02 Monday May 2016
While re-reading the entire Sandman series from Vertigo this weekend, I found this John Constantine trading card from 1994. It had been safely encased in the original sealed plastic envelope for more than two decades now, like some kind of hell-blazing time capsule. So, what the heck. Why not rip that puppy out and put it on the Internet?
31 Saturday Oct 2015
Posted in occult
Every year, the Burton Barr Library, the main hub of the Phoenix Public Library system, dedicates its first-floor art gallery to a Dia De Los Muertos exhibit. The exhibit presents altars made by locals in remembrance of family, friends, and others who inspired and influenced the altars’ creators before dying. This year’s exhibit features not only tributes to artists like Jim Henson, Salvador Dali, Sylvia Plath, and Shel Silverstein, but also memorials to grandparents, cousins, and co-workers.
The brightly-colored altars contain images and objects of meaning to the departed, from books they loved to food they liked, from memorabilia of their favorite sports teams to images and quotes that meant something to them. Every altar has an artist’s statement about what the departed meant to them on a very personal level. These are intimate statements, and one cannot help but be moved by their candor and affection.
Traditional motifs of Dia De Los Muertos abound: multi-colored paper marigolds, candy skulls, and sculptures of people and animals painted black and then painted over with skeletons. The exhibit always contains a piece where people have written names and messages on bright paper butterflies and hung them on lines stretched below a colorful arch of paper marigolds. I imagine the butterflies are symbols of transformation, and also flight and rising above—a deep contrast to the familiar Halloween imagery of graveyards and haunted houses where spirits remain trapped.
Halloween holds little appeal for me. Halloween focuses on fright and creepiness. Halloween imagines the dead come back to haunt us. Halloween portrays the dead as tortured souls come back from the grave to share their torment with us. Perhaps that is one way people confront their fears of death.
But Dia De Los Muertos imagines the dead quite differently. Rather than the dark and gloomy colors of Halloween, Dia De Los Muertos revels in color and brightness. Dia De Los Muertos imagines the dead continuing to do the things they loved to do in life. The dead joyously ride bicycles, make art, love their pets, and play musical instruments. Los Muertos are quite happy, and the day celebrates the joy and love they felt in life—and that we felt for them.
So, I like to make an annual trip to Burton Barr to see this exhibit. I always find it profoundly moving in the way it celebrates those who have died. Though tinged with sadness, the altars focus on why we loved those we have lost, and what brought them joy while they were alive. This year, I took my camera phone to snap a few shots for this blog, but then had second thoughts.
Instead, I took one of many copies of the Lakota prayer, scanned below, from one of the altars. I did not know Carole, but she worked in the public library system here, and worked in libraries all her adult life. Her multi-level altar—created collaboratively by friends, family, and co-workers—includes a diorama of Carole in skeletal regalia seated in a comfortable chair, watching her favorite sports team on television, surrounded by shelves of books and the pets she loved in this life. Above this diorama is a poem composed for her. It tells of her life and her eventual death from cancer. It mourns her passing but celebrates her life. If, as the mythology of Dia De Los Muertos says, the dead do gain permission one day each year to visit their living loved ones, then I have no doubt Carole would be touched to find the exhibit made in her honor. I found the following verse much more meaningful than any spooky and scary Halloween imagery.
27 Monday Jul 2015
Posted in first issue, indie, occult
Tags
emma beeby, first issue, Gordon Rennie, Indie Comics, robbie burns witch hunter, tiernen trevallion
In June, to promote their inclusion as award nominees by the Scottish Independent Comic Book Alliance, the creators of Robbie Burns: Witch Hunter made a preview of their work available. We read it, were immediately hooked, and ordered the book. One reviewer on Amazon has compared the artwork to Mike Mignola’s style on Hellboy, and we will agree that if you like Hellboy then you will love Witch Hunter.
The story begins with the humiliation of poet Robbie Burns, a historical figure Witch Hunter brings to life in fiction. Soon, Burns stumbles across a pagan ritual in an abandoned church, a ritual matched in its sensuality only by its pure evil. There, Burns is rescued by a pair of experienced dispatchers of hellish hordes. And so begins his adventure. (Burns composed a horror poem you may know: Tam O’Shanter, first published in 1791. It serves as the inspiration for this tale.)
Did we mention how much we love the artwork in this book? Let us say it again, to give artist Tiernen Trevallion his due. After all, writers Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby did win the Scottish Independent Comic Book Alliance ‘Best Writer’ awards at the Glasgow Comic Convention, Beeby won ‘Best New Writer’, and the book itself won ‘Best Graphic Novel’. But it’s Trevallion’s artwork, along with Jim Campbell’s lettering, that brings the rollicking script to life for us on the page.
You may recognize co-author Gordon Rennie from his work on Rogue Trooper, a classic 2000AD series we have featured on this site. So, if you are a fan of that unique Scottish comic-book sensibility which brought readers in the States such popular writers as Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, or if you are a fan of 2000AD comics in general, that’s just one more reason to read Witch Hunter.
We don’t mind telling you our favorite character is Meg: tough as nails, quick with profanity, great with a crossbow, and seemingly unafraid to ride into the very mouth of hell itself to do battle with the demonic forces of the underworld. Meg stands in sharp contrast to the vacuous ladies Burns pleasures himself with in the opening pages. She’s every bit an action hero with a sharp mind and a sharper tongue, and her inclusion in this tale endears us to it all the more. And to think that Meg was merely the noble horse in the original Tam O’Shanter!
Fast-paced adventure with an outstanding cast of leading characters fighting the hordes of hell make Robbie Burns: Witch Hunter an enjoyable and unforgettable read. We look forward to more work by these creators and from Renegade Arts Entertainment.
You can order Robbie Burns: Witch Hunter directly from Renegade Arts Entertainment, or you can find it on Amazon in both hardcover and Kindle editions.
22 Wednesday Jul 2015
If you’re looking for a twisted psychological horror comic, Antichrist will provide you with a uniquely disturbing experience. Betvin Géant and Kay, along with colorist Milton Das, continue their Antichrist story in the third issue, on sale today at Comixology. Things don’t get any better for their delusional protagonist in this issue. Having escaped from an institution in the first two issues, he is now on the run and hopelessly confused by his holy obsessions.
Géant successfully makes his lead character Michael more horrifying by playing on our sympathies, then viciously subverting them. In one scene, Michael gains our sympathy by intervening to stop the beating of a gay youth on the streets. But just as soon as we think he might have heroic potential, he condemns the youth’s homosexuality as a sin.
In another scene, we see Michael wandering homeless and hungry. He almost makes friends with a kind-hearted hippie who offers him food. But then, he has a horribly violent outburst due to misunderstanding the name of a common vegetarian food. Michael may be down on his luck, but his delusions make him a serious danger to everyone he encounters.
The narrative appeals to our natural tendency to champion the underdog, and then makes us regret it every step of the way. It’s an interesting story concept that delivers the fright of a horror comic without relying on the genre’s familiar tropes. Whether or not Géant has a full-scale biblical apocalypse planned remains a mystery, but one thing is for sure: Things are going to get a hell of lot worse for this hapless antichrist and everyone he meets.
Antichrist book 1 issue 3: on sale today at Comixology.
29 Saturday Mar 2014
Posted in occult
When Rick Veitch began writing Swamp Thing, he’d already drawn many issues of it. In his first issue as writer, he continued several of Alan Moore’s themes, like the Parliament of Trees and the psychedelic effects of eating Swampy’s tubers. While Swamp Thing descends into the green realm of the Parliament, Abby takes a weird hallucinogenic trip in issue #65. The events here kick off the main theme of Veitch’s run: Swamp Thing and Abby’s attempts to have a baby, and the unusual role John Constantine plays in that endeavor.
Collector’s Guide:
– from Swamp Thing #65; DC Comics, 1987.
– Reprinted in Swamp Thing TPB Vol. 7: Regenesis.
24 Monday Feb 2014
Posted in occult, science fiction
Tags
Berni Wrightson, David Michelinie, DC Comics, Gerry Conway, Len Wein, Nestor Redondo, Swamp Thing, Volume One
Many before us have sung the praises of the Len Wein and Berni Wrightson stories that kick off the first volume of Swamp Thing stories. Have you seen the first issue of Swamp Thing yet? We may be in the minority, but the first chunk of issues where Swamp Thing takes on some pretty generic monsters seem like just a warm-up for further greatness.
Even the Batman crossover in #7 fails to get our engines revved. But then… issue #8 comes along. Swamp Thing encounters a demon in a cave on the outskirts of a small town, giving us a dark visual feast that brings the series to life for us. The Lurker in Tunnel 13 may be the first of the early tales that hints at what Swamp Thing would later become in the 1980s, the first appearance of Arcane notwithstanding. It’s cosmic, satanic, horrific, and sports one of our favorite Wrightson covers.
Wein and Wrightson also present a great story about a stranded alien trying to repair his ship and return to the stars. Making this freakish beast sympathetic and compassionate reminds us that monsters and heroes come in many forms.
Before leaving the book, Wein & Wrightson deliver the consummately creepy Man Who Would Not Die, the first return of Arcane from the hell where he deserves to stay. The confrontation between Arcane and Swampy in a graveyard may be our favorite artistic moment of Wrightson’s legendary contributions.
Nestor Redondo steps into Wrightson’s shoes without missing a beat, working with Len Wein on three issues before David Michelinie takes the reins. We have some other images of Nestor Redondo’s Swamp Thing art if you’d like to check them out.
Michelinie and Redondo seem to lose steam towards the end of their contribution, and what happens next is a bit of a disappointment. The creative team changes, and the book loses much of its horror appeal quickly. Readers must have felt the same way at the time, as Swamp Thing would soon be cancelled. Swamp Thing’s gambit to revert to a normal Alec Holland once again just doesn’t work for us, and it’s been more or less ignored in subsequent Swampy stories.
The end of the volume is a bit of a mess, but the early stories have some definite high points. We sold our collection of VG+/FN issues, almost a complete run, on eBay. But, a few of them we would be happy to collect and read again. You can get many of the early Wein/Wrightson issues in Roots of the Swamp Thing reprints.
Having owned both the reprints and the originals, we confess a preference for the originals. Though the printing and color is more crisp and clean and bright in the reprints, the vintage horror vibe feels much more authentic with a well-worn copy from the early 1970s, the smell of tanned comic book paper, and the distinctive original covers.
23 Sunday Feb 2014
Posted in occult
Rick Veitch took over the creative helm of Swamp Thing, having worked on it as artist on Alan Moore’s stories of Gotham City and Swamp Thing’s space travel, among others. Let’s have a look inside his memorable contributions.
But first, let us mention that a full Veitch collection is nicely rounded out by two Annuals (one with work by Steve Bissette,) an odd issue of Secret Origins that covers the Floronic Man (revisited by Veitch in his S.T. run,) and a couple issues that complete Veitch’s infinished cliff hanger.
Recall that Veitch had wanted an issue where Swamp Thing met Jesus, but DC would not publish it. Frustrated, he left, but the resolution by the next creative team works well. With brilliant Totleben covers and the return of Tom Yeates’s art to these pages, Veitch’s long saga of the unborn child of the Swamp Thing comes to a satisfying conclusion.
Veitch maintains several strong motifs from the Moore saga. Swamp Thing’s travels through the surreal sentient plant dimensions of the Green take on new life with the Parliament of Trees. The Parliament reveals Swampy is one of a number of plant-like avatars of the Green. Meanwhile, Abigail Cable, now Mrs. Swamp Thing, starts taking more psychedelic trips by eating the tubers of the Swamp Thing. Whoa, dude.
Now, we have some scans, somewhere, of one of our favorite Veitch issues. Swamp Thing thinks deep thoughts by growing a giant plant brain. Veitch seems to have fun revisiting the drug-fueled aesthetics of underground comix of the 1970s, and the reader gets many a lavish visual treat. Anyway, we will get to those in another post! Patience!
Some lucky Swamp Fan picked up this collection from us on eBay, but you can usually find Rick Veitch issues of Swamp Thing in stock. You want issues #65-87, and go all the way to #91 if you want the concluding story arc. It resolves Veitch’s two main plot lines: Swampy & Abby’s attempt to conceive a child, and a time-travel saga through the history of the DC Universe.
23 Sunday Feb 2014
Posted in occult
Tags
DC Comics, John Totleben, Martin Pasko, Saga of the Swamp Thing, Steve Bissette, Swamp Thing, Tom Yeates
Somebody got this set from us on eBay already, but wow was it fun to assemble. Writer Martin Pasko, author of more than one minor classic for DC Comics, would leave the series to pursue opportunities in his television writing career. Before he left, though, he set the stage for the team of Moore, Bissette, and Totleben to take over.
The run feels, in many ways, like a television series. With a movie still from the Swamp Thing movie adorning the cover of issue two, it’s likely DC had an eye out for the transition to television success. Pasko gave readers a large supporting cast and many subplots that evolve at different paces.
With demons from hell and evil sea monsters with huge brains, Pasko keeps Swamp Thing largely in the realm of monster-based horror as Wein & Wrightson did in the beginning. A back-up series of Phantom Stranger stories adds to the spooky vibe.
The cover of #6 is our favorite, hands-down. Or, tentacles down. We dug the entire story as Swamp Thing gets stuck on the cruise from hell. A demonic squid brain takes over the ship and turns a masquerade party into a cyclops circus. #6 and #7 are just too much fun!
Judging from the letters pages, readers really loved issue #8, too. Swampy ends up on an island where fantasy and reality become indistinguishable for a group of war vets. Behold the cover, with its skull mountain, jungle foliage, and long-haired lady with her clothes shredded and slipping off. This is pure Hollywood pulp, but delightfully executed.
At the beginning of the series, we found Tom Yeates’ art merely serviceable, but by this point in the series he seems to have really hit a groove. The covers and interior art have become memorable and dynamic.
More damnable demons spring up from the Stygian depths to confront Swamp Thing as Yeates keeps the volume cranked on madness and the macabre.
A sombre interlude with a freakish crystal antagonist begins perhaps like any silly superhero story, but the moody artwork and utter tragedy of the participants makes it a surprisingly moving tale. These two issues feature a different creative team, and Tom Yeates would not return to the interior art. But, dude, crystal alligator. Check it out.
And then, something magical happens. Steve Bissette and John Totleben come aboard and revolutionize the atmospheric, horrifying visual style of the book. While we often sing the praises of the Moore run, these few issues with the same art team demonstrate how much the intensity of that run came solely from the pictures. We lack the words to depict the scope of how stunning these pages are for us, so let us simply leave you with a few to enjoy!
Like we said, we sold our set on eBay recently, but you can almost always get a great deal on these Martin Pasko issues of Saga of the Swamp Thing. The last couple rarely come into stock, but good luck!
20 Thursday Feb 2014
Tags
Barry Windsor Smith, Conan, Conan the Barbarian, Marvel Comics, marvel treasury edition, Red Sonja, Roy Thomas
Conan’s larger-than-life personality works wonderfully in the first two Marvel Treasury Editions that feature him. These over-sized editions also spotlight the artistic talents of Barry Windsor-Smith. #15 features the Song of Red Sonja, and Smith’s Sonja artwork rocks at Treasury size. Conan would conquer four different Treasury Editions (#4, 15, 19, 23) from 1975 to 1979. Let’s have a look inside the first two!
Before we open them up, dig these back covers. Wow, that Smith one would make a killer poster!
On the inside covers, writer and Editor Roy Thomas gives us a fun history of how he and Smith got started doing a Conan series for Marvel in the first place. Smith contributes some new artwork on a Robert E. Howard memorial page.
Cool! Let’s have a look at these splash pages and stunning interior art.
Dark Horse collected these tales in their recent Chronicles of Conan collections, giving the coloring and paper quality an upgrade from these 1970s editions. But, you really can’t beat reading Black Colossus at colossal size. We also get several bonus pages of Red Sonja being awesome in chain mail underwear.
03 Friday Jan 2014
Posted in occult, science fiction, superhero
Today we take a virtual tour of Tomy’s Mighty Men and Monster Maker toy from 1979. We had one in the 1980s as young Martians.
A complete kit has 6 body plates, 6 leg plates, and 6 head plates. (One head panel is missing from the kit in our photos below: the Frankenstein’s monster head.) Some of the reverse sides have textures instead of body parts. You use them to add scales and rocky textures and so on.
When new, the Mighty Men and Monster Maker came with a set of colored pencils – now gone. Although you can see a whole black crayon in the pictures, we used it up making monster thank you notes before selling the kit on eBay.
Below, you will find complete scans of the plates (except the missing head) and many details of the box, apparatus, and basic rubbings. Enjoy!
29 Sunday Dec 2013
Posted in occult
On a trip to the top secret fifty cent rack here on Mars, we discovered the UK price variant for Creatures on the Loose #36 featuring Man-wolf. The cover claims not 25 cents but 9 pence for a price! Plus, the person at the bookstore used marker to deface the cover and sell it at 6 pence instead. Some collectors focus on these UK price variants, but our beat up copy will probably never be worth more than a couple bucks.
Still, we enjoy this early example of George Perez artwork. We dig his rendering of the unlikely astronaut/werewolf so much that we did a pastel study of a Perez panel from this issue.
This story reads a bit like a television script from the mid-70s, but it offers plenty of chances for gnarly werewolf drama, insane splash panels, and hypnotic light effects. Enjoy this legendary lycanthropic liturgy from the boisterous bronze age!
Collector’s Guide:
– from Creatures on the Loose #36; Marvel, 1975.
23 Monday Dec 2013
Tags
We discovered the short story “Samurai” in one of our favorite comic blog features: Black and White Wednesdays at Diversions of the Groovy Kind. Gene Day’s incredible artwork appears in 1977’s Star Reach #11;
22 Sunday Dec 2013
Posted in indie, occult, science fiction
Tags
Death, Eclipse Comics, God, Indie Comics, Jim Starlin, origin, science fiction, Star Reach, Star Reach Classics
Jim Starlin’s single-page origin of god and his short origin of death originally appeared in the first issue of the 1974 series Star Reach. Star Reach Productions published its own Greatest Hits in 1979. In 1984, Eclipse reprinted six issues of highlights from the series as Star Reach Classics. We recommend it for fans of classic 70s science fiction. It’s in stock far more often than the original issues, and Eclipse printed it on high-quality paper, a really nice production. You can get most of them for just a couple dollars a piece.
Starlin gives us some of his finest 70s illustration, artistically superior to his more famous work on Captain Marvel, and on par with his best Warlock stories. If you enjoy these, you will enjoy Starlin’s Darklon the Mystic from that same era. Diversions of the Groovy Kind hosts some pages from Warren’s Eerie magazine where you can read part of Darklon in black and white. Or, you can drop a dollar on a back issue by Pacific Comics that reprints the complete Darklon story in color.
Collector’s Guide:
– From Star Reach Classics #1; Eclipse, 1984.
19 Thursday Dec 2013
Tags
Barry Smith, Barry Windsor Smith, Doctor Strange, Marvel Comics, marvel masterworks, Marvel Premiere, Stan Lee, while the world spins mad
Up from the primordial muck slithers… the Dan-Thing! In his oozing fist he clutches a time capsule: Marvel comic books from 1972! Our muck-stomping friend the Dan-Thing asked that we share these bronze age beauties with you for education and inspiration.
Welcome to our fourth and final installment of the Dan-Thing Archives for 2013. Today, we crack open the Dan-Thing’s time capsule to discover beautiful artwork on Dr. Strange by Barry Smith. The story uses a tried-and-true plot with our hero assailed by a mysterious villain warping his reality. Smith takes the opportunity to present us with stunning page designs, compelling facial expressions for the good doctor, and a delicately sumptuous rendering of Strange’s mystical doodads, magic threads, and spiritual chill pad.
The “reveal” of the villain may seem a little weak to today’s readers, not involved in the Marvel continuity of 1972. But, Stan Lee and Barry Smith nonetheless deliver a truly trippy confrontation, replete with mystic energies and warped realities. While the World Spins Mad may be one of the most satisfying Doctor Strange stories we’ve read in a long time.
Collector’s Guide:
– From Marvel Premiere #3 featuring Dr. Strange; Marvel,
– Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks #4: Doctor Strange; Marvel, 2010
18 Wednesday Dec 2013
Posted in occult
Tags
Barry Smith, Barry Windsor Smith, Chronicles of Conan, Conan, Conan the Barbarian, giant spiders, Marvel Comics, Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema, spider, web of the spider god
Up from the primordial muck slithers… the Dan-Thing! In his oozing fist he clutches a time capsule: Marvel comic books from 1972! Our muck-stomping friend the Dan-Thing asked that we share these bronze age beauties with you for education and inspiration.
Dan-Thing’s archival copy of Web of the Spider-God came without a cover but is otherwise intact. In fact, it kicks major ass! We didn’t expect much from a beat up old copy of Conan. Fitting, because Conan gets beat up pretty badly at the opening of this story. But, we were admittedly just as wrong as Conan’s foes who thought him defeated. This story rose up to rock and roll with the best of them, coming out on top as perhaps our favorite of the famous Roy Thomas / Barry Windsor-Smith classics.
Although we have seen Conan in the excessively awesome Marvel Treasury Format, he seems just as much larger than life on these regular pages. We admit a preference for the first 50 issues of Dark Horse’s recent Conan series, especially with that amazing Cary Nord painted look. But the more we discover the classic Marvel series, the more we find to like.
And now – into the pit of the giant spiders! YES!
Collector’s Guide:
– From Conan the Barbarian #13; Marvel, 1972.
– Reprinted in Chronicles of Conan #2; Dark Horse, 2003.
26 Saturday Oct 2013
Posted in golden age, occult
Collector’s Guide:
– From Strange Tales #74; Marvel, 1960.
“Gorgolla! The Living Gargoyle!” with pencils by Jack Kirby; “Beware the Hands of Hundu” (art by Don Heck?); “I Was Trapped in the Nightmare World” with art by Paul Reinman; “When the Totem Walks!” with art by Steve Ditko; and a two-page text story, “The Whirlpool of Gairloch.” Kirby cover pencils. Cover price $0.10.
24 Thursday Oct 2013
Posted in occult
In this 1969 tale, Stan Lee and John Buscema bring to the page the magic that would make their Silver Surfer collaboration so memorable.
Collector’s Guide:
– from Tower of Shadows #1; Marvel, 1969.
26 Friday Jul 2013
Posted in occult
The April, 1954 issue of Strange Tales contains four illustrated shorts and one text piece. Early work by Joe Sinnot appears in The Cask in the Cave. Vernon Henkel provides the eerie artwork for the brief but dramatic Garden of Death! This tale, narrated by Death, scanned a bit better than the other tales. Let’s take a look!
Collector’s Guide:
– From Strange Tales #27; Marvel, 1954.
20 Saturday Jul 2013
Posted in occult, science fiction
This issue of Strange Tales stands out from others we’ve shared with you for a couple reasons. First, Marvel published it much earlier, in 1954. While we do have scans of earlier issues than that, they are admittedly poor quality. Even this one had some pages we just couldn’t bear to post, so you are getting two of the stories today.
Second, the good news: you can get a high-quality reprint of this entire issue from Marvel in hardcover format now, along with issues #21-30 (see our Collector’s Guide below.)
Third, the earlier publishing date means that this cover does not bear the Comics Code Authority stamp of approval. We believe you will find, as a result, a closer resemblance to EC Comics material of the 1950s. It’s rendered less in the embryonic “house style” at Marvel you find just five years later in this title. And by “house style” we mean “copying Kirby’s style and layouts or just having him block out the pages for you.”
But, that is a discussion for another time!
Now, crack open the vault and gaze at the wonder of Strange Tales #26!
Collector’s Guide:
– From Strange Tales #26; Marvel .
– Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Strange Tales
The Last Stop, art by Gene Colan; Guinea Pig, art by Jack Katz; A Grave Mistake, art by Tony DiPreta. To the Stars, pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Sy Barry; It Could Be You, art by Vic Carrabotta.
13 Saturday Jul 2013
Posted in crime, occult, science fiction
Let’s set the time machine for 1959! Take a look this week at a stack of Marvel’s Strange Tales. You’ll find fast-paced science fiction stories with an occasional occult theme thrown in for good measure. (Strange Tales ran more horror in the early 1950’s, before the Comics Code Authority nonsense began.) Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby feature prominently alongside other masters of these classic short-form comics.
Collector’s Guide:
– From Strange Tales #71; Marvel, 1959.
“I Dared to Defy Merlin’s Black Magic!” with art by Steve Ditko; “I am the Man Who Will Destroy Your World!”; “When the Saucer Strikes!” with art by Paul Reinman; “I Fought the Man Who Couldn’t Be Killed!”; “I Am the Man Without a Face!” with art by Joe Sinnott.
