Ep 3: How Low Len Wein? p.1: The Top 5 Worst Horror Comics
Oct 3, 2023 14:10:23 GMT -5
shaxper, Hoosier X, and 2 more like this
Post by MDG on Oct 3, 2023 14:10:23 GMT -5
A few thoughts--buckle up:
Growing up, I probably bought as many or more "horror comics" as superhero ones, and I spread it around: Warren, Fass, Ghost Stories from Dell, Karloff and Ripley's from Gold Key, Sorcery and Madhouse from Red Circle, as well as anthology titles from DC, Charlton, and Marvel. Even when I started buying undergrounds, I was attracted to Skull more than Freak Bros.
I really don't look at books with continuing characters as "horror"; they tend to fall into superhero tropes, or else they become "bystanders" (or forces of fate, if you prefer) like Man Thing. I dropped Warren's Eerie when they started using ongoing series--just wasn't what i was looking for.
Also, I'll take issue with the assertion that no one ever got scared by a comic book. Maybe not while reading it, but afterwards some can leave you with an uneasy feeling. Gold Key and Dell, strangely enough, were most likely to do this, probably because they were so matter-of-fact about things, stylistically, and unlike code books, didn't require a logical explanation or retribution.
And my aunt hated me because I'd lend my Warrens to my younger cousin when we visited them and she'd have nightmares for a couple month after that.
I like the Phantom Stranger, though it's uneven as a book, and the character is less defined than they intend, but Aparo's art is usually great. Thinking on it now, I wish Archie Goodwin had a crack at him. The stories when Dr Thirteen is trying to expose him, though, get tiresome pretty quickly.
I pick up the Dell "hero" versions of Dracula, Frankenstein, and Werewolf when I see them. I think they were intentionally making them for kids, I mean really young kids, like < 10. Hard to judge what I would've though of them at that age--might've worked. Also, for some reason, I always feel like I need to stick up for Tony Tallarico, but I just can't here.
I definitely agree on the Dark Shadows comics book, though. I picked up one recently with something about an island off Collinsport that was either cut off or nobody noticed and was the home to an enemy of Barnabas. Terrible. However, though I never read a continuity, the example of the Sunday strip by Ken Bald that I've seen are excellent.
(Topic for future study: Dark Shadows as the last horror franchise (hate that word) aimed at kids before horror movies and fiction started to get really dark in the 70s.)
One last note: one of my first Marvels was a coverless copy of Spider-Man 100 or 101 or whatever that I found on the sidewalk (yes, that used to happen) that ended with a full-page splash of six-armed Spidey being attacked by Morbius and the Lizard. That's when I decided i really didn't like Marvel.
Growing up, I probably bought as many or more "horror comics" as superhero ones, and I spread it around: Warren, Fass, Ghost Stories from Dell, Karloff and Ripley's from Gold Key, Sorcery and Madhouse from Red Circle, as well as anthology titles from DC, Charlton, and Marvel. Even when I started buying undergrounds, I was attracted to Skull more than Freak Bros.
I really don't look at books with continuing characters as "horror"; they tend to fall into superhero tropes, or else they become "bystanders" (or forces of fate, if you prefer) like Man Thing. I dropped Warren's Eerie when they started using ongoing series--just wasn't what i was looking for.
Also, I'll take issue with the assertion that no one ever got scared by a comic book. Maybe not while reading it, but afterwards some can leave you with an uneasy feeling. Gold Key and Dell, strangely enough, were most likely to do this, probably because they were so matter-of-fact about things, stylistically, and unlike code books, didn't require a logical explanation or retribution.
And my aunt hated me because I'd lend my Warrens to my younger cousin when we visited them and she'd have nightmares for a couple month after that.
I like the Phantom Stranger, though it's uneven as a book, and the character is less defined than they intend, but Aparo's art is usually great. Thinking on it now, I wish Archie Goodwin had a crack at him. The stories when Dr Thirteen is trying to expose him, though, get tiresome pretty quickly.
I pick up the Dell "hero" versions of Dracula, Frankenstein, and Werewolf when I see them. I think they were intentionally making them for kids, I mean really young kids, like < 10. Hard to judge what I would've though of them at that age--might've worked. Also, for some reason, I always feel like I need to stick up for Tony Tallarico, but I just can't here.
I definitely agree on the Dark Shadows comics book, though. I picked up one recently with something about an island off Collinsport that was either cut off or nobody noticed and was the home to an enemy of Barnabas. Terrible. However, though I never read a continuity, the example of the Sunday strip by Ken Bald that I've seen are excellent.
(Topic for future study: Dark Shadows as the last horror franchise (hate that word) aimed at kids before horror movies and fiction started to get really dark in the 70s.)
One last note: one of my first Marvels was a coverless copy of Spider-Man 100 or 101 or whatever that I found on the sidewalk (yes, that used to happen) that ended with a full-page splash of six-armed Spidey being attacked by Morbius and the Lizard. That's when I decided i really didn't like Marvel.