Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #1150 - How Eerie Magazine changed everything with updates on Creepy - a sense of doubt post #1451
Hey Mom,
As you may recall, during my college internship at Epic Comics, a division of Marvel Comics, I had the pleasure of working with Archie Goodwin, one of the masterminds behind the great Warren Publishing magazines Creepy and Eerie (and not to mention Vampirella), of which I was a huge fan. I should have talked with Archie more about those magazines. He was sitting right there in the office. I chatted with him, but I was young, stupid, and somewhat introverted.
Archie was an amazing human, and I did not fully appreciate that at the time. He even gave me a story to rewrite, which I did. He caught me typing plots and scripts at the one typewriter in the office a few times, and we did talk a little about writing, but I did not do enough to benefit from his genius, his immense spirit, his kindness, and his desire to cultivate young talent.
So, here's a REPRINT of an article about Eerie back about 500 entries ago (just in HEY MOM): Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #576 - How Eerie Changed Comics.
I have been meaning to reprint it for some time with new material about Creepy. So, here's that entry. I trimmed the Eerie cover gallery here in the reprint (the full cover gallery can be found via one of the three-four links to the original throughout this entry), so as to make room for a full-length cover gallery for Creepy magazine.
I have included various links and texty bits that I found online: histories and archives and articles.
This is good stuff. Formative stuff. Seminal stuff. So much of my interests and passions were formed from this material.
Enjoy my CREEPY fest. Thanks, Mom. Without you, this wouldn't have been possible.
Warren Publishing's Creepy and other non-Comics Code comics online!
December 4, 2013 2:43 PM Subscribe
In the introduction [of Batman: Black & White] the editor mentions that the premise of the book came about because he had a discussion with other members of the comic world and they were debating which one comic run you'd want with you if you were stuck on a desert island. The consensus was Creepy the classic Warren Magazine because of all the incredible artists who contributed to it.The Warren Publishing Archive is online, courtesy of the Internet Archive.
Warren Publishing ran from 1957 to 1983, it was founded by James Warren in Philadelphia PA. He later moved his company to New York in 1965. Warren specialized in Horror, Fantasy, and Science Fiction magazines. Warren published other genre magazines focusing on different subject matter such as teen romance or adult humor. There were two things that set Warren apart from other comics. First they were sold in a larger format than regular comics thus classifying them as magazines. Second, Warren exempted his publications from the now defect Comic Code Authority. This allowed the writers and artist to inject more mature content into the stories. This included some coarse language, violence, sexual situations and nudity. These two factors helped Warren reach an adult audience.
The magazines had successful runs from their beginnings in the 1960's to the early 1980's. However, other factors started affecting the magazine by 1980. James Warren was in bad heath, readership tastes were changing, and the company faced a lawsuit over copyright infringement. This lead to Warren filing for bankruptcy in 1983. Afterward, the assets were sold off to other media companies and the same series republished under different publishers.
Introduction to Creepy
Cover by Ken Barr
Creepy magazine was first published in 1964 and ceased in 1983 when Warren Publishing went bankrupt. The series was a sci-fi and horror anthology in a black and while format. The comic was hosted by a reccurring character Uncle Creepy.
A selected issue of Creepy.
I love the cover of this issue, reminds me of the bat monster from the 50's sci-fi movie "Angry Red Planet". This issues had a fan summited story called In the Subway by Rubin Ried. He won the first prize in the writing competition know as the Cauldron Contest. The story is about a creature lurking around a subway tunnel set in the future and what it does to its victims.
Meet Vampi
The August 1972 issues of Vampirella. cover art by Enrich
Vampirella first premiered in Sept. of 1969. Vampirlella was created by the legendary Forest J. Ackerman. The comic is blend of supernatural horror and science fiction. The comic had adventures that involved Vampirella fighting off evil forces. Vampirella was a part of a vampire-like race from the planet Drakulon. The planet was in the process of dying. When a spaceship from Earth crash lands on Drakulon, Vampirella is sent to investigate and then is attacked by the crew; after defending herself she takes control of the ship and pilots it back to Earth. Once on Earth, her adventures began.
The very first issue of Vampirella
This issue has the origin story of Vampirella. The rest of the issue has other anthology style stories. In the other stories, Vampirella acts as host in the way of her sister publications. It is also intresting to note that in the first story, the downed spaceship is named the Arthur Clarke as in the famous science fiction writer.
A selected issue
I love the cover art on this issue. The spaceship looks so cool. This issue also has a retelling of the origin story. The rest of the magazine has the best of Vampirella stories, including one in color.
My favorite magazine from Warren.
cover by Jim Laurier
This is my favorite publication from Warren. This magazine contained mostly sci-fi stories mixed with fantasy. The mag reminds me of the anthology comic Heavy Meatal Magazine. 1984's first issue was the June 1978 issue and the last was in February 1983 with 29 issues printed. Later in 1980, the name of the magazine was changed to 1994 at the request of the estate of George Orwell.
The first issue of 1984
The first issue of 1984 contained ten stories. One of which was Mutant World, one of six reoccurring series published in the comic. The five other series would come later. Mutant World was printed in color while the rest of the stories were in black and white. Mutant World was set in an alien world that was post-apocalyptic in nature. The plot was about a mutant name Dimento and his daily struggle to survive until he meets a normal human female. The story is written and drawn by Richard Corban.
A controversial issue of 1984.
This issue contained a story that created some problems for Warren Publishing, a story entitled "Mondo Megillah". This story was based upon the sci-fi story "A Boy and his Dog" written by Harlan Ellison. The editors had given the go ahead for this version of the story to be written and drawn for the magazine. However, they did not have the permission of the author. Harlan Ellison sued Warren publishing for copyright infringement and won the case. There was also another story that appeared in issue #3. A story called the Harvest in which Whites hunt Blacks for sport and then eat the dead bodies in a dystopian future.
A copulation of some of the best stories from Eerie.
Eerie Magazine was first printed in September of 1966 and it is much like its sister publications. It was a horror magazine hosted by Cousin Eerie. It was in both black and white panels with some panels in color and exempt from the CCA as well.
Why I love the Warren magazines.
I love the Warren Magazines for many reasons. They were gritty, mature, and just some cool story telling. I love the cover art as well. Warren employed many fine artists, such as Frank Frazetta, Alex Toth, and Neal Adams. I liked that fact the magazine was designed for mature readers and mature subject matter doesn't bother me, I prefer to read adult oriented stories.
Where I found the titles.
I first starting reading Warren magazines via archive.org where there is a section devoted to Warren Magazines. There you can read and download dozens of issues of the comics for free. If you want to know more about Warren publishing, you can read more thru Wikipedia.
Archive of Warren Publishing's Comics-Code-beating transgressive magazines
The Internet Archive has a marvellous trove of scanned work from Warren Publishing, the maverick house behind such classic magazines as Creepy. The introduction of the Comics Code, following Fredeic Wertham's scientific fraud purporting to show a link between comics and crime, gutted comics for half a century. But Warren Publishing avoided the Comics Code altogether by changing formats and publishing as a magazine, bringing us such classics as Famous Monsters of Filmland, Eerie, and Help! magazine (which employed Gloria Steinem!). Here's the Wikipedia summary of Warren's amazing run:
Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades. Magazines published by Warren include After Hours, Creepy, Eerie, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Help!, and Vampirella. Initially based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the company relocated by 1965 to New York City, New York.Begun by James Warren, Warren Publishing's initial publications were the horror-fantasy-science fiction movie magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland and Monster World, both edited by Forrest J Ackerman. Warren soon published Spacemen magazine and in 1960 Help! magazine, with the first employee of the magazine being Gloria Steinem. After first introducing what he called "Monster Comics" in Monster World, Warren expanded in 1964 with horror-comics stories in the sister magazines Creepy and Eerie — black-and-white publications in a standard magazine format, rather that comic-book size, and selling for 35 cents as opposed to the standard comic-book price of 12 cents. Such a format, Warren explained, averted the restrictions of the Comics Code Authority, the comic-book industry's self-censorship body:The Comics Code saved the industry from turmoil, but at the same time, it had a cleansing kind of effect on comics, making them 'clean, proper and family-oriented'. [...] We would overcome this by saying to the Code Authority, the industry, the printers, and the distributors: 'We are not a comic book; we are a magazine. Creepy is magazine-sized and will be sold on magazine racks, not comic book racks'. Creepy's manifesto was brief and direct: First, it was to be a magazine format, 8½" × 11", going to an older audience not subject to the Code Authority."By publishing graphic stories in a magazine format to which the Code did not apply, Warren paved the way for such later graphic-story magazines as the American version of Heavy Metal; Marvel Comics' Epic Illustrated; Psycho and other "horror-mood" series from Skywald Publications; and Warren's own line of magazines.
from:
4. Creepy (1964-1983) Eerie (1966-1983)
By So many madmen, lunatics, and mad scientists
EC Comics may be the most famous horror publisher of all time, but Warren Publishing raised it to the next level of atrocity.
Back in the day, Creepy and Eerie were the magazines your parents didn’t want you to read. Both magazines took an unflinching yet often times darkly humorous approach to horror. The black and white magazines really allowed the many Warren artists to darkly shine as visual masters like Neal Adams, Dan Adkins, Reed Crandall, Johnny Craig, Steve Ditko, Frank Frazetta, Gray Morrow, John Severin, Angelo Torres, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, and Wally Wood all were at their blood curdling best as they produced a metric ton of horror stories that delighted readers and horrified parents. Issue after issue, Creepy and Eerie pushed the boundaries of good taste as the body count mounted.
The black and white legacy of Warren spawned many copycats, and even Marvel got into the black and white horror game in the '70s. While Marvel did some awesome work, its output usually paled in comparison to the cheeky and bloody madness of Warren’s output.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepy_(magazine)
Creepy was an American horror-comics magazine launched by Warren Publishing in 1964. Like Mad, it was a black-and-white newsstand publication in a magazine format and thus did not require the approval or seal of the Comics Code Authority. An anthology magazine, it initially was published quarterly but later went bimonthly. Each issue's stories were introduced by the host character, Uncle Creepy. Its sister publications were Eerie and Vampirella.[1]
The Archie Goodwin era[edit]
In 1965, Russ Jones had a falling out with publisher Jim Warren and departed.[2] Archie Goodwin, having already been writing most of the stories and working with most of the regular artists, succeeded him as editor.[2] Goodwin, who became one of comics' foremost writers, helped establish the company as a prominent force in the field of black-and-white comics magazines.[1]
Artists during this era included Neal Adams, Dan Adkins, Reed Crandall, Johnny Craig, Steve Ditko, Frank Frazetta, Gray Morrow, John Severin, Angelo Torres, Alex Toth, Al Williamson and Wally Wood. Originally published quarterly, Creepy switched to bi-monthly by the end of 1965.
To help draw the best possible performance out of the artists working on the series, prior to writing a story Goodwin would ask the artist what type of story or setting he would like to work in; this also served to narrow Goodwin's thinking, making it easier for him to come up with a story idea.[2] He also wrote a considerable number of adaptations of public domain works for Creepy. Initially, out of a feeling that the original works were overly familiar, he would change either the ending or the beginning of the story when doing these adaptations. Eventually he concluded that this was presumptuous, and began adhering more closely to the original stories.[2]
Goodwin resigned as the editor of Creepy after issue 17 (October 1967).[citation needed] Due to a lack of funds,[citation needed] the majority of the magazine's leading artists left, and Warren was forced to rely on reprints, which would be prevalent in the magazine until issue 32 in April 1970. A variety of editors ran the magazine during this period, including Bill Parente, Nicola Cuti and Warren himself. Things would pick up starting in 1969 with the premiere of Vampirella magazine. Some of Creepy's original artists, including Frazetta, Crandall and Wood, would return, as did Goodwin, who was associate editor for issues 35 through 39.[citation needed]
| Creepy | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Warren Publishing, Dark Horse Comics |
| Schedule | Bimonthly (later nine times a year) |
| Publication date | Late 1964 to February 1983, 2009 till 2016 |
| No. of issues | 145 |
| Editor(s) | Russ Jones, Archie Goodwin, Bill Parente, Billy Graham, J.R. Cochran, William DuBay, Louise Jones, Chris Adames, Timothy Moriarty, Shawna Gore, Dave Land, Dan Braun, Sierra Hahn, Brendan Wright |
James Warren, Empire Of Monsters: The Man Behind Creepy, Vampirella, And Famous Monsters
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1683961471/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_OkfyCbHA6ZA4V
via @amazon
James Warren, Empire of Monsters: The Man Behind Creepy, Vampirella, and Famous Monsters
James Warren was the visionary publisher of Famous Monsters of Filmland, the magazine that fueled the movie monster craze of the 1960s, and inspired such future filmmakers as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Joe Dante. Warren went on to publish Help!, Harvey Kurtzman’s satirical magazine that featured early work by Gloria Steinem, Terry Gilliam, Robert Crumb, and Diane Arbus. With Creepy and Eerie, Warren popularized the black-and-white comics magazine and ran covers by the legendary painter Frank Frazetta before Frazetta was a superstar. Warren’s magazines established a new category of popular fiction, a transitional step toward the graphic novel. They included art by over 30 Hall of Fame talents such as Wallace Wood, Steve Ditko, Alex Toth, Neal Adams, Bernie Wrightson, Al Williamson and many others. His most famous creation (co-created with Forrest J. Ackerman) was the sensual Vampirella, who debuted in her own magazine in 1969 and who continues to be published today.
Bill Schelly’s Empire of Monsters features numerous eye-opening, often outrageous anecdotes about Warren, a colorful, larger-than-life figure whose ability as a publisher, promoter, and provocateur makes him a fascinating character study.
http://www.fantagraphics.com/jameswarren/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Warren_(publisher)
James Warren (born James Warren Taubman;[1] July 29, 1930)[2] is a magazine publisher and founder of Warren Publishing. Magazines published by Warren include Famous Monsters of Filmland, the horror-comics magazines Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, the war anthology, "Blazing Combat" and the science fiction anthology 1984 (later renamed 1994) among others. While somewhat derivative of earlier EC Comics, Warren magazines used some of the best comics illustrators and writers of the day and developed a style and feel of their own.
Warren moved to New York City in the 1960s, with his "Captain Company" (the mail-order service he concurrently founded to sell horror-related items in Famous Monsters of Filmland) remaining in Philadelphia, where overhead was cheaper. He found a duplex penthouse in midtown Manhattan where he lived on the top floor, using the ground floor living room, dining room, bath and kitchen as his "Warren Publishing" editorial office.[3] By this time he was also publishing the magazines Wildest Westerns, Spacemen, and the satirical Help! During the first five years of those publications, his editorial assistants were future feminist icon Gloria Steinem, followed by future Monty Python's Flying Circus cartoonist Terry Gilliam.[3]
Creepy[edit]
In the mid-1960s, inspired by the EC Comics of the 1950s, Warren launched the black-and-white horror-comics magazines Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella. He continued to publish a variety of magazines until the 1980s, when he left the field due to health problems.[2] In 2008, he established a new venture, Jim Warren Publishing.[2]
http://pencilink.blogspot.com/2018/12/creepy-103-walt-simonson-cover-bernie.html
Creepy #103 - Walt Simonson cover, Bernie Wrightson, Al Williamson, Jeff Jones reprints
Creepy v1 #103, 1978 - Unleashing an animal theme, this edition reprints tales from Creepy #6 (Al Williamson), #16 (Jeff Jones) and #62 (Bernie Wrightson). Apparently, Walt Simonson and Kim McQuaite collaborated on the cover painting. While visually interesting, there's no semblance of Simonson's hand in either design or execution. Other artists in this issue include Rich Corben. This is number 5 of 7 Creepy issues with Simonson art and/or covers (not including reprints).
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Simonson cover painting (with Kim McQuaite) = *
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Home / Jones / Simonson / Williamson / Wrightson / Creepy
>this issue >Jones >Simonson >Williamson >Wrightson >Creepy
REPRINT: Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #576 - How Eerie Changed Comics
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| My first Eerie comic and possibly my first horror comic ever Nov. 1972 |
Hi Mom,
In part because the current "president" is engaging in fear-mongering and practicing unwise isolationism. The current sway of the administration reminds me of Hitler's rise to power in Nazi Germany.
So, it's fitting that I was reading Kieron Gillen's Uber comic last night, just days after posting Gillen's playlist for 2016. The comic is about what would have happened if the Germans had invented "the bomb" first, but here, the "bomb" is an enhanced human with powers to lay waste to humanity much like the atomic bomb.
I am afraid for our country. I am afraid to have a man I feel is a dangerous lunatic and an idiot in control of the greatest nuclear arsenal in the world. And I probably just put myself on the watch list if I was not there already with those comments. I don't care.
All of this may be an odd way to connect to writing about horror comics and the very "first" such comic of Eerie in particular, which was originally an Avon publication in 1947, and which later gave rise to EC Comics, and beyond that to the Warren magazines, one of which took the title Eerie (and so most of the art and materials here relate to the Warren magazine).
Also, maybe it's appropriate that the article I am sharing from the SF channel's web page is about how Eerie changed comics, and Eerie tells stories about fear, and fear is changing our nation right now, and not for the better.
Maybe this is a good time to stare into "the horror" and see what stares back.
Or as Emily Dickinson "The horror welcomes her again..."
But I will save the full poem for another time.
Eerie Magazine - Wikipedia
Eerie Magazine at Comic Vine
OMG!!! There's a Warren Magazine ARCHIVE!!!!!!!!!!! This is so awesome. I did not know this existed. I love this. It's my new favorite thing. Finding the archive just made the investigation I do, sometimes, when I re-post all worth it.
A place to buy such classics: http://www.creepyclassics.com/category.sc?categoryId=59
This is a cool site.
http://www.retrospace.org/2010/10/cover-gallery-2-creepy-and-eerie.html
SOME COVER GALLERIES
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/10/31-creepy-scary-unsettling-horror-comic-covers.html
http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/eerie-magazine-covers/
http://horrorillustrated.blogspot.com/2013/04/eerie-covers-warren-mags.html
http://boingboing.net/2014/09/11/a-collection-of-gory-and-ghast.html
TEXT BELOW FROM - http://www.blastr.com/2017-1-29/eerie-70-year-anniversary-horror-comics
Here's how Eerie #1 ushered in the age of horror comics 70 years ago
Sun, Jan 29, 2017 12:00pm
With horror and supernatural comics crowding the shelves in most comic book emporiums these days, it's almost hard to imagine a time when they weren't omnipresent. But prior to 1947, Golden Age funny books were mostly packed with heroic tales of costumed crimefighters like Batman, Superman, Aquaman and Captain Marvel or the cartoon antics of Walt Disney's Donald Duck, Goofy and Mickey Mouse.
This all changed in one January jolt 70 years ago with the release of Eerie #1, the world's first true fright title injected with original content. Published by Avon Publications, this unsettling anthology was the spark that ignited the bonfire of interest in horror comics that continued throughout the mid-1950s. At 52 pages long, it contained six separate stories delivering a tempered range of sensational supernatural shocks.
Eerie #1 is often recognized as the first out-and-out horror comic book and its then-frightening full-color cover depicted a crimson-eyed demon clutching a dagger and creeping toward a scantily-clad woman whose hands were tied, kneeling inside a crumbling mansion. Inside, the terrifying tales celebrated the nefarious actions of ghosts, vampires and zombies.
The roster of scary stories were: "Dead Man's Tale," "Proof," "Mystery of Murder Manor," "The Man-Eating Lizard," "The Strange Case of Henpecked Harry," a "Goofy Ghost" strip and "The Eyes of the Tiger." Most of the creator names have been lost to history but the nine-page gem, "The Man-Eating Lizard," showcased the works of writer Edward Bellin and art by rising stars George Roussos, Fred Kida and Joe Kubert.
This historic issue sold out by the end of January and was not seen again until Avon resurrected the title in 1951 for a 17-issue run, finishing in 1954.
In 1954, Congressional hearings on comic books and their alleged links to juevenile violence and corruption put a swift halt to lurid pre-code horror titles spawned mainly by William Gaines' EC Comics like Tales From The Crypt, The Vault of Horror and The Haunt of Fear. One fact that often gets misinterpreted is that the Comics Code Authority was a self-imposed solution, initiated by the titans of the industry to appease the backlash and was not demanded of them by the government. Still, this heavy censorship and negative public sentiment had already nuked the horror comics biz as wholesomeness and sterility reigned throughout post-war America.
It wasn't until the Comics Code was revised by the industry in 1970 that the horror comic enjoyed its second renaissance, seeing both Marvel and DC leaping boldly into the marketplace with memorable titles like House of Secrets, Ghosts, House of Mystery, Witching Hour, Tomb of Dracula, Tower of Shadows and Man-Thing, all featuring some of the finest linework ever seen from legendary names like Bernie Wrightson and Neal Adams.
This resurgence of interest led to the mounting swarm of black-and-white horror comic magazines in the '70s that fell vaguely outside the code, including Warren's Vampirella, Eerie and Creepy and Skywald's Nightmare, Scream and Psycho.
Today's huge horror marketplace is rich and diversified, pumping out hundreds of titles celebrating the mania of mutant monsters, vengeful ghosts, shambling zombies and the psychological phantoms of the human mind.
So it all started with a tiny little horror comic with the title of Eerie, an oft-forgotten book that hit the shelves 70 ago this month. Light a birthday candle and check out some of the interior pages in the gallery below and let us know your favorite classic horror titles.
COVER GALLERY - EERIE AND CREEPY
Only select covers reprinted here. The rest at
Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #576 - How Eerie Changed Comics
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Reflect and connect.
Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.
I miss you so very much, Mom.
Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.
- Days ago = 578 days ago
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1702.02 - 10:10
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CREEPY COVER GALLERY
http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/creepy
Debuted in 1964 with a cover by Jack Davis, Creepy was the name of a horror comics magazine by Warren Publishing and originally edited by Russ Jones. Creepy was a black-and-white newsstand publication, not unlike Mad magazine in format. The stories for each issue were introduced by Uncle Creepy. Creepy's companion publications were horror titles Vampirella and Eerie.
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Reflect and connect.
Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you, Mom.
I miss you so very much, Mom.
Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.
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- Days ago = 1317 days ago
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1902.10 - 10:10
NEW (written 1708.27) NOTE on time: I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of your death, Mom, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of your death, Mom. I know this only matters to me, and to you, Mom.
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