Archive for the horror comics Category

War gets weird

Posted in horror comics on 05/20/2012 by vincentstark

Genre mesh-ups are quite common in comic books and this weeks’ strip comes from the long running Weird War Tales which was published by DC Comics. In fact this standalone strip comes from the very first issue.

The original title ran for 12 years and 124 issues and was brought back by DC’s adult line, Vertigo for a four issue mini series in 1997 and then in 2000 a single special issue was produced.

So settle back and enjoy a war story like no other

Legal Note: These scans come from my own comic collection, and I do not own the copyright. The scans are presented to illustrate articles looking at the considerable contribution comics have made to popular culture, and will be removed if requested by the copyright owners. Where possible we have obtained permission for the use of copyrighted imaged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Demon that Devoured Hollywood

Posted in horror comics, horror magazines on 05/13/2012 by vincentstark

Curtis Magazines was actually Marvel Comics, but the imprint was set up in 1971 to exploit the interest in all things fantastic with the more mature comic book reader. The reason the imprint was set up was because the comic didn’t carry the Comics Book Authority Code and Marvel didn’t want any backlash reflecting on its better selling mainstream titles. Marvel published many comic/magazines using the Curtis name and perhaps the bestselling was the Conan series.

Todays’ strip comes from Monsters of the Movies which had a short run between 1973 and 1974 -
Covering classic and contemporary horror movies, Monsters of the Movies included interviews, articles and photo features. The magazine was an attempt to cash in on the success of Warren’s Famous Monsters of Filmland . The Monsters of the Movies staff was roughly composed of half freelancing West Coast horror fans, and half members of the Marvel bullpen located on the East Coast.

 

Our strip this week is The Demon That Devoured Hollywood written by the famous Roy Thomas, with art by Barry Smith.

Enjoy.

Legal Note: These scans come from my own comic collection, and I do not own the copyright. The scans are presented to illustrate articles looking at the considerable contribution comics have made to popular culture, and will be removed if requested by the copyright owners. Where possible we have obtained permission for the use of copyrighted imaged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A Golden Age for Horror

Posted in horror, horror comics, horror fiction, horror magazines, HORROR MOVIES, horror novels, horror short stories, HORROR WRITERS on 12/12/2011 by vincentstark

Horror tends to thrive during times of crisis, offering catharsis, escapism and a metaphoric means of coping with problems that seem unsolvable.

Historically this has always been the case. It certainly was true during the Great Depression, when Universal Pictures was rescued from bankruptcy by its golden age of horror film – Dracula, Frankenstein , The Invisible Man , the Creature from the Black Lagoon  and all the other creepy creatures that lit up the silver screen, offering escapism to cash strapped moviegoers. Right across the spectrum of modern media horror is booming – take the two biggest successes in popular literature over recent years – Harry Potter and Twilight and whilst neither are strictly horror they both use many of the conventions of the genre. TV shows like The Walking Dead and American Horror are massively popular, and of course HBO’s True Blood is still holding its own. The horror novel is most certainly on a high. There are some great writers out there from the well know masters such as Stephen King, Clive Barker, Jack Ketchum and others to relatively new names like Christopher Ransom, Joe Hill, Max Brook and (dare, I say it) Vincent Stark. The latter of course is wishful thinking since his debut horror novel, following a string of bestselling westerns,  isn’t due out till the end of the month and he is me

So why is it that during shitty times we turn to the dark side? Maybe it’s the increasingly polarized political landscape, generating so much us against them rhetoric. Perhaps it has something to do with all the  college students’ fears of  being unable to find work or middle-aged parents’ worries about keeping their homes. Then again maybe its something to do with the fact that we, in Britain at least, have the Dark Party in government. Or maybe it’s just the fact that we, viewers,readers, like the safe scares that films and books provide. And whilst it is true that thought-provoking horror works are few and far between recent years have seen several horror novels of real depth – Låt den rätte komma by  John Ajvude Lindqvist , known by its Anglo title of Let the Right One In (I’ve not enjoyed a novel as much as this is years)is a masterpiece of literature whatever the genre, and Christopher Ransom has taken age old themes and twisted them through modern sensibilities. Both of these writers need to be read by anyone interested in the horror genre.   And it’s the same with film and TV and for every predictable slasher of the week flick you will find films and programs of true worth. Horror as a genre is changing, mutating and it is at last gaining some of the acclaim that has been denied it through snobbery for far too long. Stephen King is no longer considered a hack writer and real critics are dissecting his work  and finding relevance to the society we live in – something  all great writing mirrors.   And this is a good thing because for too long horror has been consigned to the ghetto and looked down upon with disdain and yet TV shows like American Horror Story, Being Human, The Walking Dead and True Blood are popular with mainstream audiences, horror novels are read by millions and fright films are always popular.

Yep this truly is a golden age for horror – and ain’t that just fine and dandy!

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Modern classics – Creepshow

Posted in creepshow, george romero, horror comics, HORROR MOVIES, modern classics, salem's lot, STEPHEN KING, Uncategorized on 10/21/2011 by vincentstark

The three men had come together to discuss the possibility of making a movie version of The Stand. Stephen King, George Romero and producer Rik Rubinstein spent several weeks during the summer of 1981 talking about the pros and cons of adapting what was, up until that time, King’s most ambitious novel. George Romero had long been eager to work with King and had narrowly missed out on directing Salem’s Lot before the studio decided to pull the plug on plans for a big screen movie and go with a television mini series instead.

The three men realised that making a movie of The Stand would prove far too expensive and after looking at several other projects, it was decided to make an all original horror story based on the comic books that had influenced the young Stephen King – the project would end up being called Creepshow.

‘King was like a big kid,’ Rik Rubinstein commented during a documentary shot to accompany the special edition DVD of the movie. The author threw himself into the production and not only starred in one of the segments, as the moronic Jordy Verrill but also roped in his son Joe King (these days known as writer, Joe Hill) to play the young boy reading the Creepshow comic in the movie’s prologue.

The movie was made up of five stories plus the prologue and epilogue – two of the stories, The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill and The Crate were based on King stories, while the remaining three stories were written for the movie. All of the tales had something of the flavor of the old horror comics about them which was intentional although some critics seemed to misunderstand this point and found many of the performances over the top. King’s performance ( mouth agape and bulging eyes) in the Jordy Verrill story is perfect, even if the author does these days seem embarrassed by his acting. Sure it’s comic book and OTT but then the film’s meant to be that way – a celluloid version of a comic book and on that level it succeeds fully.

Creepshow is both a horror movie and an affectionate almost loving tribute to the tacky horror comics of the 50′s and 60′s. It’s not meant to be taken seriously but to be fun and it sure enough is.

The currently available two disc special edition DVD is superb. A rich clean transfer backed up by a wealth of special features, including a fascinating making of documentary as well as a commentary by George Romero himself.

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Confessions of a horror fan

Posted in horror comics, horror fiction, horror magazines, HORROR MOVIES on 08/18/2011 by vincentstark

For a period in my early Twenties I was a horror nut – my viewing and reading had to be in the scary genre, I voraciously read the works of Stephen King, James Herbert, Clive Barker, Guy N. Smith, Shaun Hutson, I became friends with horror author, Steve Harris after interviewing him for a magazine, I would stay up until stupid-O’clock if anything even vaguely horror related was on the TV. For several years back then I used to write for magazines like Samhain, Skeleton Crew, Interzone, Peeping Tom and even selling a spooky little story to the radio. Alas, this one was never broadcast and seemed to vanish with the change of producers. I wrote many stories for the small press horror mags, all the while wishing I could be as prolific as D. F. Lewis who seemed to pop up everywhere – anyone remember him?

There was a great magazine out called Fear and I never missed an issue – it was published by Newsfield Publications who were big in the computer gaming magazine market. The magazine was edited by John Gilbert, a huge and knowledgeable horror fan, and featured as much coverage of books as it did of films. For a genre magazine it was very intelligent and I was gutted when it eventually folded.

It was this magazine that encouraged me to try the old masters – Poe, Lovecraft and co. And although I moved onto other genres I still hold a lot of these old macabre classics in high esteem. The Monkey’s Paw, for instance, I still rate as one of the best short stories I’ve ever read. And I was once so into Poe that I wrote a short story entitled, A Continuation of the facts concerning M. Valdermar.

These days the horror genre seems to be gore obsessed rather than concentrating on creating unease in the reader/viewer it goes for gross out which, in my opinion, isn’t half as effective. The big names are still out there Stephen King especially and although James Herbert is still writing I find his recent books derivative and think his last classic was the elegiac Magic Cottage.

So has the horror genre lost it’s bite?

I don’t think so – like the western, the horror genre has been pronounced dead many times but it’s still out there kicking about, refusing the remain in its mouldering grave.

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Fangtastic studies

Posted in horror comics, horror fiction, HORROR MOVIES on 06/11/2011 by vincentstark

Students at the University of Derby are being offered a taste of the dark side with a new degree in horror.

Ghosts, serial killers and vampires will all feature in the university’s new postgraduate MA in horror and transgression.

The one-year course, which is aimed at would-be film-makers and writers, will examine all aspects of the genre.

From the BBC

 

British horror author and director Clive Barker has given the degree his backing and hopes to take a class.

Lucrative genre

Students will learn about the history of horror on screen and in books while the transgression part of the course will focus on films and literature with disturbing and taboo themes.

Dr Jason Lee, the university’s head of film and media, said the degree was relevant because horror was one of the film industry’s most lucrative genres.

“People want jobs with international scope and this MA offers that,” he said.

“In terms of doing something which will enhance you as a writer, cultural theorist, film-maker and a person, this degree is ideal.

“The horror industry is booming so if people want to move into films or writing, this is the only MA in the world of its kind.

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Fangs for the comics

Posted in dracula, horror comics on 05/28/2011 by vincentstark

Bram Stoker’s Dracula has long been a part of popular culture -as well as the books, we’ve had the movies, the comics, the computer games, the action figures, the cartoons and practically everything else. The count’s image has been used to promote everything from sweets to aftershave and much more besides.

When I was a kid there was a UK Marvel comic called, Dracula Lives which was very popular. It was produced in the standard UK size and used reprint material from the varied US based Dracula comics. This was 1974,I was nine years old, and the neck sucker was very hot news largely due to the hugely popular Hammer movies that often played on late night television.



The UK Dracula Lives was a great success and ran for 87 issues. If I remember correctly it was launched at the same time as The Planet of the Apes comic. Eventually when Dracula Lives’s sales began to dwindle it was merged into the Planet of the Apes title to become the rather oddly titled, Planet of the Apes and Dracula Lives.

. The modern Marvel version of Dracula was created by Gerry Conway and Gene Colan in Tomb of Dracula #1 (1972). He wasn’t exactly the count of Stoker’s novels nor the Hammer films. The stories were fantastical which was something Marvel have always done well – a synopsis -
In the 20th century, Dracula was returned to vampiric life by Clifton Graves. Dracula then first met and clashes with Frank Drake. He soon first encountered an adult Rachel van Helsing. Not long after that, he renewed his enmity with Quincy Harker.[ He recounted his first clashes with Cagliostro and Solomon Kane. He later battled the Werewolf. He eventually had his first contemporary encounter with his daughter Lilith. Not long after that, he clashed with the N’Garai demons.

Dracula encountered numerous opponents in the 20th century, including Quincy Harker and Rachel van Helsing, the descendants of his enemies described by Stoker, vampire hunter Blade, his only known living descendant Frank Drake. Just before World War I, he was responsible for transforming Lord John Falsworth into Baron Blood.
Doctor Strange destroyed Dracula and all of Earth’s vampires by casting the Montesi Formula.

Over the years Marvel’s Dracula has been pitched against everyone from the X-Men to Spiderman. Marvel’s rivals, DC have also used their own version of the character. But it seems that every other comic publisher have used the Dracula character at one time or another -  One of the more unique versions came in Image’s
Sword of Dracula. The series focuses on a group of UN connected commandos called the Polidorium. The series is created by writer Jason Henderson and includes a round-robin group of artists, including Greg Scott, Terry Pallot, and James Fry (as William Belk). Matt Webb colored one issue of the second volume.

In the series, vampires are allegories for terrorists, with Dracula presented as “the Osama Bin Laden of vampires” and a war criminal. The comic also gives Dracula more enhanced powers, including the ability to control human blood with his mind, and even make buildings and weapons out of “bloodwood,” or mind-controlled blood.

Variations on the theme though are nothing new and in the 1960′s Dell Comics tried to reinvent Dracula as a superhero but the comic was not successful and folded after only three issues. Dracula is a modern day direct descendant of the original Count Dracula now working as a medical researcher in the old family castle in Transylvania where, due to his experiments to develop a cure for brain damage using a serum developed from bat blood, he accidentally gains strange “vampire”-like powers including the ability to turn into a bat and superhuman sight and hearing. He decides to embark on a superhero career in order to redeem his family name, developing his body through diet and exercise to the peak of physical perfection and designing himself his own distinctive crimson-cowled purple costume with a bat-shaped gold belt buckle, after which he vows to fight evil and superstition in all its forms.

And so in this post Twilight world where vampires have been reduced to teenage playthings, is there still room for Dracula…the greatest vampire of them all?

You bet

Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula and Dracula Lives are available in collected graphic novels going under the title of  The Essential Tomb of Dracula. Five volumes are currently available

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