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Reviews and commentary by Tony Isabella
"America's Most Beloved Comic-Book Writer & Columnist"
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TONY'S ONLINE TIPS
for Friday, March 11, 2005
Reading comics historian Richard Arndt's index to the Warren black-and-white horror anthologies revealed unto me that CREEPY #18 [January, 1968] included a long-forgotten fan letter I had written discussing the magazine's previous issue. I scored a copy on eBay and wrote about it in the February 26 edition of this column. This is what my accountant calls a "legitimate deduction."
What I didn't do in that column was run my 37-year-old letter. I wanted to wait until I found a copy of CREEPY #17 [October, 1967] and got myself another legitimate deduction. I figured it would be fun to compare my youthful reactions to the issue with my present-day opinions on same.
Let's start with my fan letter...
Cover on Creepy 17 was excellent. Davis, Morrow, and Orlando are good artists, but they can't hold a candle to Frank Frazetta. He's the only choice for covers. As a replacement for Archie, might I suggest Forry Ackerman? With his extensive experience in horror and sci-fi, he's a perfect choice. At least let him try his hand as a writer for Creepy or Eerie. "Zombies" was a good story and Rocke's art is better here than in any other mag. He learned a lot inking Ditko's work for Charlton and he's putting his talent to good use. Has Steve left you? The last two issues had none of his great work. "Thundering Terror" was the best this issue. John's art was perfect for this Dimond-Bisson story. Severin is one of the few artists who can draw settings in any time or any place. "Mummy's Hand" has now been printed three times. Don't you think that's enough? It isn't that good anyway. What happened to Adam Link? "Heritage of Horror" was second best this ish. Norman's work has improved so much. I now actually like his work. Let's have more of it in future issues. "Image in Wax" was only fair. Tom Sutton is a talented newcomer, but still leaves much to be desired. "The Haunted Sky" was also good. Newcomer Roger Brand shows much promise.
That's one *long* paragraph, isn't it? That's not how I wrote it, but the style of the "Dear Uncle Creepy" letters column was to run all the letters as single paragraphs.
Uncle Creepy himself responded to my letter:
A new Adam Link story is in the works. Watch for it in our next issue! - UC
Adam Link was the sentient robot created by Otto Binder for a series of pulp magazine stories. Those stories were being adapted into comics by Binder and artist Joe Orlando. Sadly, there was no Adam Link tale in CREEPY #19. Indeed, no more new Adam Link tales would ever appear in the magazine. Uncle Creepy had lied to me and I never quite trusted him afterwards.
Reading the letter I wince at the easy familiarity with which I referred to creators by their first names. Recalling who I was in 1968 offers some insight.
Even in high school, I was lower middle class. I had friends who shared my interest in comics, monsters, sci-fi and pulp heroes, but I also had sports buddies and school pals. I wasn't one of the most popular kids, but I was comfortably above the halfway mark in the social pecking order. I had earned some respect by not ratting out a bully who bloodied my nose with a sucker shot and by standing up to an even bigger bully.
But I also lived in another world: a world of comic books and fandom. I had friends all over the country, most of whom I'd never met in person. I sent letters to editors and wrote for fanzines. I had to be deferential to adults in my Cleveland world of school, family, and part-time jobs, but everybody in comics was my de facto buddy. Even if they were only names in the credits.
Getting back to my letter...
Davis, Morrow, and Orlando were *Jack* Davis, *Gray* Morrow, and *Joe* Orlando. Every one of them was a great artist, but there really is only one Frank Frazetta.
The cover of CREEPY #17 is a recognized classic. According to Arndt - whose index is making my job here a lot easier - it would be two years before Frazetta painted another cover for the Warren magazines. The budget crunch was well and truly on.
Frazetta also drew the "Creepy's Loathsome Lore" feature that ran on the inside front cover of the issue. Written by departing editor Archie Goodwin, the brief exploration of werewolves through history was a reprint from CREEPY #2.
After editing CREEPY #17 and EERIE #12, Goodwin would devote himself to full-time writing for a time. He was writing newspaper strips (SECRET AGENT CORRIGAN and CAPTAIN KATE) and various comics for Marvel. Since Forrest J Ackerman was already editing FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND for publisher James Warren, I probably figured he was a convenient choice for editor. It somehow slipped my mind that Forry lived across the country in Los Angeles.
The loss of Goodwin's writing would be a serious blow to the magazines. His flawless plotting, smooth writing, and dark-but-not-too-dark humor served the stories exceptionally well. Each of his four stories in this issue had the requisite surprise ending, but none of those endings seemed forced. I remember being pleased with myself for figuring out the shock ending of "Zombie" before it was revealed; the protagonist's undoing was based on something I recalled from my geography studies.
"Thundering Terror" would not be my pick for best story today, though the obsessed buffalo-hunter who drives the tale is a scary fellow. Too much of the conclusion relies on elements not seen or, in the case of the thundering sound heard by the hunter's brother, not emphasized enough. It's a good enough story, but it could have been a great one.
The original title of this Clark Dimond/Terry Bisson tale was "Buffaloed," but, as reported by Arndt, it was changed by Goodwin. Ironically, the original title was used for a 1974 story, which was also drawn by John Severin.
Note that "Thundering Terror" is introduced by Cousin Eerie, the host of EERIE. What with the budget crunch and all, I suspect some EERIE inventory had to be shifted to CREEPY and, in this case, without enough time to change the art.
CREEPY #17 was the third printing for "Mummy's Hand," a seven-page adaptation of the 1940 Universal movie. It first appeared in MONSTER WORLD #2, a spinoff of FAMOUS MONSTERS, and was reprinted in...well, I'm not 100% sure where it was printed the second time. It could have been in one of the annual FAMOUS MONSTERS or MONSTER WORLD yearbooks (or, as Forry would have it, "fearbooks"); it could have been a mass market paperback. Editor/writer/artist Russ Jones had packaged a couple of horror comics paperbacks and most of that material later showed up in the Warren magazines.
As Arndt mentions in his index, Jones wrote this adaptation. He was CREEPY's first editor of CREEPY before he and Jim Warren had the apparently bitter falling out that led to Jones departing from the magazine. Afterwards, Jones' credits were "routinely...dropped or erased" from any stories on which he had worked.
Russ did some work from me when I was editing horror magazines for Marvel in the 1970s. Though I never specifically discussed his time at Warren with him, I quickly learned that he had no love for his former boss. In another of life's little ironies, I got along great with Warren, one of the very few comics editors or publishers who didn't get all bent out of shape when I turned down an offer to work for him. Others would take that sort of thing personally, but Jim was cordial and thoroughly professional about it. I still get along great with him on the too-rare occasions when we see or speak to one another.
Reading it for the first time in decades, "Heritage of Horror" moves up to first place in my estimation. It's a beautifully-paced and written story with an ending both dark and hilarious. Goodwin was at the top of his game, as was artist Donald Norman. Whoever Norman was, I'm sorry he didn't draw more than a handful of stories for Warren or any other comics publisher.
Some things never change. Back in 1967, I didn't mention "The Creepy Fan Club" page in my letter to the editor. This go-round, while I did read the news bits on Goodwin's departure and glance at the fan art, I couldn't get beyond the second paragraph of the fan-written prose story.
"Image in Wax" was another good story by Goodwin. Back then, I wasn't bowled over by Tom Sutton's art. Now I think it was a lot better than I gave it credit for being. Some figures are awkwardly posed here and there, but Sutton made this tale of a wax museum downright unsettling, not a bad thing for a horror story.
I'm embarrassed to admit that, until Arndt pointed it out in his index, I'd never noticed that the title of "A Night's Lodging" was actually lettered as "A Night's Loding!" I couldn't find any additional credits - comics or otherwise - for writer Rhea Dunne. That's not surprising since, save for the fatally compressed movie comic, this was the issue's weakest story. It was drawn by Maurice Whitman, but he didn't have much to work with. I note my published letter doesn't mention this tale at all. It either didn't make any impression on me or inspired comments so negative that the editor chose to expunge them.
The issue's finale is "The Haunted Sky" by Goodwin and Roger Brand. It's a fine tale with an uncharacteristically subdued shock ending. Then and now, Brand's art grabs the eye and shows a strong Alex Toth influence.
CREEPY entered what Arndt calls "Warren's Dark Age" after this issue, a period which lasted approximately two years. You'll find Richard's insightful index here:
www.enjolrasworld.com
I remained a faithful CREEPY/EERIE/VAMPIRELLA reader through this "Dark Age" and the subsequent rebuilding. I stopped reading the magazine regularly when I went to work for Marvel. It wasn't misguided loyalty to my new employer; I simply didn't have as much time to read for pleasure as when I lived in Cleveland working a mere 40 hours a week.
I ended up selling most of my Warren magazines during my time in New York and then on my return to Cleveland a few years later. Living in the Big Apple was expensive and, too many times, I made loans to writers and artists who never paid me back. Moving back to Cleveland was also expensive; I wasn't getting as much writing work from New York as I had hoped. When I turned my hand to comics retailing, the rest of my Warren magazines - save for THE SPIRIT - went into my store inventory.
It's foolish to dwell on past decisions. I did what I had to do at the time to make ends meet. It's the circle of life...for a comics accumulator, that is.
Comics come and comics go. I'm sure some of those great old issues of CREEPY and EERIE will come my way again.
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me. I'll be back soon with more stuff.
Tony Isabella
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THE "TONY" SCALE
ZERO: Burn your money before buying any comic receiving this rating. It doesn't *necessarily* mean there's absolutely nothing of value here - though it *could* - but whatever value it might possess shrinks into insignificance before its overall awfulness.
ONE: Buy something else. Maybe I found something which wasn't completely dreadful in the item, but not enough for me to recommend it when there are better comics available. I only want what's best for you, my children.
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THREE: This denotes something I find perfectly respectable. There are better books out there, but I wouldn't regret buying this item. Based on my review, you should be able to determine if it's of interest to you. Let the Force guide you.
FOUR: I recommend anything earning this rating. Unless you don't like the genre, subject matter, or past work of the creators, I believe you'll enjoy this item. Isn't it uncanny how I can look right into your soul that way?
FIVE: Anything getting this rating is among the best comicdom has to offer. You should buy/read this, even if the genre/subject matter doesn't appeal to you. It's for your own good. Me, I live for comics and books this good...but not in a pathetic "Comic-Book Guy" sort of way.
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