I did not delve into these four color tomes until much later in life, but I have come to appreciate the intricacy and storytelling. Particularly The Monster of Frankenstein and The Tomb of Dracula were of interest as they generated rather complex tales and emotion, while the art was overall quite good. Werewolf By Night was a bit more campy and seemed to trip into the superhero realm more than the others; or maybe because the book introduced Moon Knight I am just more sensitive to that theme.
Believe it or not, my initial introduction to these characters was through youthful glimpses at Universal monster movies. As a child, my father watched the Abbott and Costello comedies that featured the characters with me. That may have colored my early perception, but as I said more recently I've begun to enjoy these missed gems.
Along the way, I also stumbled upon Marvel's Supernatural Thrillers and I was surprised that I enjoyed the Living Mummy issues.
That title also carried some adaptations of classic horror tales that I found to be well-crafted considering the truncated length and any limits of the medium. I found that the covers really caught my eye; there was some interesting art throughout.
So if you were a collector of these classics from the 70s, speak up and share your thoughts! Comments are welcome this fine October Sunday! Cheers (and fears) as we celebrate Halloween throughout the month!
16 comments:
Couple years ago, at the tender age of 54, I finally went to the library and checked out Marvel's Dracula by Colan. I was inspired by various reviews / blogs. I enjoyed it, some stories more than others.
I've never really indulged in Marvel's other monster comics or DC's Horror / Mystery comics.
"Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein and the Werewolf" is genius! I've seen it several times and watched with the wife and kids. Must admit, though, that the scene were Frankie is on fire (quite painfully so) and falls through the wooden pier seems shockingly horrific and out of context in a movie otherwise quite comedic. That scene did bother my family, esp. the kids.
Well it's going to be a beautiful day! Chicago Marathon just started if you are a runner. Cheers all.
Yeah, I've heard good things about Tomb of Drac as well, but never got around to checking it out. I'm curious about Werewolf too, since it was written by Conway and (later) Moench, both of whom I generally like. But I'm not really into horror to begin with, so other stuff always takes precedence.
I did not mention it previously but I really like the Monster of Frankenstein book. It is hardly ever mentioned, and I didn't even know it existed for many years past the Bronze Age. It ran from 1973 into 1975 for 18 issues. It started out with a nice run by Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog. John Buscema handled the art for a couple of issues. And then the tail end consisted mainly of Doug Moench stories and Val Mayerik art. I think it is underrated if not just unknown. I am curious what others think if you have read it. I still have not read them all, but the issues I have read kept my interest and were not without real merit.
Like CH and Mike W., I am not necessarily a "monster/horror" fan. I definitely gravitate toward super-heroes, and I think in general I would pick up humor and war comics before any horror. But I have always been curious about these so over the years I gradually did read many. Probably the only thing that falls lower in my reading pile than horror are romance comics. In general, I like how Marvel put the Marvel stamp on these characters. Cannot really explain it but some sense of honor and heroism was embedded in the tragedy of the Frankenstein monster and those that hunted Dracula (blade etc). And Jack Russell as the Werewolf was very much of that style. But the art on that book was subpar and inconsistent later in the run. I think much of the feel of the Hulk and other tragic characters found its way into Marvel Monsters. Thoughts?
Oh - and I think Gene Colan's art was perfect for Tomb of Dracula even when the writing was weak on occasion.
When I first started buying and collecting Marvels off the rack in 1974, I was never interested in the horror comics. But, once Marvel used team-ups in 'special issues' of issues like Giant-Size Spider-Man, cross-overs with Doctor Strange and guest stars of Silver Surfer in Tomb of Dracula, or Iron Man in Werewolf By Night I got hooked and immediately ordered complete runs of ToD and WbN.
Other than including Frankenstein's Monster in the Englehart Avengers or the Marvel Premiere issues of the Monster Legion, I don't think I ever really tried Frankie.
As for the Horror Anthology types of books, like DC's House of Secrets, I pretty much only picked up those with great artwork, like Neal Adams. Got me hooked on Phantom Stranger, though!
I've always loved Horror - especially Hammer movies - so whenever I saw a Horror comic, I had to buy it.
"Tomb of Dracula," is, along with, "The Defenders," my favourite Marvel title of the 1970s. All that beautiful art by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer and the ever developing soap opera involving him and his would-be destroyers. It was moody and compelling stuff.
"Werewolf By Night," I had a lot of issues of but can't remember anything that happened in any of them, which can't be a good sign.
Marvel's Frankenstein made no great impact on me. I'm afraid their take on Frank seemed quite dull and prosaic compared to the more stylish Drac.
Happy Sunday, friends --
Like many of you, monster/horror comics were not in my 10-year old wheelhouse. With limited funds, it was all-superheroes, all the time. But, as disposable income has become a thing in our empty nesting, I have sampled here and there. I would heartily recommend the massive Monster of Frankenstein trade (~530 pages), which I read last year. It reprints all of the issues Martinex mentioned, as well as the B&W stories that took place in between the two iterations of the four color book. That trade also includes the Marvel Team-Up stories with Frank and the Man-Wolf. I really enjoyed reading most of those tales for the first time, and the art was generally top shelf. While I questioned bringing the Monster into the 20th century, I was able to let that decision pass.
As I mentioned a couple of days ago, the first 13 issues of Swamp Thing are collected in various places and are great. I'd also not read those, ever. Bernie Wrightson's art on the first 10 issues is among the best I've seen, from any artist. It's that good. A huge fan of John Buscema, Neal Adams, and Mike Ploog (among others), Wrightson's work on early Swamp Thing is among those masters.
I have also been enjoying the recently released Planet of the Apes Archive, vol. 1 that reprints the "Terror on the Planet of the Apes" storyline from the B&W magazines. As described by a Twitter colleague, the first half of the epic is mostly horror, while the second half might better be described as space opera. With only two installments left to the finish, I'd concur. Two thirds of the art in the Archive is by Ploog and it's excellent. And what's really cool is that a large portion of it is Ploog's pencils - no inks. Wonderful to behold!
So count me among the curious. I've had my eyes on the digest-sized trades that reprinted Marvel's B&W Vampire Tales magazine, and already have the second PotA Archive pre-ordered. My feet are officially wet in this genre.
Doug
A follow-up: to those who are also bent on super-heroes but would like to sample some of Marvel's monster/horror books with no real commitment, I cannot recommend enough the three volumes of trades, Marvel Firsts: the 70s. If Bronze Age is your thing, these three books are must-haves in your library.
Doug
Boy, you offered up some temptations, Doug! 'Back in the day', I collected and read the entire Tomb of Dracula series. Also had Man-Thing and Swamp Thing. Yet never tried Werewolf, Mummy or Monster of Frankenstein. With that Ploog artwork, it's odd that I never gave them a look.
"When Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, and the Werewolf started appearing on the spinner rack were you there?"
Nope. Avoided horror books as a matter of course during my initial comics-reading years; I think in all that time, from early elementary school to early teens, I read maybe an issue or two of Tomb of Dracula and Swamp Thing. My only exposure to Werewolf by Night was when old Jack Russell made guest appearances in super-hero books (like Spiderwoman).
Now, as an adult, I have gone back and read a few of them, like the entire run of Man-Thing, and all of the stuff collected in the two volumes of Essential Marvel Horror. And speaking of the latter, I very much agree about the Living Mummy. I found the stories surprisingly solid and enjoyable.
Seems like many of us like Dracula. Assuming the interest was beyond Colan's genius art, may I recommend may I recommend "The Historian."
It's a fiction book a bout a young woman's quest to see if Dracula truly exists. Given the book is 700 pages long, you might guess the answer.
I has 4 stars based on 2300 reviews on Amazon and is readily available at the local library.
Each chapter is better than the preceding one and the book builds up nicely.
Disneymarvel - Legion of Monsters was one Premiere book that I wish turned out better. That was an intriguing concept but was not executed well. A Marvel horror team would be welcomed. They've tried a couple of times but the attempts have been misguided. "Howling Commandos" anybody? Ugh.
Steve -saying that the WbN stories were not memorable hits the nail on the head. But I still have a soft spot for Jack Russell. He was never a top tier character but somehow despite being so lackluster I root for him. I did like his appearances in Spider-Woman. That book also had horror motifs and leanings.
Doug - as always thanks for the recommendations. That PotA sounds interesting. I cannot even imagine it in terms of "horror" and "space opera." I will have to keep that in mind for some future reading. That has never been on my list, though I know many here love it.
Edo - yes, finally the Mummy has another positive review. Ha. It doesn't get any attention but it was not a bad 70's entry. I'm not saying it was a masterpiece but I expected it to be so much worse. I picked up all of the floppies for $5 total and it definitely was worth that.
All- intermittently this month we will explore some Halloween themed topics. In store for you this week at BitBA, you can expect a creepy music Sound & Fury and discussion around The Defenders plus so much more. Cheers.
CH47. Thanks for the reading recommendation.
Doug - Thanks for the insight on Marvel Firsts! Just reserved 1970 Vol 1 at the library.
CH47 (The C stands for cheap, LOL)
Hey, I know I'm late, at least I'm not Dyno-Mike late...
I first bought Werewolf By Night 32 based on the cover alone. Picked up the second part to finish the story. Surprised myself by having issue 42 and Giant Size Werewolf By Night 1 2 4 and 5. I know! Right?
If and when you have some time, check out Comicsfan's site and Groovy's site as well. Comicsfan did quite a run on Dracula!!!
(Hoy me despierto, buenos dÃas
y que agradable melodÃa
hoy tengo ganas de vivir
por que te tengo a ti
Que importa si es fin de semana
por que esperar hasta mañana
no tengo miedo a sonreÃr
aunque el cielo este gris
Por que vivir de la ilusión
prefiero oÃr tu corazón
latiendo, cada madrugada
Es que me llenas de placer
con cada rose de tu piel
y que más pudo pedir
La luz del sol por la mañana
y te despiertas en mi cama
toda una noche junto a ti
y que más puedo pedir
Si ayer dijiste que me amabas
como julieta en la ventana
por que ese mundo es para mi
y que más puedo pedir
Voy caminando por la vida
silbando tu melodÃa
y no me puedo contener
contigo todo va bien
No se si será tu mirada
o tu sonrisa apasionada
pero aprendà a ser feliz
desde que te conocÃ
Por que vivir de la ilusión
prefiero oÃr tu corazón
latiendo, cada madrugada
Es que me llenas de placer
con cada rose de tu piel
y que más pudo pedir
La luz del sol por la mañana
y te despiertas en mi cama
toda una noche junto a ti
y que más puedo pedir
Si ayer dijiste que me amabas
como julieta en la ventana
por que ese mundo es para mi
y que más puedo pedir
Y que más puedo pedir!
La luz del sol por la mañana
y te despiertas en mi cama
toda una noche junto a ti
y que más puedo pedir
Si ayer dijiste que me amabas
como julieta en la ventana
por que ese mundo es para mi
y que más puedo pedir).
PS: Let the count down to Ragnarok begin!!!
Charlie --
Let me know how you like that book. I love it! And I bet you'll try to get your mitts on volumes 2 and 3 later on.
Prowl, I just tweeted a few minutes ago that the Justice League trailer still won't make me care about the DC movies. But the new Hela-centric Thor commercial is smokin'!!
Doug
Doug - I'm sure I'l like it and I'll get my mitts on 'em at the Downers Grove Library, LOL!
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