Showing posts with label sech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sech. Show all posts

Thursday, May 21, 2009

1994 #29


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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday, May 3, 2009

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.

Monday, April 6, 2009

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.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

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.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

1994 #26

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

1994 24


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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday, January 9, 2009

1994 19

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Creepy 129


Jeff Easely provides the cover for this issue of Creepy. Rudy Nebres draws a one page intro from Uncle Creepy. Like most issues from this period, a boring issue with nothing much here to impress the reader.

First is "The Terrible Truth About Danny" by Martin Salvador (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story tells of a young boy with pyschokenetic powers who can cause objects to do whatever he wants to get revenge on anyone whose done him wrong. A beautiful girl moves in next door but unlike other boys doesn't like her. One night he decides to force himself on her to be like everyone else but instead decides to kill himself by blowing his own head up.

Second is "The Saga of Popeye Jackson!" by Paul Neary (art) and Gerry Boudreau (story). This story tells of a revolution from a robot man who used to be human. Some pretty good art from Neary, but a poor, rather dull story.

Third is "Working Class Hero" by Carmine Infantino & Alfredo Alcala (art) and Roger McKenzie (story). This story features an accountant in his forties who looks much older than that who is bored with life, but is suddenly transported to thousands of years in the past where he helps a woman who escaped from her slave master. They go meet with a wizard, the man who brought him back in time by accident and they defeat the slave master. The wizard tries to transport him back to the present, but he ends up in the revolutionary war period instead. Some good art, but a poor, pointless story.

Fourth is "The Last Voyage of Sinbad" by Fred Carillo (art) and Budd Lewis (story). The Sinbad of legend is actually a dim-witted man who desires more than anything else to have friends and have the rain stop. Some treasurer hunters recruit him to join them and when they find how dumb he is they instead plan to have him be the fall guy when they discover a genie that will kill whoever summons him. The genie instead grants Sinbad's wishes to have friends and stop the rain.

Fifth is "He Who Lives!" by Danny Bulandi (art) and Budd Lewis (story). A confusing story about a man on a spaceship who goes down to a planet, sees weird visions, and encounters a vampire who he kills, making him a vampire himself.

Last is "Strategic Retreat" by Herb Arnold (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). This story features a humanoid dinosaur who hires soldiers to kill his old men and help him escape. While escaping however the soldiers sign a new contract with his enemy, giving him only two weeks to live.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

1994 18

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday, December 20, 2008

1994 17

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

1994 16


Jordi Penalva contributes a very good dinosaur themed cover for this issue of 1994.

First is "Sci-Fi Writer" by Alex Nino (art) and Kevin Duane (story). This story is about a sci-fi writer at a convention who is captured by some aliens that want to use him to take over humanity. He escapes from them and then manages to kill them, or so he thought. They are able to switch themselves with kids wearing costumes at the last second, getting him sent to jail.

Second is "Dog Star" by Delando Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story, credited as Will Richardson). This story is about a prospector on a planet all alone, except for his dog Nebbie. Thanks to Nebbie's help he is able to fight the dangerous monsters off. But when other prospectors arrive, they tell him that Nebbie is actually a monster, which is true, as the man had deluded himself into thinking it was a dog.

Third is "Agony" by Carlos Giminez (story & art). Like his story in the previous issue, this is a reprint of a story originally published in Europe. A man and a priest traveling arrive at a town and hear horrific screams. They find them coming from a man who is being completely mutiliated by a machine. The machine then oddly enough reconstructs the man, who instructs it to mutilate him all over again. It ends up that the pain the man feels is transfered to ecstacy which is why he is repeating the process.

Fourth is "The Day After Doomsday" by Luis Bermejo (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). Bermejo's art here is absolutely horrific, easily the worst of his Warren career. This story takes place in the future, where pollution has caused devastating results to the Earth, causing most of the populace to have cancer. A space shuttle is presented to the public as a way of calming them down, but its all a ruse and one of the astonauts reveals that fact by blowing it up.

Fifth is the latest story in "The Starfire Saga" by Rudy Nebres (art) and Bill Dubay (story, credited as Will Richardson). Kris and Cassie find a number of victims killed by the space pirates who have plagued them before. Kris realises that she can communicate with the spirits of Snuffy and others killed by them. They soon encounter the pirates and kill them, and meet the small creature introduced in the prior part, who tells them that Kris's father has already left.

Sixth is the final story in "Baby Makes Three" by Abel Laxamana (art) and Kevin Duane (story). Our hero continues his investigation of the murders taking place on the space station. The murders are the result of a man named McCann who is defeated during a battle taking place next to 'Baby', a giant black hole. At four stories long, this series was quite poor and a waste of a lot of space in this magazine.

Last is "Fruit of the Grape" by Alex Nino (art) and Kevin Duane (story). This story takes place at a party where as part of a bet the host discusses a case he was involved with where a man was brought to court for selling a wine that was announced as being aged many years despite the company only being in existence a few years. Our protagonist announces that he has created a device which can age things, winning the case. The big company that brough the lawsuit to court buys the device from him and uses it to age the wine in their warehouse, but this ages the bottles and the building as well, causing the house warehouse to come crashing down.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

1994 13


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

1994 11


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Creepy 131


A so-so issue of Creepy. The cover is by Frank Frazetta, a reprint from issue 4.

First is "The Nut" by Delando Nino (art) and Budd Lewis (story). A man invents a time machine, in the form of a nut. He uses it to go to the future, which his life later does as well. Only they go into the future where there is no Earth, and find themselves out in the middle of space.

Next is "Son of the Nut!" by Martin Salvador (art) and Bill Dubay (story, as Will Richardson). This story actually stars Budd Lewis and Bill Dubay, authors of the two 'Nut' stories in this issue. Lewis tells Dubay that the Nut story is true, and he's found a way to go back in time to the wild west. He wants to avoid publication of the story so he can go there undisturbed, but Dubay decides to publish it anyway, and then they both go back and time. Why in the world this story is in a horror magazine, I have no idea.

Third is "Lycanthropist" by Bill Draut (art) and Budd Lewis (story). A town of werewolves requests werewolf hunters who are used as prey. This time however the werewolf hunter who comes is actually a robot, who defeats all the werewolves and plans on taking over humanity as well.

Fourth is "Possession is Nine Point of the Soul" by Danny Bulanadi (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). A priest is brought to a lighthouse to help out a boy that has been possessed by a demon. He successfully performs an exorcism, but the demon takes over him!

Fifth is "Bella Donna" by Fred Carillo (art) and Nicola Cuti (story). An institution doctor becomes enamored by a beautiful patient and ends up releasing her so she can live with him and his wife. The patient isn't cured though, and kills a guest, then later gets the man to go along with killing his wife as well.

The issue concludes with "Mindwar" by Noly Panaligan (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). This story, which features the best art and story of the issue features a war between Earth and aliens. It is decided that the war will be decided by a one on one battle between an Earthling and alien in the fifth dimension. The Earth representative manages to defeat the alien, saving Earth, but is paralyzed for the rest of his life. Some very good art here by Panaligan, its too bad that he did so few interior stories for Warren.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

1984 10


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday, October 6, 2008

Vampirella 112


Vampirella's final issue, featuring a cover by Martin Hoffman, his sole Warren appearance. Jose Gonzalez provides art on the table of contents page.

The first of two Vampirella stories is first, "The Walker of Worlds" by Jose Gonzalez (art) and Rich Margopoulos (story). Vampi encounters the Walker of the title, a mysterious man who walks around with a large number of floaing eyes. The Walker figures out that Vampi won't love him since she loves Adam, so he goes to kill Adam. Vampi is able to convince him that she isn't worth his love however by saying its okay to kill Adam, and he leaves the both of them alone. Gonzalez's art is extremely good here.

Second is the Fox, in "Shadows of the Mind" by Luis Bermejo (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). Will gets very sick, so Sha Ming heads into his mind to help him. There she encounters various enemies including Will himself who tries to kill her. She stops him and in the real world he gets better. A rather poor end to this saga, with Bermejo's art being quite bad compared to how good he used to be.

Third is the latest segment in "Torpedo" by Sanchez Abuli (story & art). Luca is hired to take out a rival mob boss. He does so by using a woman friend to sleep with the man and lead him right into a place where Luca is hiding. He plans to kill the woman whom he had promised half the proceeds to, but she turns the table on him and escapes with her life, the money, and his car.

Fourth is "Ransom" by Auraleon (art) and Michael Fleisher (story). A man's wife is kidnapped, so he goes to the police, who plan to hand over the money they requested, but when the man heads into the house, the police announce themselves, causing his wife's death. The kidappers are killed in a car crash shortly after discovering that the suitcase of cash they were given was actually filled with newspaper. The real cash was taken by the man, who planned this all, including the announcement from the police to kill his wife and get away with the money.

Fifth is "Limbo" by Esteban Maroto (story) and Bill Dubay (story). Aliens from the planet Limbo encounter the barbarian Krak, who they argue on whether to bring back to their planet, where their race is being attacked by evil lizard creatures. The male, Enore thinks they shouldn't bring Krak to their planet, bringing violence to their people, while Leejah, the female thinks they should bring him back. Eventually they go along with Leejah's plan and Krak kills numerous lizard men while Enore is killed. With the lizard men defeated however, Leejah regrets bringing so much violence to Limbo in the first place.

Last is another Vampirella story, "Feeding Frenzy" by Gonzalo Mayo (art) and Rich Margopoulos (story). Vampi and Pantha, reunited, are on a cruise when suddenly the cruise is taken over by terrorists. The terrorist leader wants to take those on the ship hostage and force society to stop using nuclear energy, as he was in a power plant that had a meltdown. Vampi, whose blood substitute was destroyed goes on a rampage and kills all the terrorists in her blood lust except for the leader, who goes crazy.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Creepy 141


One of Creepy's last issues, featuring a cover by Richard Corben.

First story is "I Created the... Gargoyle!" by Delando Nino (art) and Danielle Dubay (story). This story is about a pair of men working on a cancer treatment who find a way to cure it, but it turns the patient into a gargoyle like monster. One of the men thinks that their work has failed because they've done it on animals, so he volunteers for the treatment. His cancer is cured, but he too turns into a monster that runs amok before being destroyed.

Second is "The Puppet Master" by Fred Carillo (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). A hit man gets mad at his mob boss for his treatment of him in public so he kills him. He also kills a homeless puppet player who saw it happen. He tries to escape on a plane, but finds himself controlled by the ghost of the puppet player.

Third is "The Check-Out Counter" by Alfonso DeLeon (art) and Timothy Moriarty (story). An interesting story about a pair of men who are searching for the Garden of Eden in a post apocalyptic world. They kill an old man and follow a boy to find it... which ends up being a convenience store run by a robot which kills them and takes their organs then they try to take some food. The boy survives, but ends up loosing his tongue.

Fourth is "Covering All Bases" by Martin Salvador (art) and Kevin Duane (story). The story features a newscaster who is always all over the place. It ends up that he cloned himself multiple times. Although one is murdered, getting him in trouble, he is able to get out in the end.

Fifth is "Candle in the Wind" by Jun Lofamia (art) and Gerry Boudreau (story). The story features an investigation of people who are spontaneously combusing. Eventually it is discovered that it is due to a nurse treating people for cancer. It cures the cancer, but eventually causes them to burst aflame. By the end of the story the last remaining patient wraps his arms around her and they both burst into flames.

Last is "Moral Blood" by Al Sanchez (art) and Don McGregor (story), the first of a continuing series. The story is Don McGregor's return to Creepy after a long absense. Its a horror story told in an old west setting. A group of demon like creatures attack a caravan. Not that good in this opening entry of the series.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Creepy 136


One of Creepy's later issues, meaning the content here just ain't that good. The cover is by Richard Courtney. This issue features a one page introduction of Uncle Creepy by Auraleon.

First up is "All the Time in the World", by Frank Carillo (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). Both were uncredited. This is a story about a plane pilot who uses parts from a crashed UFO to fly his plane, which ends up going into space. There he meets aliens who ask him to show them how to have fun. All I have to say about this story is what the hell is it doing in a horror magazine?!

Second is a sports themed horror story, "Never Say Die!" by Martin Salvador (art) and Gerry Boudreau (story). The story is about a pair of football rivals who in their middle age are now coaches. One of the coaches purposely runs over the star player of his rival's team. The player's corpse comes back to life in time to play one final game between them however. An okay story, but nothing great.

Third is "The Consumers" with art by Jun Lofamia and story by Boudreau again. This story is about the collapse of human civilization in the future with devastating winters ruining the Earth. With food nowhere to be found, a man eats his wife's corpse, then starts eating himself!

Fourth is "Day of the Cliche" by Nebot (art) and Greg Potter (story), about a man at a carnival who always talks in cliches who is transported to another world by a gypsy he insulted and killed. Another horrid story that has no place in a horror magazine.

Fifth is "Eyewitness News" by Carmine Infantino & Pablo Marcos (art) and Rich Margopoulos & Gerry Boudreau (story). The story is about a newscaster which creates headlines to prop up ratings. With each headline he goes more and more overboard, by being a sharpshooter, causing a train crash, etc... Eventually his producer kills him before he causes another disaster.

Next is "Mother Zenobia and the Satan Glass" by Gonzalo Mayo (art) and Rich Margopoulos & Gerry Boudreau (story), about three gypsies who come across an old house while on the run. One of the gypsies finds a mirror inside which contains the spirit of her mother, who tells her to kill the others and help set her free. By the end of the story however, she destroys the mirror, stopping her mother forever. Compared to the other stories here, the art on this one is quite nice.

Last is "Daddy's Gone A-Hunting" by Joe Staton (art) and Steve Grant (story), about a hunter in the wilderness battling androids. It ends up his family, and even him are androids as well, and are destroyed, with their makers deciding to try again in an attempt to succeed with them.

Overall, a so-so issue for this era. Certainly has some horrendous stories, but at least a few are pretty good.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Creepy 130


Here's a late issue of Creepy from the summer of 1981. The cover is a good one, by Richard Courtney, featuring the partially dug out skeleton of a giant. This issue features a one page Uncle Creepy intro drawn by Rudy Nebres.

First story is "The Vampire on the Hill" by Martin Salvador (art) and John Ellis Sech (story). The story features a writer in a new town who is attacked by a vampire and eventually becomes one himself. Not that impressive of a story.

Second is "Duel Nature" with is written & illustrated by Laura Buscemi, John Lakey and Artifact (Val Lakey). This story features an alien creature that crashes to Earth and battles a wheelchair bound taxidermist. By the end of the battle both are dead, although the man is able to successfully stuff and display the alien. As usual, Lakey's artwork here is terrific.

Third is "Screaming in the Rain" by Alfredo Alcala (art) and Don McGregor (story). At some future point in time, acid rain has devestated the Earth such that is becoming uninhabitable. The industrial firm whose pollution caused this disaster try to depart the Earth in a rocket ship, only for the acid rain to destroy it!

"Mythologia" by Fred Carrillo (art) and Nicola Cuti (story) is fourth. A ship reaches an uncharted island where they find various scary and beautiful creatures who are the last of their kind. One of the men kills one of the creatures, believing he'll obtain immortality, but he ends up being turned into a centaur who is killed by his companions.

Next is "Missing Love" by Moreno Casares (art) and Brian Jacobs (story). This story takes place in space, featuring an astronaut who is approached by an old man to rescue his beautiful daughter. The astronaut finds the daughter, who ends up being a beast woman.

Last is "Small Dreams" by Herb Arnold (art) and Maggie Pierce (story). The story is about a midget who tries to become a superhero. Although his first quest is successful, when he fights his landlord, he ends up getting killed.

A so-so issue. most of the stories are good, with the exception of the last one.