Tales Of Terror Annuals

Horror from the 1950s!

Here, with covers by Al Feldstein, are the three EC annuals for Tales Of Terror...and, horror of horrors, each issue could be different, as they just contained bound volumes of 4 unsold EC issues from 1951, 1952 and 1953!

Happy Columbus Day

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue....and in September, 1992, Dark Horse gave us this tome, Columbus, by Starlen Baxter and Jack Jackson...

...with a cover by Sam Yeates, covering the historical significance of Christopher Columbus' journey across the Atlantic Ocean to help introduce his generation to the Americas.

Celebrating Artist Jim Starlin

Celebrating the birthday of writer/artist Jim Starlin (October 9, 1949) with a special edition...of Warlock, that is.

Adam Warlock was a character that started as "Him" in the Fantastic Four and Thor, finding his way to his own series, with adventures on a Counter-Earth...at least for a bit.  Then, Jim Starlin worked on Warlock in Strange Tales and soon a revival series, making Warlock a little more cosmic, introducing allies such as Pip the Troll and Gamora, as well as facing foes like the Magus, Thanos, the In-Betweener, the Gardner, the Stranger...and cancellation.  This epic wrapped up (after a detour to Marvel Team-Up) in Avengers Annual and Marvel Two-In-One Annual in the 1970s.

In the 1980s, Marvel, cashing in on the high quality Baxter reprints, reprinted this saga, but with the wraparound covers. as seen below!

Warlock #1 (December, 1982)

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Warlock #2 (January, 1983)

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Warlock #3 (February, 1983)

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Warlock #4 (March, 1983)

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Warlock #5 (April, 1983)

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Warlock #6 (May, 1983)

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Marvel Masters Of Terror

From a time in the 1970s, when Marvel was making magazines, comes these two issues entitled Masters Of Terror, all under the editing of Tony Isabella, who usually gave a page on an original writer in the issue, taking classic tales of horror, and presenting them in comic style.

Masters Of Terror #1 (July, 1975)

In the first issue, with a cover by Gray Morrow, are stories of "It!" by Theordore Sturgeon (adapted by Roy Thomas), with art by Marie Severin and Frank Giacoia, "The Horror From The Mound!" by Robert E. Howard (adapted by Gardner Fox) with art by Frank Brunner, "The Terrible Old Man!" by Robert E. Howard (adapted by Roy Thomas) with art by Barry Windsor-Smith, Dan Adkins and John Verpoorten, "The Drifting Snow" by August Derleth (adapted by Tony Isabella) with art by Esteban Maroto, "The Shambler From The Stars" by Robert Bloch (adapted by Ron Goulart) with art by Jim Starlin and Tom Palmer and "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" by Robert Bloch (adapted by Roy Thomas and Ron Goulart) with art by Gil Kane and Ralph Reese, plus some cartoons and horror history!

Masters Of Terror #2 (September, 1975)

The second issue, with a cover by Dan Adkins, contained stories of "The Invisible Man" by H. G. Wells (adapted by Ron Goulart) with art by Dan Adkins and Val Mayerik, "The Man Who Cried Werewolf" by Robert Bloch (adapted by Gerry Conway), with art by Pablo Marcos, "Dig Me No Grave" by Robert E. Howard (adapted by Roy Thomas) with art by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer, "The Music Of Erich Zann" by H. P. Lovecraft (adapted by Roy Thomas) with art by Johnny Craig and Dan Adkins, "Pickman's Model" by H. P. Lovecraft (adapted by Roy Thomas) with art by Tom Palmer, and "The Roaches" by Thomas M. Disch (adapted by Gerry Conway) with art by Ralph Reese, with creepy cartoons and historical articles as well.

Dealing With The Joker

Back in the later 1960s, Joker had just become another clown that Batman faced.

But, he was due for a revival in a big way, and here is a look at two of the issues that established the new normal (if Joker could ever be considered normal) for the Clown Prince Of Crime well until the Crisis On Infinite Earths...

The Joker's Five-Way Revenge

Here, in Batman #251 (September, 1973), by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams, this team did to the Joker what they had been doing with the Batman...took him back to his roots.  While still having the clown motif, Joker was also shown to be much more of a homicidal killer as he methodically worked his way through 5 of his ex-henchmen.

Also important here, is that the Joker establishes that he enjoys his battles with the Batman...

Death Has The Last Laugh

In Brave and the Bold #111 (February-March, 1974) by Bob Haney and Jim Aparo, the unlikely idea that Batman and Joker team up happens (especially with the new norm just established in the Joker's last appearance above).  Still, it happens, as Joker lets Batman know that he was innocent of murdering a family, and the two work together to find the killer.

Still, as always, the two spar and there's a twist at the end.

But these two appearances set a tone for the Joker, as well as giving him more comic exposure, leading to the introduction of Arkham Asylum in Batman #258 (October, 1974) where a Two-Face rivalry was established, as well as Joker's 9 issue series which kept the Joker in the public eye...but, sadly, the Joker series ended before its tenth issue could be published due to low sales, because the series missed one important fact...the Joker needs Batman to be successful, it was their epic battles fans wanted, not just the Joker's murderous mirth.

Remembering Artist Ramona Fradon

Remembering artist Ramona Fradon on her birthday (October 2, 1926 - February 24, 2024) with these two spooky covers to Super Friends...#10 (Febraury-March, 1978) where the Super Friends face off against a monstrous looking batch of characters and #28 (January, 1980) where the Super Friends face off against Bizarro, Swamp Thing, the Demon Solomon Grundy and Man-Bat...or so it seems.

Halloween Terror

Couldn't find much information on this issue from Malibu Comics in September, 1990...

,,.but what better way to start off October than with a little Halloween Terror?