I didn't have any Halloween-specific magazines to talk about, but this anniversary cover(by Sanjulian) works pretty well. How'd you like to see this little get-together as you ask for candy?First up in this anniversary issue is "Forgive Us Our Debts" by Jim Stenstrum and Esteban Maroto, a nasty, EC-esque revenge tale of some jungle explorers out for revenge and treasure. Creeeepy.
Next is "Frog God!" by E.A. Fedory and Adolfo Abellan. Another intrepid explorer discovers a lost city of frogs! Goofy fun.
Third is "Side-Show" by Fred Ott and Jose Bea, about the creepy-looking Professor Mephisto and a guy who wants to use Mephisto's black magic to get revenge.
Fourth is "The Sum of Its Parts" by Doug Moench and Reed Crandall, the awesomely gory tale of body parts with a mind of their own. Crandall's clean, simple style helps tell what could've been a really unpalatable tale.
Last is "The Climbers of the Tower" by T.Casey Brennan and Felix Mas, about a man obsessed with getting to the top of a tower, and succeeds...but why did he try in the first place?
Not a bad issue, though when I first saw the cover I was hoping for an Uncle Creepy/Cousin Eerie/Vampirella team-up or something...
1 comment:
A good cover, but for a "50th Anniversary Special Issue!" not particularly a great issue. Of course nowhere as bad as the ultra special Vampirella #100, which was a reprint issue O_o This period of time was when Warren was entering into its second golden age under the direction of Bill Dubay. Warren hit new peaks of excellence during this time, but unfortunately this is one of the poorest issues from the era, and just happens to be the special "50th anniversary" issue.
"Forgive Us Our Debts" was Jim Stenstrum's first story sold to Warren if I remember correctly. The issue's best story, although a tad long. Enjoy the ending though. And Maroto's art as usual is quite good.
"Frog God" is the first in a long line of dissappointing stories by Adolfo Abellan. Of all the S.I. artists from Spain that dominated Warren throughout the 70's, he was probably the worst, and was one of the few that I didn't like the style of. Fedory's story is nothing special either.
"Side Show" has Bea's usual bizarre art style, but suffers tremendously from the stupidity of the main character in the story. The "twist" which results in his demise was about as predictable as they come.
"The Sum of Its Parts" isn't a bad story, but the art... Yikes! Reed Crandall was an amazing artist, but he was horrific in this one. Can't stress how dissappointed I was with his art in this one after all the amazing stories he did for EC and Warren. Not the worst art he ever did for Warren (my pick would be "Planet of the Werewolves" from Eerie #46) but probably the second worst.
"Climbers of the Tower" is yet another horrific story from Brennan with no point to it. Like "Side Show" there is some obvious lack of logic in it which really spoils the story. It's a shame to see Mas's talents wasted on such a poor story.
-Quiddity
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