shoot him and leave him for dead, but he survives, then comes after them, killing them one by one until all are dead.

Second is "Reuben Youngblood" by Howard Chaykin (art) and Budd Lewis (story). An uncredited Lee Elias draws the first page. Reuben Youngblood originally appeared back in Eerie 72 in 1976, and makes his second appearance here. One wonders whether this second appearance was meant to appear around back then. In this story Youngblood acts as an undercover bodyguard for a bootlegger during prohibition. Only the bootlegger is actually a vampire! Luckily Youngblood kills him with a grenade.

Third is "Merlin and the Sorcerer from E.R. Cruz (art) and Budd Lewis (story). Merlin, from the Cagim series tells this story of his encounter with Harry Houdini during the 1920s. Merlin poses as an archeologist who is an expert on druids, and when he finds a collegue dead, with an object down his throat, he heads to the archaeological site. There he meets Houdini and they head down a long tunnel where they encounter bizarre tentacled monsters.

The issue concludes with the latest "Haggarth" story by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). Haggarth and Borin confront the priest and Haggarth reveals that he has the manuscript that so many are after. Sensing how power hungry Borin is, Haggarth kills him. He then goes to confront Thall, who has the priest killed when he turns up empty handed without the manuscript. Thall takes it when Haggarth throws it to the ground, but when he flees Haggarth causes the place to collapse, killing Thall. A pretty good conclusion for the story that has been going on here for a number of issues, although the series will continue for a while.

Eerie 126

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

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

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

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

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

Eerie 42

Luis Dominguez provides the cover for this issue of Eerie, based on the reprinted story inside, 'Ogre's Castle'. This issue is dated October 1972.

First is "The Mummy Stalks!" by Reed Crandall (art) and Archie Goodwin & Roy Krenkel (story), featuring a mummy that turns into a werewolf while being stored in a museum. This story, originally published in Eerie #5, is a rather poor effort, despite being a Goodwin story.

Next is "The Blood Fruit" by Johnny Craig (art & story), from Eerie #11. A group of four students and a professor arrive on an island where the professor discovers 'The Blood Fruit', which when eaten causes whatever he wants to occur. He uses this to kill two of the students and summon a lizard like monster. But when one of his colleagues eats the fruit and wishes him dead, he finds the tables turned.

Third is "Dark Rider" by John Severin (art) and Archie Goodwin (story), from Eerie #8. 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.

Fourth is "Life Species" by Bill Dubay (story & art), from Eerie #30. This is a very short story about astronauts arriving at a destroyed planet and piecing together a habitant of the planet. It ends up the planet is Earth, but the interesting twist is that put together a car and think it was the dominant species of the planet! Very short, but good story by Dubay.

Fifth is "Ogre's Castle" by Angelo Torres (art) and Archie Goodwin (story), from Creepy #2. An extremely good art job from Torres here, arguably his best job for Warren. A knight heads to a castle that is rumored to be where his younger brother dissappeared. Inside he finds an ogre who has captured a beautiful young woman. He fights off the ogre's various minions, then saves the woman. On his way out the ogre confronts him, and the knight kills the ogre. The ogre's corpse transforms into his younger brother as soon as he is killed however. The woman, now revealed to be a sorceress, transforms the knight into an ogre, to be used to guard the castle like his brother had before.

Sixth is "Room With A View!", with art by Steve Ditko, and story by Archie Goodwin. This story was originally published in Eerie #3. A man arrives at an inn with no rooms available, except for a single one which the innkeeper warns him against staying in. The guest uses it anyway and sees a weird creature in the mirror. Each time he looks in the mirror he sees more creatures appearing until he is completely overtaken by them. Hearing his scream, the innkeeper comes up and finds the room empty, but sees the guest's corpse when he looks in the mirror.

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

Eighth is "I Am Dead, Egypt, Dead" by Victor De La Fuente (art) and Doug Moench (story), from Eerie #35. 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.

Eerie 124

This issue of Eerie, cover dated September 1981 features a reprint of Frank Frazetta's cover from Creepy 7. Great cover, but alas, its a reprint, one that has nothing whatsoever to do with the sci-fi content of this issue.

First is Cagim in "The Sea of Red" by E.R. Cruz (art) and Budd Lewis (story). Cagim finds a chain within Merlin's clothes which directs him to the British Treasury. There he meets Cecily, a woman who is unaffected by the spells of Vivien, but also oddly enough cannot be seen by anyone in society! Despite this, she is convinced that she should report on Cagim to
the news (which makes no sense since how would they know she exists?). Eventually Vivien's minions end up capturing her. Yet again, a rather lame story, and the worst material in this issue.

Next is "Pyramid of the Black Sun: Orka", a new series from Luis Bermejo (art) and Jim
Stenstrum (story, as Alabaster Redzone). This story was originally printed in Europe, and is
reprinted here. Orka, an ambassador of the United Stellar Republic travels through a desert
on the planet Arkaran in search of a man named Ulzan who is member of a Alliance of Light
that was rebelling. Ulzan ends up being Blekos, the person in charge there, whom Orka is
still searching for at the end of the story. A somewhat interesting story, heavily influenced
by the book Dune, with the desert setting, sand worms that appear in the story, and the name
of the planet, Arkaran (based on the planet Arakis in Dune).

Third is "God of Light", the finale of the Born of Ancient Vision series. Art is still by Bob
Morello, with story by Budd Lewis. The demons summon a large demon, Baligorn, then challenge Mah' Sess to fight him, saying only he will die if he agrees to fight the demon one on one. Mah' Sess does so, after his people prepare their weapons for battle. Mah' Sess defeats
Baligorn, then there is a large battle in which his people destroy the demons for good. Mah'
Sess then ascends into space, to seek his place in the universe. A fairly interesting series,
particularly on the art side of things. Alas, this is it for it, as well as it for Morello,
who'd do no more Warren work.

The issue concludes with Haggarth in "The Sacred Scroll" by Victor de la Fuente (story &
art). Haggarth meets with Borin, the very man whom he was asked to kill. Haggarth doesn't
want to kill him, but a remark causes Borin to attack him. They stop fighting and Haggarth
tells Borin to take responsibility as leader and stand up to King Thall. Haggarth's friend
meanwhile searches for his treasure and finds a jade statue and blade, but is offered very
little for it when they return to town. Not that good a segment this time, luckily this series isn't asked to prop up the entire issue so thats okay, for now.

Eerie 123

Sanjulian provides the cover for this issue of Eerie, cover dated August 1981. This cover was originally meant for Creepy 47, but after not being finished in time for that issue, it was held onto for 9 years before being used here. Thankfully no Zud Kamish this issue, so things are a tad better than usual.

First is the latest story in the Mist series, "Token Resistance" by Val Mayerik (art) and Don McGregor (story). Victoria continues to hide on the subway from Lucifer's henchmen, along with her ally, who is revealed to be a CIA agent. Eventually they are found and fight Lucifer's men. Some of the men are killed, but by the end Victoria is still in Lucifer's hands and is dragged off by him. Only a so-so story at best with some lapses in logic; it does feature a funny scene with a panhandler declaring himself an alien though.

Next is the second story in the Born of Ancient Vision trilogy, "In Sight of Heaven In Reach of Hell" by Bob Morello (art) and Budd Lewis (story). The creatures that came due to Mah 'Sess's third eye start creating a large hive in the sky. They are revealed to not be from hell, but from another dimension. They plot to defeat Mah 'Sess and succeed by convincing some of his men to betray him. One of the creatures attacks Mah 'Sess but is killed. As the story ends, an odd reaction occurs with Mah 'Sess's third pair of eyes.

Third is "Remember All the People" by Leo Duranona (art) and Don McGregor (story). This story surrounds a couple on the day of John Lennon's death. Lots of this is the typical psychotic hippie nonsense from McGregor here unfortunately. Duranona provides a good art job at least, in his last Warren story.

The issue concludes with "Path of the Tempered Soul", the latest Haggarth story, but Victor de la Fuente (story & art). King Thall continues his search for a parchment left behind by his former head priest. Some barons meet with him and he tells them off. Haggarth meanwhile meets with the mysterious priest in the obselisk then departs with his friend. His friend plays cards in an inn while Haggarth meets a mysterious man who is working for the King and asks Haggarth to assassinate one of the Barons, Borin for him. Haggarth's friend wants him to come with him to find a treasure, but Haggarth has other plans.

Eerie 122

Romas Kukalis provides the cover for this issue of Eerie, cover dated July 1981.

First is the stand alone story "The Beast Of Sarnadd-Doom!" by Gonzalo Mayo (art) and Budd Lewis (story). Good story and art, quite a contrast to the usual fare from Eerie from this time period. The story features a warrior, Behk-Bagahn returning to the city Sarnadd Doom which he had taken over at an earlier time. An evil lizard giant lives in the city which Behk-Bagahn fights. By destroying the creature however, he transforms into a smaller one himself, and is slain by his fellow men who are hunting, soon afterwards.

The latest Zud Kamish story is next, "The Chameleon Stands Revealed!" by E.R. Cruz (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story). Nothing all that new here; both the art and story continue to be an extreme dissappointment. Zud tries to figure out who the traitor in his group of friends is. Cole Saxon, another friend of his tells him that his enemies, the Desperados want to meet with him. He does so, then escapes from them. Zud then steals Cole's ship and takes off with it.

The latest story in 'The Mist' series is next, "Victoria Rode the Subway Last Night!". Val Mayerik takes over with the art starting with this story, while Don McGregor continues to be the writer. Lucifer and Victoria meet on the subway again, this time due to Lucifer setting it up. Minions of his accompany him on the subway. She is helped from being harmed by a man on he subway, and they escape.

"Haggarth Book II' is next, the latest in the Haggarth series. Art and story continue to be by Victor de la Fuente. A group of priests pray to their God, 'Khost', and the head priest is killed by their king, a very short individual named Thall. The friend that Haggarth made earlier gets in trouble when he takes a vest off a dead man, then gets caught by the man's allies. Haggarth meanwhile meets the old man who helped him in the first few stories of the series, who fills him in on whats going on with Thall. Haggarth runs into his friend again and they wander towards a large stone obelisk. Haggarth heads inside where he encounters a priest.

Eerie 121

The cover for this issue of Eerie is a reprint from issue 26, by Vaughn Bode and Basil Gogos. A reprint cover that does not feature Frank Frazetta, a rarity for warren. This issue is cover dated June 1981.

First is the second story in the Mist series, "Blood Cycles" by Jun Lofamia (art) and Don McGregor (story). Not as strong a story as the previous one, featuring the same characters, Victoria Westgate and her husband Philip, and the mysterious Lucifer de Montalban who is up to no good, including using a voodoo doll and henchmen within the Westgate's building.

Second is a new series, "Born of Ancient Vision" by Bob Morallo (art) and Morallo & Budd Lewis (story). In contrast to the garbage that populated much of Eerie during this time period, this is an interesting new series, featuring arguably the most bizarre looking art in Warren's history. Unfortunately Morallo did only three stories for Warren, those in this series. This story features a six eyed baby born named Mah 'Sess, that is part of a prophecy of doom. He is disposed of in the desert, but is raised by those who live there, then starts a battle between his people and his father Sh Hahd 'Ahn's kingdom. Towards the end of the story demons come out of his eyes, causing havoc.

Third is "Ashes to Ashes" by Al Sanchez (art) and Rich Margopoulos (story). This story features two heroes from Eerie's heydey, Darklon and Hunter. This story continues a practice started by Margopoulos in the previous issue, urinating all over the legacy of Eerie's recurring characters from its peak in the mid 1970's. I suppose one could argue he had more right to do so here since Hunter was his own creation, but that doesn't absolve the fact that Margopoulos continues to completely destroy characters and storylines that made this magazine so good years before. In this story Darklon fights the Acolyte, who is successor to the Nameless One in his own storyline. Darklon for some nonscensical reason brings Hunter back to life shortly after his death and they defeat him. Darklon then explains that Hunter didn't really kill his father Oephal at the end of his serial, but another demon. Blasphemy! Completely embarressing and a stain on Warren's history, thats for sure.

Fourth is the latest Haggarth story, "Fall of the Death Head!" by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). Haggarth talks with the woman revealed in the previous story, and some of his back story is explained. He makes his way to the castle of Sombra, whom he confronted in the previous story and after some fights with his minions is able to defeat Sombra, who suffers from some sort of disease that gives him an ugly skull like face.

Eerie 120

This issue of Eerie from April 1981 features a cover by Jim Laurier.

First is Zud Kamish in "Death of a Cometeer" by E.R. Cruz (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story). Another horrible, horrible Zud story. This time his ex-wife has tied up all his assets in a lawsuit, and he joints an ally of his in transporting some material, during which time his ally dies. Another really bad story with a really bad art job by Cruz.

Second is "The Warrior and the Gunfighter!" by Al Sanchez (art) and Rich Margopoulos (story). Eerie gets worse and worse as Margopoulos starts bringing back old Eerie stars (many of which are dead), starting with Dax the Warrior. In this issue Bishop Dane from the Rook misses a dentist appointment and trying to go back in time in order to make it, instead goes to a medieval era where he meets Dax. The king thinks that Dane is a sorceror due to his gun, and has him and Dax fight an enemy of theirs. Margopoulos clearly has no understanding of Dax nor any respect for the character and its creator Esteban Maroto as Dax in this story acts nothing like the Dax in his original series.

Third is a new series, The Mist, with "A Public and Private Surveillance" by Jun Lofamia (art) and Don McGregor (story). In contrast to the previous two horrific stories, this one isn't bad. The story surrounds a normal woman having issues with the phone company and an evil man calling himself Lucifer de Montalban who also has some problems with them.

Last is the latest story in the Haggarth series, "Sombra the Damned!" by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). In this story Haggarth battles the sorceror who hired his troops to take the skull of three snakes. Haggarth defeats his underlings, then fights the sorceror himself, who escapes. He is then confronted by the monks from the temple who possessed it, who take it back, but bless his sword beforehand. He then meets a fellow traveler and they are confronted by a large stone monolith, which then transforms into a woman as the story ends.

Eerie 119

Bob Larkin provides the cover for this issue of Eerie, cover dated February 1981. A mere three stories in this issue, quite a disappointment.
First is a new character, Zud Kamish in "Accept No Substitute" by E.R. Cruz (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story). The usually dependable Stenstrum provides a very long, drawn out, boring story featuring the outer space cowboy Zud. Some of the plots in this story include an ex wife suing Zud for more alimony and robots planning a rebellion against mankind that frame other robots. 27 pages long, and not one that is interesting or has good art.

Next is "Sindy Starfire" by Reuben Yandoc (art) and Rich Margopoulos (story). Sindy is a girl whose parents, sister and boyfriend are all killed by outlaws within mere minutes of one another. Sindy herself has her eye torn out, her hand destroyed, and is bound to the ground, left for dead. Sindy is helped by an old native american who gives her a robotic hand. She then gets revenge on the leader of the outlaws. This would be the only Sindy Starfire story.

Last is "Haggarth" in "Eyes of the Dead!" by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). The old man, Mathias brings the injured Haggarth and young blind man meet up with Arnia the witch. Unfortunately Haggarth dies before she can do anything. The blind young man she cannot help, but then she comes up with a plan to pull of Haggarth's face and place it over the young man's, which works, giving back his sight, but also partially giving him Haggarth's personality too. Meanwhile one of the warriors who has the stolen tribal idol opens it, which reveals a ray of light. He is soon killed by some ape like creatures that take the idol with them. Nothing great yet, but still far, far better than the other two stories here.

Eerie 118

This issue of Eerie features a cover by Jordi Penalva. Unfortunately this issue doesn't live up to the quality of the prior one. It is cover dated January 1981.

First is a new series, 'Haggarth' in "Skull of the Three Snakes" by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). Similar to Haxtur, this series was originally printed in Europe and was reprinted in Eerie for a very lengthy run. A group of five Tunic warriors, led by Haggarth head to take an artifact, the Skull of Three Snakes from a valley of clansmen. A young man catches them coming and warns his people, who do battle with the Tunic warriors. All the warriors are killed, and the young man is blinded. He is helped out by a local old man, and along the way they find Haggarth, who is actually still alive as well. The old man tells the young man of Arnia, a witch who would be able to heal his eyesight. A so-so start to this new series. Haxtur ended up being a fairly good series so hopefully Fuente does as well with this one too.

Next is Steel Starfire: Tales from the Galactic Inn by Rudy Nebres (art) and Rich Margopoulos (story). The story features Steel, our hero, who continously rescues women from the clutches of his enemy Cyber, a man who is half man half machine thanks to Steel. Eventually Steel is captured by the women themselves, who never wanted to be rescued in the first place. He then ends up turning to none other than Cyber himself for help. Tremendously dissappointing because this story is exactly the same as the story "Mike Marauder: Knight Errant of the Spaceways!" from 1994 #22. I've never been a big fan of Margopoulos, but this is just pathetic. This story came before the other one though, so I suppose that story receives the bigger criticism.

Third is "The Red Shot" by Jess Jodloman (art) and Bruce Bezaire (story). This is Bezaire's first appearance in quite a while and his last story for Warren as well. It surrounds a competition where many people battle over control of a ball, and after an hour whoever controls it wins. Yes, the story is that lame. Quite a dissappointment for the usually quite good Bezaire.

Last is "Space Kids" by Fernando Fernandez (story & art). This story features a group of psychic kids who live off on another planet. A boy starts realizing he has powers too and can hear them talking to him. He is visited by the space kids, who are disguised as adults, and recruited to join them. They next plan to head to a backwater planet called... Earth. Fernandez's last Warren story, it was originally created back in 1975 but for some reason was held by Warren in inventory for 6+ years instead of being published around the time of his other stories. Its much weaker than his other stories, perhaps that is why.

Eerie 117

While this issue wouldn't have been anything terrific during Eerie's hey day in the mid 1970s, for an issue of this era, this issue is simply amazing. Head and shoulders above anything we've seen from the last number of issues. The cover is a terrific one from Enrich, although admittingly its a reprint from the back cover of Vampirella 37. It is cover dated December 1980.

First is the issue's only real sore point, "City of Fire", the second story in the Cagim series. Art is by E.R. Cruz and story is by Budd Lewis. This story continues from the prior issue, where Merlin and his younger self, called Ambrose fought the evil sorceress Vivien. Pretty much the same happens in this issue, with King Arthur also making an appearance. Ambrose becomes convinced that he has cast a spell that turns all normal people around him into statues, although its actually of Vivien's doing. By the end of the story Merlin has died and Ambrose dawns a very ugly superhero costume, the one he wore in the last issue.

Second is "His Brother's Keeper!" with art by Neil McFeeters (in his sole Warren appearance) and story by Jim Stenstrum. This story features a man who helps his brother escape from a military asylum. The two of them end up crashing in a bizarre landscape. Our protagonist wanders off on his own for a while, and is confronted by a hideous monster which he kills. But it ends up that the monster was his brother, and that he was crazy as well. While wondering through the woods later a monster shows up, this time for real.

Third is "Bruce Bloodletter" in "The Jalopy Scam" by Fernando Fernandez (art) and Cary Bates (story). The first Bloodletter story appeared back in Eerie 94. In this story Bruce and his female companion Muffin come across the planete Rygelian, where people are buying cars from Pleasure Centers owned by Silas Mendicant, villain from the prior story. It appears that Mendicant and his patrons aren't paying their taxes which is what gets Bloodletter involved. Bloodletter and Muffin later meet a princess whose father has been drugged by Mendicant. They are able to trick Mendicant after healing her father and capture him once and for all. Not the greatest story (and somewhat confusing at the end), but as a big fan of Fernandez I'm quite happy to see him make a rare appearance. Fernandez's final Warren appearance shows up in the next issue.

The issue concludes with a very strong conclusion to the Haxtur series in "A Time for Dying" by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). Haxtur falls into a hidden underground cave where an old man tells him his quest has ended. He summons a monster and requests Haxtur kill a man, but Haxtur is suspicous and instead releases the man, who attacks the old man, permitting Haxtur to escape. Haxtur then fights a man who looks exactly like him. The 'clone' of him tells him that he is actually Haxtur's physical body, and that Haxtur exists as a spirit in limbo, where he will be forced to die over and over again. Haxtur realizes that he is actually in hell, being forced to suffer for his many years as a mercenary. Haxtur then finally meets the mysterious four men seen in the first story in the series, who reveal themselves to be the four horsemen of the apocalypse. They tell him that as a mercenary in his life he ended up accomplishing much for them, something Haxtur is quite upset to hear. Quite a good end to a series that has been one of the very few bright spots in these late issues of Eerie. While this series comes to an end here, de la Fuente returns with another series, "Haggarth" starting in the next issue.

Eerie 116

A so-so issue by Enrich starts off this issue of Eerie, dated November 1980. An absolutely dreadful issue of Eerie, there's nothing good here. Sorry for the quick reviews, this issue is just too poor to be able to give it the full coverage I give average and above average issues.

First is "Blackjack", featuring the return of the Rook to Eerie for this issue only. Art is by E.R. Cruz and story is by Rich Margopoulos. As usual this Rook story has multiple stories going on at once. The Rook encounters a giant amoeba. Bishop Dane and Manners go to prehistoric times, kill a few dinosaurs, and get banned permanently from their by some advanced society living back then. Finally, a rival scientist of the Rook's, Blackjack shows up and tries to tamper with things, taking on Kate and Jan.

Next is 'Starwarriors' in the story "Plunderworld". The logo for this story is an obvious ripoff of the Star Wars logo. Art is by Fred Redondo while story is by Rich Margopoulos. This dreadful story is about the adventures of imp like creatures known as the Star Warriors. This story has no connection to the Star Warrior story that had appeared in issue 114. And thankfully, this did not become a continuing series, ending here.

Third is "The Marks of Merlin!" a new series titled "Cagim" by E.R. Cruz (art) and Budd Lewis (story). This new series features Merlin the magician, who meets his prior younger self (called Ambrose) and educates him. At the same time a Dark Queen who had prior dealings with Merlin fights him, but Ambrose, wearing a superhero costume fixes things. Nothing interesting whatsoever here, although additional stories in this series would appear for a while.

Last is the latest Haxtur story, "Warriors and Friends!" by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). A small group of knights find Haxtur and accuse him of being a spy. Haxtur fights them, killing all but one, and taking their horse. A very short story this time, at a mere 6 pages. This series would conclude with the next issue.

Eerie 114

Sanjulian provides a nice cover for this issue of Eerie, cover dated September 1980.

First is "Star Warrior!" by Al Sanchez (art) and David Jacobs (story). A 31 page story that drags excessively, although its at least a tad better than the garbage from the prior issue. A man is embroiled in a big adventure to kill the brother of his lover, who he killed so she couldn't be targeted to get to him. The story also features our hero's friend, who is forced to give up everything he owns when he loses a race. Although the story has some twists in it (like the killed lover turning up alive, only to die for real), not that good a story.

The next story on the other hand, is terrific. "The Executioners" is by Carlos Giminez (art & story), and like his stories that I've already covered for 1984 on this blog, was originally printed elsewhere and reprinted here. A ship is stranded in space. The older members of the crew decide that in order to survive they need to eat one of their fellow crew members. The young cadets are targetted to be eaten, and one is chosen to be killed. Lots of anguish goes on by the one chosen, along with other members of the crew who do not want to go through with it. Eventually though the boy is killed, but mere seconds later, help arrives, making it all meaningless.

The issue concludes with the latest Haxtur story, "Panthers, Wolves and Death!" by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). Haxtur encounters a woman with a panther for a pet whom he helps. He then later is captured by a clan of wolf men, but manages to defeat their leader, scaring them away.

Eerie 113

Jim Laurier provides the UFO themed cover of this issue of Eerie, dated August 1980. This issue kicks off a long stretch of very poor issues of Eerie, probably the worst issues of material that Warren ever put out. This is going to be rough.

First is "The Manifestation" by E.R. Cruz (art) and the team of Bill Dubay & Budd Lewis (story, Dubay as Will Richardson). This story features an encounter in space with a blob like entity that takes over many astronauts. A rather dull story that goes on for far too long. But far worse is Cruz's art. Cruz is probably the worst artist who ever worked for Warren. Every single character he ever drew looked exactly the same. And unfortunately there's lots of him over the rest of Eerie's life.

Second is "Code Name: Nova" by Alfredo Alcala (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story features a man taking on mutant revolutionaries. Better art, but poorer story than the previous one.

Last is "Haxtur and the Slow Death God" by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). Haxtur comes to a new village where he is told of the deadly God Mokt, who is keeping people from leaving the village. Haxtur encounters Mokt, which ends up being a radioactive statue. He later encounters the diabolic master "Khut", who wants to take over Haxtur's body, but he is able to kill him and escape.

Eerie 111

This issue of Eerie features a cover by Ken Kelly.

First is the finale to "Blood on Black Satin" by Paul Gulacy (art) and Doug Moench (story). Our heroes are caught in a frenzy as Simon Whately and his mob overrun the town. Our protagonist awakens the next day, believing it all ot be a dream. In actuality everything did happen, and Whately is still in control.

Second is "Moto Psycho Cop" by John Garcia & Rudy Nebres (art) and Nicola Cuti (story). This stand alone story tells of a 'pyscho cop' and the mind induced experiences he gets in. Eventually he is killed, but another man gets revenge for him on those he had worked for.

Third is "The Messenger", the final Samurai story by Val Mayerik (art) and Larry Hama (story). In this story Samurai is helped by a friend who looks like him to helps take out some Yagyu Clan ninjas who are after him. Unfortunately this would be Samurai's final appearance, despite the fact that the story is nowhere close to a conclusion.

Fourth is the final Mac Tavish story, "50 Million Spacemen Can't Be Wrong" by Pepe Moreno Casares (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story). In this story Mac Tavish discovers how Gorgo was able to track Spider's attack, and also finds that Gorgo himself is paralyzed now and portrayed in public by one of his men. Spider appears on the scene, now with all his hair shaved off, and angry at Mac Tavish, not knowing the truth, blows up both himself and Mac Tavish's lover, Ida. Mac Tavish, upset, tries to destroy the Earth by plowing a ship into it, but stops at the last minute and decides to spare it.

The issue concludes with "Beware of Glahb", the third story in the Haxtur series by Victor de la Fuente (story & art). This series, which was a reprinting of a series that originally appeared in Europe initially started in 1984/1994 before moving here with this issue. In this story Haxtur saves a sacrifice for a giant lizard creature, Glahb, and is saved by her later on when he becomes the intended sacrifice. He later contends with a priest that forbids people to talk

With the ending of multiple long running series and Louise Jones's departure as editor, Eerie would quickly collapse to ineptitude after this issue.