The Critical Guide to
the Warren Illustrated Magazines
1964-1983
by Uncle Jack
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| Frazetta |
Creepy #5 (October 1965)
"Family Reunion!" ★
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Joe Orlando
"Untimely Tomb!" ★★1/2
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Angelo Torres
"Sand Doom" ★★1/2
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Al Williamson
"The Judge's House!" ★★
Story by Bram Stoker
Adapted by Archie Goodwin
Art by Reed Crandall
"Grave Undertaking" ★★★
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Alex Toth
"Revenge of the Beast!" ★★
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Gray Morrow
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| "Family Reunion!" |
When Pa passes, the three Cartwright boys (not Hoss, Little Joe, and Adam... the other Cartwright boys) find themselves with a heapin' helpin' of farm land to take care of. Aaron and Horace want to continue in the footsteps of their father, who made the land pay off for him, but third brother Jack wants to dump the dump as quick as possible. When Old Man Fisk makes the three brothers an offer, a seed is planted in Jack's diseased brain and Jack murders his brother via wheat thresher. Aaron and Horace are so mangled that their remains are buried together in one casket and Jack wastes no time selling the farm to Fisk. On the night Fisk is to drive out to the farm, Jack is visited by the two-headed remains of his brothers, both understandably upset by their brother's betrayal. When Fisk arrives at the farm, he finds what remains of Jack (the brothers are a trio once again!) in the well. "Family Reunion!" is a run-of-the-mill revenge tale, the gist of which we've seen countless times before in EC, Harvey, and Atlas horror funny books. Joe Orlando does the rote script no favors, though; this is just about the weakest Orlando we've seen yet (the only exception being Joe's spooky two-headed man intro). The whole thing smacks of the Myron Fass Eerie Publications rags that were introduced (and would multiply half a decade later, thanks to the success of Warren) not too long after this issue went on sale. Cliched plots and ugly art.
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| "Untimely Tomb!" |
Dr. Beamish has a trigger-finger when it comes to pronouncing Stanford's sister dead. When Stanford hears moaning from the family crypt, he calls Beamish and the two enter the mausoleum, only to find the girl risen from her casket and dead on the floor... this time really dead. Stanford wigs out and swears he'll ruin the good Doctor's name and, after a heated discussion, Beamish conks Stanford on the noggin, killing him. But Stanford must have been prescient since his last wishes are that he be buried in the graveyard next to the Doctor's home. Now it's time for Beamish to wig out. When he imagines hearing noises from Stanford's crypt, he investigates. Bad idea.
Though Archie may have dipped a little too much into the Poe bag for "Untimely Tomb!," it does have its share of creeps (the final panel is a keeper). It also has its share of head-scratchers. When Beamish and Stanford enter the tomb, the Doctor remarks that he certified the girl was dead so breaking the lock on the casket will do them no good. Stanford then points at the casket and remarks, "Look at the lock, doctor!
It's already broken!" How the heck did little Sis manage to pick a lock that was on the
outside of her coffin? Good trick, that! Angelo Torres's art is atmospheric and typifies how good the old EC artists can look, even in black and white, a decade later.
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| "Sand Doom" |
"Sand Doom" has some incredible art by Al Williamson, but the script (about a double-crossing arms dealer who stumbles into a sand storm and the treasures of the Goddess Nepthy) is hum-drum and meandering. The same can be said about Archie's adaptation of Bram Stoker's "The Judge's House!," a quaint chiller about a man who moves into the estate of a long-dead hanging judge. The story will never be accused of being Stoker's best (there's no reasoning given for the resurrection of the Judge--it just happens), but at least Reed Crandall was assigned the job of distracting us while we turn pages. Crandall might be the one EC artist who actually got better as the decades passed.
Peach and Thwackum, two very English undertakers, are experiencing a bit of a lull in business. People have stopped dying. Enter Dr. Ryder, a surgeon who needs fresh corpses to dissect and study, with a rich proposition for the two morticians: ten pounds for each body delivered, the fresher the better. With no one coming in the door, Thwackum and Peach must visit the local graveyard for stiffs and, when a grave-digger interrupts their work, they find that murder can fill a coach just as well.
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| "Grave Undertaking" |
When the boys get wind of a village nearby where folks are dropping like flies, they sneak into town only to discover all the residents hidden behind boarded-up windows. The graveyard is theirs to pilfer. That night, they bring their booty to Dr. Ryder, who enthusiastically gives thumbs-up until he discovers the origin of the bodies, and only has time to squeak out the word "Vampires!" before he and the two grave-robbers are surrounded. Of all the stories presented so far, "Grave Undertaking" has the closest feel to an EC story, with its grave-robbing premise, its clever twist and, most of all, its exquisite art. Toth's design, shading, and angles are all top-notch, giving the story the kind of flair found in noir films.
If "Grave Undertaking" reminds one of EC, then the silly Native-American-revenge/monster-thriller, "Revenge of the Beast!," brings to mind the softer, code-approved pablum found in the Charlton horror titles. I appreciated the wild west setting but Gray Morrow's work almost seems lost in too much whites (though his final panel of battling werewolves is a stunner).
On the letters page, a 17-year-old Bernie Wrightson begs for more full-length Frazetta just a few years before he'd start down a path that would see him become just as respected and imitated as Frazetta himself. And, for the first time, readers could join the Uncle Creepy Fan Club for the princely sum of a buck. That pittance would grant you a lifetime membership and you would receive a pin, membership card, and a portrait of Uncle Creepy, painted by Frank Frazetta. Sign me up!
-Peter
Jack: I'm a bit worried that
Creepy is already this bad after only five issues. "The Judge's House!" is the only story that was even close to interesting, and it was an adaptation from Stoker. Poor Archie Goodwin was overworked and underpaid and the repetitive tales bear that out. One question: with all this great art, why put the Joe Orlando story first in the issue? It's easily the worst drawn. I'm with Peter on loving the pages by Toth, but the surrounding stories feature some pretty fine art as well. If only the writing held up.
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| Frazetta |
Blazing Combat #1 (October 1965)
"Viet-Cong!"★★1/2
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Joe Orlando
"Aftermath!"★★★1/2
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Angelo Torres
"Flying Tigers!"★★1/2
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by George Evans
"Long View!"★★★
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Gray Morrow
"Cantigny!"★★★1/2
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Reed Crandall
"Mad Anthony!"★★
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Tex Blaisdell, Russ Jones, & Maurice Whitman
"Enemy!"★★★★
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by John Severin
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| "Viet Cong!" |
First Lieutenant Dave Crew is in Vietnam as a U.S. Army advisor to a South Vietnamese infantry battalion. They retaliate for a "Viet-Cong!" attack by raiding a village controlled by the enemy; though they find two men hiding and the South Vietnamese torture them, nothing is learned. It's hot and smelly in the jungle and Dave is not happy about having to stand by and witness torture, but all he can do is advise. He avoids mortars, bamboo spikes, a mine, and a charge by enemy soldiers and realizes that this is a new kid of war, unlike any the U.S. has fought before. He hopes we learn from our mistakes before it's too late.
In October 1965, the U.S. was getting bogged down in Vietnam but it was still early days, and the population as a whole had not yet started to engage in mass resistance and protests. DC War Comics were focused on WWII and, while the comics that month were very good (see our review
here), they were not taking the same anti-war perspective that this first story in
Blazing Combat asserts. Goodwin is no Harvey Kurtzman, and Joe Orlando is still not my first choice for anything, but the story is ahead of its time.
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| "Aftermath!" |
During the Civil War, a rebel sharpshooter picks off a Union soldier and then helps the dead man's comrade bury the body so wild pigs don't feast on it. The two enemies become friends temporarily in the "Aftermath!" of violence, but it's not long before an argument breaks out and they end up killing each other, providing plenty of food for the marauding animals.
Torres is just right for this very EC-like story of the foolishness of war. At first, it seems to be going down one path, with the soldiers getting along, but I liked how the disagreement between them sprang almost from nothing and escalated quickly to a fatal finish. So far, Goodwin's war stories are impressing me more than his horror stories.
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| "Flying Tigers!" |
The "Flying Tigers!" were a group of star American pilots recruited to defend the Chinese against the invading Japanese on the eve of WWII. The brainchild of General Claire Chennault, the Tigers engage the enemy successfully in air battle, but a pilot named Dallas complains that the people in charge are more concerned with shipping supplies than with sending spare parts to fix damaged aircraft. When Dallas is killed in a battle whose goal is to protect a supply plane, his friend Rick complains about the futility of war, but it turns out the supply plane that was saved carried none other than General Chennault!
I do like when a comic book story inspires me to go online and learn a little bit more about history, as this one did. George Evans's art is flawless, and he is the go-to guy for stories involving air battle, whether they are in the 1950s at EC, the 1960s at Warren, or the 1970s at DC. I'm happy to report that the decline in his work we are seeing in the '70s is not apparent as of 1965.
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| "Long View!" |
It's hard to take the "Long View!" of war when you're on the front lines of battle. During WWII, the battle for the Marianas comes down to Hill 208, which a tired company of Marines is ordered to take on its own, despite heavy Japanese resistance. This hill is the key to breaking through enemy lines and, when battle comes, all of the Marines in the company are killed except for one, who sits alone on the hill, mumbling the names of his dead comrades, unable to see how this senseless slaughter helped advance the Allied cause.
More so than "Viet-Cong!," this story reminds me of something Kurtzman might have written at EC during the Korean War. Gray Morrow's art doesn't feel exactly right for a war story, but the narrative is strong and the message is clear. The fighting is depicted more violently than it was at DC in the fall of 1965.
American soldiers like George and Kansas arrived in France in June 1917 but didn't see combat for almost a year. While digging trenches outside "Cantigny!" they are summoned to attack Germans in the village. They make their way through fog and smoke, following a French tank into Cantigny, but all they find is a town that has been destroyed by shelling. Looking for a quiet spot to write a letter home, Kansas wanders into a gutted building and comes face to face with an injured German soldier. The two trade fatal gunshots and, later, George takes Kansas's letter book in order to complete the letter his dead friend never got to write.
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| "Cantigny!" |
Every story Reed Crandall draws is a treat, and this is no exception. There is a wonderful sequence where Kansas is nearly buried under a pile of dirt after an explosion that foreshadows his death a few pages later. Once again, Goodwin successfully conveys the futility of war and the way it never seems to go as planned.
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| "Mad Anthony!" |
A 1771 battle between the Colonists and the British at Paoli, Pennsylvania, turns into a rout when the British massacre the Colonists. The young general in charge of the losing side was none other than "Mad Anthony!" Wayne who, two years later, is summoned to New York by General Washington to attack the British at Stony Point. One of the soldiers on patrol comments that a British soldier attacked him after the Colonists had surrendered and cost him his right eye. The Colonists attack the British and this time are successful. The soldier who lost his eye at Paoli happens to come face to face with the British soldier who took out his eye; General Wayne insists that prisoners be taken alive, and is lauded for that, but no one said anything about foregoing an eye for an eye!
The art by the trio of Blaisdell, Jones, and Whitman looks out of place in this issue next to the work of Torres, Evans, Morrow, and Crandall, but somehow by the end of the story it works, perhaps because we've grown used to tales of the American Revolution being told in an old-fashioned way. The story is entertaining and the revenge carefully measured out. At five pages, it's the shortest story in the magazine ("Viet-Cong!" and "Enemy!" are seven pages and the others all run six), and the length seems just right for the content.
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| "Enemy!" |
It's 1943, and the American Army is working its way up through Italy as the Nazis retreat. In one village, G.I.s find that Germans massacred an American patrol by herding them into a ditch and shooting them where they stood. As the G.I.s search the village, sniper fire opens up and soldiers are shot. A sergeant and another soldier locate the German sniper and the sergeant beats him to death, thinking the German was involved in the earlier massacre of American soldiers. The other soldier tells the sergeant he's as guilty as the Germans, but the sergeant is unrepentant and says that no one cares what happens to the "Enemy!" The Americans leave the German's corpse behind, and atop its chest is a wallet, open to a photo of the man's wife and baby.
That last panel really got me in the gut! John Severin is certainly among the best artists at drawing war stories--he can draw battle action and pathos equally well. I thought this gritty tale was the best of the bunch in an excellent issue and I'm looking forward to reading more
Blazing Combat!-Jack
Peter: In the Jon Cooke/David Roach-edited
The Warren Companion (TwoMorrows, 2001, page 40), Jim Warren declares that he was prouder of
Blazing Combat than anything else he had ever published. It was ground-breaking; the first comics title to tackle the Vietnam war when it was a big no-no to do so. Warren also reveals that the short run of the title had to do with distributors cutting the title out due to its controversial view that our involvement in the war was wrong. Given that it's the pride of the publisher and under the watchful eye of super-editor Archie Goodwin, I'm surprised at how cold it left me. Archie does his best to get the "War is Hell" message across in each and every one of the seven tales but, to me, it comes off as preachy, something that Harvey avoided most of the time in
Frontline and
Two-Fisted. Only "Aftermath!" and, to a lesser extent, "Enemy!" come across as well-told tales that just happen to be about the horror and futility of war. It's nice to see that Archie was able to round up several of the
Two-Fisted/Frontline gang, but perhaps what's needed is a bit of a helping hand in the script department. Don't get me wrong; my disappointment comes in comparing
Blazing to the earlier EC titles. It's still miles above most of the pablum that was being presented by DC and the other code-approved publishers. Let's see how things shape up next issue.
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| Frazetta |
Creepy #6 (December 1965)
"The Thing in the Pit!" ★1/2
Story by Larry Ivie
Art by Gray Morrow
"Thumbs Down!" ★★★
Story by Anne T. Murphy
Art by Al Williamson
"Adam Link in Business!" ★
Story by Otto Binder
Art by Joe Orlando
"The Cask of Amontillado!" ★★★
Story by Edgar Allan Poe
Adapted by Archie Goodwin
Art by Reed Crandall
"The Stalkers" ★★★
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Alex Toth
"Abominable Snowman!" ★★★
Story by Bill Pearson
Art by John Severin
"Gargoyle" ★1/2
Story by Archie Goodwin & Roy Krenkel
Art by Angelo Torres
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| "The Thing in the Pit!" |
Ted White is on the run; he's just stolen a bag of cash from the boss's safe and he's speeding down a Tennessee backwoods road when he loses control of his car and crashes. Someone (or something) lifts him out of the car and carries Ted back to its lair. There, Ted is introduced to his saviors, a grotesquely mutated woman and her equally-skewed son, who invite the frazzled man to stay the night. Once he gets settled into his room, Ted hears a piercing scream emanating from the basement and is told by the woman that the sound came from her daughter, a girl so frighteningly ugly she's been kept in a pit in the cellar. Obsessed with viewing this unspeakable sight, Ted follows the woman's son down into the basement and is startled to see that "The Thing in the Pit" is a gorgeous (though obviously insane) dame. With visions of romance in his mind, Ted overpowers the son but is pushed into the pit by "Maw." Luckily, Ted is not hurt in the fall and he quickly locates a rope in the dark hole. Unluckily, Ted discovers the rope is actually a tentacle attached to his dream girl. We've seen dozens of variations on this plot and Larry Ivie's take is certainly nothing special. He takes the set-up from
Psycho and then adds a dash of
The Munsters for flavoring but no one's fooled. We all saw the reveal coming a mile away. The tentacles are a nice touch, though. Morrow's art is supremely
Creepy, with his "Maw and son" looking like they'd just risen from the grave. Our hero's name is a tip of the cap from Larry to his buddy, Ted White, a head honcho in 1950s' science fiction fandom and, later, editor of
Fantastic digest.
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| "Thumbs Down!" |
In the ancient Roman city of Mithras, Cassius is the champion gladiator of ruler Bracchus, but Cassius has grown weary of the fight and asks his master to grant him freedom. Instead of freedom, the ruler gives his prize fighter a match in the arena with a bull. Cassius is gored and killed and Bracchus pays him no mind, already moving on to his next grand match: the Christians versus the lions. Drunken and wandering the arena one night, Bracchus hears a commotion and looks up to see the cage doors being lifted and the lions entering the pit. The doomed ruler looks up into his box and is terrified to see the decaying corpse of Cassius, who gives the classic "Thumbs Down!" sign when his former master begs his help. As with "Grave Undertaking" last issue, "Thumbs Down!" just vibrates with EC atmosphere; had
Valor allowed horror stories, this one would have fit very comfortably between its covers. Yep, it's another simple revenge story, and perhaps it would not have had the requisite effect had it not been for the exquisite work of
Valor vet Al Williamson, who penciled gladiators and their bloodsport better than any other artist of the era.
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Reed Crandall's insanely detailed splash
for "Amontillado" |
One of the easiest (and most boring) gigs in comic history, the re-re-telling of the Adam Link series by author Otto Binder and artist Joe Orlando (the same pair responsible for the EC "Link" series a decade before), continues with Chapter 3: "Adam Link in Business!," wherein the titular man of steel is saved from the electric chair and finds love in the form of the gorgeous Kay Temple. Adam thinks better before consummating his passion with Kay and, at story's end, he's a lonely robot again. The script, aside from a few minor tweaks, is the same as that of its first incarnation back in
Weird Science-Fantasy #29 (
June 1955). I didn't like the EC version (though at least it was presented in color) and I really don't like the Warren version. It's a downright dirty shame I'll have to read five more of these things before the editor wises up and pulls the plug. Yeccch.
The adaptations continue, but Reed Crandall's "The Cask of Amontillado!" is fine wine compared to Adam Link's Dr. Pepper. It's the classic tale of Montresor and Fortunato and the shenanigans they get up to over family pride and a fine wine. Of the handful of artists who would visualize Poe's terrors for us in the pages of
Creepy and
Eerie, none were as detailed and painstaking as Reed Crandall (though Bernie Wrightson may be "1B" to Reed's "1A"). Just gaze upon his splashes for evidence. The story would be dusted off and re-imagined by Martin Salvador in #70 (the second-part of a two-issue "All Edgar Allan Poe" special), but there's no comparison in quality.
Alex Colby imagines that a squad of alien beings is stalking him, showing up at the most inopportune times to ruin his social life. Alex finally decides to see a psychiatrist but it doesn't go well when the shrink transforms into one of "The Stalkers" midway through the session. Colby awakens from the madness to discover he's actually one of the aliens who's been on Earth too long and can't mentally shirk his human guise. A nice twist in the tail and some fabulous Toth art. Alex Toth was a lot like Will Eisner in that he wasn't comfortable with the typical six- to eight-panel page layout and always managed to pull off something memorable. In fact, the splash for "The Stalkers" reminds one of Eisner's classic Spirit intros, with the title almost becoming part of the scene.
John Severin joins his old company-mates at last with "Abominable Snowman!," a literally
chilling adventure with a nifty twist in its finale. A group of Yeti-hunters are picked off one by one by what most perceive as "dumb apes," but the furry creatures are proving they may be more intelligent than their human stalkers. Severin still applies that strong, square chin to every character he draws, which is appropriate here since the group is made up of machismo-oozing dolts. So, what had "Jovial" John been up to in the decade since EC closed its doors? Like Joe Maneely and Russ Heath, Severin bounced back and forth between Atlas/Marvel and a heck of a lot of work for the chief
MAD rip-off,
Cracked (a magazine which begs a second look, if only for the quality of its contributors).
The last story this issue, "Gargoyle," is a lackluster affair, with a boring script and so-so art by Angelo Torres. Gerba, the dwarf, seems to know the power of turning stone into gold. He can also bring gargoyles to life to do his evil bidding. But the latter is not as important as the former to alchemist, Valdeux, who ingratiates himself into the dwarf's life and then betrays the little guy, only to discover the true secret of the gargoyle. A limp climax to a strong issue. On the letters page, future Warren contributor Frank Brunner weighs in on issue #5.
-Peter
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More Crandall...
just because we can! |
Jack: Now, that's more like it! I liked "The Thing in the Pit!" though I would have been hightailing it out of there as soon as Maw and Sonny Boy were out of sight. I always enjoy an Ancient Roman setting, so "Thumbs Down!" worked for me, especially with the fine art by Al Williamson. The Adam Link story was the best yet and Orlando's art didn't bother me as much as usual, though I think the story would've fit better in a DC Comic of the era. "The Cask of Amontillado!" is the best piece in this issue, in my opinion, with Reed Crandall at the top of his game. Goodwin's story in "The Stalkers" is weak but Alex Toth's art is amazing, as are his layouts and lettering. He may be the most unique creator working in the Warren line. "Abominable Snowman!" bored me, even though I like John Severin's work and think he was equally strong in the '50s, '60s, and '70s, unlike, say, George Evans. Finally, despite impressive art by Angelo Torres, "Gargoyle" was only so-so.
Creepy #6 was a big improvement over #5.
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Next Week...
The Boys are Back in Town
But can they recapture the old magic? |
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| And in two weeks... |
