tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post8770136241379736099..comments2024-03-27T05:54:38.797-07:00Comments on <i>bare</i>•bones e-zine: The Warren Report Issue 85: June 1977John Scolerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14082147756474762000noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-60081680316573257192022-05-23T18:30:34.308-07:002022-05-23T18:30:34.308-07:00I'd say we're absolutely on the downward s...I'd say we're absolutely on the downward slope at this point, from a production standpoint we're starting to see the prevalence of them using a lot of cover reprints and while the color stories were appearing nearly every issue from mid 1973 - 1975 they're much rarer now. We're seeing a reduction in the appearance of artists like Richard Corben and Berni Wrightson, while others who were at least big favorites of mine like Luis Garcia, Fernando Fernandez and Jose Bea are gone for good. I would agree that Ortiz's work is a bit weaker now than it was a few years ago (I haven't really noticed any drop in quality for Sanchez). Also as one whose a fan of anthology horror, not superheroes, the dominance of The Rook is troubling, taking up a good 40 - 50% of each issue of Eerie, even if Bermejo's art, for now at least is quite good. Vampirella's stories will start growing in length as well (even getting some issues entirely dedicated to her) which I also wasn't a fan of.<br /><br />At the same time I do think there's still a lot here to like. Bruce Jones writes a lot of great stories in this era and while the output of Wrightson and Corben is down, we get a lot of stories from Russ Heath and John Severin. Alex Nino's got a lot of great stuff and at least for me (I know the rest of you don't really share my opinion on him), Leo Duranona as well. The theme issues don't all work, but there's still some good ones including a really cool experiment in Vampirella a few issues down the line. Archie Goodwin eventually comes back for a pretty good run of stories. While the quality absolutely is down in comparison to how it was a few years before, I think the big collapse doesn't happen until Louise Jones resigns as editor in 1980. Quiddity99https://www.blogger.com/profile/17809157926893454731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-54153972633489937502022-05-23T16:50:34.900-07:002022-05-23T16:50:34.900-07:00I guess what I meant was, are the Warren comics of...I guess what I meant was, are the Warren comics of 1977 truly ‘worse’ than those of 1974 (my own personal ‘Golden Age’)? It’s obviously all subjective. But in some respects, it does seem to me that the books are on a bit of a downward trend.<br /><br />If we look at two of Warren’s ‘work horses’ Jose Ortiz and Leopoldo Sanchez, their stuff in these two ‘current’ issues do seem to be less detailed and definitely less ‘illustrative’ overall than what they were doing three years earlier. Ortiz’ work on ‘Blood Brothers’ looks especially rough, like it was cranked out in a hurry. (Still pretty dang good, tho).<br /><br />And using reprints (even Frazetta reprints) on the covers is usually a sign of financial belt-tightening. Within the next year, we’re going to see fewer Sanjulian, Kelly and Torres covers, more Frazetta reprints, and lots of covers by newer artists like Don Maitz, Rodney Matthews and Terrance Lindall. <br /><br />Story-wise, the Warren mags were always fairly hit-or-miss, even during the ‘peak’ periods. <br /><br />Anyhow.<br /><br />Over lunch, I did get a chance to check out some of these stories and art. ‘The Hungry Dragon’ is the clear stand-out for me. That Infantino / Nino combo is STUNNING. <br /><br />b.t.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-78521298377698968412022-05-23T13:22:09.351-07:002022-05-23T13:22:09.351-07:00b.t.-
your "jumping the shark" assessme...b.t.-<br /><br />your "jumping the shark" assessment is more than fair, it's on the money. I recently told Jack that a lot of these stories were a heck of a lot better when I read them 40+ years ago. They don't age well. It's only going to get worse. Some would say, "Well, then why do you bother covering these things week in and week out?" Because they're there.Peter Enfantinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04317575598411394944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-26115232279387639962022-05-23T12:45:31.335-07:002022-05-23T12:45:31.335-07:00Worth noting that this isn’t the first time that J...Worth noting that this isn’t the first time that Judo Jim Starlin wrote himself into one of his stories. He also shows up at the end of ‘Death Buliding!’ in STAR REACH #1.<br /><br />These two issues are from what I tend to think of as the beginning of the ‘Jump The Shark’ Era of Warren, whether unfairly or not. It’s entirely possible that what I perceived as a noticeable drop in quality at the time was really no more than me just getting a bit tired of them. In any case, this was the general time period when I started to lose interest in the magazines. <br /><br />I didn’t buy either of these when they were fresh, but only acquired them years later on the secondary market. So I’m not that familiar with the contents. And unfortunately I haven’t had time to re-read them this week, so I can’t make any informed comments on them. The panels from the Infantino / Nino story do look REALLY nice, so I’ll be checking out the ‘All War’ Issue of CREEPY, for sure. <br /><br />b.t.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672923492889685727.post-7726071138179576722022-05-23T09:30:41.139-07:002022-05-23T09:30:41.139-07:00And so starts the era of Warren spamming old Fraze...And so starts the era of Warren spamming old Frazetta cover reprints... Although as one who doesn't own Blazing Combat #1 this is the only actual copy of this cover I have. I liked "Blood Brothers" a lot, Bruce Jones delivers once again. A lesser writer would have simply had Voper revealed to be a vampire or ghoul as the big twist but Jones eschews the cliché. Not much to say on "The Lighthouse". "Angel of Jaipur" works pretty good as well with John Severin perfectly suited to draw it. Returning to the cannibalism topic for the second time in the issue didn't work the best for me with "The Hungry Dragon" but beyond the repetitiveness of the topic I was fairly happy with it. I too never really saw the end of "The Door Gunner" coming and was also impressed by what appears to be pencils only art from Leopold Sanchez. "Coggin's Army" was a bit of a predictable dud for me as well. Overall though, I was fairly happy with this all war issue of Creepy. It was interesting to see the differing approach here versus Blazing Combat (which beyond being 10+ years ago at this point was also pretty much entirely written by Archie Goodwin rather than getting a mix of different writers). Absolutely a missed opportunity by not having Russ Heath draw a story though!<br /><br />Impressive art from Luis Bermejo on this Rook story (particularly that two page spread), but as for the writing, its much of the same for me when it comes to this series. An average story that is drawn out for far too long. Seems like we've wrapped up the introductory storyline here so we'll see if I feel more optimistic next issue when it has to start up a new story. I too enjoyed this Hard John Apple story, the pretentiousness and religion parody drops away somewhat and fun to see the General's involvement (RIP). Interesting that Jose Ortiz tries a different art style with this story, one he didn't utilize the last time. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Rhode" is just one of many examples where an initial great stand alone story suddenly has a sequel that serves no purpose and is nowhere as good (another one I can think of off the top of my head is the Daddy and the Pie sequel). Also I don't get why they didn't bring back the original artist, Leopold Sanchez, especially since the Pea Green Boat series he's been drawing has taken the last few issues off. My guess is also that "He Who Waits in Shadow" totally was a deadline story; I like the surrealness of it, but this is one of the more nonsensical stories Warren has published in a long time. Quiddity99https://www.blogger.com/profile/17809157926893454731noreply@blogger.com