Monday, June 29, 2009

Creepy's Loathsome Lore

"Creepy's Loathsome Lore" was a feature that ran in early issues of Warren Publishing's Creepy magazine. The feature focused on true stories (or the legends behind them) of vampires, zombies, and other monsters. They were all written by Archie Goodwin and featured art by the best artists from Warren's stable at that time. Below are the "Loathsome Lore" features from Creepy #2 - 12. It did not run in the first issue.


Creepy_002-12
"Vampires," art by Bob Lubbers. Creepy #2, April 1965.


Creepy_003-02
"Ghouls," art by Jack Davis. Creepy #3, June 1965.


Creepy_004-02
"The Living Dead," art by Al Williamson. Creepy #4, August 1965.


Creepy_005-01
"Zombies," art by Angelo Torres. Creepy #5, October 1965.


Creepy_006-01
"Mummies," art by Roy Krenkel. Creepy #6, December 1965.


Creepy_007-19
"Werebeasts," art by Frank Frazetta. Creepy #7, February 1966.


Creepy_008_02
"Vampires," art by Angelo Torres. Creepy #8, April 1966.


Creepy_009_02
"Abominable Snowmen," art by Roy Krenkel. Creepy #9, June 1966.


Witchcraft
"Witchcraft," art by John Severin. Creepy #10, August 1966.


Rochester Rappings
"Rochester Rappings," art by John Severin. Creepy #11, October 1966.


Sea Monsters
"Sea Monsters," art by Dan Adkins. Creepy #12, December 1966.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Check All Guns Here!

Detroit Triple Fan Fair 1970
Here's a nice gunslinger by Jim Steranko. It is the cover of the 1970 Detroit Triple Fan Fair Convention program.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

DC War Comics: Blitzkrieg

In 1976, DC debuted the short-live war comic Blitzkrieg. Likely following on the success of Enemy Ace, writer Robert Kanigher tried to present the war from the enemy's point of view. Joe Kubert did all the covers. None of them are outstanding, but just an average Kubert cover is miles ahead of most other comics. Looking again, #1 and #5 are pretty damn cool. The interior artwork was done by Rick Estrada, Lee Elias, and Sam Glanzman. Hopefully later this week I'll run Glanzman's "Battle Album" feature from this title.



Blitzkrieg #1, January 1976.



Blitzkrieg #2, March 1976.



Blitzkrieg #3, May 1976.



Blitzkrieg #4, July 1976.



Blitzkrieg #5, September 1976.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Robert McGinnis Redux

A couple more Robert McGinnis girls...

rm100


rm101

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Bernie Wrightson: Out on a Limb!

"Out on a Limb!" was originally published in I'll Be Damned #4 (January 1971). Bernie Wrightson drew the story in 1970 and shows some more maturity and individual style than his earlier fanzine work. The Frazetta influence is not as evident and there more of a smoothness and confidence than in his 1969 and 1970 short efforts for DC's mystery titles. That may be because of the better reproduction in this black and white story.

"Out on a Limb!" has been reprinted in The Mutants and The Reaper of Love. It was also reprinted in a butchered form in the British magazine Hammer's House of Horror #21 under the title "One Too Many."

I've included at the end of this post Wrightson's cover for the never-published Web of Horror #4. It's possible this story was intended for that magazine.




















Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Uncle Creepy by Bernie Wrightson

Here's a nice portrait of Uncle Creepy by Bernie Wrightson. It is from Creepy #63, July 1974.


Uncle Creepy

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Ripley's Believe It or Not Comics

Here's some covers of Ripley's Believe It or Not comics. These things scared the hell out of my when I was a kid. (The covers say they were true!)


rpbion 02
Ripley's Believe It or Not #11, November 1968.


rpbion 01
Ripley's Believe It or Not #29, October 1971.


rpbion 06
Ripley's Believe It or Not #27, August 1971.


rpbion 05
Ripley's Believe It or Not #17, December 1969.


rpbion 04
Ripley's Believe It or Not #15, August 1969.


rpbion 03
Ripley's Believe It or Not #13, April 1969.


rpbion 07
Ripley's Believe It or Not #12, February 1969.


Sunday, June 21, 2009

Life on Other Worlds

A 1978 Science Fiction art portfolio. Featuring art by P. Craig Russell, Howard Chaykin, Walt Simonson, Paul Gulacy, and Al Williamson. The Williamson plate is incredible.






P. Craig Russell




Howard Chaykin




Walt Simonson




Paul Gulacy




Al Williamson

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Unpublished Bernie Wrightson Sketch

The drawing below is an unpublished magic marker sketch by Bernie Wrightson. Bernie did it for a friend of mine back in 1987.





He's selling it on Ebay right now.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Dave Stevens and Sheena, Queen of the Jungle


The Iger Comics Kingdom, 1985.



Sheena 3-D Special #1, May 1985.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The Wrightson Completionist: Part 7

The seventh in a series of posts highlighting oddball Bernie Wrightson items in my collection.


In 1988 Bernie Wrightson illustrated a four issue Batman mini-series titled The Cult. The story was written by Jim Starlin. It was printed in the popular squarebound "prestige" format made popular by Frank Miller's Dark Knight series. The item below is 6" x 9" cardboard cardboard standup. I guess it was meant for a counter display or it would fit in a comic rack. I recall the image of Batman running as being the same drawing of him being chased through a sewer that was released on a large poster. I flipped through the comics and I don't believe it is an image from the books.

Although this isn't one of my favorite works by Bernie, I recently picked up this display item and figured it was worth featuring in The Wrightson Completionist. Pencil/Ink Comic Artists Blog reviews all four issues of The Cult here.





Bonus: random undated Bernie Wrightson drawing of Batman.



Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Esquire Girls!

Esquire Girls by Al Moore, from the 1950 Esquire Calendar.