Eerie 74

Only four stories in this issue of Eerie. The cover is by Ken Kelly, featuring Jedediah Pan and his demons. Auraleon provides the interior front cover feature of Cousin Eerie.

First is "The Demons of Jedediah Pan" by Jose Ortiz (art) and Bill Dubay (story). Pan is confronted by some bandits in the desert so his uses his bracelet to summon some demons which beat them, tearing out all their teeth. A rather dissappointing second part to this series, which still has a ways to go before its conclusion.

Second is "Father Creator" by Paul Neary (art) and Bill Dubay (story). The story features a massive spaceship that is responsible for bringing saviors to various planets. The current person in charge of the spaceship, known as 'Father' is all on his own. The story surrounds what happens when he revises the latest savior and seeks to end his loneliness. An okay story with some good art by Neary.

Third is "A Secret King", the second Merlin story. Art is by Gonzalo Mayo and story is by Bill Dubay. A rather long, drawn out story at 20 pages long, this story features the well known tale of King Arthur, including his escapades with Merlin and Snivel, the death of his father the King, his time with Ector and Kay and the eventual discovery of the sword in the stone.

Last is "The Expedition" by Leopold Sanchez (art) and Budd Lewis (story). Two friends go canoeing in the wilderness in Louisiana. Eventually they come across an abandoned cabin where a man has been killed by some creature. It eventually ends up that there is a monster in the river that one of the men is feeding, and gives him his friend to eat. The monster goes out of control however and kills him too.

Creepy 36

An early issue of Creepy featuring a terrific cover by Kenneth Smith. The frontis is "Creepy's Loathsome Lore: The Body Snatchers Who Stole A Giant!" by Tom Sutton.

First is "One Way to Break the Boredom" by Jack Sparling (art) and James Haggenmiller (story). A rich man is bored with his life, and when the devil arrives he gives him his soul in order to become a vampire, a life that he plans to be very exciting. It is exciting for a while, he travels from place to place, kills many people, and always survives the execution whenever he is captured. Eventually however he arrives at an old city in the country with an old custom for executions, shooting with wooden arrows, something which kills him for real.

Next is "Weird World" by Tom Sutton (art) and Nicola Cuti (story). An astronaut arrives at a bizarre planet where he meets a beautiful woman, but also a talking frog and her father, a bizarre looking alien creature. He soon finds out that the planet is a mental asylum for crazy aliens. He heads into his ship to take off from the planet, but once he goes inside he becomes insane for real.

Third is "Frankenstein is a Clown" by Carlos Garzon (art) and Bill Warren (story). A famous clown later in his career becomes well known as an actor playing a friendly monster on TV. Unfortunately for him he perishes in a car crash. A mad scientist brings him back as a real Frankenstein monster. He heads to a memorial for himself, but realizing how dangerous he is, he decides instead to kill himself for good by jumping out of a window.

Fourth is "On the Wings of a Bird" by Jerry Grandenetti (art) and T. Casey Brennan. As good as Grandenetti's art is it can't save this absolutely horrific story which was startling enough awarded by Warren as the best story of the year! A man, Ahzid, is trapped in a desert prison with a talking statue. He dreams of the day that he'll be able to escape due to a bird that sits there, but never takes off. He has a dream of actually leaving on the bird, but when he wakes up he finds that the bird has already left and that he's trapped here due to sleeping in. This story would have a sequel in issue 42.

Fifth is "Forbidden Journey" by Rich Buckler (art, his Warren debut) and Greg Theakston (story). This story tells of four astronauts heading to a world with a natural resource, 'thurium' that will make them rich. One of the astronauts kills the three others, but when he arrives at the planet he finds it is nothing more than a waste dump and his ship falls into quicksand, trapping him there.

Sixth is "If A Body Meets a Body" by Jack Sparling (art) and R. Michael Rosen (story). A man is in a car crash with his friend. He awakens and heads home only to find his wife crying over his death. His friend arrives and tells him that they're both dead and they should head to the spirit world. At the urging of his friend the man jumps off a cliff. It ends up all being a trick however as the friend and wife are together, and he falls to his death. Only it ends up that the friend truly is dead, something he and the wife soon discover.

Last is "Frozen Beauty" by Richard Corben (story & art). This was Corben's Warren debut. A hideous queen, Maleva, summons Darman, a sorceror, offering him gold in exchange for making her look like her beautiful niece. They head to a cave in the icy mountain where he casts a spell such that Maleva will have her niece's exact appearance. Her niece is left frozen there in the cave so she'll always look the same. Instead of paying the sorceror however, Maleva has him stabbed and left in the cave. Maleva doesn't get to enjoy her beauty for that long, as Darman, still left alive due to the cold starts eating the corpse of Maleva's niece, resulting in her body being torn to shreds. A very nice debut for Corben.

Vampirella 7

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eerie 73

This issue of Eerie by Ken Kelly features Hunter II and the Exterminator.

First is the finale of the Hunter II series, "Death of the Phoenix" by Paul Neary (art) and Budd Lewis (story). Being recovered by Yaust, Karas and Exterminator discover the truth, that Yaust is actually the good guy and that the goblins he created to fight off the evil ones went out of control. Mandragora is the true evil one, and there is no such thing as a time shell which will be used to save the world. Karas returns to Mandragora's home, where he finds the White Council and they are all killed. The world doesn't come to an end after all, and the series ends on a happy note.

Second is "Carnival at Midnight", the second story in the 'Freaks' serial. Art is by Leopold Sanchez and story is by Budd Lewis. This story surrounds two young brothers, one of whom is crippled who come across the freaks late at night. The boy's father and then a mob come after them, only to find that the Freaks were actually helping the boy by fixing his legs for him.

Third is "Day of the Vampire 1992: The Tombspawn" by Gonzalo Mayo (art) and Bill Dubay (story). This story takes place in a post apocalyptic world where much of the world is in ruins. Two men, Stevie and Biff hunt various creatures and come across a cavern where a beautiful woman lies inside in suspended animation. A hologram appears and tells them that she is a vampire and warns them of reanimating her. Stevie falls in love with her however and brings her back to life. After sleeping with him she escapes however, and the Earth forces blow her up. Stevie finds himself now a vampire after an encounter with her and attacks his friend Biff as the story ends.

Fourth is "A Brave Terror Leads to Death!" the final segment in the 'It' series. Art is provided by Jose Gual, in his final Warren appearance, and story is by Carl Wessler. Thieves attack Jan Foley's house, but It arrives once again to rescue her. The thieves plan to blow up It so it can't bother them anymore. Jan and her fiance however follow them and prevent them from doing it. The thieves sneak into their house but It arrives and saves the day yet again. Although the series ends in an open ended manner, this would be the final appearance of It. I do have a few more It stories to cover which appeared in Creepy, including the original story, which will come some day soon down the line.

Last is "Voyage to the Final Hole", part 2 in the Peter Hypnos series, with art and story by Jose Bea. Peter finds a rose in the field that grows huge and swallows him up. He continues to shrink inside the rose and meets a multitude of bizarre creatures who tell him that he'll make it through a hole back to safety as long as he believes that he'll keep shrinking. He does so and shrinks small enough that he finds the hole in question and jumps into it, bringing him back to the real world.

Creepy 122

A Richard Corben cover starts off this issue of Creepy, featuring an upside down dead asian man. Uncle Creepy is given a one page introduction by Rudy Nebres.

First story is "The Killing" by the team of Alex Toth & Leo Duranona (art) and Roger McKenzie (story). This story, taking place during the civil war features a confederate civilian woman who ends up being forced to take in some Union soldiers. Although she planned on blowing them up, killing herself along with them, she has a change of heart and waits until they leave before killing herself.

Next is "The Watcher" by Leo Duranona (art) and Bob Toomey (story). This story is about a censor at the Comics Code who is very over the top with his censorship. He takes home a new comic one night, Mooneyes, featuring a scantily clad heroine. He discovers the real Mooneyes, or rather the model that portrays her and ends up killing her. Having gone crazy by the event, he moves out to the suburbs and becomes a comic writer himself, but his prospective publisher comes to see him and finds her rotting corpse in the house with him.

Third is "The Perfect Specimen" by Steve Gan (art) and Budd Lewis (story). This story features two rather confused aliens who come to Earth and land in an ocean, thinking that fish are the dominant species of the Earth. They capture a great white shark and thinking it friendly, go in a tank to meet it, unaware of how dangerous it actually is.

Fourth is "Midnight in Chinatown" by the team of Carmine Infantino & Alfredo Alcala (art) and Gerry Boudreau (story). The issue's weakest story, this is a mystery/action story about a man attacked by a mysterious assassin in Chinatown. He investigates and eventually encounters him again, discovering that he is Japanese and manages to kill him.

Fifth is "Routine" by Martin Salvador (art) and Carl Wessler (story). This story appears to have been originally written years before as Carl Wessler was no longer with Warren by this point and Uncle Creepy hosted the story, which hadn't happened in years. The story surrounds a middle aged man in a rather quiet city in his normal routine, such as going to the Bank where he is president, and having a party for his wife. As we reach the last page and find him dining with all skeletons it becomes apparant that he's the only human left alive, but to keep himself sane he pretends that everyone else is still alive. A short, but interesting story.

Sixth is "Magic Man" by Fred Carillo (art) and Gerry Boudreau (story). This story features a magic man who stays in a book store who befriends a young woman, but won't let her touch him. He has the ability to create illusions of any real matter, making it appear to be something else. The woman thinks that he's an illusion himself, but when she touches him it is she who dissappears, as she was an illusion, not him.

The issue concludes with "Roomers" by Mike Zeck (art) and Bruce Jones (story, miscredited to Budd Lewis). This story features a nerdy college student who goes through an elaborate plan to tutor a beautiful fellow student. When she refuses his advances however he snaps, killing her and raping her corpse. He succesfully escapes his apartment complex and disposes of the body, but when he returns he discovers that his elderly landlady spied on him and blackmails him into having sex with her! One of the most horrific Warren endings ever, if you're a young guy like me.

Vampirella 73

This issue of Vampirella fatures a book length story titled "A Gathering of Demons". The cover is drawn by Bob Larkin, hardly one of his or Vampi's better covers. This issue's art is provided by Gonzalo Mayo while the story is written by Bill Dubay. At 71 pages, this is the single longest story in Warren history and the only instance in which a book length story actually consisted of a single story rather than multiple related stories.

The story itself unfortunately is nothing all that special. It surrounds a series of murders happening each day where a "V' is left on the scene. Conrad initially blames it on Vampi, but it later becomes apparant that the murders are due to a council of wizards who are leaving the "V" because it forms a giant pentagram. Working on selecting a new leader, the Anti-Pope, they kill a person each day that one isn't selected until ten have been killed. In addition the ten council members have each selected a human host to be used in a battle of demons against each other to determine who will become their leader. Vampi and our heroes interfere, resulting in the deaths of the council and their defeat. For now anyway. Many characters from this story including Crissy Collins (one of the human hosts) as well as council member Tenichi would make appearances later in Vampirella's history once Rich Margopoulos became the Vampirella writer. These stories have already been covered on this blog.

Overall this is a rather dissappointing effort. While issue 64's book length Vampirella story was quite a good one, this one drags excessively and even the usually dependable Mayo contributes a less than great effort, probably due to the huge amount of pages drawn.

Eerie 12

This classic issue of Eerie was the first of the non-Goodwin era, although most of the stories contained within were created before Goodwin's departure. Dan Adkins provides the cover, featuring the Mummy, a cover which appears to have been originally intended for the prior issue. The frontis is a reprint from issue 4, "Eerie's Monster Gallery: Zombies!" by Roy Krenkel.

First story is "The Masque of the Red Death" by Tom Sutton (art) and Archie Goodwin (story, uncredited). This story is an adaption of Poe's classic story. It is about a plague that arises, killing many. Prince Prospero and his friends barricade themselves in a castle safe from the plague, and won't let any of the sick people in. They hold a ball where a mysterious caped man arrives who touches them, causing them to all die of the plague themselves.

Second is "Vampyrus" by Jeff Jones (art) and Archie Goodwin (story, uncredited). A pair of men head to a temple in Central America which houses bats as well as a native in the emple who they flee from. One of them is bitten by the bats, turning him into a vampire that attacks his companion.

Third is "...Nor Custom, Stale..." by Johnny Craig (story & art). A man travels to the desert country of Sumaria with his new wife, who he met in a hospital. Because she has amnesia she remembers nothing about her past, but at a travel agency feels something when they see a picture of 'The Temple of Life' in Sumaria. When they arrive there, he falls asleep one night only to find his wife wandering off to the Temple itself, where druids take her and start casting some sort of spell on her. In a rage he rescues her and kills them, running off into the desert where he collapses. When he awakens he finds the man from the travel agency there, who reveals the truth to him, that his wife was dead and brought back in the temple of life. She needed to head back there annually to stay alive, but by interfering, he has killed her forever.

Fourth is "Escape!" by Joe Orlando (art) and Archie Goodwin (story, uncredited). A pair of convicts escape the island they are imprisoned on, being helped by a native. One of the two kills the other so he doesn't have to share a treasure that he is hiding in the woods. Along the way he gleefully chops the head off an anaconda. Upon finding the treasure, he is stung by a scorpion. He asks the native to help keep him alive, so he does so, by transfering his head to the anacanda!

Fifth is "Portrait of Satan!" by Ric Estrada (art) and Archie Goodwin (story, uncredited). An overworked artist says he'd sell his soul to Satan if he could do some reputable, serious art rather than all the commercial art he's churning out. Satan himself arrives, offering that in exchange for his soul. The artist refuses, not wanting to give up his soul, but agrees to do a portrait of Satan as payment instead. He does so, but Satan takes his soul anyway because he said he'd put his "heart and soul" into the art. A rather poor story based on simple word play.

Last is "The Past Master" by Al McWilliams (art) and Craig Tennis (story, uncredited). The best story of the issue, this is an adaption of the Robert Bloch story, and was originally printed in the book Christopher Lee's Treasury of Terror. Told from the perspective of many witnesses, this story tells of a mysterious man who comes out of the sea and starts buying or stealing large quantities of artwork. It is revealed that the man is from the future, coming back to save works of art that will be destroyed in an upcoming war. Upon his escape however his craft is destroyed by the US navy, thinking its a soviet craft, which triggers the very war that he was speaking of.