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 98

This issue features a cover by Patrick Woodroffe of a skull faced cop. Due to an elongated Rook story, there's only three stories in this issue.

First is the Rook in "Quarb and the Warball" by Luis Bermejo (art) and Bill Dubay (story). At 31 pages, this is tied for the longest story in Warren history. This story features multiple creations from a fan contest held in Eerie where fans submitted story ideas. This story features a man named Quarb, who was born millions of years ago when the Earth was populated by apes due to alien interference. Quarb is not only super smart, he also is immortal. When the Rook finds out about his home he desires to go back in time to see the first intelligent man. Dane meanwhile goes in the past to meet his ancestors. In the past Rook is captured by apes and goes through a long ordeal where he is unable to meet Quarb, gets abducted by the aliens who were looking for Quarb, and finally does meet him in his home, but Quarb acts unintelligent and the Rook leaves. Dane encounters his ancestors, who are fighting a man named McQuarb who just happens to be both Quarb, and Dane's ancestor. Finally, Quarb himself arrives in the present to look at the Rook's creations and laboratory. A rather too complicated story and too long story, with way too much words.

Second is "Got You On My Mind" by Russ Heath (art) and Bruce Jones (story). This story features a man with a skull birthmark on his cheek that has dreams of people who has caused violence. He goes to them in real life and kills them. However he has a dream of a murderous woman who is actually just an actress and is killed by cops when he tries to strangle her. One of the cops there has the skull birthmark appear on him as well afterwards.

Last is the conclusion to the "Honor and Blood" series, with art by Leo Duranona and story by Nicola Cuti. This story brings us to the present time, where Sean Vrykola (who has changed his name to Varly) goes to Romania to meet his cousin Mara and learn of the family history. Mara lives all by herself except for a pair of vicious dogs. Sean learns of his family's vampire history, while at the same time there have been vampire related murders occuring. Sean meets Mara's father, who is crazy, and returning home finds out that she is a vampire after all. She runs and gets killed by her dogs, but it ends up it is actually his wife Peggy who was the killer. Sean and Mara are normal after all, and get married, ending this series on a more pleasant note than usual. A top notch series throughout, its a shame that it ends here after only three stories.

1984 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1984 9

A fairly good issue of 1984. The cover for this issue is by Patrick Woodroffe, featuring a spaceship taking off.

First story is "Break Even" by Alex Nino (art) and Kevin Duane (story). This is... believe it or not... a well thought out, intelligent story to kick off an issue of 1984 that doesn't feature sex! It features a pair of astronauts hired to scope out the asteroid field between Mars and Jupiter who find a very small planet that's actually a shrunk gas giant planet which they end up destroying. If only every issue could start off like this.

The second part of "Herma", by Jose Gonzalez (art) and Bill Dubay (story) is second. Herma, refuses to sleep with the Mexican 'sultan' she's been brought to and actually convinces his entire group of wives to leave him. They head through the Mexican desert where they find some more men, who of course they end up sleeping with. Herma is recruited to a whore house where her first customer is actually a talent scout for his mother's movie studio. That's where the story ends, to be concluded in the next issue. As with the prior part, a rather poor story, but very attractive art by Gonzalez.

Third is the issue's best story, "A Clear and Present Danger!" by Jess Jodloman (art) and Gerry Boudreau (story). A man is distraught over the death of his beautiful wife, and agrees to go back in time to prevent the birth of an 'Archbishop' that controls their society and was responsible for her death. In the past he finds the Archbishop's mother, pregnant with him, and pushes her off a cliff, causing a miscarriage. He returns to the present only to find that his actions in the pasts caused his wife to never marry him, and he married a hideous fat woman instead.

Fourth is this issue's color story, "Starfire" by Herb Arnold & Frank Springer (art) and Bill Dubay (story). The issue's poorest story, this is about a flying ace who is just a 13 year old boy and a rival who wants to get revenge on him. The rival sneaks up on the boy in the men's locker room showever, where he has suddenly become a woman, he tries to rape 'him', but gets killed. A very odd story that doesn't make much sense. I miss Mutant World already!

Fifth is "Humungus", part of the Rex Havoc series, returning after a multi-issue absense. Art is by Abel Laxamana and story is by Jim Stenstrum. Rex Havoc and the Asskickers of the Fantastic head to Japan, and this story parodies Godzilla. By this point I have had about enough of Rex Havoc and they must have thought the same thing as this was the series's final appearance.

Last is "The Schmoo Connection" by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story). An odd story that is hard to make much sense of due to the poor dialogue and some very exotic, but hard to understand art by Nino. It appears to be about a woman whose husband committed suicide, which is somehow connected to Schmoos, creatures which can change their appearance to satisfy any person's sexual desires. Similar in nature to the story "Snarking Down" from Vampirella 86.

1984 7

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1984 5

Time for another issue of 1984. Patrick Woodroffe provides this issue's cover.

Up first is "The Greatest Hero of Time and Space!" with Jose Ortiz doing the story and Bill Dubay (as Strontium Whitehead) and Jim Stenstrum (as Alabaster Redzone) doing the story. Standard Dubay sex fantasy story to open up the issue. A young boy's father dies, so he goes to live with his uncle, an old man who lives with about a half a dozen beautiful naked women. He tells the nephew of his various adventures through time with them as they rescue humanity and have other various adventures. It ends up that the women are all actually robots, but that doesn't stop the boy from having an orgy with them all at the end of the story.

Second is part three in the Idi Amen storyline, "Idi and the Ratment of Hunger Hollow". Art is by Esteban Maroto and story is by Bill Dubay. Dogmeat and Idi head to an area where there is a bunch of rats, in an attempt to find a rocket they can get to use to the US. They are confronted by many real rats and the ratmen, but are able to get to the rocket and take off. As usual great art by Maroto but poor story and horrible dialogue by Dubay.

"Timothy Sternback and the Multi-Colored Sunrise" with art by Alex Nino and story by Gerry Boudreau is about a man who experiments with sex with numerous different women. He finds himself transported to another dimension where he's supposed to marry the King's daughter and produce a child to be their heir. He does so, but desires to return to Earth so wishes himself back there when the King give him a wish. In actuality, there was no wish, and they had sent him back by their own choice anyway.

"I Wonder Who's Squeezing Her Now? follows, with art by Wally Wood & Ernie Colon and story by Nicola Cuti. This story was originally intended to be published for the magazine "POW" and was drawn back in 1971. The magazine never ended up getting made, so it finally ended up here. The story surrounds a man whose life is falling apart around him. His wife is having an affair, so he leaves her and has an affair with a woman from his office, which becomes public, getting him fired from his job. His lover ends up in the hospital and he gets beat up by his wife's lover. He decides to kill them, but upon seeing the lover beat her up for having an affair with yet someone else, our hero finds a little better and decides to call it off.

"Luke the Nuke Brings It In!" by Rudy Nebres (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story). A rather boring story about the Luke of the title piloting a shuttle, smuggling illegal aliens, who makes his way through various enemies traps, etc... Don't waste your time with this one.

The latest segment of "Mutant World" by the team of Rich Corben (art) and Jan Strnad (story) features Dimento in yet another battle with other mutants over food. He also battles with a wolf-like creature. Meanwhile a soldier finds Dimento's friend, the woman, and brings her to a nearby compound. Dimento follows but can't get in. Corben's art continues to be quite well done in color here, although the story is still moving rather slowly.

"The Box" by Mike Nassar & Alfredo Alcala (art) and Len Wein (story) is a rather interesting story about a tower which contains a civilization in it serving an entity known as the box. At the end it ends up being a TV show which is cancelled. Not an overly complicated story, but a fairly good one.

Next is "Killman One" by Herb Arnold (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story, as Alabaster Redzone). The story is about an alien woman who hates her husband, a star 'Killman', who fights various competitors in one on one battles to the death. She decides to take him on in one such competition and ends up killing him.

We wrap up with another installment of Rex Havoc, entitled "The Spud from another world! or Who Grows There?". This story is a parody of the movie "The Thing From Another World", and the book it was based on, "The Thing From Another World". It features our heroes in the arctic where an alien being is found frozen. It ends up getting thawed and is an alien potato monster that our heroes try to take out by frying him on a frying pan. A sympathetic scientist screws things up, but Rex is able to set the alien on fire in his ship and take him out.

Some good stories here, but also some very bad ones. Across the board the art is quite good though.

1984 4

Another big issue of 1984. The cover is by Patrick Woodroffe.

First up is "The Last War... ...of the Worlds!" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This is a continuation of HG Wells 'War of the Worlds' where the martians come back to Earth and attack again. Thanks to using technology from the martians, the Earthlings are able to fight them off. A long, drawn out story that just is not that interesting.

Second is "Idi and Me" a continuation of the serial Idi Amin. Dogmeat and Idi face a number of mutants who look like rotting corpses who try to eat them. Idi runs away while Dogmeat is captured. Idi eventually returns, thinking Dogmeat is the most likely person to help her become a man again, but he is able to save himself by convincing the mutants that he wouldn't taste good. Once again terrific art by Maroto and idiotic dialogue, particularly from Idi who can barely speak english.

Third is "Mondo Megillah" by Alex Nino (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story, credited as Alabaster Redzone). Possibly the most infamous of all of 1984's stories, this story has been rumored as a major factor for the bankruptcy of Warren Publishing. Apparently what happened was that editor Bill Dubay was going to allow his writers, including Gerry Boudreau, to adapt some sci-fi stories for 1984 prior to it becoming the sex-filled mag it became. Boudreau wanted to do Harlan Ellison's "A Boy and His Dog" and wrote the story with Dubay's okay before permission was granted. Ellison refused to provide permission, but Bill Dubay decided to have the story drawn anyway because he was fearful of running out of work for Alex Nino to do. He then asked Stenstrum to rewrite the story and it was published as Mondo Magillah. Even with the rewrite, the story was obvious plagirism and Ellison sued, which he eventually won shortly before Warren went out of business. Anyway, the story takes place in a post apocalyptic world where the Earth has been rendered a wasteland and all men have mutated into bizarre monsters. The story focuses on one such monster, Lucius, and his ex-wife Kitten, who are among the first to return to the Earth in order to make money for themselves. While there, Kitten comes across a normal looking man, whom she has sex with (what did you expect for this magazine?). He worships a God called Magillah, and she eventually discovers an underground society that worships him and plans to sacrifice her to him as they give him a woman to have sex with once a year. Kitten is able to escape and make it back to the surface where she reunites with Lucius. The man leaves her to return to his underground society, so she has sex with Lucius instead.

Fourth is the latest chapter in "Mutant World" by Richard Corben (art) and Jan Strnad (story). Dimento is beat up by the mutants who had captured the lady he met and try to eat him. Demento escapes, and mad at the lady for tricking him, doesn't help her. The mutants beat her up and Demento eventually comes back to rescue her.

Fifth is "The Stunning Downfall of Muhammad Reptillicus!", which features Sally Starslammer from last issue's Omar Barsidian tale. Art is once again by Jim Janes and Rudy Nebres and story is by Jim Janes and Bill Dubay. It features a boxing match between Muhammad and another mutant which he easily defeats. Sally gets angry and jumps in the ring and beats up Muhammad. Muhammad's agent tries to recruit her but she refuses, and he end up having a parasite controlling his body. She leaves, with the money meant for Muhammad.

Sixth is "Ogre", another story from Corben and Strnad. This issue is done mostly through photographs of clay models. It features an ogre who is in love with the lover of the prince, who is cheating on the queen. The ogre reveals this to the queen, who chops off the prince's head and turns the ogre into a human. He wants to head off with the prince's lover, but she turns her into an ogre to replace him.

Next is "Lullaby" by Jose Gonzales (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story, credited as Alabaster Redzone). This story, which probably features Gonzalez's best ever art for Warren, features an aristocratic woman and her lover, who has defected from the military but with her advice decides to return. Pretty much the whole story is the two of them naked, talking to each other. At the end of the story it is revealed she is his mother.

Next is "Boy's Camp!" by Herb Arnold (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story, credited as Alabaster Redzone). Aliens have taken over humanity and have a couple of people head to a planet where they have a camp for kids. The only problem is that the pressure of arriving on the planet on a ship will kill the person, so they have to revive them as corpses so they can make repairs. They are unable to leave the planet before decomposing however.

Last is "Rex Havoc" by Abel Laxamana (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story). It features a future where monsters try to get the same rights as humans. Rex is the leader of a group, "Asskickers of the Fantastic" (the monsters call themselves Fantastics) who seek to destroy all monsters. This story features him fighting a well known vampire. This would kick off a series for the next few issues.

1984 3

Another big issue of 1984, with a whopping nine stories. The cover, featuring a hunter shooting a large snake/dragon like creature is by Patrick Woodroffe.

First up is "Squeezin's" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Bill Dubay (story). And get this... the story is not about sex! A new President of the US is elected only to find out that all world wars have been caused by a pair of mutants, one American, one Russian, whose petty fights with each other cause epic battles on a much greater scale.

Next is the first in a new series, Idi Amin, entitled "Whatever Happened to Idi Amin?" by Esteban Maroto (art) and Bill Dubay (story). The story features Idi, an African dictator who was stopped by the US's DDT (Department of Dirty Tricks) by being put into the body of a white woman. Idi's followers set off a world war which has ravaged the Earth, and turned most people into horrific mutants. Our story features a DDT agent, Adam aka Dogmeat who accidently reawakens Idi from suspended animation within the Sphinx and they team together to escape from the mutants. As usual Maroto's art is absolutely amazing, far above anything else in the issue.

"In the Beginning" is next, by Alex Nino (art) and Bill Dubay (story), about scientists sending people back in time to find the first organism on Earth. What they find however are millions of organisms, who end up killing the men send back. It ends up that the start of life on Earth was organisms within the poop of aliens who were passing by!

Part three of "Mutant World" is next, with art by Richard Corben and story by Jan Strnad. Demento is tricked by some other mutants (called Bugs) into giving them all his food while he confonts a bunch of scary monsters. He escapes and finds the woman he met in Part 1, but she is captured by some other mutants.

"Bring Me the Head of Omar Barsidian" follows, with art by Rudy Nebres & Jim Janes and story by Bill Dubay. The story is about a woman spacepilot and her alien comrade who pursue and defeat the evil Omar.

"The Strange Adventure of Doctor Jerkyll!" follows, with story & art by Nebot. It features a scientist who creates a potion that turns him into a very large breasted woman, who finds a man and sleeps with him. The doctor awakens as a man, creating quite the situation, and is unable to turn back into a woman, yet that doesn't stop him from becoming pregnant! A very fast paced story with no dialogue.

Seventh is "Scourge of All Disneyspace" by Alfredo Alcala (art) and Bill Dubay (story). A ship of all women space pirates capture a civilian vessel in Disneyspace. Its the future, and men apparantely don't have penises anymore, with the exception of a single man on the ship who has sex with the captain and is then taken away to have sex with all the women. Gee, and here I thought I might get through a 1984 issue without Dubay doing one of these types of stories!

"Commfu" is next, by Abel Laxamana (art) and Jim Stenstrum (story, as Alabaster Redzone). The story features the rampage of a lunatic who is part of a government plot where homicidal maniacs are recruited as agents.

Last is "The Harvest" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story is in my mind the single worst and offensive story in the history of Warren Publishing. It takes place in the future, where 'The Corporation' has put all black people in the world into various gaming reserves, where white people come to hunt each year. The story focuses on a father & son who shoot a pregnant black woman then tear the baby out of her, calling it veal. I'm not one to throw out the term 'racist', but when you look at this story, plus the one "Freedom's Just Another Word" from Creepy 53, and the calling of multiple characters with racist names like "Spook" and "Spade", Bill Dubay's got a hard time avoiding being called that. This story's so over the top and disgusting it makes me want to vomit.

Creepy 110

After a cover by Patrick Woodroffe, a closeup of a monster's face, we have "Snapper" by Leo Duranona (art) and Bill Kelly (story), about a group of plunderers who come across a giant turle that they destroy, only for its mate to survive and attack.

"Sunset Farms" by Rudy Nebres (art) and Gerry Boudreau (story) features a mobster and a well appreciated underling being sent to what is essentially a futuristic prison where everyone is heavily drugged. The mobster eventually finds a way for him and his underling to escape.

"Take Your Child, Please!" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Cary Bates (story) is next. The story features an orphan boy with an onion like head who is very violent with his foster family. Eventually he ends up trashing their house and even killing them. At the end his real parents, with similar features to him, start looking for him.

"The Demon Hater" follows, by Auraleon (art) and Nicola Cuti (story), which features a man who finds a demon's corpse. Other demons try to take it from him. With the help of a woman whom he has an important connection with, he's able to defeat them.

A very good story, "Horror is a Highrise" is next, by Leo Duranona (art) and Archie Goodwin (story). The story features a haunted skyscraper where lots of ghosts and horrific events occur. Eventually it is revealed that it was a warning for everyone to get out, as the skyscraper, built with crappy material, collapses and falls down.

"A Knightmare to Remember" by Buz Vaultz (art) and Cary Bates (story) features a monster fighting a princess, who turns into a knight. It ends up being a dream, but a knight lurks around the corner... Not too good a story.

Last is "The Clockmaker" by Jesus Blasco (art, miscredit to Joaquin Blazquez) and Bob Toomey (credited to Gary Null). This is essentially Poe's the Telltale Heart, rewritten to talk about the old man having clock body parts, which are never seen. Not that good a rewrite, it would be best just to keep the original story here.