I have absolutely no recollection of getting this book, most likely the cover intrigued me and I threw it in with other magazine purchases from a particularly affordable ebay seller.The inside cover is by Big John Buscema; the scene taking place right after an Depression Era mob hit. I'm not sure what it has to do with the rest of the issue, but it sure is nice lookin'.
The first story, "The Hero-Killer Principle", stars "Sherlockian" sleuth Hodiah Twist and is by Richard Marschall, the great Gene Colan, and Tony DeZuniga.
Hodiah(who is very Sherlockian, complete with hat and pipe) gets involved in a murder that took place on a subway car, and there a number of suspects, Orient Express-style. The major difference being the killer in question is more in tune with Marvel's Monsters Unleashed! than any Christie or Conan Doyle tale. As usual, Colan is excellent, but DeZuniga's inking style doesn't mesh well, to my eyes.
Next is "Voices!" by Marv Wolfman, Colan, and Tom Palmer, a quick little murder mystery imbued with the dark humor and bitterness that must have been part and parcel of living in mid-70s New York.
Third is a text feature "The Rise of the Private Eye" by Ron Goulart, and then with no apparent irony we move on to "Death by Disco!" by Steve Gerber, and Colan and DeZuniga again. Starring Lillith, Dracula's Daughter, this is indeed a vampire story (partially)set in a discotechque, complete with a scene where Lillith uses her powers to make a woman do a disco dance amid dead bodies, the reward of which is getting her blood drained. Like I said, New York in the seventies wasn't for sissies.
Not the most cohesive of collections, but Colan's work all throughout does help give it somewhat of a consistent feel. Because when you've stories draped in dark shadows and fog, Colan was the right guy to call.
2 comments:
Hello, just thought I'd drop you a line from England about Marvel Preview 16. I believe that it was actually Don McGregor who wrote the Hodiah Twist story not Richard Marschall who was the editor. In fact his editorial mentions that 'dauntless' Don wrote the story and the only other full appearence of Hodiah Twist was written by our man McGregor along with a very odd appearence in a Killraven story. I wonder wny the miscredit happened then.Was it simple error or something else? I've been buying black and white magazines for a couple of years now, and am a big fan of them like yourself. I actually like Marvel Preview 16 a whole lot, due to the amazing art of the great Gene Colan and the writing by three of comics' finest scripters. Keep up the good work on all your excellent sites. Any chance of ever covering issues of Epic Illustrated or more Marvel Super Specials and Marvel Preview/Bizarre Adventures? Still, I'll enjoy reading whatever you cover. All the best. Matthew Jones
Matthew-
thanks for the kind words, and you are absolutely right, editor Marschall says Don McGregor wrote the first story, yet the TOC doesnt mention him! weird.
i have a half a box full of Marvels and Warrens still to come, but i fully intend to get into other magazines either not yet covered or barely so in the future--Epic, Bizarre Adventures, the Lampoon, and more!
thanks for checking out my modest little blog!
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