|
Post by profh0011 on Jun 5, 2019 18:06:47 GMT -5
Warren's 5th POE was one of my favorites! Warren, in late 1967, ran into some financial difficulties. While Forry Ackerman's baby " FAMOUS MONSTERS" plowed on with no noticable drop in quality (that would come in the period following Boris Karloff's death), both CREEPY and EERIE lost most of their top talent, as well as their editor & top writer Archie Goodwin. They also began having about 50% of every issue consist of reprints of material that wasn't that old to begin with. And, as someone pointed out to me, they even began having covers appear on the wrong issues, and mis-spelled words on some of those covers. Good grief! As things were just beginning to go right over the edge, a real gem appeared, from one of the few NEW artists who had real talent, and must have been eager enough to work for lower page rates: TOM SUTTON. Several years ago, while re-reading a big chunk of my Warren collection, I was reminded that his art had apparently had a big influence on the work I did while in high school-- both in my home-made "crime" and "horror" comics. In effect, this guy was one of my unsung heroes! EERIE 12cover by DAN ADKINS (Warren / November 1967) This was the 1ST of these I was inspired to add color to. As long as I could do so without smothering all that wonderful linework. "THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH" / Version 6 Adaptation by Archie Goodwin / Art by TOM SUTTON Preparing for the party... The clock chines... WHO dares wear REDPursuit... The FINAL page. REPRINTS EERIE 1970 YEARBOOKCover by Frank Frazetta (Warren / 1969) Production Dept. composite of the covers of EERIE #2, 3, 5 & 7. VAMPUS 12cover by SANJULIAN (Ibero Mundial de ediciones / Spain / 1972) SHOKKI 13cover by R. CONWAY (Semic / Finland / [December] 1974) VAMPI-COMIC 13cover by ENRICH TORRES (Paben Verlag / Germany / 1975) CREEPY 25cover by KEN KELLY (Publicness / France / 1975) EERIE ARCHIVES Volume ThreeCover by FRANK FRAZETTA (Dark Horse / June 2010)
|
|
|
Post by tarkintino on Jun 5, 2019 19:57:35 GMT -5
Reportedly, James Warren was a tightwad and not too great to work for, but what his publications produced were some of the comic industry's gems--a true chapter of its own in the medium.
I love seeing the covers to the foreign editions; with just a slight change in font or layout, it takes on its own energy.
|
|
|
Post by tarkintino on Jun 6, 2019 1:47:24 GMT -5
So many (probably Marvel & DC fans) dismiss Gold Key (and Dell) as being "tame", but the BORIS KARLOFF anthology (which actually started life as a licensed comic based on THRILLER) was my favorite GK series, and comparable to several TV anthologies. Also, unlike the majority from "the big two", their horror books had PAINTED covers. As did many Brazillian horror comics, I've found. As did the Warrens! Gold Key routinely outclassed the competition with their painted covers; that kind of choice went far in elevating the comic book (in general) out of its "funny book" swamp, and was one of the best buyer magnets the medium ever witnessed. Artists such as the criminally underrated George Wilson was an human idea generator and executed it all as a true fine artist who knew how to bring out the best essence of any genre. That's a great memory! I loved the Captain Company ads, whether it was about horror records and novels, model kits, or those well-remembered posters from Personality Posters. Fascinating...
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Jun 6, 2019 10:23:49 GMT -5
The only "problem" I have with some Gold Key covers is not the painted illustrations, but the "design" work (text design & placement).
Then again, a LOT of publishers had this problem. I'd say Charlton was often one of the worst (especially in the 70s), but then, in the 70s, there seemed to be an epidemic of "bad design" on covers.
This goes back a long way, but I remember what a shock it as when one day, in art school, a teacher doing a typography class told me she thought text design & logos were something she felt I was really good at. Many years later, writer Arnold Drake told me he thought "design" was my strongest talent. Apparently, it's something that's too often overlooked when it comes to comics-- or magazine in general.
In that same school I also had a teacher who did a perspective class. He said, at the start, you either "get" this, or not. if you did, he could help sharpen your skills. If not, nothing he did would help. I suspect that goes for a lot of things. If you "get" something-- often on an instinctive level-- you can do it without even thinking much. It just "comes out" right. I also remember on many occasions being annoyed with some teachers who insisted on thinking things through TOO MUCH! Maybe some things just didn't come natural to them, or, they were trying to help those who DID have to "think it out".
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Jun 6, 2019 10:31:35 GMT -5
I love seeing the covers to the foreign editions Thanks. I was inspired by the "Horror" covers thread, I figured this would give me the opportunity to share more covers. I already do this at my own blog, and like here, I like to group together all the ones where a single story appears.
There's also a separate set of "index" pages, everything listed chronologically, and each cover thumbnail links back to the story pages. Books with reprints link back to the original appearance of the stories, and in the case of collections, there can be multiple links under a single cover.
There's long stretches where there are far more reprints and reprint collections than new stories, but for the sake of this thread, I'm only focusing on each story when it first came out (if I know when that was--- heh-- sometimes it's a mystery).
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Jun 14, 2019 13:00:39 GMT -5
The 8th Poe story from Taika is.... questionable. "NAO!" ("NO!") / Version 1 Story & Art by LUIS MERI QUEVEDO I had a lot of fun with the coloring here... final page from the blog: "This was the only comics version of this story I have found, and as I type this, I have yet to determine exactly WHICH story of POE's this is adapted from-- if any. I wouldn't even have included it in this project, if the splash page didn't distinctly say "Adaptacao Conto De Edgar Allan Poe" on it." Further, this turned up in what was apparently an all-reprint issue. And I have NO idea even which comic it originally appeared in. Sometimes it's like that with Brazil. ALMANAQUE CLASSICOS DE TERROR 15cover by ?? (Editora Taika / Brazil / 1974)
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Jul 5, 2019 18:06:11 GMT -5
The 9th Taika POE story, was the 1st of 5 from artist Ignacio Justo, whose specialty was war comics, and his assistant, known only as " Edegar", who was one of the sloppiest inkers to ever work for the company. But he wasn't the only one who got sloppy this time out. Once the company's founders (Jayme Cortez & Miguel Penteado) had a falling out and left, and the money-men took over, Taika, sadly, developed a bad reputation for putting out some of the "ugliest" comics in Brazil. As it happens, ALBUM CLASSICOS DE TERROR #3 (1967) is one of only a tiny handful of Brazillian comics I've managed to get my hands on. The series started as an all-reprint book, followed that up with an all-horror movie adaptation reprint book, and then, with its 3rd issue, abruptly transitioned back to all-new "classic story" adaptations mixed with miscellaneous horror stories. The first "all-new" issue contained 3 POE comic adaptations, plus a text story. However, the first of these has, as far as I know, NEVER been reprinted, and never been posted online at fan blogs. When I got my hands on the actual comic, I found out WHY. Someone at the printers SCREWED UP 52 years ago!!! A sheet of paper was missing from the comic-- I'm guessing from ALL copies-- and it contained the first 2 pages of the story! I decided I WASN'T gonna let that stop me... and I created 2 BRAND-new pages so that this version of the story could be read INTACT, for the first time, EVER. cover by Juarez Odilon "HOP FROG" / Version 4 Adaptation by Francisco De Assis / Art by Ignacio Justo & Edegar 2 NEW pages by Henry R. Kujawa
The castle on the first page was actually a spot illustration for an entirely unrelated text story near the back of the comic. It was too perfect not to re-purpose! Even my friend down there, Toni Rodriguez, is not sure who drew the castle, though he suspects it might be Osvaldo Talo, one of the few comics artists of Brazil from that period who is STILL around! I had to study Poe's original text carefully to decide exactly what to include on page 2. The reference to the jester's birthday, as far as I know, has never appeared in any other comics adaptation of this story.
The pose in the 1st panel was a tribute to Reed Crandall's version!
Here you can see just how sloppy "Edegar" was. He was the guy who first inspired me to start replacing crooked panel frames with nice, precise, straight ones in Photoshop... among other things. Final page. I was really proud of how much of Poe's orignal text I was able to include in my translation-- far more than was in the actual comic.
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Jul 18, 2019 9:58:03 GMT -5
The 10th Taika POE adaptation was the 1st of 4 from artist Nico Rosso, who did a ton of comics stories as well as cover paintings, and was probably most known for being the most prolific artist on Taika's long-running DRACULA series. "A MASCARA DA MORTE RUBRA" ( "THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH") / Version 8 Adaptation by Francisco De Assis / Art by NICO ROSSO w/ J.B. Rosa I initially found this as fuzzy scans from a 70s reprint posted at a fan blog. What a HUGE upgrade this was doing my own high-res scans straight off the original 1967 comic! last page REPRINT ALMANAQUE CLASSICOS DE TERROR 15cover by ?? (Editora Taika / Brazil / 1974)
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 3, 2019 15:03:03 GMT -5
The 11th Taika POE adaptation was the 1st of 5 from artist Osvaldo Talo, whose simple, graphic style reminds me a lot of Dick Ayers. His art was some of the most fun for me to color. A big movie fan, Talo's narrator in this adaptation reminds me a lot of actor Frank Maxwell, who was in Roger Corman's " THE HAUNTED PALACE". " MANUSCRIPT" was one of Poe's more surreal, nightmarish tales... Final Page. REPRINTS CLASSICOS DE TERROR 5cover by JOSE EVOLDO (Editora Taika / Brazil / June 1973) CLASSICOS DE TERROR 19cover by NICO ROSSO (Editora Taika / Brazil / 1977 ?)
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 9, 2019 15:09:55 GMT -5
The 12th Taika POE adaptation was the 2nd of 5 from artist Osvaldo Talo. I have no idea why Dracula is on the cover of this book... ALBUM CLASSICOS DE TERROR 4cover by JUAREZ ODILON (Editora Taika / Brazil / 1967) I wish I had better, less-fuzzy scans of this one... " O RETRATO OVALADO" (" THE OVAL PORTRAIT") / Version 1 Adaptation by Francisco De Assis / Art by OSVALDO TALO The entire first half of this adaptation was entirely new, very different from what was in the story Poe wrote... Here it finally catches up (more or less) with what Poe wrote... The tavern scene is another new addition for the comic... final page This was changed quite a bit in the adaptation. Rather than a wounded man seeking refuge in the castle, here we have a wealthy gentleman with his servant, travelling on holiday, seeking out an interesting diversion. Oddly enough, the opening sequence, with the horse-drawn carriage driving through the night, reminded me of the 1964 Italian horror film " CASTLE OF BLOOD", which alleged to be inspired by a POE story, but instead featured Poe as a minor character giving a dramatic reading of his story, "Berenice", while travelling in England. Both "Sir Raymond" and his manservant "Wilson" remind of of actors I've seen. Although I can't quite place the former, "Wilson" reminds me of English character actor Reginald Beckwith, who I've seen in " A SHOT IN THE DARK", and " THE SAINT" episode " The High Fence". (I finally tracked down the actor when I saw him in " CARRY ON ADMIRAL" on 7-10-2016). But what really caught my attention, was the gentleman in the bar near the end of the story (another character who does not appear anywhere in Poe's original) is a DEAD ringer for actor Umberto Raho, who played the owner of the castle, "Lord Blackwood", in " CASTLE OF BLOOD"! This makes it difficult for me to shake the feeling that artist Osvaldo Talo may have seen the film and been inspired by it when he worked on this story. As far as I know, this one's never been reprinted. After cleaning up several stories I'd initially done 4 years earlier, I'm now keeping an eye out for this comic in case I get a chance to buy one and "upgrade" these scans as well.
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 19, 2019 11:59:37 GMT -5
The 13th Taika POE adaptation was the 3rd of 5 from artist Osvaldo Talo. From the same book as the above. Once again, I've been unable to find decent scans to replace the FUZZY ones I found on a Brazilian fan blog. Sometimes, you just gotta work with what you've got. " O BARRIL DO AMONTILLADO" / Version 7 Adaptation by Francisco De Assis / Art by OSVALDO TALO This version apparently borrowed heavily from the Archie Goodwin / Reed Crandall one in CREEPY. When I did the English translation, I actually reused some of Goodwin's text verbatim. Fortunato, in this version, oddly enough, reminds me of Chuck Norris. "Let us be gone!"Talo actually reused Goodwin's new epilogue verbatim! As a result, I added "with special thanks to Archie Goodwin" at the end. The altered ending, where the murderer gets what's coming to him, was probably originally borrowed from the EC Comics version. How ironic that EC should be more "moral" than Gilberton (who followed Poe's story accurately).
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 20, 2019 10:54:53 GMT -5
The 14th Taika POE adaptation was the 4th of 5 from artist Osvaldo Talo. The cover here is by Nico Rosso, one of my favorite artists from Brazil. In the decade or so he worked for Taika, he did a TON of stunning painted covers, as well as a ton of comics stories, and for a long stretch, became THE "Dracula" artist for the company. ALBUM CLASSICOS DE TERROR 5cover by NICO ROSSO (Editora Taika / Brazil / 1967) This was another one of the 8 stories Toni Rodrigues e-mailed me HIGH-RES scans of from the original comic, so the linework is nice and sharp. This one was a LOT of fun to color! "A QUEDA DA CASA DE USHER" / Version 6 Adaptation by Francisco De Assis / Art by OSVALDO TALO The narrator meets his old friend and is shocked by how much he's changed... Having accidentally buried his sister alive, Roderick has been too terrified to admit he's heard her movements for nearly a week, until it's too late... Although most of the narration was translated from the Potuguese adaptation, the final panel I returned to Poe's original text verbatim. I have no idea if the artist used anyone as models for the characters, but in this particular version, Roderick Usher reminds me of Peter Cushing... ...while his old friend reminds me of Stewart Granger!
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 21, 2019 17:16:00 GMT -5
My favorite Brazillian comics artist that I've found in the last several years, is Eugenio Colonnese. He did a ton of work from the 60s to the 90s, and may be most known as the creator of MIRZA, A MULHER VAMIPRO, a gorgeous, sexy vampire lady who pre-dated Vampirella by 2 years! Unlike Vampi, who's has a legion of artists illlustrating her endless adventures, MIRZA only had a finite number of stories over the decades... and EVERY single one of them was illustrated by Colonnese! (I don't think I could openly post any MIRZA art here... it's too hot!) In 1967, a B&W magazine was planned to be in the style of Warren's CREEPY, known as " CALAFRIO" ("Chill"). However, the intended publisher had another project fail so badly, he got cold feet, and after paying the artists, canned the project. 14 YEARS later... " CALAFRIO" finally launched, from Editora D-Arte, a company spearheaded (like Continental had been) by a pair of artists-- Colonnese, and Rodolfo Zalla. The 1st issue contained Colonnese's adaptation of " MORELLA", which he'd done back in 1967. Now here's the funny thing. This wasn't adapted from Poe's story... it was adapted from Richard Matheson's adaptation of Poe's story, which appeared as the opening act of Roger Corman's film " TALES OF TERROR". As a result, it's fun to compare this with the Dell version with George Evans art. CALAFRIO 1cover by RODOLFO ZALLA (Editora D-Arte / Brazil / 1981) CALAFRIO 1no known cover (Paulo Marti / Brazil / 1967 / unpublished) "MORELLA" / Version 2 Adaptation & Art by EUGENIO COLONNESE Colonnese draws some of the most BEAUTIFUL women I've ever seen in comics. Colonnese's version of "Locke" looks a bit more Spanish than Vincent Price... final page REPRINT CALAFRIO ESPECIAL 1cover by ?? (Editora D-Arte / Brazil / 1987)
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Oct 13, 2019 17:26:50 GMT -5
The 15th Taika POE adaptation was the 5th of 5 from artist Osvaldo Talo. ALBUM CLASSICOS DE TERROR 6cover by PRIMAGGIO MANTOVI (Editora Taika / Brazil / 1968) Oddly enough, the 1st comics adaptation of Poe's " WILLIAM WILSON" was not really adapted from his short story, but instead, from the 1968 film " HISTOIRES EXTRAORDINAIRES", released in the US as " SPIRITS OF THE DEAD". It was the middle of 3 stories, this one directed by Louis Malle, and featured Alain Delon and Brigitte Bardot. The comic was severely toned down from from the film, and Bardot's part was removed entirely. But the opening and closing sequence came straight from the movie. "WILLIAM WILSON" / Version 1 Adaptation & Art by OSVALDO TALO The doppleganger catches up with Wilson one final time... Wilson has had enough!! Final page / the priest witnesses what cannot be! I tried to use as much of the color schemes from the film as I could... REPRINTCLASSICOS DE TERROR 5cover by JOSE EVOLDO (Editora Taika / Brazil / June 1973)
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Nov 22, 2019 22:03:49 GMT -5
The 16th Taika POE adaptation was the 2nd of 5 from artists Ignacio Justo & his incompetent assistant "Edegar". I can't understand what possessed the Taika editors to commission this story, when they already had such a wondful version of it from several years earlier. At any rate, the inks on this may be the SLOPPIEST I've ever seen from "Edegar". It was this story that first inspired me to start replacing all the panel frames when I'd do my clean-ups, and more where called for. I initially processed this 4 years ago from low-quality fuzzy scans at a fan site, but then late last year i got ahold of a copy of the actual book, and was then able to do my own HIGH-RES scans.
That in turn inspired me to do FAR more work than I did on it the first time. I not only replaced the narrative text, and redid part of the translation, and upgraded much of the color, but also excessively cleaned-up much of the inks, so that in a few areas, there wound up being more of my own inks than that of the original artist. "BERENICE" / Version 3 Adaptation by Francisco De Assis / Art by IGNACIO JUSTO & "EDEGAR" / Page 90 Page 96 Page 97 final page (I'm so glad to get this piece of crap out of the way) REPRINT ALBUM CLASSICOS DE TERROR 3cover by NICO ROSSO (Editora Taika / Brazil / May 1973)
|
|