Author: NowReadThis

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Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Book 1


By Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Robert Hack & various (Archie Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-62738-987-7

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: A shockingly wicked spooky story… 9/10

For nearly three quarters of a century Archie Comics have epitomised good, safe, wholesome fun but the company has always been a surprisingly subversive one.

Family friendly – and not – iterations of superheroes, spooky chills, sci fi thrills and genre yarns have always been as much a part of the publisher’s varied portfolio as the romantic comedy capers of America’s cleanest-cut teens.

As you probably know by now, the eponymous Archie has been around since 1941, but the publisher has other wholesome stars in their stable almost as well known and just as prone to radical reinterpretation.

To keep all that accumulated attention riveted, the company has always looked to modern trends with which to expand upon their archetypal storytelling brief. In times past they have cross-fertilised their pantheon through such unlikely team-ups as Archie Meets the Punisher, Afterlife with Archie and Archie Vs Predator, whilst every type of fashion fad and youth culture sensation has invariably been accommodated into and explored within the pages of the regular titles.

Following-up the stunning success of their aforementioned zombie apocalypse outing, the publishers recently took another bold and controversial step by radically reinventing saccharine sweet teen witch Sabrina.

Thus, when playwright, screen scripter and comicbook scribe Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (whose many comics hits include The Mystery Plays, 4: Marvel Knights Fantastic Four, Stephen King’s The Stand – and Afterlife with Archie amongst others) pitched the idea to re-imagine the saucy sorceress in terms of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, it wasn’t long before a strange new enterprise was hatched.

The writer’s other scripting credits include the 2013 Carrie remake and a new version of the horror musical Little Shop of Horrors.

Archie Comics is no stranger to such material. In the 1970s the company created the sub-imprint Red Circle for anthology terror tales during a supernatural boom time, before converting the line to superhero features as the decade progressed. They even had resident witch-girl Sabrina narrating Chilling Tales of Sorcery…

The Teenaged Witch debuted in Archie’s Madhouse #22 (October 1962), created by George Gladir & Dan de Carlo as a throwaway character in a quick-fire gag anthology which was simply one more venue for comics’ undisputed kings of kids’ comedy.

Almost instantly she became a regular in the burgeoning cast surrounding core stars Archie, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge and Jughead Jones.

By 1969 the little enchantress had grown popular enough for her own animated Filmation TV series (just like Archie and Josie and the Pussycats), thereafter graduating to lead feature in Archie’s TV Laugh Out and finally her own title in 1971.

The first volume ran 77 issues from 1971 to 1983 and, when a hugely successful live action TV series launched in 1996, a comicbook spin-off appeared in 1997. That version folded in 1999 after a further 32 issues.

Volume 3 – simple entitled Sabrina – was based on new TV show Sabrina the Animated Series. This ran from 2000-2002 for 37 issues before a back-to-basics reboot saw the comicbook revert to Sabrina the Teenage Witch with #38. This carefully blended elements from all the previous print and TV versions.

A creature of seemingly infinite variation and variety, the mystic maid continued in this vein until 2004 and issue #57 wherein – responding to the global craze for of Japanese comics – the company switched format, transforming the series into a manga-style high school comedy-romance in classic Shōjo manner.

That Sabrina is just a typical Greendale High School girl. She lives with her Aunts Hilda and Zelda Spellman, has a pet cat – Salem – and is tentatively dating childhood pal Harvey Kinkle. The cute but clueless boy reciprocates the affection but is far too scared to rock the boat by acting on his own desires.

Sabrina is an atypical witch: half-mortal (on her mother’s side), living in the mundane world and assiduously passing herself off as normal.

This first volume of the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina collects the shockingly adult and hard-hitting first five issues by Aguirre-Sacasa, artist and colourist Robert Hack (Doctor Who, Life with Archie, New Crusaders) and letterer Jack Morelli.

After a revelatory scene-setting Introduction from the author, the extremely nasty tale of ‘Something Wicked’ opens on October 31st 1951 in Westbridge, Massachusetts. Edward Spellman is celebrating the first birthday of his baby girl Sabrina by handing her over to a human-flesh eating, Satan-worshipping coven.

At least that was the plan: things go awry at the very last moment as his pathetic human wife Diana absconds with the infant. With dark magic at her pursuers’ command, she doesn’t get far…

By 1957 warlock Edward is out of the picture too and Sabrina is living with “aunts” Hilda and Zelda. Her birthday is a special occasion since Sabrina is given her first familiar. Salem is a very nasty cat who used to be a very nasty warlock. His current form is penance for unspoken but heinous past misdeeds…

All too soon, however, the other young witches at the secret school are bullying Sabrina over her halfbreed origins, so – after suitable reparations are set in motion – the family up stakes and move to a funeral home in bucolic Greendale. It’s 1962 and the move provides perfect cover. The little girl can refine her burgeoning powers in isolation and the constant flow of cadavers provides an income, raw materials and the occasional gustatory treat…

Life goes on and in 1964 the family grows larger as disgraced British teen warlock Cousin Ambrose moves in. He will become a dangerous, rebellious influence on the witch-in-training and when Sabrina starts human High School in September, he is constantly urging her use her powers to make life easier and more interesting…

Despite her uncanny origins Sabrina is still a girl and when she meets local hunk Harvey Kinkle, the hunky human works his own kind of magic on her, much to the dismay of mortal hottie Rosalind who claims “dibs” and doesn’t like to lose…

Sabrina’s aunts are also unhappy. She is only thirteen and must remain pure until she gives herself to Satan during her Baptism on her sixteenth birthday…

Nearby, in the deep woods, arcane events are spiralling out of control. Neophyte witches Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge are dabbling in magic far beyond them. Horrifically they accidentally resurrect one of the most wicked of sorcerous sisters…

As seen in ‘The Secret History of Madame Satan’, unstable witch Iola was going to wed Edward Spellman, but he inexplicably dumped her for a mortal. In emotional turmoil Iola dramatically and spectacularly killed herself and her soul went to the Hell for Suicides. Now she has been accidentally called back and hungers for revenge…

She also has a natural gift for encountering nasty men and hurrying them on to their just reward…

After rebuilding her corrupted body from the flesh of innocents and vindictively divining the fates of Edward and Diana, Iola exults in learning they had a daughter. With malice in mind, “Madame Satan” turns towards Greendale and makes spiteful plans…

It’s October and as Sabrina’s birthday approaches she is more consumed with Harvey’s increasingly ardent attentions and her own theatrical ambitions and the upcoming dark Baptism…

Hilda and Zelda have been preparing Sabrina for her ‘Unholy Baptism’ for years. It will be the turning point of her life; resolving whether or not she will accede to her full powers and potential and serve the Evil One forever. Nothing must be allowed to impede or mar the crucial moment.

Sadly, it’s just not going to happen. Iola has hit town and, through arcane manipulation, inserted herself into Sabrina’s increasingly confused and conflicted life. As replacement teacher Evangeline Porter, Madame Satan even offers horny frustrated Harvey the delights Sabrina is denying him…

Culmination comes after she tricks the lad into interrupting the demon-drenched birthday Black Mass before leaves the horrified human boy to a ghastly fate…

So great is the power of witchcraft however that even death does not end the ‘Harvey Horrors’. The repercussions of Iola’s plan reverberate throughout the town and the coven, even reaching as far as Riverdale and the witches hiding there…

Although she had nothing to do with the wrecking of the baptism ritual Sabrina is then summonsed to appear before a fearsome court of witches to endure ‘The Trial’. After surreptitiously aiding Selena to escape Satanic justice, Miss Porter then delivers her sadistic coup de grace, offering the distraught teen witch everything her heart desires… or so she thinks…

Happily this is a continuing series and there’s more malevolent magic to come…

This radical makeover also offers a host of ‘Special Features’ including a ‘Cover Gallery’, variants by Hack spoofing classic movie poster such as Rosemary’s Baby, Häxan, Carrie and Creepshow, assorted retailer incentive variants by Francesco Francavilla, J. Scott Campbell and Hack, an ‘Original Sketch Gallery’ and a text feature about original Golden Age Scream Queen Madame Satan and an original exploit by Joe Blair & Harry Lucey from Pep Comics #17 (July 1941).

Brooding, slow boiling and shockingly potent – beware of profanity, gore and nudity, Archie traditionalists! – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a classic grown up horror story to delight hardcore far fanatics.
© 2016 Archie Comics Publications, Inc.

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The Art of Vampirella: The Warren Years


By Frank Frazetta, Enrich, Sanjulián, Ken Kelly Vaughn Bodé & various artists, written by David Roach (Dynamite Entertainment)
ISBN: 978-1-60690-390-2

Jim Warren originally established himself in the American comics marketplace with monochrome B-Movie fan periodical Famous Monsters of Filmland and satire magazine Help! In 1965 he took his deep admiration of the legendary 1950s EC Comics to its logical conclusion: reviving anthology horror periodicals and pitching them at older fans.

Creepy was stuffed with clever strip chillers illustrated by the top artists in the field (many of them ex-EC stars) and Warren neatly sidestepped the all-powerful Comics Code Authority – which had ended EC’s glory days and eventually their entire comics line – by publishing his new venture as a newsstand magazine.

It was a no-lose proposition. Older readers didn’t care to be associated with “kid’s stuff” comicbooks whilst magazines already held tempting extra cachet (i.e. mild nudity and a little more explicit violence) for readers of a transitional age.

Best of all, the standard monochrome format cost a quarter of what colour periodicals did to print.

Creepy was a huge and influential hit, especially among the increasingly rebellious, Rock ‘n’ Roll crazed teen market; often cited as a source of inspiration for the nascent underground commix movement and now furiously feeding on the growing renewed public interest in the supernatural.

In true Darwinian “Grow or Die” mode, Warren looked around for new projects, following up with companion shocker Eerie and the controversial war title Blazing Combat.

As the decade closed he launched a third horror anthology, but Vampirella was a little bit different. Although it featured the traditional “host” to introduce and comment on stories, this narrator was a sexy starlet who occasionally participated in the stories: eventually becoming hero and crowd-pulling star of her own regular feature.

Another radical variation was that here female characters played a central role. They were still victims and targets but increasingly, whether name stars or bit players, were as likely to be the big menace or save the day. Whatever their role, though, they were still pretty much naked throughout. Some traditions must be protected at all costs…

Another beguiling Warren innovation and staple was the eye-catching painted covers on every issue…

The hidden story behind Warren’s introduction of Vampirella is fully disclosed in David Roach’s incisive history of the magazine whose covers are reprinted in their entirety – spanning September 1969 to March 1983 – in this pictorial treasury.

Accompanied by informative context and commentary, they are presented as both finished newsstand-ready product with all typography and logos and as full-page reproductions of the original artworks, denuded of all distracting text and editorial modification.

This magnificent oversized (234 x 307 mm) hardback proudly displays every cover from the run: 112 issues, the 1972 Annual and the Pantha Special – and even includes a series of photographic entries featuring Barbara Leigh in full costume. She was pegged to play the deliciously Deadly Drakulonne in a sadly-unrealised Hammer Horror movie.

Following a revelatory Introduction from Enric Torres-Prat who as “Enrich” painted dozens of astoundingly eye-catching covers, Roach’s ‘Vampirella: an Introduction’ traces her history and development as well as the company-saving arrival of the Spanish illustrators of Josep Tutain’s European S.I. agency.

The astonishing work of these astounding painters and draughtsmen turned Warren around and made them the most visually unique publisher on the American scene. Moreover this Introduction is illustrated not just with American material but also pages of comics and covers S.I. provided for the British market during the 1960s and 1970s.

The major portion of this beguiling tome is quite rightly all about the art, and the parade of painterly peril and pulchritude includes works by Aslan (Alain Gourdon), Frank Frazetta, Bill Hughes, Vaughn Bodé, Jeff Jones, Larry Todd, Ken Kelly, Boris Vallejo, Sanjulián (Manuel Pérez Clemente), Pepe Gonzalez, Luis Dominguez, Josep Marti Ripoll, Lluís Ribas, Hank Londoner (photographer for the Leigh covers), Bob Larkin, Kim McQuaite, Jordi Penalva, Esteban Maroto, Steve Harris, Paul Gulacy, Terrance Lindall, Jordi Longaron, Noly Panaligan, Albert Pujolar and Martin Hoffman.

This captivating, vibrant tome is as much a historical assessment as celebration of stellar talent: a beautiful, breathtaking and brilliantly inspirational compendium for the next generation of artists and illustrators.

If you are gripped by the drive to make pictures but want a little encouragement, this luxurious compendium offers all the encouragement you could possibly hope for – and is powerfully intoxicating too.
Vampirella ™ and © 2013 Dynamite Entertainment. All rights reserved.

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Hellboy volume 7: The Troll Witch and Others


By Mike Mignola, Richard Corben, P. Craig Russell, Dave Stewart & various (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-59307-860-7

Hellboy was first seen in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 (August 1993) before formally debuting. That launch was in miniseries Seed of Destruction with John Byrne scripting over Mignola’s plot and art.

As a baby Hellboy was taken – on December 23rd 1944 – from Nazi cultists by American superhero The Torch of Liberty and a squad of US Rangers. They had interrupted a satanic ritual predicted by Allied parapsychologist Professor Trevor Bruttenholm and his associates.

They were waiting at a ruined church in East Bromwich, England when the abominable infant with a huge stone right hand materialised in a fireball. Raised by Bruttenholm, the child grew into a mighty warrior fighting a never-ending secret war. The Professor trained the infernal foundling whilst forming an organisation to destroy supernatural threats – the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.

After years of such devoted intervention, education and warm human interaction, in 1952 the neophyte hero began destroying unnatural threats and supernatural monsters as lead agent for the BPRD. “Hellboy” rapidly became its top operator… the world’s most successful paranormal investigator…

As the decades unfold, Hellboy gleans snatches of his origins, learning he is a supposedly corrupted creature of dark portent: born a demonic messiah, somehow destined to destroy the world and bring back ancient powers of evil. It is a fate he despises and utterly rejects…

This sinister seventh spellbinding compendium of graphic grotesquery and grave wit collects material from 2003 to 2007 as previously seen in The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft, The Dark Horse Book of the Dead, The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings, The Dark Horse Book of Monsters, 2-issue miniseries Hellboy: Makoma, the Hellboy Premiere Edition and Hellboy: Wizard 1/2. Also included is an original story created especially for his trade paperback edition.

The format is a gathered scattering of short yarns and vignettes presenting exploits from Hellboy’s chequered career as a “weird-buster” and, following an engaging Introduction from fellow multi-talented tale-weaver Walter Simonson, Mignola briefly expounds on the folkloric influences and other antecedents of the uncanny yarns which follow before the eldritch enigmas at last unfold.

Coloured and lettered by regular support crew Dave Stewart and Clem Robins, ‘The Penanggalan’ (Hellboy Premiere Edition, 2004) is set in 1958 Malaysia with the already world-weary troubleshooter investigating a macabre vampiric creature with disgusting habits and a neat line in deceptive camouflage. Even though appearances are frequently deceiving, the veteran monster-hunter is not fooled by a pretty face or placid demeanour…

‘The Hydra and the Lion’ (The Dark Horse Book of Monsters) resulted from a collaboration between Mignola and his young daughter: subtly referencing Hercules’ legendary battles against the Nemean lion and a many-headed dragon. Hellboy’s frenetic clash occurred in Alaska in 1961 after the death of a circus strongman somehow led to recurring raids by monsters in the fog…

Eponymous lead feature ‘The Troll Witch’ came from The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft and is set in Norway circa 1963. It opens with Hellboy quizzing a wizened crone whilst investigating a series of bizarre and unnaturally savage murders. She relates an old legend of a barren woman who sought magical aid to give her husband children. The successful outcome was two girls. One was beautiful and one was not…

When trolls took the lovely lass, her ugly sister responded with great fury and effect to save her… and therein lay the clue to Hellboy’s latest case… and its eventual solution…

‘The Vampire of Prague’ – written by Mignola, mischievously illustrated by P. Craig Russell, with colours by Lovern Kindzierski and the lettering of Galen Showman – was created especially for this compilation and was the result of the author’s trip to the Czech republic whilst scouting movie locations…

With sublime wit and sly joy, it details the depredations of an ancient gambling-addicted bloodsucker and how the reign of terror was finally ended in one night in August 1982 when a certain red-faced, stone-handed hero hit town…

Mignola, Stewart & Robins reunited for ‘Dr. Carp’s Experiment’ (The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings) with Hellboy embroiled in an atypical ghost story, confronting restless spirits in an old house on Long Island in 1991: a dank domicile blighted not just by gore-drenched phantoms but also malevolent time-travellers and killer-apes wielding electric harpoons…

‘The Ghoul or Reflections on Death and The Poetry of Worms’ by Mignola, Stewart & Robins is an experimental item from The Dark Horse Book of the Dead, taking place in London 1992 with our paranormal paragon hunting a predatory, verse-spouting cadaver consumer.

The narrative remainder of the book offers Mignola’s broad interpretation of African myth Makoma and the Giants, realised here by the one-and-only Richard Corben, with Stewart & Robins in dutiful attendance.

‘Makoma or, A Tale Told by a Mummy in the New York City Explorers Club on August 16 1993’ is a story within a story outlining how Hellboy’s visit to a venerable institution exposes an unsuspected connection to one of Earth’s earliest and most important champions who tackled terrible titans, tamed the wild places and faced devils and dragons whilst setting mankind in his rightful place in the world hierarchy…

The epic adventure is supplemented by a new Mignola pinup, a Corben cover gallery and sketchbook pages by Mignola and Russell.

Baroque, bombastic, suspenseful and explosively action-packed, this is another superbly scary rollercoaster ride to delight one and all.
™ and © 2007, 2006, 2005 2004 and 2003 Mike Mignola. Hellboy is ™ Mike Mignola. Introduction © 2006 Walter Simonson. All rights reserved.

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Toadswart d’Amplestone – A Gothic Tale of Horror and Magick


By Tim A. Conrad (Eclipse Books)
ISBN: 1-56060-012-8 (Limited Edition Hardcover);             978-1-56060-013-8 (PB)

It’s the season for baroque and whimsical terror tales and this lost gem is long overdue for a thorough re-investigation…

Toadswart d’Amplestone began life as a serial in Marvel’s creator-owned magazine Epic Illustrated (issues #25-28 and #30-32; spanning August 1984-October 1985).

Revelling in the compulsive mystique of grotesquery, the tale of medieval madness, magic and malevolence is a brilliantly rendered, slyly arch graphic pastiche and thematic marriage of black-&-white 1930s horror movies with later screen efforts from Roger Corman and the Hammer horror masters.

Sealing the deal for authenticity, it is painted in stunning black-&-white tones by the fabulously gifted Tim Conrad and was collected into a superb oversized (212 x 286 mm) monochrome tome by Eclipse Comics in 1990. Although still readily available, it is a prime candidate for revival and re-release.

Splendidly over the top, the tale comes from the pitiful lips of much-oppressed court dwarf Toadswart who recounts – after a philosophic ‘Prologue’ – how in ‘Children of the Storm’ itinerant artist Shamshadow rides into the castle of Amplestone, soaking wet and looking for work …

The manse is in a dire state. Prince Waxwroth has been increasing unstable since his father vanished three years previously: more and more convinced that the King of the First Dominion covets his lands and is perpetrating intrigues to seize them. Nevertheless, the painter is hired to craft grand portraits of the entire surviving clan…

Despite employing magician/astrologer Lacknose, Waxwroth incessantly dabbles in sorcery himself; convinced the horrific golem he has created will safeguard his possessions and ensure the succession of his young son Rupert…

Eventually, the unstable Waxwroth finally instils his creation with a ‘Heart of Fire’ and rapidly regrets his act…

In ‘And All the Kings Men…’ he unleashes his granite beast against the King’s never seen forces but it is uncontrollable and does more harm than good, returning to slay trusted servants and even family members in ‘Ashes to Ashes’.

Tension mounts as the Prince temporarily recaptures his monster but Toadswart can see that worse is to come. It inevitably breaks loose and roams the castle, pushing them all to the ‘Abyss’.

With his world and body falling apart, ‘Waxwroth Furioso’ finds the beleaguered Prince berserk and utterly lost, leaving Toadswart and Shamshadow to deal with the rampaging golem’s ‘Final Passage’ before a return of order and answers are found to dispel an inescapable tragedy…

There are no dragons but plenty of dank dungeons, dark deeds and dire, dirty plots to augment the monstrous mayhem and mystery, making this a glorious tribute to bygone times and classic movies seen from under he bedcovers or from behind a sofa, and if you’re a smug git like me and got the Limited Edition Hardcover you can also enjoy a full colour tipped-in art plate (which, on reflection, makes me wonder if the whole tale wasn’t actually fully painted and just shot and printed in black-&-white to enhance the spooky mood…)
©1990 Tim Conrad. All rights reserved.

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B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs volume 3


By Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Guy Davis, Dave Stewart & Clem Robbins (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-59582-860-6 (HC):       978-1616556228 (PB)

Hellboy is a creature of vast depth and innate mystery; a demonic baby summoned to Earth by Nazi occultists at the end of Word War II but subsequently raised, educated and trained by parapsychologist Professor Trevor “Broom” Bruttenholm to destroy unnatural threats and supernatural monsters as the lead field-agent for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.

After decades of unfailing, faithful service, in 2001 he became mortally tired and resigned. Itinerantly roaming the world, he still managed to constantly encounter weird happenstances, never escaping trouble or his own sense of duty. He’s only a momentary guest star in this book.

This particular massive tome – available in hardback, paperback and digital formats – in fact stars his trusty comrades: valiant champions of varying shades of human-ness who police those occult occasions which typically fall under the remit of the Enhanced Talents task force of the B.P.R.D.

If you’re having trouble with the concept, think of a government-sanctioned and internationally co-sponsored Ghostbusters dealing with Buffy-style threats to humanity.

The B.P.R.D. rapidly established itself as a viable publishing premise in its own right through a succession of interlinked miniseries; confronting an ancient, arcane amphibian menace to humanity in an immense epic which spanned eight years of comicbook releases.

Previously collected as a series of trade paperbacks during that time, the entire supernatural saga – latterly dubbed Plague of Frogs – was remastered as a quartet of monumental full-colour volumes, of which this is the twisted third.

Gathering material from B.P.R.D. The Universal Machine; Garden of Souls and Killing Ground – volumes 6 through 8 respectively – this macabre masterpiece opens with a handy recap page identifying key personnel of the B.P.R.D.

Then an equally informative Introduction from series editor Scott Allie provides context and background in the organisation’s struggle against the eons-old supernal force mutating humans into terrifying frog-monsters as well as few behind-the-scenes production secrets…

At the end of the previous collection, the team had narrowly avoided the end of the world by finding the Frog citadel and defeating marauding Elder God-made-grisly-flesh Katha-Hem… but at great and tragic cost…

Crafted throughout by writers Mignola and John Arcudi, illustrated by Guy Davis, lettered by Clem Robins and coloured from Dave Stewart, ‘The Universal Machine’ (originally a 5-part miniseries spanning April to August 2006) takes up the story as amphibious Abe Sapien and undead marine Benjamin Daimio oversee the sterilising carpet-bombing of the city the Frog destroyed to summon their archaic eidolon.

Back at their new Colorado base, pyrokinetic Liz Sherman and disembodied psychic Johann Krauss discuss with historian Dr. Kate Corrigan how to resurrect their fallen comrade Roger the Homunculus from the pile of broken rubble he was reduced to…

Despite Roger’s mystical origins that prospect seems unlikely until the B.P.R.D. are offered a copy of legendary alchemical tome “A True Record of the Workings of the Universal Machine” by an enigmatic bookseller in France…

Soon Corrigan and trainee researcher Andrew Devon are in the picturesque village of Ableben, discussing the unnatural events of 1491 which shattered the castle of local lord Marquis Adoet de Fabre and scattered his celebrated collection of monsters, grotesques and magical artefacts…

The bookseller is a weird and difficult cove, clearly more intent on teasing his customers than selling his wares, and when Devon steps outside to report in, Corrigan’s suspicions are proved right.

The vendor is de Fabre himself, laying a trap to abduct her. Whisking Kate back in time, the sinister savant has the book she needs but what he wants in return is a price that cannot be paid…

As Devon quails in the present and in the clutches of a werewolf pack acting as the mage’s 21st century negotiators, back in Colorado the Enhanced Talents squad are sharing coffee and stories. Former Green Beret Daimio at last reveals how he came back from the dead three days after dying in the line of duty…

A covert mission in Central America resulted in the slaughter of him and his team by a jaguar monster. They stayed dead and he didn’t…

Moved by the confession, Johann shares a moment of his former, corporeal, life as a spirit medium: one that only emphasises his own loneliness and moral weakness whilst deeply harming both the living and dead clients he was striving to help…

Liz doesn’t share anything. She’s been acting strange for quite a while now and doesn’t want anyone to know that she’s seeing visions and getting messages from a mystery mage only she can see…

The late night chinwag moves on to pensive Abe, but rather than share his recent life-altering news he prefers to relate the old and sad tale of a family man lost in the Canadian wilderness. By the time he and Hellboy had found Daryl Tynon, the poor slob was well on the way to losing his mind. He had already tasted human flesh and physically transformed into a Wendigo…

Back in the past, the magical collector boasts, brags and bullies. Convinced he has the upper hand, de Fabre shares many of his secrets and displays his greatest prizes, but has grievously underestimated the perspicacity and sheer guts of his merely human hostage…

Victorious but without her prize, Corrigan survives the destruction of de Fabre’s castle and is unceremoniously dumped back in her own time. Although she has failed to find a way to restore Roger, the departed Homunculus has a message for them all, to be delivered by Krauss…

The next volume also started as a 5-issue miniseries. ‘Garden of Souls’ (March to July 2007) concentrates on Abe’s recently uncovered origins and opens in 1859 with psychical researcher Dr. Langdon Everett Caul as part of a group of like-minded men fascinated with arcane secrets. He is present when an Egyptian mummy is unwrapped at a grand soiree. Incredibly, the withered husk was still alive so he and his closest associates in the Oannes Society stole the astonished, outraged ancient Panya, convinced she is the sea goddess Naunet…

More than a century later Abe was found by the B.P.R.D. in a tank; a bizarre fish-human hybrid with no memory of his past. It’s all started coming back to him now, however, especially after being sent Caul’s old cigar case with a map neatly tucked inside…

With Daimio as back-up but still sharing nothing, Abe heads to Balikpapan, Indonesia, unaware that his taciturn companion is concealing a few secrets of his own or that best friend Liz is slowly succumbing to the poisonous whispers of someone no one can see and being driven insane by visions of impending Armageddon…

Despite the passage of time the men of the Oannes Society are still alive. Sustaining themselves through steampunk biomechanics, the sages have been building bio-mechanical monsters whilst growing themselves new superhuman flesh bodies to hold their corrupted minds. They have also been waiting for Caul to return and cannot understand his odd new notions of morality…

They have no idea why he should be so upset at what they did to his original body or their current scheme to catastrophically inundate all of South East Asia and harvest the souls of the millions who will drown.

Happily, Ben is on hand to help defuse the plot, assisted by the astounding psychic powers of the still-captive and extremely resentful living mummy Panya…

This all-action adventure then gives way to suspense and revelation in ‘Killing Ground’ (5 issues once spanning August-December 2007) with change in the air at B.P.R.D.’s Colorado HQ.  Johann has taken possession of the last super-body built by the Oannes Society and is becoming increasingly intoxicated by the fleshly sensations he believed denied him forever.

Daimyo is reeling from public revelations that his grandmother was a WWII war criminal, but has managed to keep secret the wizard he periodically sneaks into the base to deal with horrific body changes he doesn’t want his comrades to know about.

Liz is particularly happy. Without being told, new inductee Panya has confirmed the reality of the stranger haunting the harassed pyrokinetic and even offered some suggestions to counter his constant poisonous whispers.

Abe, now officially in charge of the Enhanced team, is overseeing the transfer of now-completely feral Daryl to a newly fortified cell, but cannot help noticing the affect the savage beast has on Daimio…

Trouble is never far away. Soon the base has been infiltrated by a deadly silent intruder whose actions kick off a cascade of disasters, beginning with the escape of Daryl and evisceration of Daimio’s secret wizard. With the base on lockdown and bodies piling up, it’s a time for all hands on deck, but super-strong Johann has vanished.

And then the blizzard hits…

As chaos mounts, the silent intruder finally provides some answers in the most agonising manner imaginable, two separate carnosaurs rip their way through the embattled soldiers on site, another Enhanced team member perishes, a ghostly hero returns and the truth about Daimyo’s death and resurrection are horrifically revealed, leading to a major changing of the guard…

Moreover, even though the War on Frogs seems to be over, the best and worst is yet to come…

Following an Afterword by Arcudi, a wealth of Bonus Features included here comprise comprehensive Sketchbook sections on The Universal Machine, Garden of Souls and Killing Ground – all dutifully annotated by Davis – offering roughs, designs and preliminary artwork from Davis and Mignola

With spectacular supernatural fantasy now a staple of TV and movie genre, these unlikely heroes must be a top pick for every production company out there. Until then, why not stay ahead of the rush by reading these chillingly compelling yarns?
B.P.R.D. ™: Plague of Frogs volume 3 © 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2015 Mike Mignola. Abe Sapien™, Liz Sherman™, Hellboy™, Johann™, Lobster Johnson™ and all other prominently featured characters ™ Mike Mignola. All rights reserved.

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Scary Godmother


By Jill Thompson (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-59582-589-6

The Eisner-Award winning Scary Godmother started life in 1997 as a full-colour, strip-format children’s book before evolving into a comicbook series, hit stage show and brace of Cartoon Network animated specials.

The original fully-painted picture book spawned three equally captivating annual sequels from Indie publisher Sirius Entertainment and all four of those astoundingly enthralling, wickedly hilarious books were resurrected in 2010 by Dark Horse as a stunning all-ages trade paperback collection just in time for Halloween.

And now it’s that time again…

Created by the terrifyingly multi-talented Jill Thompson (The Sandman, The Invisibles, Swamp Thing, Wonder Woman, The Little Endless Storybook) these stories offer comfortably spooky chills frosted with cracking comedy whilst proudly defending the inalienable right to be different…

Debut volume ‘The Scary Godmother’ introduced little Hannah Marie who is frantic to start her first ever Trick or Treat night, and only the teensiest bit disappointed that she has to go with her older, rather mean cousin Jimmy and his friends.

Naturally the big kids aren’t that keen on taking a baby along as they desperately try to score vast amounts of candy and cake, so as the evening progresses they try all they can think of to ditch the wide-eyed waif. It’s Jimmy who has the idea to scare Hannah by taking her to the old Spook House…

As they all nervously enter the ramshackle, abandoned old mansion, Jimmy tells Hannah Marie that the new kid has to give the monsters in the house some candy or they will eat all the children in the world, but he has severely underestimated his cousin’s grit. Although scared, she enters the dilapidated pile and the gang have no choice but to follow her inside…

As she looks for the horrible creatures Hannah Marie starts to cry and her sobs cause a strange thing to happen: someone joins in with sobs even louder than hers. And that’s how she meets the twisted fairy called Scary Godmother and befriends all the actual magic monsters who live in the weird midnight realm known as the Fright Side…

Scary Godmother is the Ambassador of Spooky and pretty much runs Halloween. After being introduced to the bats and beasts and boggles, Hannah Marie is no longer afraid and her new friend even has some ideas on how to teach Jimmy and his pals how to be less mean…

One year later ‘The Revenge of Jimmy’ finds the nasty boy deeply traumatised by his most memorable encounter with actual monsters last year. Now settled on the notion that if he sabotages Halloween, the horrors, haunts and horrible things won’t be able to come back to the real world for a second chance at him, Jimmy sets out on a mission of sabotage…

Across the dark divide the inhabitants are all gearing up for their night of fun in the real world and perplexed that something is gumming the works. The magic bridge that forms to carry them over is only half-formed, strange webs bar their path and other peculiar events temporarily hamper their preparations for the special night.

It’s all Jimmy’s fault but every time one of his cunning schemes looks like scuttling the town’s forthcoming festivities, some busybody or other finds a way to turn his sneaky dirty work into an exercise in ingenuity. With nothing apparently stopping Halloween coming and the Fright Siders crossing over, Jimmy steps up his campaign, unaware that all that meanness and loose magic is causing a rather strange transformation in Jimmy…

Nevertheless his most appalling act of sabotage almost succeeds until little Hannah Marie sees an upside to his horrible acts.

Halloween is saved but Jimmy almost isn’t… until one bold monster steps up to set things right…

Another year rolls by and Hannah Marie is preparing for a Halloween block party. As Mum and the other parents toil to make all the seasonal treats, the little girl is writing invitations to all the monsters in Fright Side. Hannah Marie has learned how to cross over to the nether realm, but when she gets there Scary Godmother is also busy, ensuring the night will be suitably spooky and wonderful.

As Hannah Marie distributes the invitations, a strange thing occurs: Scary Godmother gets a different invitation. It’s unsigned but from a Secret Admirer begging her attendance on ‘The Mystery Date’…

Captivated by the notion, Hannah Marie and little vampire Orson start canvassing all the likely candidates on the Fright Side – causing no end of trouble and embarrassment for Halloween’s startled and bemused Ambassador – before they all shamefully cross over to the real world where a real romantic surprise awaits the Scary Godmother…

The final book of the quartet was ‘The Boo Flu’ wherein our magical mystery madame succumbs to the worst of all eldritch aliments at the least favourable time, compelling Hannah Marie to step up, put on the big magic hat and ride the broomstick to marshal the monsters and take charge of all the necessary preparations if All Hallows Eve is to happen at all this year…

That’s a big ask for a little human girl, but help soon comes from all sorts of unexpected directions…

Almost as soon as the first book was released, Scary Godmother started popping up in comics too. Most of those tales are collected in a companion volume to this gleeful grimoire but there’s room here for one cheeky treat as ‘Tea for Orson’ (from Trilogy Tour Book) focuses on the vampire boy’s attempts to crash a girls-only soiree at Scary Godmother’s house. Harry the Werewolf also wants in – but more for the food than the company – and the banned boys’ combined, increasingly outrageous, efforts to gatecrash make for a captivating lesson in being careful what you wish for…

Wrapping up the tricks and treats is a liberal dose of ‘More Art’ in a huge and comprehensive ‘Scary Mother Sketch Book’ section; comprising roughs, designs, character development drawings, working paintings, promotional art and comic ads, design, background and model sheets and, for the animated specials, original book covers and rejected pages and scenes.

Still readily available – and now as a digital download too – Scary Godmother is a magical treat for youngsters of any vintage and would make a perfect alternative treat to candy and cakes…
Text and illustrations of Scary Godmother © 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2010 Jill Thompson. All rights reserved.

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The Monster of Frankenstein


By Gary Friedrich, Doug Moench, Bill Mantlo, Gerry Conway, Mike Ploog, John Buscema, Bob Brown, Val Mayerik, Don Perlin, Sal Buscema & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9906-9

Whereas DC Comics capitalised on the early 1970s global boom in all things supernatural and mystic by creating a plethora of short-story anthologies and the occasional spooky star, Marvel Comics took the trend in another direction and created a small army of horror-heroes to headline their own series.

This particular collection reprints the House of Ideas’ interpretation of the Mary Shelley classic from a time when the censorious Comics Code Authority first loosened some of its strictures banning horror material from the pages of comics. That translates here to 18 issues of the colour comicbook; Giant-Sized Werewolf #2, Marvel Team-Up #36-37 and all the pertinent strips from adult-oriented Marvel magazines Monsters Unleashed #2, 4-7, 9-10 and one-shot Legion of Monsters (spanning January 1973 – September 1975), all awaiting your rapt attentions.

Some comic artists work best in black-&-white. Such is certainly the case with the groundbreaking Mike Ploog. A young find who had previously worked with Will Eisner, Ploog illustrated Gary Friedrich’s pithy adaptation of the original novel before moving on to new ventures as the strip graduated to in-house originated material. This monumental paperback tome is presented mostly in colour, but if you are of a similar opinion you could try to lay your hands on the 2004 monochrome Essential Monster of Frankenstein edition…

‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein!’ debuted with a January 1973 cover-date and introduced Robert Walton IV, great grandson of the sea-captain who had rescued scientist Victor Frankenstein from the polar ice and was subsequently regaled with the incredible tale of “the Modern Prometheus”.

In 1898, leading a band of rogues, cutthroats and sullen Inuit, Walton finds the fabled monster interred in a frozen slab and brings it aboard his ice-breaker. He then recounts the story to his fascinated cabin-boy, unaware of the fear and discontent simmering below decks…

A bloody mutiny during a terrible gale opens the second issue as the burning ship founders. Meanwhile the flashbacked tale of tragic Victor reaches the terrible moment when the monster demands a mate. The guilt-plagued scientist complies only to baulk at the last and destroy his second creation. ‘Bride of the Monster!’ concludes with the creature’s fearsome vengeance on his creator paralleling the grim fate of the storm-tossed ship…

In The Monster of Frankenstein #3, ‘The Monster’s Revenge!’ has the reawakened creature freed from its ice-block to overhear the continuation of his life-story from Walton’s lips, even as the last survivors struggle to find safety in the Arctic wastes.

Thereafter ‘Death of the Monster!’ – with inker John Verpoorten taking some of the deadline pressure off the hard-pressed Ploog – turns the tables as the monster reveals what happened after the polar showdown with his creator, leading to a new beginning when Walton reveals that not all the Frankensteins were eradicated by the Monster’s campaign of vengeance. Their warped  blood-line lives on…

A new direction began with issue #5 as ‘The Monster Walks Among Us!’. Making his way south, the tragic creature arrives in a Scandinavian village in time to save a young woman from being burned at the stake on a blazing longboat, only to rediscover that when villagers pick up pitchforks and torches to go a-screamin’ and a-hollerin’ for blood, they generally have a good reason…

With issue #6 the comic-book renamed itself The Frankenstein Monster as the undying creature reaches the village of Ingolstadt a century after he wreaked bloody vengeance on his creator’s loved ones.

‘…In Search of the Last Frankenstein!’ is a mini-classic of vintage horrors scripted as usual by Friedrich but plotted, pencilled and inked by Ploog who was reaching an early peak in his artistic career. It was also his last issue.

Ploog was followed by John Buscema and Bob Brown before Val Mayerik settled as regular artist and Friedrich gave way to Doug Moench, a writer once synonymous with Marvel’s horror line.

Issues #7, 8 and 9 bowed to the inevitable and pitted the Monster against Marvel’s top horror star (albeit 75-ish years prior to his contemporary adventures). Beginning with ‘The Fury of a Fiend!’ continuing in ‘My Name is… Dracula!’ and concluding with ‘The Vampire Killers!’, this is an extremely classy tribute to the old Universal movies and then-current Hammer Films in equal measure, wherein the misunderstood misanthrope battled an undying evil for ungrateful humanity, consequently losing the power of speech; and becoming more monstrous in the process.

Produced by Friedrich, John Buscema and John Verpoorten, this trilogy lacks the atmosphere of Ploog’s tenure, but the action is very much in the company’s house-style. With #10 (inked by Frank Giacoia and Mike Esposito) the creature finally found ‘The Last Frankenstein!’ …much to his regret.

With number #11’s ‘…And in the End…!?’ – illustrated by Bob Brown & Vince Colletta – and #12’s ‘A Cold and Lasting Tomb’ by Doug Moench, Val Mayerik and Colletta, the Monster wrapped his historical adventures by falling into a glacial sea. Frozen once again into another block of ice he was revived, Captain America-like, in modern times: i.e. the swinging 1970s…

The epic account then switches to monochrome as the more mature episodes from Monsters Unleashed begin, starting with #2 and ‘Frankenstein 1973’ by Friedrich, John Buscema & Syd Shores. Here we see how an obsessive young man finds the Monster preserved as a carnival exhibit, only to see his jealous girlfriend revive it whilst trying to burn down the sideshow. The story continued in #4 as ‘Frankenstein 1973: Chapter Two – The Classic Monster’ (Friedrich, Buscema and Golden-Age Great Win Mortimer), with a literal mad scientist actually putting his own brain in the monster’s skull. Happily the unnatural order is restored in ‘Once a Monster…’

Monsters Unleashed #6 introduced new creative team Doug Moench and Val Mayerik who wrapped up the introduction to today’s storyline with a good old-fashioned monster hunt in ‘…Always a Monster!’ which leads directly to #7’s ‘A Tale of Two Monsters!’: a dark, socially relevant tale of the modern underclass and man-made horrors carried on in ‘Frankenstein 1974: Fever in the Freak House’ before concluding in #9’s ‘The Conscience of the Creature’.

The horror boom was fading by this time and Monsters Unleashed #10 was the Monster’s last outing there: a superbly dark and sardonic Christmas offering complete with elves, snow, terrorists and a Presidential assassination attempt.

One final tale ‘The Monster and the Masque’ appeared in the 1975 one-shot The Legion of Monsters, by Moench, Mayerik, Dan Adkins & Pablo Marcos (accompanied by a chilling frontispiece by Marcos). This bittersweet morality play sees the creature accidentally accepted at a fancy dress party which is ruined when a different sort of monster gets carried away…

Switching back to full-colour comicbooks, next up is a rather tame team-up/clash from Giant-Sized Werewolf #2 wherein ‘The Frankenstein Monster Meets Werewolf by Night’ (by Moench, Don Perlin & Colletta): collaterally combining to quash a band of run-of-the-mill West Coast Satanists in the process.

Resuming his own series, The Frankenstein Monster #13 displays ‘All Pieces of Fear!’ (Moench, Mayerik and Jack Abel) as, shoe-horned into mid-1970s America, the Monster is drawn into a tale heavy with irony as men act like beasts and an obsessive father ignores his family whilst building his own abominations through the nascent science of cloning.

With a hip young teenager as a sidekick/spokesperson ‘Fury of the Night-Creature’ (with Dan Green inking) extends the saga by introducing I.C.O.N. (International Crime Organizations Nexus): yet another secret organisation intent on conquest through corporate business practices and traditional gangsterism.

Issue #15 ‘Tactics of Death’ (with a young Klaus Janson on inks) briefly concludes the acronym-agenda as the Monster and his young companion Ralph mop up the men in suits only to be shanghaied to Switzerland to meet the latest Last-of-the-Frankensteins in ‘Code-name: Berserker!’ (inked by Bob McLeod – who managed to handle the next issue too).

Veronica Frankenstein was still absorbed in the family business, but claims to be fixing her ancestors’ mistakes when the incorrigible I.C.O.N. creeps show up, demanding her biological techniques in ‘A Phoenix Beserk!’. Beautifully inked by Mayerik and Dan Adkins, the last colour issue ended on a never-to-be completed cliffhanger (although scripter Bill Mantlo covered elements of the story in Iron Man a few years later) when the Monster and his new friend met ‘The Lady of the House’ – the utterly bonkers creature-crafter dubbed Victoria Von Frankenstein…

Perhaps the abrupt cancellation was a mercy-killing after all…

Rounding off the narrative wonderment is a two-part tale by Gerry Conway, Sal Buscema & Colletta from Marvel Team-Up #36 and 37 wherein Spider-Man is kidnapped and shipped off to Switzerland by the assuredly insane Baron Ludwig Von Shtupf, who proudly proclaims himself The Monster Maker…

In ‘Once Upon a Time, in a Castle…’ the bonkers biologist wants to pick-&-mix creature traits and has already secured the Frankenstein Monster to practise on, but after the Webslinger busts them both out and they stumble upon sexy SHIELD Agent Klemmer, their rapid counterattack goes badly wrong after Von Shtupf unleashes his other captive – the furiously feral Man-Wolf – and only big Frankie can prevent a wave of ‘Snow Death!’

This codex of comic creepiness concludes with a mammoth bonus section offering art lovers and funnybook historians additional treats such as Ploog’s very first design sketch of the monster from 1972, original art, illustrations and (finished but pre-editorial addition) painted covers by Boris Vallejo.

Also on show are assorted frontispieces, pencils, inks and previous collected editions covers and original art by Tom Sutton, Gray Morrow, Vince Evans, Mayerik, Bernie Wrightson and Arthur Adams, making this compendium a perfect treat for fantasy fans and dedicated horrorists: one that should be a first choice for introducing scare-loving civilians to the world of comics.
© 1973, 1974, 1975, 2015 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Pigeons from Hell


By Joe R. Lansdale, Nathan Fox & various (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-59582-237-6

Robert Ervin Howard is justly celebrated for his burly, barbarian sword-&-sorcery creations such as Conan, Kull, Bran Mak Morn and others, but he was a successful jobbing writer in the heyday of pulp fiction and also turned his blazing typewriter to most of the other popular genres of the era.

Moreover, as aficionados of his blistering fantasy fiction are well aware, he was a dab hand at inculcating tension, suspense and moody macabre horror.

During the too-brief time of his creative peak he crafted a number of chilling supernatural stories set in the evocative southern milieu known as ArkLaTex – a doom-shrouded, Deep South meeting-point of the darkest corners of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and his beloved Texas.

Inspired by old stories heard at his grandmother’s knee, Howard transformed oft-told anecdotes into masterpieces of terror such as ‘The Shadow of the Beast’, ‘Moon of Zambebwie’, ‘Black Hound of Death’, ‘Black Canaan’ and the particular masterpiece under scrutiny here: a creation described by Stephen King as “one of the finest horror stories of our century”…

The tirelessly prolific Howard committed suicide in 1936 and the prose Pigeons from Hell (unsold since its drafting in 1932) was published posthumously in the May 1938 edition of premier pulp Weird Tales.

It has become a classic not just of the genre but also a notional inclusion into the prestigious literary canon of the Southern Gothic movement of writers such as William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell, Thomas Wolfe, Tennessee Williams and others.

In 1988 the original prose short story was incorporated into a stunning, lavishly painted adaptation by Scott Hampton, released by West Coast maverick publishers Eclipse, which remains one of the best graphic novels ever produced.

You should do your damnedest to track down and heartily absorb both it and the original text versions.

In 2008, Dark Horse – current holders of the license for Howard comic adaptations – approached esteemed author, occasional comics scripter and devout REH fan Joe R. Lansdale to adapt and update the story, crafting a notional sequel: first as a 4-issue miniseries and then as this sterling terror tome which is every bit as potent and gripping as the Eclipse release.

Illustrated by Nathan Fox with colours by Dave Stewart and letters from Richard Starkings & Comicraft, the story is translated to contemporary times but still centres on the desolate, dilapidated, dank and doom-laden Blassenville House and the swamp-encircled former plantation grounds it festers in.

As the sun sets a car with five forthright youngsters pulls up at the ravaged mansion deep in the Acadiana boondocks. Scaring away an army of fluttering pigeons, the deeply disappointed travellers are far from impressed with the inheritance sisters Janet and Claire have come from Texas to view.

Risking their lives on the shaky stairs the curious, disgusted kids reach the attic and find a mountain of dead birds. For all their tough talk and brave fronts the place is getting to them and their bold bravura starts to fade. Going back down, the first casualty occurs and the horrified friends head straight for the car and anywhere but here…

They don’t get far and the survivors are soon forced to return to the house where something vile and uncanny continues to pick them off…

Faced with appalling events and now certain that Grandmas’s crazy old horror stories were not just true but toned down for the kids, the Blassenville girls resolve to save who they can and then get the hell out.

They’re true believers now; having been separated from their friends and barely escaped a bloody shambling horror in the house. A vast sea of anxious spirits congregated in the fields around it also add veracity to everything the old lady once spooked them with. When these amorphous shades chase them into the sceptical arms of a local sheriff the sisters agree to go back inside but it’s not long before the lawman is also fully aware that ghosts are real and extremely dangerous…

Escorting them into the woods he takes the Blassenvilles to a crazy old witchman (he once thought…) who clues them all in on the history of the house before giving them vital clues they need to fight the thing inside and perhaps end the horror at long last…

Blending compulsive suspense with riotous splatter-action and a wry undertone of trenchant sassiness, this ferociously effective homage includes context and commentary in Lansdale’s ‘Notes from the Writer’, critique and historical background from Howard scholar Mark Finn in his ‘Afterword: The Brothers Gothic’ and a full Cover Gallery from the comic books.

Adding to the informational overload is a stunning picture-packed treasure trove as ‘The Sketchbook from Hell, with commentary from artist Nathan Fox’ reveals secrets of the creative process whilst guest artists Tomer Hanuka, Hector Casanova, Greg Ruth, Guy Davis, Paul Maybury, Jim Mahfood, Brandon Graham, David Crosland, Paul Chatem and Nathan Fox offer alternative outlooks in a copious ‘Bonus Pinups’ section.

Not only is the original prose work one of the best pieces of horror fiction ever written, but in this rare instance the follow-up – like the movie Alien and its gung-ho sequel Aliens – slips sneakily from one classic genre to another and makes both the better for it. This is a coming classic of graphic narrative; something every fright fan should see – but only with all the lights on…
Pigeons from Hell © 2008, 2009 Robert E. Howard Properties Inc. (“REHP”). All rights reserved.

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The Complete Peanuts volume 1: 1950-1952


By Charles Schulz (Canongate Books/Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-84767-031-1 (Canongate):        978-1-56097-589-2 (Fantagraphics)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: All that’s great about cartoon strips… 10/10

Peanuts is unequivocally the most important comics strip in the history of graphic narrative. It is also the most deeply personal.

Cartoonist Charles M Schulz crafted his moodily hilarious, hysterically introspective, shockingly philosophical epic for half a century. He published 17,897 strips from October 2nd 1950 to February 13th 2000 and died from the complications of cancer the day before his last strip was published…

At its height the strip ran in 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries, translated into 21 languages. Many of those venues are still running perpetual reprints, as they have ever since his departure. Attendant book collections, a merchandising bonanza and television spin-offs made the publicity-shy artist a billionaire.

None of that is really the point. Peanuts – a title Schulz despised, but one which the syndicate forced upon him – changed the way comics strips were received and perceived, and showed that cartoon comedy could have edges and nuance as well as pratfalls and punch lines.

Following a typically garrulous, charming and informative Introduction from fellow Minnesotan – and possibly kindred spirit – Garrison Keillor, this mammoth (218 x 33x 172 mm) landscape hardback compendium offers the first two and a bit years. Here a prototypical, rather outgoing and jolly Charlie Brown and high-maintenance mutt Snoopy joined with bombastic Shermy and mercurial Patty in hanging out doing kid things.

These include playing, playing pranks, playing sports such as tennis, golf and baseball, playing musical instruments, teasing each other, making baffled observations and occasionally acting a bit too much like grown ups. Fans of Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes will feel eerie familiarity with much of the hijinks and larks of these episodes.

As new characters Violet, infant prodigy Schroeder, and Lucy and her strange baby brother Linus were added to the mix, the boisterous rush of the series began to imperceptibly settle into a more contemplative pace. Charlie Brown began to adopt his eternal loser, singled-out-by-fate persona and the sheer diabolical wilfulness of Lucy began to sharpen itself on everyone around her…

The first Sunday page debuted on January 6th 1952; a standard half-page slot offering more measured fare than the daily. Both thwarted ambition and explosive frustration became part of the strip’s signature denouements…

By the end of 1952 the rapid-fire gags had evolved from raucous slapstick to surreal, edgy, psychologically barbed introspection, crushing judgements and deep rumination in a world where kids – and certain animals – were the only actors. The relationships however, were increasingly deep, complex and absorbing even though “Sparky” Schulz never deviated from his core message: entertain…

David Michaelis then celebrates and deconstructs ‘The Life and Times of Charles M. Schulz’ after which Gary Groth and Rick Marschall conduct ‘An Interview with Charles M. Schulz’ rounding out our glimpse of the dolorous graphic genius with intimate revelations and reminiscences whilst a copious ‘Index’ offers instant access to favourite scenes you’d like to see again….

Readily available in hardcover, paperback and digital editions this initial volume offers a rare example of a masterpiece in motion: comedy gold and social glue gradually metamorphosing in an epic of spellbinding graphic mastery which became part of the fabric of billions of lives, and which continues to do so long after its maker’s passing.
The Complete Peanuts: 1950-1952 (volume 1) © 2004 Peanuts Worldwide, LLC. Introduction © 2004 Garrison Keillor. “The Life and Times of Charles M. Schulz” © 2000 David Michaelis. “An Interview with Charles M. Schulz” © 2004 Gary Groth and Richard Marschall. All other material copyright its respective owners. All rights reserved.

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Archie: Obama & Palin in Riverdale (Archie & Friends All-Stars volume 14)


By Alex Simmons, Dan Parent, Rich Koslowski, Jack Morelli & Digikore Studios (Archie Comics)
ISBN: 987-1-87979-487-0

For nearly three-quarters of a century Archie Andrews has epitomised good, safe, wholesome fun, but inside the staid and stable company which shepherds his adventures and bears his name there has always lurked an ingenious and deviously subversive element of mischief as well a keen eye for a headline.

Ever since they launched as MLJ publications in the Golden Age’s dawning, family-friendly iterations of superheroes, spooky chills, sci-fi thrills and genre yarns have always been as much a part of the publisher’s varied portfolio as the romantic comedy capers of America’s cleanest-cut teens.

As you probably know by now, Archie has been around since 1941, spending most of those seventy-five years chasing both the gloriously attainable Betty Cooper and wildly out-of-his-league debutante Veronica Lodge whilst best friend Jughead Jones alternately mocked and abetted his romantic endeavours and life-long rival Reggie Mantle sought to scuttle his every move and bring down the freckle-face…

As crafted over the decades by a legion of writers and artists who’ve skilfully logged innumerable stories of teenage antics in and around the idyllic, utopian small-town Riverdale, these timeless tales of decent, upstanding, fun-loving kids have captivated successive generations of readers and entertained millions worldwide.

To keep all that accumulated attention riveted, the company has always looked to modern trends and movements with which to expand upon their archetypal brief. In times past they have strengthened and cross-fertilised their stable of stars through a variety of comic property team-ups such as Archie Versus Predator, Archie Meets the Punisher or Archie Meets Vampirella as well as notionally real-world characters as typified by Archie Meets Glee or Archie Meets Kiss. Every kind of fashion-fad and youth-culture sensation have invariably been accommodated into and explored within the pages of the regular titles.

That willingness to dip traditional toes in unlikely waters led in 2010 to the publishers taking an extremely bold and outrageously controversial step which turned heads in all the right places and hopefully nurtured the political sensibilities of many kids who might well be voting in this year’s Presidential Elections…

Mr. Obama has long been out of the closet in regards to comics (apparently he collects Spider-Man and Conan) and after his election in 2008 got to guest-star in a load of different titles. I’ve no idea what Sarah Palin’s position on funny books is, but she too has been the star of a whole bunch… although mostly as a star-spangled bikini-clad bimbo toting swords and big guns.

She was represented in a far more even-handed and respectful manner when she and the President appeared in Archie #616-617 (December 2010 and January 2010); a tale gathered in this slim paperback collection with the similarly-themed contents of Veronica #199 (March 2010) to form a fabulous dossier of democracy and fair play for beginners, coincidentally packed with lots of laughs and a few salutary tips on electioneering.

As written by Alex Simmons, illustrated by Dan Parent & Rich Koslowski, lettered by Jack Morelli and coloured by Digikore Studios, the Machiavellian games begin with the two part ‘Campaign Pains’ as Archie and Reggie clash in a debate as part of their efforts to become Student Body President.

Their clearly different styles of presentation don’t sway many potential voters and Veronica, as Archie’s Campaign Manager, decides its time to bring out the big guns: Money, Power and Influence. Reggie’s manager is little better. Trula Twyst is a ruthless psychology student eager to push people’s buttons just to see how they react…

Having already once met Barack Obama, and after kitting out Archie in new duds, Ronnie blags her way into a Presidential event and manufactures a photo-op between the Most Powerful Man in the World and the most naïve kid in Riverdale. She then uploads it and lets the little people in Riverdale make their own assumptions…

At Mantle Campaign HQ, Trula knows a winning ploy when she sees one and decides to fight fire with fire; orchestrating a similar sneaky session for Reggie with blithely unaware Governor and potential future Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Once more a dubious association with celebrity enflames the youthful voters of Riverdale High, but when the professional politicians see how they’ve been shabbily misrepresented by school kids. they both head for the sleepy town to make their disapproval known…

As Obama and Palin arrive, so do the news crews and all too soon a shambolic media circus ensues. Terrified, Archie, Ronnie, Reggie and Trula head for the hills but eventually realise the only solution to their problem is to face it head on, take their medicine and make reparations.

…And that’s when everybody learns a few useful lessons about reasoned discussion and plain dealing…

Following amazingly clear, concise and compelling biographical features on ‘“The Chicago Kid” Barack Obama’ and ‘“The Thrilla from Wasilla” Sarah Palin’, the cartoon tomfoolery resumes by harking back POTUS’ first appearance in Archie Comics with ‘Ms. Lodge Goes to Washington’ from March 2010 and Veronica #199, by Parent, Koslowski, Morelli & Barry Grossman.

Here our junior stars enjoy a class trip to Washington DC; seeing the sights and learning some civic history. However, when a tour of the White House leads to Veronica intruding on a press conference and accidentally impressing the President, she is so moved by the moment and on the trip home she resolves to help him fix the economy…

Her plan is to hire all her friends, creating jobs whilst escaping her own chores, but as ‘No She Can’t!’ proves, adult problems are seldom simple and never end well when Archie and the gang are involved…

Including a cover and variants gallery, pin-ups and a large selection of roughs, cover sketches and parody covers, this is a splendidly witty slice of all-ages comedic fun with the added bonus of introducing the basics of political thought to youngsters in a manner both considered and effective.
© 2011 Archie Comic Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.