Vintage Comics: Nightmare, Issue #3: The Werewolf of Washington Square, Cup of Moonglow (Cover - Pg. 13)

Whew! Almost mid-October (happy Friday the 13th, and I hope you're enjoying a bit of Jason slaughter today!) The posts are warming up, and so is my grad school homework. Still, I've found time to upload yet another vintage comic. This one is in far worse shape than the others I've managed to scrounge up, but the art is - - well, how should I put it? Cartoonier? A little more offbeat? Somehow, at the same time, certain elements of these stories are also pretty detailed towards realism. In fact, the werewolf face is remarkably similar to Dr. Hyde in the '31 film. 21 years after the fact, I can't help but wonder if the artist sourced a lobby card or old poster, perhaps?

Following on the tail-end of the glory days (pre-code horror comics), I sort of appreciate the pulp-ish inspiration they clearly drew from on the cover art. It's also a victim of radio-style dialog, per usual for the earlier stuff, but there's a certain charm to that too. The first story is...well...I mean it's a basic werewolf plot. Incredbly basic. Bare bones down to the character name (Eric Lupin.) The second story proves yet another age-old fact. You can't trust men. You can't trust women. You definitely can't trust gigantic Amazonian witch snakes.

Vintage Comics - Baffling Mysteries, Issue 5 : The Lady Was a TIGER, Baffling Mystery 1, Underwater Mystery, Baffling Mystery 2, Terror in the Coal Pits (15-End)

Bringing you the second half of Baffling Mysteries, Issue 5, I realized this was actually a fairly short issue compared to some of the other comics I've shared. It was one story too short to split into three entries, but a couple too long to really be an average length post. Still, 'tis the season, so here's a few extra pages for your enjoyment.

What I liked most in this issue was the coloring. A lot of wonderful vibrancy. Most of the stories fell short of being satisfyingly dark. To tell you the truth, it felt like reading a diet version of Hand of Fate, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Vintage Comics - Baffling Mysteries, Issue 5 : Volcano of Vengeance, The Phantom Snow Queen (Cover - Pg. 14)

I'm sure most of you have figured out by now that the main thing drawing me to some of these vintage comics tends to be the awesome cover art. This one, too, while gorgeous (just look at that awesome skirt) won me over with the cover alone, and what could possibly be one of the most ridiculous lines I've ever read. The Baffling Mysteries comics often fell victim to your typical walls of text you see with any visual medium that hasn't quite grasped the law of 'show, don't tell'. Wasn't surprised at all to realize they came from Ace comics, who also produced Hand of Fate (which I've posted here before as well.) The characters in this one practically narrate everything. I mean everything. Very much in the style of an ear play or radio drama. If it's dark, and the panel is painted dark, you'll be reminded by the character telling you that it's definitely dark; so on and so forth.

The first story focuses on South American goat-men gods. Or, as the rest of the world refers to them, Satyrs. There's plenty of color variation in the panels, but far too much text covering up the actual art. It seemed like as the stories progressed, the line art got a bit more rushed. There was potential with the goat-ment, and certainly a message about...archaeology and museums not being a bad thing, I guess. The second story in a far snowier setting has death skiing with a sort of urban legend twist to it. The best part about this comic is the art, really. The stories are just near-misses...but man, look at all those bright yellows!

Book of the week - Lenore: Wedgies, by Roman Dirge

Back when I was in junior high, the webcomic world was blossoming for the first time across the internet. Aside from my Archie comics, which my mom bought me on every bi-weekly grocery trip, I hadn't gotten the opportunity to really delve into others until then. So, I decided I wanted to use my extra cash from household chores to buy something special. I went to a comic store for the first time, and I found...Lenore, by Roman Dirge (a fun artist who also happens to be pretty close friends with Jhonen Vasquez of 'Invader Zim' fame.) This was the first issue I bought, and I instantly fell in love with the creepy little dead girl who didn't really comprehend the idea of mortality, and thus many of her poor pets had to suffer from her unwittingly dangerous affection.

My Lenore obsession burnt out by the time I was in high school and really exploring other, slightly more mature comics, but this book will always hold a place in my heart, and even to this day when I pick it up, a quick look at a page or two always elicits a soft chuckle. Don't let your possibly bitter memories of the overly marketed Hot Topic prevent you from reading these comics. You'd be missing out on something pretty good.

Vintage Comics: Man in Black, Issue No. 1: Brush Strokes, Second Chance, The Hanging Thread (Cover-13)

Here's an interesting little number, kids. This one features a character you might say was a routine host of spooky radio shows as well as a few of these vintage comics. The Man in Black. Your typical moral tales come alive in this interesting little number. What strikes me as unique about Man in Black isn't really the stories themselves, which are fairly cut and dry...it's the fact that there really isn't one host, but three, all on separate occasions depending on the story.

The first one is about your typical artist, always wanting to be or create more than what he's capable of. Then, of course, he curses fate...and really, does that ever turn out well for anyone? The following story is short, and...well...not scary in the least, but it does make me reconsider double-checking my drafts before I publish. After all, wouldn't want a little typo destroying the world, would I?

The third story featured today actually intrigues me mostly because of the art choices. Fate and his associates remain in gray, while the real world acts as a colored portrait below them. In film, that can be a brilliant device. My favorite bit, of course, is seeing the man in black riled up...