Twisted Tales

Halloween has long been my favorite holiday, so I’ve decided to return to reviewing comic books with some regularity this month. Every week this month, I’ll post at least one special Halloween-oriented review, criticizing the issue based on its reverence for this hallowed holiday season through four distinct categories worth up to five points each. The comic that earns the total possible 20 points could be one of the best Halloween issues ever!

Twisted Tales, November 1987, Eclipse Comics
writer: Bruce Jones
artists: Rick Stasi, Jim Mooney, Scott Saavedra, Henry Mayo
letterers: Mike Worley, Kurt Hathaway, Carrie Spiegle
colorists: Marcus David, Barbara Marker, Henry Mayo

PREMISE: Twisted Tales is a compilation of, well, twisted tales by favorite comics horror writer Bruce Jones. While I wouldn’t call this a definitive collection of work, it is a diverse collection of psychologically-slated stories of macabre intrigue. For someone like me, unfamiliar with Jones’ work past his run on The Incredible Hulk a few years ago, this collection offers insight into the way a mastermind spins yarns, and his skills in characterization and surprising plot twists certainly make it easy to get tangled up. As a proverbial graphic Twilight Zone experience, Twisted Tales earns three out of five points.

STORY: This issue contains three twisted tales, and to be honest the lead story is my least favorite. “Termites from Mars” is a Goonies-esque adventure, taking place in the 1956 suburban town of Crystal Falls. Jones takes his sweet time establishing his four major players, pre-teens all fulfilling some stereotypical role as the burgeoning adolescent; one plays peeping tom to one of the older girls from school as she changes in front of her bedroom window, another loves racing model trains in the basement, another is the fat, unfortunate comic foil. The lead character, Brian, loves science fiction and is drawn to the premiere of the film Termites from Mars at their local beloved Rialto theater. When the fat kid gets his friends thrown out of the picture, Brian vows to reclaim his stolen pocket knife from their angry, old reclusive neighbor. When the kids run into some gangsters along the way, a cemetery romp results in the lead thug getting mysteriously devoured by, you guessed it, rabid termites. Jones must’ve delighted in the details here, but the story ultimately fell flat with me, as the “twisted” part was severely stunted by the kids’ perpetually innocent perspective, and the overall blissfully average setting.



“Fraternity” is much more engaging; Mr. Soames is a petty, ugly little man that just wants the affection of a woman and flails in the face of constant rejection. When he uses a tragic newspaper headline to elicit the sympathy of a lady, claiming a slain victim was in fact his brother, he finds a modicum of success and develops his strategy into a lucky streak. Unfortunately, he quickly feels that someone is watching him, and when he confronts the shadowy figure, his ghoulish new “brothers” consume him! Short and sweet, I liked this tale for its tongue-in-cheek woe-is-me vibe . . . and it goes to show just how scary the world was before the Internet!



Finally, in “Night Dive,” a down-and-out boat keeper runs into an old high school acquaintance, and in a bid to appear more successful feigns a lifestyle worthy of the local yacht club. When an old man approaches them about finding a sunken treasure, they jump at the chance, and when our boatman kills his acquaintance to claim the treasure for himself, he finds himself a part of another exclusive club, where he does indeed have his own locker . . . right next to Davy Jones’! Hey, I’d take any hell that involves doting mermaids, though, as our anti-hero himself claims, even if they are “frustrating on a date.”

These three twisted tales are so diverse in their subject matter, even if I didn’t like one, I was sure to like one of the others -- which is perhaps exactly what Jones and Eclipse Comics intended with this compilation. For their sheer variety in style and psychological horror, I’m giving this issue a full five points.

ART: Twisted Tales is a writer spotlight, but fortunately the art isn’t too shabby, either, each tale drawn in the way the author might’ve intended, considering the subject matter. “Termites” has a very traditional style, and “Night Dive” is a bit more flamboyant, but “Fraternity” stands out the most, as Scott Saavedra’s pencils are wild, angular, and almost satirical in their flexibility, while still retaining the solid expressionism needed to sympathize with the main character. Honestly, it saves the whole collection from an otherwise unfortunately standard look, so I’ll give the issue as a whole three out of five points.



PACKAGING: Ah, the reason I picked up this issue in the first is its awesome cover by Dave Stevens -- yes, that Dave Stevens, of Rocketeer fame. Just look at that ghoul leaning into some Pat Benatar lookalike -- I was totally intrigued as to what their story might be, but unfortunately this doesn’t reflect any of the issue’s content. Still, the thing is bound in a prestige format, very durable and for the original cover price of $3.95 is a steal, even in 1987. Thanks to Stevens, Twisted Tales earns four out of five points.

TOTAL: Fifteen points, with a solid third of them awarded to the plots themselves -- what else would one expect from a writer’s spotlight? Further, what better way to celebrate Halloween than with the concept of the horror story? I mean, kids can just as easily dress up as pretty princesses and brightly colored superheroes for this hallowed holiday, but many prefer ghouls, monsters, witches, and ghosts. Bruce Jones holds up that mirror and proves, we’re all a little twisted sometimes.

Gone South #1

Halloween has long been my favorite holiday, so I’ve decided to return to reviewing comic books with some regularity this month. Every week this month, I’ll post at least one special Halloween-oriented review, criticizing the issue based on its reverence for this hallowed holiday season through four distinct categories worth up to five points each. The comic that earns the total possible 20 points could be one of the best Halloween issues ever!

Gone South #1, July 2003, Atomic Basement Entertainment
writer: Mike Wellman
pencils: Marc Sandroni
inks: Larry Welch
ink assists: Christi Fischer
lettering/production: Johnny Lowe
cover colors/logo design: Jeff Parker
panel effects: Jon St. John

PREMISE: Spoiler alert! You wouldn’t know it by this issue’s cover, which is also effectively the story’s first panel, but Gone South is about vampires. Rest assured, though, it was about vampires before everything was about vampires, so it’s still cool. Victoria and Sylvia are two good-looking brunettes hiding out in some Podunk southern town -- from what or who, we don’t know yet. I admit, the premise seems a little shaky to sustain this issue as a legitimate focus for Halloween, but hang in there with me as I award Gone South three out of five points here.

STORY: I think writer Mike Wellman knows what he’s doing. The first half of this issue keeps things quiet -- a little too quiet -- as suspense builds around Victoria’s need for “getting some,” despite this backwoods towns’ slim pickings. She accepts the company of a local yokel, Clyde, who despite her insinuations to be alone takes her to his buddy’s house, where “Drunk Dave” and a group of horny hicks drug up a wayward wanna-be actress. Victoria accepts their drugged drinks and drags the ring leader behind closed doors, only to emerge alone and rescue the damsel in distress. She almost spares Clyde for his ignorance but her needs get the better of her, and just when the fangs come out -- Sylvia comes to his rescue! She wipes his mind of the day’s memories, hopefully assuring their privacy. At its best moments, this issue plays like an old Trauma film, its dark comedy exposing the flaws of man so we actually don’t mind seeing a few of them slain just to satiate some creature’s bloodlust. Four out five points!

ART: The art team of Sandori, Welch, and Fischer pull off a very effective black and white issue, with clean lines emphasizing all the right details. The panels are well paced and hit all the right beats. The art is consistent, characteristic of this kind of independent work, and appropriately goth when necessary. Still, mainstream audiences would be drawn to its crisp commercial appeal, as well. Another four out of five points.

PACKAGING: This is a nicely produced independent comic; I remember buying it from Mike at a book fair in Los Angeles a few years ago (along with an issue of his Mac Afro), and I’ve been waiting for the right time to read it. Although the cover would benefit from some more dressing, perhaps to exploit the current vampire trend, the supplemental “vampire glossary” in the back of the issue, defining the physical and psychological class structure of vampires in Wellman’s world, is a nice touch. I’ll mention that my copy has a few off-printed pages, but I know that often isn’t the creators’ intention, so it won’t affect their score of three out of five points.

TOTAL: At fourteen points, I assure you that Gone South #1 is an excellent read all year ‘round. That I only chose to read it now more emphasizes my ridiculous mania with the holiday season (and my inability to flip to the end of an issue so I know what it’s about ahead of time)! Also, considering the mad trend of vampirism in pop culture lately (from the Twilight series to the WB’s The Vampire Diaries to that latest ‘tween-friendly flick The Vampire’s Assistant), I just had to include a vampire-exclusive story in this Halloween series. Fortunately, unlike vampires themselves, it didn’t suck!

Death, Jr. #1

Halloween has long been my favorite holiday, so I’ve decided to return to reviewing comic books with some regularity this month. Every week this month, I’ll post at least one special Halloween-oriented review, criticizing the issue based on its reverence for this hallowed holiday season through four distinct categories worth up to five points each. The comic that earns the total possible 20 points could be one of the best Halloween issues ever!

Death, Jr. #1, April 2005, Image Comics
writer: Gary Whitta
illustrator: Ted Naifeh
editor: Terri Selting

PREMISE: The Grim Reaper has a family. If that isn’t a strong enough pitch for a comic book, television series, or movie, I don’t know what is. In this case, Death, Jr. is a cute little skeleton boy, ignorant of his father’s gritty work and taught to appreciate people for what’s on the inside. This contrast makes for some great conflict in the future, and this initial issue establishes the story’s premise with sharp wit and charm. As an all-ages Halloween concept, I’m giving Death, Jr. a full five points.

STORY: This inaugural issue is Death, Jr.’s first day of school, and, boy, is he excited! I was initially curious how writer Gary Whitta would establish such a strange little character like Death, Jr. in a supposedly “real” world, but at school D.J. meets other odd children, like Pandora, the hollow-eyed girl with a penchant for opening things, Smith and Weston, the conjoined twins that share a brain, and Stigmartha, who bleeds from her hands when she gets nervous. Over half of this first issue is pure character-building and clever wordplay, as D.J. steps out of his comfort zone and learns to “live a little.” Sure, his touch kills the classroom goldfish and withers a bold bully’s good punching hand, but that’s life -- or in this case the life of Death, I suppose! Anyway, I was satisfied with D.J.’s first week of school as the plot, but Whitta kicks it up a notch when the kids go on a field trip to the Museum of Supernatural History and Pandora opens the Necronomicube, a box that releases Moloch, an old nemesis of Death himself. When Moloch discovers his old foe has a child, he hatches a revenge scheme. While I understand the need for a cliffhanger ending, this issue had the potential to be a charming one-shot/teaser for more, so I grant it four out of five points.



ART: In a word, Naifeh’s art is perfect for this issue. His character designs are simple (and would easily translate into animation, which may have been the point) and expressive, reflecting the writer’s both wry and tender tones. Further, he balances the nuances of a regular world with this tale’s more macabre aspects most effectively, from D.J.’s blissful Mrs. Cleaver-ish mother, to a basketball game at the school playground, to Pandora’s visit to Death’s house, which isn’t nearly as “Munsteresque” as she thought. Kids would dig it, and I was enthralled by it. Naifeh’s art earns four points.



PACKAGING: Death, Jr. #1 is a prestige format book (if they still call them that), with a whopping 48 ad-free pages of pure comics goodness, so its original $4.99 price tag isn’t outrageous, especially since some standard singles push that now. The issue definitely didn’t seem to take longer to read than most, either, because the story is so entertaining, especially in the beginning as well paced, more episodic moments establish D.J.’s character and the world around him. However, I take issue (no pun intended) with the cover art. I don’t know if Naifeh is responsible, but for some reason the characters on the cover look more like concept pieces or colored excerpts from a sketchbook, in no way reflecting the charm of the interiors. I wonder if these minimalist images were meant to attract a younger audience; if so, it’s a disservice, because Naifeh’s regular style is surely all age-friendly. Anyway, this discontinuity compels me to award this issue only three points . . .



TOTAL: . . . giving Death, Jr. #1 a total of 17 points! That’s my highest ranked issue so far! Considering the Halloween holiday celebrates kids dressing up in creepy costumes for candy, Death, Jr. just cuts out the costume part, featuring strange little kids that really act no differently than your average brutal youngster. Still, the fact that Death, Jr. must’ve inherited his father’s ability to affect humanity’s mortality . . . its subtly spine-chilling. Uh, just don’t tell his dad I said that.

Goin' APE!

A special thanks to John Parkin from the blog Robot 6 for his detailed article about this year's Alternative Press Expo at Comic Book Resources, and for including some quotes from yours truly! Not to brag, but one of my quotes was actually used as the article's headline!

If anyone is checking out my humble little blog as a result of that article, drop me a line, and I'll happily send you a complimentary copy of my first solo self-published comic, Karaoke Comics #1. Otherwise, the rest of my self-published work can be found at KaraokeFanboy Press -- and don't forget to check out my K.O. Comix buddy Brent's new dogs vs. cats apocalyptic western, Dog Town, too!

APE '09: The Portrait of Two Ladies & The Bourgeois Blues

The Portrait of Two Ladies by Marvin Jackson
The Bourgeois Blues by Ja Liebe

A zine is a many splendored thing, because it has the potential to be or do anything. Some of them analyze pop culture or contribute to the arts by interviewing musicians, reviewing the latest albums and books, or offering editorials on political or social developments. Others are simply multi-faceted pictorial stories and comics, oftentimes using the page or some other canvas as a means for telling a tale more dynamically than the average mainstream funnybook. I’ve seen all of this done effectively, and terribly. When it’s the latter, it’s just a waste of office supplies, but when it’s the former, it’s like a spike strip in the road that unexpectedly throws you off course. In a good way.

The Portrait of Two Ladies and The Bourgeois Blues are two such examples of mind-shaping material, but, I warn you, you have to let it sink in a bit. I’ve picked up material by these authors before at the now defunct Edge of LA Comic Con in Claremont, California, and I was pleased to find them at this year’s Alternative Press Expo -- and even more delighted to chat with them a bit over morning coffee that Sunday morning. Two warm-hearted guys passionate about their craft, Marvin and Ja keep traditional zine making alive with some contemporary analysis of life, liberty, and society, and their zines might either make you really happy to be alive in America, or really angry that the everyman has the right to challenge you about this stuff in the first place.

Now, like with Mike Rios’ War Is Gay, Marvin and Ja assure me that these random smatterings of images are actually linear and coherently connected, so I tried to read the zines that way, versus the temptation to randomly flip through them and enjoy each page like disjointed works of art in some cutting edge museum. I’ll confess, The Portrait of Two Ladies makes more sense to me, as it uses newspaper headlines and pictures to create a consistent contrast that challenges the mind to analyze both concepts differently than their original context intended. I’m particularly drawn to the collage of various newspaper headlines that, when combined, read:

“Do you wish you could walk around in your backyard NAKED? You could amid the stench of death.”

The implications of this Frankenstein headline are truly thought-provoking, as Marvin takes what must’ve been some Life & Times fluff piece and sews it to a serious piece about some sort of international strife. Could such wanton destruction be the only way to achieve such correspondingly visceral freedom? Would it be worth such a high cost? Frankly, I’ll just close the window and wear my birthday suit inside, thank you very much.

The Bourgeois Blues is a combination of similarly displaced headlines and crude drawings -- some of which might make Tim Burton proud, or make even his skin crawl with these little characters’ creepiness. At the very least, one can only imagine the amount of work journalists and graphic designers put into the wording and placement of these headlines in the first place, so for someone like Ja to couple them with sketches of goblins or devil-horned little creatures spins the reverence of the mainstream media on its ear a little bit. These sacred cows are certainly the elephant in the room of these zines.

I look forward to seeing more of these guys’ work around town in the coming months, if the comic con circuit permits. A zine is indeed a many splendored thing, especially when it takes willfully strips away all of the splendor to show you the underbelly of existence.

Superboy #189

Halloween has long been my favorite holiday, so I’ve decided to return to reviewing comic books with some regularity this month. Every week this month, I’ll post at least one special Halloween-oriented review, criticizing the issue based on its reverence for this hallowed holiday season through four distinct categories worth up to five points each. The comic that earns the total possible 20 points could be one of the best Halloween issues ever!

Superboy #189, August 1972, DC Comics

creators uncredited

PREMISE: Just before the planet Krypton exploded, scientist Jor-El rocketed his son to Earth safely, where . . . Oh, everybody knows the “premise” behind Superman. Now, this issue of Superboy (about Superman’s teenaged years, of course) isn’t a Halloween issue per se, but it does feature a curse on the Kent household that retains a definitive creepiness appropriate for this hallowed holiday season. Sure, ghosts and monsters are tangible mascots for Halloween, but let’s not forget the importance of those strange forces in the universe that have it out for man -- the intangible curses and oddities that made The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits so endearing. Still, I’ll give this issue an average three out of five points, until you’re convinced . . .

STORY: Shortly after Superboy receives and extra-sensory projector that allows folks nearby to send mental messages, his father Jonathan is attacked by a noose. Of course, the Boy of Steel saves his dad, who explains that the Kent family was cursed when their ancestor, Judge Julian Kent, was gallows-happy with anyone brought before him in court. Every 50 years, the man of the Kent household is mysteriously hung, so Superboy decides to protect his family to thwart the curse. Unfortunately, other global disasters distract our young hero, though he returns just in time to save Jonathan from a villainous garden hose and an ivy vine, until he realizes that General Zod and the other Kryptonian convicts in the Phantom Zone are using his new extra-sensory projector to manipulate things in the real world. (Ghosts! That’s Halloween-y, right?) The curse is lifted when Superboy destroys the alien device . . . or is it? When a wayward roll of cable wire almost takes out Jonathan at the end of tale, Clark realizes, “. . . there may be dark forces in this world not even I can understand!” “Dark forces” that render even the world’s greatest superhero helpless? Are you scared yet? I give this issue four out of five points for making my fanboy skin crawl.

ART: This issue is drawn is all the campy goodness one might expect from a ‘70s issue of Superboy. I failed to mention the back-up Superbaby story in this issue, which is more notable for its art anyway, as it takes itself a little less seriously than the feature and strikes me as just this side of Mad magazine caliber. I’ll give this issue a three out of five points for the sheer variety.

PACKAGING: This issue’s cover is what inspired me to consider Superboy #189 as a potential Halloween issue in the first place. The silhouette of a hanging Jonathan Kent is frightening -- just take a gander at Superboy’s horrified face. Anything that can freak out the Boy of Steel is worthy of Halloween holiday, don’t you think? Four out of five points, I say!

TOTAL: Superboy leaps the tall expectations of the Halloween season in a single bound with fourteen points, dutifully earned by the creators’ undoubtedly challenging call to generate compelling stories from the hero’s youth that didn’t affect the Superman titles too direly. What, you don’t see it? Just picture an episode of Smallville dedicated to the “Curse of the Hangman’s Noose!” A special Halloween episode starring Tom Welling wrestling with a garden hose? Okay, now that’s scary . . .

APE '09: Will You Marry Me ___?

Will You Marry Me ___? by Nathan Carter

Admittedly, I’ve been making stupid little zines infrequently for years, and what keeps me from embracing the art and hobby whole hog is my ignorance of zine and mini-comics distribution. I’ve dared distribute zines by hand at war protests before, where I thought a charged political crowd would be open to such fringe material, but as suspected they were too consumed with their own cause to consider anyone else’s. When I search on-line, many zine distributors’ sites seem out of date, perhaps folded entirely (no pun intended). It’s enough to give up the practice all together.



Enter Nathan Carter and his zine Will You Marry Me ___?

Nathan takes the bull by the horns and mails you his zines, and all you the reader have to do is send him the stamps. Sure, the zines are single sheets of regular letter-sized paper, but Nathan uses the folds as proverbial page turns so you get at least two little works of art -- again, all for the price of a stamp. I was taken by two of his latest zines at the Alternative Press Expo, and Nathan was kind enough to let me take them both; one is a traditional newspaper/photography collage, the other a little more text-intensive. I appreciate the transparency of both media, as the author expresses feelings of inadequacy and adaptation, though admittedly the former sadly takes less to consume than the latter. Interestingly and ironically, I bet it takes more time to make . . .



. . . which brings me to the final point. Did I mention these zines cost the meager price of a stamp? Yes, for the price of postage, Nathan would mail you a little piece of his soul every month -- and I’m not being melodramatic. That’s what it is, on colored paper, to boot. When he recommended them, you could tell he favored some over others, like any self-criticizing artist, but the consistency is in their availably, and I hope Nathan’s inspiration to continue producing them. I’m excited to think, in this small way, APE will arrive in my mailbox all year long.

And I may consider sending some of it out myself someday . . .