The Legion of Monsters #1 - Marvel

As a lover of all kinds of comics, I've always been fascinated by the industry's attempts to break new ground with new formats. This kind of experimentation was never more prevalent than in the 70s, when the Big Two trotted out treasury comics, digest comics, and the black and white magaine format. As any one who has talked to me for more than five minutes knows, I love love love the treasury comic, so much so that I created a whole site devoted to them (treasury comics.com).

But I also really love(d) the black and white comic magazine, and I still do. When I was a kid, I would occasionally venture away from the spinner rack and try out some more...adult fare when I was feeling gutsy, and hoping Mom and Dad wouldn't notice the ample violence and (near) nudity sometimes on display in an issue of Savage Sword of Conan or Creepy. You felt like you were getting so much for just a few dimes more, and all the adult-publication trappings, like mastheads and table of contents pages, just made the whole package that much sweeter.

Over the years, I started picking up old issues of comic magazines I had in my youth, and as my collection has grown, I've discovered lots of stuff I missed the first time or was too young to find in the first place.

So I thought we'd start here, with one of the more unusual, and cool, Marvel mags, The Legion of Monsters. For some reason, only one issue of LOM was ever produced, which is such a shame, because...it was so friggin' cool. First off, look at that cover! A Neal Adams painting with Dracula, Frankenstein, and an ersatz Creature of the Black Lagoon, all in the same picture! And secondly...the book was called The Legion. of. Monsters. What more do you need?

Now, of course, the insides don't live up to the cover (what could?), but there is some real fun stuff. It starts off with a Frank pin-up by Pablo Marcus, then there's an intro by my pal Tony "The Tiger" Isabella, in that patented salesman huckster/yet bluntly honest Marvel style. The first story is "The Monster and the Masque" by Doug Moench, Val Mayerik, Dan Adkins, and Pablo Marcos, which is a nice, if sad, little story.

Next up is "Vengeance Crude", by Marv Wolfman, Isabella, Dave Cockrum and Sam Grainger. It's not one of their best efforts, since the main character, (*chortle*) "Manphibian" (*snort*), is pretty silly looking and obviously a stand-in for the more...compelling Creature from the Black Lagoon. But that's ok! This is a comic magazine, there's always more! Let's just keep moving!

Next is a text article on upcoming horror films, and it mentions some little flick coming out soon called Jaws, not to mention a Rosemary's Baby...TV series???

Following that is an odd character/EC-esque piece called "Flies" by Gerry Conway, Paul Kirschner, and Ralph Reese, that seems a little inventory-material-ish to me. Then there's one page of cartoons called Monster Madness, clearly trying to ape the brilliant work of Sergio Aragones. Close, but no cigar. Maybe if there had been an issue 2 they'd have sprung for the real thing.

But the issue ends with a bang, as it has Chapter VII of Roy Thomas and Dick Giordano's adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. I've always found the original book to be a numbing bore, but this adaptation is phenomenal. Thomas keeps things moving and Giordano is at the top of his form artistically. This series was carried over from its original home in Dracula Lives!, and it's a shame that it ends so abruptly, unfinished (there were new plans not too long ago to refinish it, all these years later, I hope that comes to pass).

It ends with a couple of pin-ups, including one by Gray Morrow. To rub salt in the wound, there's an ad for issue #2, which, for some reason, was never to be. I've never read anything about why there never was another issue, I need to do some research and find that out.

Anyway, it's a great comic...excuse me, magazine--and can be found, surprisingly, for just a few bucks on ebay if you're lucky. Well worth it. It's a load of fun, and everything a comic magazine should be.

More appreciations to follow, some of them even longer-winded!