by Voss
from the October, 1979 issue of Heavy Metal
Monday, October 19, 2015
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Book Review: The Talisman
Book Review: 'The Talisman' by Stephen King and Peter Straub
The Talisman first was published in hardcover in 1984. This Berkley paperback was released in November, 1985.
I remember reading this paperback in November / December 1985 and finding that The Talisman was a pretty good book. But its length – 770 pp – made picking it up and re-reading it no small decision, one I didn’t make until now.
So, how does The Talisman hold up when re-read thirty years later ?
The answer is, pretty good, actually. It’s a better novel than most of those that King and Straub have written since the mid-80s…..
As the novel opens, it’s September 15, 1981, and twelve year-old Jack Sawyer is standing on the beach at the resort town of Arcadia Beach, New Hampshire, looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean. His mother, the retired B-Movie actress Lily Cavanaugh, has moved the two of them from their former home in Los Angeles into the nearby Alhambra Inn and Gardens. Lily is unwell, still recovering from the death of her husband – Jack’s father, Phil Sawyer- in a hunting accident.
Lily passes her days in a haze generated by cigarettes and booze, defying the heavy-handed efforts of her husband’s former colleague and business partner, Morgan Sloat, to sign over her share of the business to him.
Troubled and unsure, Jack can only wander the grounds of the off-season resort and hope that his mother’s condition will improve. In a deserted amusement park he meets the local handyman, the elderly 'Speedy' Parker, who hints that a great journey awaits ‘Travelin’ Jack’, a journey that will be marked by no small amount of danger.
According to Speedy, Lily Cavanaugh is very sick– perhaps dying – and saving her life rests on Jack's shoulders. He is tasked with journeying across the entire country to the West Coast of California.....for on the coast, he shall find the Talisman – a magical artifact of great power, an artifact capable of restoring his mother to health.
But the journey to the Talisman will be no conventional road trip. Jack learns that he has the ability to ‘flip’ into an alternate Earth: The Territories, a medieval world where magic and myth co-exist, and his mother’s counterpart – Queen Laura DeLoessian – is seriously ill, and losing her status as ruler of the land.
Morgan Sloat, too, has a counterpart in The Territories: Morgan of Orris, a sadistic tyrant who hopes to usurp the Queen, and turn the world into his own fiefdom. The only obstacle to his ambitions is Jack Sawyer, for unlike Morgan, Jack has the innate ability to unlock the powers held within the Talisman.
As Jack begins his long journey across America, and also across The Territories, he is pursued by Morgan and his minions; the latter include all manner of monsters – some in human form, and some that are not. But they share the same goal: stop Jack Sawyer from gaining the Talisman…….
Despite its length, The Talisman is a reasonably engaging read, one that brings out the best of each author. Although the first 90 or so pages are rather slow going, serving to lay out the backstory and the main characters, after that the narrative gains momentum. Only in the novel's final chapters, with one confrontation after another that goes on too long, does the narrative begin to flag.
What helps The Talisman succeed as a hybrid fantasy / horror novel are the locales and supporting characters Jack Sawyer encounters on his journey West.
An early set of chapters, set in the Western New York town of Oatley, takes the depressing atmosphere of a dying small town and fills it with supernatural threats, in a memorable way that calls to mind William Kennedy doing a horror tale. Anyone who grew up in a small town in Upstate New York will find much to identify with, in this segment of the book.
Then there’s a lengthy interlude involving the Reverend Sunlight Gardner’s Home for Wayward Boys in Indiana; the Reverend is one of the more memorable villains in fantasy / horror literature and this part of The Talisman is also quite engaging.
A section of the book in which Jack (with a plentiful supply of Uzis close at hand) traverses a Badlands filled with monsters, provides some genuinely entertaining action sequences.
Perhaps inevitably for a book of its length,The Talisman isn’t perfect; the less impressive aspects of each author’s writing styles can’t be entirely eliminated.
For King, it’s the inclusion of his stock Magical Negro character, here in the form of Lester ‘Speedy’ Parker, a nameless, blind (of course), elderly black man (of course), blues singer (of course). There also are too many of those mawkish scenes that King specializes in: scenes in which characters look at each other with distraught, tear-stained faces and say ‘I Love You’ before going on to confront whatever evil has been placed in their path.
For Straub, it’s the extended, tedious descriptions of phantasmagorical journeys and encounters – the kind that made the narratives in Ghost Story, Shadowlands, and Floating Dragon (in particular) regularly slow to a crawl - that show up a little too often in The Talisman.
But when all is said and done, The Talisman remains one of the better novels these authors wrote, either alone or in collaboration. It’s well worth picking up, provided you are in the mood for a long read.
(The sequel to The Talisman, 2001’s Black House, is a real disappointment – but that’s another Post for another time………)
4 / 5 Stars
I remember reading this paperback in November / December 1985 and finding that The Talisman was a pretty good book. But its length – 770 pp – made picking it up and re-reading it no small decision, one I didn’t make until now.
So, how does The Talisman hold up when re-read thirty years later ?
The answer is, pretty good, actually. It’s a better novel than most of those that King and Straub have written since the mid-80s…..
As the novel opens, it’s September 15, 1981, and twelve year-old Jack Sawyer is standing on the beach at the resort town of Arcadia Beach, New Hampshire, looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean. His mother, the retired B-Movie actress Lily Cavanaugh, has moved the two of them from their former home in Los Angeles into the nearby Alhambra Inn and Gardens. Lily is unwell, still recovering from the death of her husband – Jack’s father, Phil Sawyer- in a hunting accident.
Lily passes her days in a haze generated by cigarettes and booze, defying the heavy-handed efforts of her husband’s former colleague and business partner, Morgan Sloat, to sign over her share of the business to him.
Troubled and unsure, Jack can only wander the grounds of the off-season resort and hope that his mother’s condition will improve. In a deserted amusement park he meets the local handyman, the elderly 'Speedy' Parker, who hints that a great journey awaits ‘Travelin’ Jack’, a journey that will be marked by no small amount of danger.
According to Speedy, Lily Cavanaugh is very sick– perhaps dying – and saving her life rests on Jack's shoulders. He is tasked with journeying across the entire country to the West Coast of California.....for on the coast, he shall find the Talisman – a magical artifact of great power, an artifact capable of restoring his mother to health.
But the journey to the Talisman will be no conventional road trip. Jack learns that he has the ability to ‘flip’ into an alternate Earth: The Territories, a medieval world where magic and myth co-exist, and his mother’s counterpart – Queen Laura DeLoessian – is seriously ill, and losing her status as ruler of the land.
Morgan Sloat, too, has a counterpart in The Territories: Morgan of Orris, a sadistic tyrant who hopes to usurp the Queen, and turn the world into his own fiefdom. The only obstacle to his ambitions is Jack Sawyer, for unlike Morgan, Jack has the innate ability to unlock the powers held within the Talisman.
As Jack begins his long journey across America, and also across The Territories, he is pursued by Morgan and his minions; the latter include all manner of monsters – some in human form, and some that are not. But they share the same goal: stop Jack Sawyer from gaining the Talisman…….
Despite its length, The Talisman is a reasonably engaging read, one that brings out the best of each author. Although the first 90 or so pages are rather slow going, serving to lay out the backstory and the main characters, after that the narrative gains momentum. Only in the novel's final chapters, with one confrontation after another that goes on too long, does the narrative begin to flag.
What helps The Talisman succeed as a hybrid fantasy / horror novel are the locales and supporting characters Jack Sawyer encounters on his journey West.
An early set of chapters, set in the Western New York town of Oatley, takes the depressing atmosphere of a dying small town and fills it with supernatural threats, in a memorable way that calls to mind William Kennedy doing a horror tale. Anyone who grew up in a small town in Upstate New York will find much to identify with, in this segment of the book.
Then there’s a lengthy interlude involving the Reverend Sunlight Gardner’s Home for Wayward Boys in Indiana; the Reverend is one of the more memorable villains in fantasy / horror literature and this part of The Talisman is also quite engaging.
A section of the book in which Jack (with a plentiful supply of Uzis close at hand) traverses a Badlands filled with monsters, provides some genuinely entertaining action sequences.
Perhaps inevitably for a book of its length,The Talisman isn’t perfect; the less impressive aspects of each author’s writing styles can’t be entirely eliminated.
For King, it’s the inclusion of his stock Magical Negro character, here in the form of Lester ‘Speedy’ Parker, a nameless, blind (of course), elderly black man (of course), blues singer (of course). There also are too many of those mawkish scenes that King specializes in: scenes in which characters look at each other with distraught, tear-stained faces and say ‘I Love You’ before going on to confront whatever evil has been placed in their path.
For Straub, it’s the extended, tedious descriptions of phantasmagorical journeys and encounters – the kind that made the narratives in Ghost Story, Shadowlands, and Floating Dragon (in particular) regularly slow to a crawl - that show up a little too often in The Talisman.
But when all is said and done, The Talisman remains one of the better novels these authors wrote, either alone or in collaboration. It’s well worth picking up, provided you are in the mood for a long read.
(The sequel to The Talisman, 2001’s Black House, is a real disappointment – but that’s another Post for another time………)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Creepy Presents: Alex Toth
Creepy Presents: Alex Toth
New Comic Company / Dark Horse, July 2015
‘Creepy Presents: Alex Toth’ (163 pp) was published in July, 2015 by New Comic Company / Dark Horse.
Alex Toth (1928 – 2006) was a prolific contributor to comic books from DC, Dell, Warren, and Marvel during the interval from the 1950s to the early 80s.
New Comic Company / Dark Horse, July 2015
Alex Toth (1928 – 2006) was a prolific contributor to comic books from DC, Dell, Warren, and Marvel during the interval from the 1950s to the early 80s.
This volume
is the sixth in the ‘Creepy Presents’ / ‘Eerie Presents’ series of compilations
of Warren characters and / or artists. These volumes are well-made hardbound
books, affordably priced.
‘Creepy Presents: Alex Toth’ compiles all the comics Toth did for Creepy and Eerie, from 1965 to 1982. These comics span the horror / sf genre.
In his Forward, Douglas Wolk remarks upon Toth’s approach to graphic art, utilizing a style that can best be described as expressionistic or minimalist, relying heavily on composing his linework around contrasting blocks of black and white – an approach that was arguably well suited for Warren’s magazines. Toth frequently experimented with many aspects of the comic book page, trying out new arrangements of panels, new styles for speech balloons, and portraying characters and their actions in silhouette.
While it’s true that Toth was quite original in the way he composed his art, it’s also true that he was not as skilled nor as accomplished a draftsman as other Warren artists, such as Bernie Wrightson, Russ Heath, Neil Adams, Paul Neary, Esteban Maroto, Alfredo Alcala, and Gonzalo Mayo.
For a lot of his Warren pieces, Toth’s work has a rushed, almost crude quality to it, and his use of pop-art and op-art techniques – such as for the story ‘Ensnared !’ – come across as more of an effort to meet deadlines, and move on to the next paying assignment, than very deliberate and crafted efforts to stretch the boundaries of graphic art.
Occasionally Toth was able to produce some memorable artwork equivalent to that of the best comic book art draftsmen, particularly his ‘Gothic’ pieces such as ‘Proof Positive’, ‘The Hacker is Back’, and ‘The Hacker’s Last Stand’.
Summing up, there are other Warren artists who - arguably - deserve their own showcase in the ‘Creepy Presents’ series much more than Toth does. I can’t rate this as a ‘must-have’, unless you are determined to collect all the volumes in the series, or are a diehard fan of Toth’s artwork.
In his Forward, Douglas Wolk remarks upon Toth’s approach to graphic art, utilizing a style that can best be described as expressionistic or minimalist, relying heavily on composing his linework around contrasting blocks of black and white – an approach that was arguably well suited for Warren’s magazines. Toth frequently experimented with many aspects of the comic book page, trying out new arrangements of panels, new styles for speech balloons, and portraying characters and their actions in silhouette.
For a lot of his Warren pieces, Toth’s work has a rushed, almost crude quality to it, and his use of pop-art and op-art techniques – such as for the story ‘Ensnared !’ – come across as more of an effort to meet deadlines, and move on to the next paying assignment, than very deliberate and crafted efforts to stretch the boundaries of graphic art.
Summing up, there are other Warren artists who - arguably - deserve their own showcase in the ‘Creepy Presents’ series much more than Toth does. I can’t rate this as a ‘must-have’, unless you are determined to collect all the volumes in the series, or are a diehard fan of Toth’s artwork.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
The Possession of Jenny Christopher
The Possession of Jenny Christopher
script by Doug Moench, art by Sonny Trinidad
from The Haunt of Horror (Marvel / Curtis) No. 5, January 1975
It may be that Moench was channeling Abby with 'The Possession of Jenny Christopher', featuring Marvel's 'exorcist' supreme, Gabriel the Devil-Hunter, investigating a case of demonic possession in a black family living in a public housing project in New York City.
The story has a downbeat, depressing tenor that is reinforced by its opening sequence of the trashed and decrepit confines of the ghetto.
This certainly was an offbeat and unconventional setting for a horror story, but Moench upped the ante with a very politically incorrect depiction of a possessed infant that spews racial vitriol....!
script by Doug Moench, art by Sonny Trinidad
from The Haunt of Horror (Marvel / Curtis) No. 5, January 1975
Marvel's black and white, horror-themed comic magazines were by and large a mediocre lot. Doug Moench was the [overworked] writer for a lot of these issues during the early- to - mid 70s, and his plots, unsurprisingly, tended to have a perfunctory quality.
However, every once in a while he would display some offbeat, quirky originality that led to stories that were truly weird - stories that you wouldn't see in the Warren or Skywald magazines.
One such tale is 'The Possession of Jenny Christopher', which appeared in The Haunt of Horror No. 5, which was on stands in the Fall of 1974. At that time the fascination with demonic possession engendered by The Exorcist (1973) was still a major part of pop culture.
It didn't take long for Blaxploitation cinema to do its own take on The Exorcist, in the form of the 1974 movie Abby, in which a young black woman is possessed by a demon from Nigeria.
The story has a downbeat, depressing tenor that is reinforced by its opening sequence of the trashed and decrepit confines of the ghetto.
This certainly was an offbeat and unconventional setting for a horror story, but Moench upped the ante with a very politically incorrect depiction of a possessed infant that spews racial vitriol....!
It's hard to imagine any comic at any major publisher getting away with this type of far-out, crazy stuff nowadays......which is why 'The Possession of Jenny Christopher' is a rare gem from the Curtis horror magazine era.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Book Review: Death Cloud
Book Review: 'Death Cloud' by Michael Mannion
3 / 5 Stars
'Death Cloud' was first published in the UK in 1976; this New English Library paperback version (160 pp) was released in September 1977, and features a memorable cover illustration by Tim White:
The novel is set in the mid-70s in the small college town of Dorchester, Pennsylvania, not far from Pittsburgh. Newlyweds Paul McLain and his wife Denise have moved to Dorchester in order for Paul to begin graduate school at the University located there.
Paul and his wife enjoy the rural character of the town and the abundant Fall foliage. But as they settle into life as a married couple, they begin to notice some unpleasant aspects of life in Dorchester.....the nasty smell in the air generated by the factories, and, in the outskirts of town, a strange black cloud that hangs low in the air, bringing with it a dark fog and temperatures noticeably warmer than the ambient air.
When an elderly neighbor nearly dies from a respiratory attack brought on by the appearance of the black fog, Paul decides to team up with Kevin Campbell, a young faculty member and environmental scientist, to investigate the nature of the black cloud. This soon brings them into conflict with the powers that be in Dorchester: wealthy industrialists and businessmen who stand to lose their profits should action be taken to curtail factory output to reduce pollution.
Disheartened by the hostility of the town fathers, Paul McLain resolves to abandon his scientific inquiries into the black cloud and focus on finishing his graduate studies. But he finds the threat of the cloud is impossible to ignore once its thick, choking fogs begin to smother Dorchester with increasing regularity........and soon, even the healthiest of the town's residents will come to know the special fear that comes with the arrival of the Death Cloud....
'Death Cloud' is one of those quintessential New English Library volumes from the 70s that takes an interesting premise, and does just enough with it to get by.
Much of Michael Mannion's narrative is taken up with exploring the emotional and psychological travails of Paul McLain and his wife, who fears that his efforts to alert the community to the dangers of pollution will lead to his expulsion from the University. There are frequent scenes of marital arguments, tearful make-up sessions, followed in due course by another round of arguments.
The eponymous Cloud is more of an abstract, vaguely realized plot device driving the actions of the characters, than a scientific exploration of environmental disaster. This tends to make the middle sections of the novel slow going, even given the book's comparatively short length.
'Death Cloud' does partly redeem itself in the closing chapters, as calamity approaches Dorchester and Paul McLain and his fellow activists find themselves engaged in desperate struggle to warn the town and its skeptical leaders. Mannion's handling of the plot is at its best in these closing chapters, which are modeled to some extent on the real life Eco-disaster that took place in the town of Donora, Pennsylvania, in 1948.
Street scene in Donora, Pennsylvania during the smog disaster of October 1948
The verdict ? As a 70s Eco-disaster novel, 'Death Cloud' is passable, if not particularly memorable. It's worth picking up if you happen to see a copy on the shelves of your favorite used bookstore, but I can't recommend making a special effort to search it out.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Heavy Metal magazine October 1985
'Heavy Metal' magazine October 1985
October, 1985, and on FM radio, Sunset Grill, by Don Henley, is in heavy rotation. The song, which I consider one of Henley's best ever, was a track on his 1984 album Building the Perfect Beast. Released as a single in 1985, it got as high as number 22 on the Hot 100 chart in October, 1985.
According to Henley, the song was about ".....the disappearance of a certain way of life and of doing business and of people relating to each other on a one-to-one, personal level....It's about living in a world of corporations and franchises. The small shopkeeper in the city is being put out of business."
The October 1985 issue of Heavy Metal magazine is on the stands.....with a cheesecake cover by Greg Hildebrant.
The contents of this issue make clear the ongoing trend by the editorial staff to shift the magazine's focus from high-quality sf and fantasy material, and more into cartoony, softcore porn.......'Mara's Edge' by Riggenberg and Knight, Jr., and 'Slot Machine' by Altuna, being good examples. The October 1985 issue is a far cry from the outstanding H. P. Lovecraft-themed issue of October 1979.........
There still is some worthwhile material in the magazine: 'Weird Soup', by Nicola Cuti, another installment of 'Rebel' by Pepe Moreno, and 'Timescooter' by Juan Gimenez.
'Timescooter' is posted below.
October, 1985, and on FM radio, Sunset Grill, by Don Henley, is in heavy rotation. The song, which I consider one of Henley's best ever, was a track on his 1984 album Building the Perfect Beast. Released as a single in 1985, it got as high as number 22 on the Hot 100 chart in October, 1985.
According to Henley, the song was about ".....the disappearance of a certain way of life and of doing business and of people relating to each other on a one-to-one, personal level....It's about living in a world of corporations and franchises. The small shopkeeper in the city is being put out of business."
The October 1985 issue of Heavy Metal magazine is on the stands.....with a cheesecake cover by Greg Hildebrant.
The contents of this issue make clear the ongoing trend by the editorial staff to shift the magazine's focus from high-quality sf and fantasy material, and more into cartoony, softcore porn.......'Mara's Edge' by Riggenberg and Knight, Jr., and 'Slot Machine' by Altuna, being good examples. The October 1985 issue is a far cry from the outstanding H. P. Lovecraft-themed issue of October 1979.........
There still is some worthwhile material in the magazine: 'Weird Soup', by Nicola Cuti, another installment of 'Rebel' by Pepe Moreno, and 'Timescooter' by Juan Gimenez.
'Timescooter' is posted below.
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