tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post37458241452151990..comments2024-03-27T05:54:38.797-07:00Comments on <i>bare</i>•bones e-zine: The Warren Report Issue 79: October 1976John Scolerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14082147756474762000noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-20076851626607225752022-03-03T06:36:03.551-08:002022-03-03T06:36:03.551-08:00
Peter:
Good catch on the ‘Raw Deal / In Deep’ co...<br />Peter:<br /><br />Good catch on the ‘Raw Deal / In Deep’ connection. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if that’s where the basic idea originated. If artists are allowed to swipe, I suppose it’s only fair that writers be allowed to do so too. In both cases, it all comes down to what kind of spin the creator puts on the source material, how well they file down the serial numbers. <br /><br />Jones at least did something a bit different with the basic set-up (unlike Bill Dubay’s lazy cut-and-paste of the ‘Blind Alleys’ climax). The ‘Raw Deal’ punchline is ‘funnier’, whereas the ‘In Deep’ tag is clumsy and forced, and barely works at all. But ‘In Deep’ is more emotionally engaging overall and the ordeal more genuinely harrowing. It’s an impressive piece of work, even if it doesn’t quite stick the landing. <br /><br />I seem to remember an interview with Bruce Jones where he said the two biggest influences on his work were EC Comics and Richard Matheson. When CREEPY #63 was up for discussion here, it occurred to me that ‘Jenifer’ seemed like an ingenious mash-up of two Matheson stories, ‘Born of Man and Woman’ and ‘The Likeness of Julie’. It doesn’t change my opinion a bit — i STILL think ‘Jenifer’ is one of the best horror stories of the 20th Century. <br /><br />b.t.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-49746924609154701282022-03-02T15:23:14.281-08:002022-03-02T15:23:14.281-08:00Quiddity-
You're either a genius or a very ill...Quiddity-<br />You're either a genius or a very ill man for having all that funny book memory stored in your brain. It was indeed "Raw Deal," with campy Jack Kamen graphics, from Shock SuspenStories #15 (July 1954) that was irritating my frontal lobe. I'd bet my life that Bruce Jones read that one and stored it in the back of his teenage brain for later use.Peter Enfantinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04317575598411394944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-44488594961722793872022-03-01T19:49:09.215-08:002022-03-01T19:49:09.215-08:00Maybe the repetition isn't a GREAT thing, but ...<br />Maybe the repetition isn't a GREAT thing, but that Vampirella # 36 cover never wears thin for me.Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09603892208775996594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-17140781223303351802022-02-28T15:43:08.909-08:002022-02-28T15:43:08.909-08:00Peter, you're thinking of an old EC story from...Peter, you're thinking of an old EC story from Shock SuspenStories. I can't remember exactly what issue it was in, but it was drawn by Jack Kamen and may be from #14 or #15, somewhere around there. The structure of the stories are pretty similar (guy and wife get stranded in the middle of the ocean, only he makes it out, and we see the doctors dealing with him in the hospital) although the EC story is set almost entirely in the hospital and lacks the sharks so its nowhere as awesome as "In Deep" is. And of course Jack Kamen isn't in the same universe as Richard Corben.Quiddity99https://www.blogger.com/profile/17809157926893454731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-9846640127775594472022-02-28T15:15:04.470-08:002022-02-28T15:15:04.470-08:00b.t.-
I stand by my comments re: those two panels ...b.t.-<br />I stand by my comments re: those two panels reprinted of Heath's art. It's really bad, and remember I'm a guy who picked Heath as DC's best war artist of the 1950s through 1970s. He could do no wrong in my eyes. It was just an off day. I think the story can work if you don't stop and apply logic. Problem is, I've read it so many times that after the third (or fourth), my brain slows down and says "Hey, dummy, are you reading the same thing I am?" <br /><br />Here is just about the best place to ask this really dumb question because you guys are so learned. It's been ten years or so since I read "In Deep" for the 100th time but my pea-brain recollected a panel at the end where the docs pry open his hands while he's mumbling "I Hate Her! I Hate Her!" and, of course, we realize he's actually saying "I Ate Her! I Ate Her!" Now, I'm going to feel like a total dope but that's ok, that's why Jack pays me the big bucks. I know I've read that ending on another story (and probably one we've already covered). Put me out of my misery and tell me what it is. Pretty please!Peter Enfantinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04317575598411394944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-80534195711198940592022-02-28T14:14:00.455-08:002022-02-28T14:14:00.455-08:00After loving the Dax and Hunter Summer Specials in...After loving the Dax and Hunter Summer Specials in EERIE, the Mummy ‘Book-Length Saga’ was a decided disappointment to 15-year-old Me. <br /><br />I didn’t buy CREEPY 83 hot off the stands, but acquired it a few years later as a back issue when our town’s first actual Comic Book Store opened. At that time, I thought it was one of the most consistently excellent issue of any of the Warren Horror mags, and I still think it’s pretty solid. <br /><br />The Phineas Boggs thing — Severin does what he can with a pretty silly script. Excellent art, ‘meh’ story.<br /><br />‘Process of Elimination’ : Well now! This one literally made me gasp back in the day. One of the all-time great ‘left hand page ‘ shock reveals. No, the story logic doesn’t hold up to close scrutiny. And the lead character is definitely an asshole (‘End of the World happening tomorrow, so I guess I’ll kill my wife and kids and then bone my Hot Virgin Secretary’). But I think the whole thing works on an ‘R-rated Twilight Zone’ level, which kind of describes much of Jones’ stories at Warren and later, at Pacific . Also, I have no problem with Russ’ art, none whatsoever. I think it’s just dandy. Seriously, Peter — Dick Ayers???<br /><br />‘Country Pie’ : the travelling salesman icked me out way back when, and that story angle plays even worse these days. This time around I was kinda rooting for the kids — throw that pedo in the creek! Infantino / Wrightson art: thumbs up.<br /><br />‘In Deep’ is the highlight of the issue. The framing story and twist ending don’t totally work, but the meat of the story —oh wait — I mean, the heart of the —dammit! — the COLOR pages are stunning. One of Corben’s best art jobs, here at Warren, or ANYWHERE. <br /><br />‘Now You See It’ : it’s kinda like ‘Oogie Done Correctly’, isn’t it? Dude totally raped his wife though. Does anyone know why the pages are formatted so oddly (lots of empty space at top and bottom)? <br /><br />Blatant ‘Blind Alley’ rip-off : oy.<br /><br />‘The Last Superhero’ — I have to read that one again. I only vaguely remember it.<br /><br />b.t.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-47699056084778613172022-02-28T10:31:49.096-08:002022-02-28T10:31:49.096-08:00(cont)
"In Deep" is one of my all time...(cont) <br /><br />"In Deep" is one of my all time favorite Warren stories, and one that doesn't really need the twist ending to work since it is so scary for our protagonist being stranded like that and so horrifying to see what happens to his wife. The story reminds me a lot of "Til Death", one of my favorite EC horror stories which has nothing to do with sharks but also features a guy despairing over the rapidly deteriorating state of his wife's body. Bruce Jones puts out so many great stories that I wouldn't say its my personal favorite of his, but its probably my favorite Richard Corben drawn story. On the color pages, I believe the way things worked is that they printed the magazines in multiples of 8 pages. So Warren's choice would have been to have an 8 page color story or a 16 page one. 10 pages in color wouldn't have been an option. We will see the same 8 pages color/2 pages black and white in another Corben story coming up in the future. And finally in regards to its connection to issue 101, my understanding is that the cover for that issue, which is clearly based on this story, was intended for this issue, but it didn't make it in time. So they pulled out the Frank Frazetta reprint on short notice, reprinted the story in black and white and also made a sequel. Unfortunately this gave them the idea to save money on covers by reprinting old Frazetta ones so this starts a trend of that which we'll see the rest of the way for Warren, although I think its a little while before they start doing it a lot.<br /><br />This issue of Eerie was my first introduction to the Mummy series, having bought this before all the individual issues it came in. I didn't reread it this time, but can say I was fairly pleased with the Mummy series early on and think this issue captures the good material before it went totally off the rails and combined with the Werewolf series.Quiddity99https://www.blogger.com/profile/17809157926893454731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-76160941231972825562022-02-28T10:31:34.226-08:002022-02-28T10:31:34.226-08:00A pretty good new Vampi story this time; I think r...A pretty good new Vampi story this time; I think restricting it to 8 pages as was needed to make it color helps a lot (granted that didn't help the horribly written color story in last year's all reprint issue). Keeps the writer moving things along at a good pace, as the Vampi stories from this era seem to get longer and longer, with the quality going down further and further. Also nice to see Jose Gonzalez art as Gonzalo Mayo has been doing most of her stories lately. My recollection is that Gonzalez will be back to doing most of her stories for a while. I think this is also the final time we get new color Vampi material in the annual reprint issue.<br /><br />Awesome issue of Creepy, one of the best we've had in a while (at least since issue 75, although I thought 79 was also fairly strong). Severin's story to start off the issue is a bit overwritten for me, I guess it comes with the territory for a Bill Dubay authored story, but it is a nice change of pace to how violent Dubay's work is from this era. I remember not being too happy with Heath's art either the first time I read "Process of Elimination", although I'm pretty sure this was my first Warren story of his and I grew to love his art a lot from reading other stuff we'll be seeing in the future. He will do an amazing job in a story coming up in Vampi in the near future which is quite well known. The story is quite the shocking one, and goes to show how well Bruce Jones is able to work a big twist into his stories. Seeing Bernie Wrighton ink an Infantion story is nice to see, helping prop up what is a so so written story for me. I didn't think of the "Blind Alleys" connection for "Harvey Was a Sharp Cookie", but it seems obvious now. I believe "Now You See It" was originally drawn for a cancelled sci-fi magazine for another publisher, and thrown in here, made more apparent by the fact that Williamson wasn't a Warren regular at this time. The protagonist is clearly modeled after Williamson himself, something he'd do in a lot of his stories. "The Last Hero" seemed rather odd to me with its abrupt ending and lack of any follow up, perhaps this was intended for a recurring series in Eerie when drawn/written, and once it came back they decided to axe such plans and just publish it here? And as you pointed out when I covered the issue years ago, how does a super hero tale fit in Creepy? That they published an Infantino solo story makes me wonder why they didn't do it more often. Not that I'm complaining; I prefer the collaborations for him.<br /><br />Quiddity99https://www.blogger.com/profile/17809157926893454731noreply@blogger.com