from the January, 1985 issue of Heavy Metal magazine
Monday, November 9, 2015
Friday, November 6, 2015
Blackmark: The Mind Demons
Blackmark: The Mind Demons
by Gil Kane
Marvel Preview No. 17, Winter 1979
An argument can be made that in 1971, Gil Kane published the very first 'graphic novel' with Blackmark, a Bantam Books paperback. The book combined text, pictures, and speech balloons into a hybrid creation, one that was novel, but also one that retailers found difficult to categorize. For this and other reasons, Kane's sequel, 'The Mind Demons', although ready for print after Blackmark was released, remained unpublished until 1979, when Marvel published it in Marvel Preview.
[A trade paperback containing both Blackmark, The Mind Demons, and assorted bonus material was released by Fantagraphics in 2002]
It's helpful, but not absolutely necessary, to have read Blackmark before taking on The Mind Demons. As the latter opens, our hero, the eponymous young Master of New Earth, is using his martial skills to persuade petty warlords and princelings to join his forces residing at the Silvertower castle.
'The Mind Demons' probably will seem rather tame to modern readers, but its storyline is reasonably engaging and devoid of the inflated sense of self-importance that characterizes a lot of graphic novels / comic books nowadays.
Its artwork is worth a look, mainly because Gil Kane - who labored off and on with Blackmark, in between taking the freelance assignments for Marvel that paid his bills - had to confront, and overcome, limitations in printing technology and book layout. Blackmark was a 6 x 9 inch mass-market paperback book, after all, and not the 8 1/2 x 11 inch format of the Marvel Graphic Novels of the 1980s. And Kane was printing his book in black and white, Zip-A-Tone, and graytone, not color.
With Blackmark and The Mind Demons he was creating something entirely new, and there was no template to follow. Yet despite those limitations, he was able to impart some visual style and dynamism to the pages of his 'graphic novel', which comes out quite well in the 10 x 8 inch magazine dimensions of Marvel Preview.
Summing up, anyone with an interest in the graphic novel, comic book art, and illustration art will want to pick up the 2002 compilation volume of Blackmark and The Mind Demons from Fantagraphics. Although out of print, used copies in good condition can be had for reasonable prices.
by Gil Kane
Marvel Preview No. 17, Winter 1979
An argument can be made that in 1971, Gil Kane published the very first 'graphic novel' with Blackmark, a Bantam Books paperback. The book combined text, pictures, and speech balloons into a hybrid creation, one that was novel, but also one that retailers found difficult to categorize. For this and other reasons, Kane's sequel, 'The Mind Demons', although ready for print after Blackmark was released, remained unpublished until 1979, when Marvel published it in Marvel Preview.
[A trade paperback containing both Blackmark, The Mind Demons, and assorted bonus material was released by Fantagraphics in 2002]
But Blackmark's efforts to forge a united New Earth Army are given added urgency by an ominous report from the castle of Lord Shannux: a horde of flying demons has routed the defenders and massacred most of the castle's inhabitants.
The source of the demons ? Psi-Keep, the remote redoubt of the Mutant Lords....a cabal of evil wizards determined to stamp out mankind from the face of New Earth.
Can ancient science be resurrected in time to aid Blackmark in his quest against the demons and their masters ? Will he survive the treacherous passage through the frozen wastes of the northlands and confront the mutant lords in Psi-Keep ? Or will Blackmark fail...and with that failure bring down the last age of Man......... !?
Its artwork is worth a look, mainly because Gil Kane - who labored off and on with Blackmark, in between taking the freelance assignments for Marvel that paid his bills - had to confront, and overcome, limitations in printing technology and book layout. Blackmark was a 6 x 9 inch mass-market paperback book, after all, and not the 8 1/2 x 11 inch format of the Marvel Graphic Novels of the 1980s. And Kane was printing his book in black and white, Zip-A-Tone, and graytone, not color.
With Blackmark and The Mind Demons he was creating something entirely new, and there was no template to follow. Yet despite those limitations, he was able to impart some visual style and dynamism to the pages of his 'graphic novel', which comes out quite well in the 10 x 8 inch magazine dimensions of Marvel Preview.
Summing up, anyone with an interest in the graphic novel, comic book art, and illustration art will want to pick up the 2002 compilation volume of Blackmark and The Mind Demons from Fantagraphics. Although out of print, used copies in good condition can be had for reasonable prices.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Book Review: The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series III
Book Review: 'The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series III'
edited by Richard Davis
4 / 5 Stars
‘The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series III’ (173 pp) was published in July 1975. It is DAW Book No. 155. The cover artwork is by Michael Whelan.
Some of the stories in this volume were commissioned, while the rest previously were printed in the interval 1968 – 1974.
This is one of the better volumes in this series, perhaps because editor Davis didn’t share the affinity for ‘quiet’ horror shared by later editors Gerald W. Page and Karl Edward Wagner. Davis was more interested in unusual, offbeat treatments of horror themes.
My capsule reviews of the contents:
The Whimper of Whipped Dogs, by Harlan Ellison: vintage Ellison. An examination of the dehumanizing effect of city life.
The Man in the Underpass, by Ramsey Campbell: this tale features Campbell’s oblique and labored approach to crafting a narrative; however, his purple prose is under restraint, a state of affairs that – unfortunately - evaporated as his writing career progressed……in this story, a provocative bit of graffiti makes Liverpool schoolgirls uneasy.
S. F., by T. E. D. Klein: in the year 2039, people wear metal caps. The why, and wherefore, is not associated with fashion ………
Uncle Vlad, by Clive Sinclair: this story was originally published in ‘Transatlantic Review’, a highbrow journal of fiction and criticism. The story lumbers along – one sentence reads: Our family is jealous of its dark arboreal rebus. But it has a vampire-themed, creepy undertone that emerges despite its onslaught of florid prose.
Judas Story, by Brian M. Stableford: overwrought tale of a rock star whose success comes with a price.
The House of Cthulhu, by Brian Lumley: competent Mythos tale by Lumley.
Satanesque, by Alan Weiss: this tale starts out as seemingly yet another tired allegory on the theme of a backward community’s hate and fear of The Other. But then the plot takes an offbeat, and unexpected, turn. One of the best entries in this anthology.
Burger Creature, by Steven Chapman: in a greasy-spoon burger joint, a strange new Life Form arises. More about satirical humor than horror.
Wake Up Dead, by Tim Stout: mad scientist tale with a hint of dieselpunk flavor.
Forget-Me-Not, by Bernard Taylor: a young American girl living in London espies the deserted house that once belonged to a serial killer.
Halloween Story, by Gregory Fitz Gerald: surreal tale of a young woman who experiences an unusual Halloween. Too contrived to be effective.
Big Wide, Wonderful World, by Charles E. Fritch: four chums decide on an impromptu experiment, with unpleasant results. Barely three pages long, this is a memorable tale, and an example of how to write a great short-short story.
The Taste of Your Love, by Eddy C. Bertin: a serial killer seeks his next victim among the swinging Mediterranean party scene of the early 70s. Another shorter-length story that delivers a great ending, and another of this anthology’s better entries.
Summing up, copies of ‘The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series III’ are long out of print and fetch higher prices than most paperbacks in the used bookstore shelves, but if you can find one for an affordable price, it’s well worth picking up.
edited by Richard Davis
‘The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series III’ (173 pp) was published in July 1975. It is DAW Book No. 155. The cover artwork is by Michael Whelan.
Some of the stories in this volume were commissioned, while the rest previously were printed in the interval 1968 – 1974.
This is one of the better volumes in this series, perhaps because editor Davis didn’t share the affinity for ‘quiet’ horror shared by later editors Gerald W. Page and Karl Edward Wagner. Davis was more interested in unusual, offbeat treatments of horror themes.
My capsule reviews of the contents:
The Whimper of Whipped Dogs, by Harlan Ellison: vintage Ellison. An examination of the dehumanizing effect of city life.
The Man in the Underpass, by Ramsey Campbell: this tale features Campbell’s oblique and labored approach to crafting a narrative; however, his purple prose is under restraint, a state of affairs that – unfortunately - evaporated as his writing career progressed……in this story, a provocative bit of graffiti makes Liverpool schoolgirls uneasy.
S. F., by T. E. D. Klein: in the year 2039, people wear metal caps. The why, and wherefore, is not associated with fashion ………
Uncle Vlad, by Clive Sinclair: this story was originally published in ‘Transatlantic Review’, a highbrow journal of fiction and criticism. The story lumbers along – one sentence reads: Our family is jealous of its dark arboreal rebus. But it has a vampire-themed, creepy undertone that emerges despite its onslaught of florid prose.
Judas Story, by Brian M. Stableford: overwrought tale of a rock star whose success comes with a price.
The House of Cthulhu, by Brian Lumley: competent Mythos tale by Lumley.
Satanesque, by Alan Weiss: this tale starts out as seemingly yet another tired allegory on the theme of a backward community’s hate and fear of The Other. But then the plot takes an offbeat, and unexpected, turn. One of the best entries in this anthology.
Burger Creature, by Steven Chapman: in a greasy-spoon burger joint, a strange new Life Form arises. More about satirical humor than horror.
Wake Up Dead, by Tim Stout: mad scientist tale with a hint of dieselpunk flavor.
Forget-Me-Not, by Bernard Taylor: a young American girl living in London espies the deserted house that once belonged to a serial killer.
Halloween Story, by Gregory Fitz Gerald: surreal tale of a young woman who experiences an unusual Halloween. Too contrived to be effective.
Big Wide, Wonderful World, by Charles E. Fritch: four chums decide on an impromptu experiment, with unpleasant results. Barely three pages long, this is a memorable tale, and an example of how to write a great short-short story.
The Taste of Your Love, by Eddy C. Bertin: a serial killer seeks his next victim among the swinging Mediterranean party scene of the early 70s. Another shorter-length story that delivers a great ending, and another of this anthology’s better entries.
Summing up, copies of ‘The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series III’ are long out of print and fetch higher prices than most paperbacks in the used bookstore shelves, but if you can find one for an affordable price, it’s well worth picking up.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Book Review: Eat Them Alive
Book Review: 'Eat Them Alive' by Pierce Nace
0 / 5 Stars
'Eat Them Alive' (253 pp) was published by Manor Books in 1977. It also was published in the UK as a paperback, under the New English Library imprint.
Over the decades since its publication, 'Eat Them Alive' has taken on a consecrated quality among devotees of trash fiction, and Paperbacks from Hell. This attitude is reinforced by the book's rarity, which means copies in very good condition have asking prices well over $200. Those with the good fortune to possess a copy (like me) are, whether they know it or not, hierarchs in the cult of Paperback Fanatics..........
'Eat Them Alive' (253 pp) was published by Manor Books in 1977. It also was published in the UK as a paperback, under the New English Library imprint.
According to this 2022 article, 'Pierce Nace' was the pseudonym used by Evelyn Pierce Nace, a Pampa, Texas matron and bible school teacher who wrote columns for the local newspaper. Starting in 1946, Nace published many short stories, and over 40 novels, in different genres (including 'erotica' !) although few Pampa residents were aware of the totality of her output.
'Eat Them Alive' was published when the genre of Splatterpunk didn't really exist. But it certainly is Splatterpunk, one of the progenitor novels of the genre. Whether it's a good Splatter punk novel is open to question. Google this book and you'll get a range of opinions, most of which are not overly complimentary:
Have lots of Brain Bleach ready for when, and if, you read this. (TV Tropes).
Truly, mesmerising in it's splendid awfulness ! (Vault of Evil comments section)
Most violent book I've read, I think, although Apache Death comes close. Stupid and nihilstic, with no artistic redeeming features. (Vault of Evil comments section)
...this book succeeded in making me giggle hysterically on the train into work providing my fellow commuters with the edifying sight of a sober suited gent biting his hand while reading a book whose cover depicted a blood-stained insect chewing a gobbet of flesh. (Trash City)
Good writing is something else you really shouldn’t expect. Pierce Nace’s prose is crude and often repetitive (to the point that I frequently wondered if I was rereading portions of the book I’d already covered), but delivers where it counts. (fright.com reviews)
This book is just plain gross. All the scenes of the mantises eating people are rendered in loving, bloody detail, sometimes going on for several pages. Heck, even the non-mantis violence is graphic and cruel, such as the thieves' slow torture of the man they rob. And there are exactly no likable characters. Everyone is a sadistic jerk, an idiot or a cypher. And yet I eat it up (no pun intended). (Horror by Candlelight reviews)
Forget Guy Smith's The Sucking Pit. Forget Spawn and Slugs and Piranha and Slimer. And forget all the other tacky novels you can think of. Because none come close to this......it's the bloodiest, nastiest, most sadistic, go-for-broke gore novel in existence......Those who despise Hutson and Smith and the rest of the gratuitous gore merchants will lose their lunch to this, but the gorehounds will lap it up and it will end up one of the most reread books in their library. (Dawtrina.com reviews)
The book's plot is a uniquely contrived one. As the novel opens, protagonist Dyke Mellis is eking out a meager existence as a trader in the Caribbean islands off the coast of Colombia. Dyke is a bitter man, the result of a botched murder and robbery he committed along with four other associates eleven years previously....a murder and robbery that left Dyke castrated (!) and dying on the sandy wastelands of Texas.
Only the intervention of a kindly Mexican couple, who retrieved Dyke's bleeding half-dead body from the desert and nursed him back to health, saved him from death.
Dyke's every waking hours are consumed with angst over his mutilated state, and a desire to revenge himself on his four former associates.
But Dyke's musings are put on hold when, while out at sea, he witnesses a massive earthquake, one that tears gigantic fissures in the nearby island of Malpelo. To Dyke's astonishment, once the quake subsides, giant, man-sized praying mantises (!) emerge from the fissures and instantly go into a frenzy of cannibalism (!).
However, once he recovers from his shock at this violent spectacle, Dyke begins to scheme....an audacious scheme, at that. For Dyke Mellis is going to train the largest and most vicious of the mantids of Malpelo Island to be his pet killer.
And then Dyke and his pet mantid Slayer are going to embark on Dyke's long-sought quest for vengeance.....for his four former associates all reside in Colombia. And they have no idea that Dyke's plans call for each of them....TO BE EATEN ALIVE !
Reading 'Eat' was a considerable chore. This is due to two things:
1. The author's prose skills barely are those of a junior high-age writer. Awkward (or even nonexistent) syntax vies with pulp-style dialogue on every page. Here's a sample of the dialogue between Dyke Mellis and his pet mantid, Slayer:
Dyke said, "Good boy, Slayer. You do understand my orders, don't you ? And you will lead the mantises in my avenging destruction. The people-meat you will eat at Pete Stuart's house will be the sweetest you ever tasted. And the blood will be the reddest, the fastest-flowing, the best of all your blood-drinks."
2. Most of the novel consists of highly explicit, almost pornographic descriptions of the processes by which Slayer and the other mantises devour their screaming victims, with Dyke Mellis looking on in a state of sexual excitement. This stuff loses its shock value after it's replayed for the 7th time......
Summing up, if you are adamant that you read one of the most gory, offensive, schlock-worthy pieces of horror fiction / sci-fi ever written, then, you'll want your own copy of 'Eat Them Alive'. But if you decide to pass, you're not missing much........!
Have lots of Brain Bleach ready for when, and if, you read this. (TV Tropes).
Truly, mesmerising in it's splendid awfulness ! (Vault of Evil comments section)
Most violent book I've read, I think, although Apache Death comes close. Stupid and nihilstic, with no artistic redeeming features. (Vault of Evil comments section)
...this book succeeded in making me giggle hysterically on the train into work providing my fellow commuters with the edifying sight of a sober suited gent biting his hand while reading a book whose cover depicted a blood-stained insect chewing a gobbet of flesh. (Trash City)
Good writing is something else you really shouldn’t expect. Pierce Nace’s prose is crude and often repetitive (to the point that I frequently wondered if I was rereading portions of the book I’d already covered), but delivers where it counts. (fright.com reviews)
This book is just plain gross. All the scenes of the mantises eating people are rendered in loving, bloody detail, sometimes going on for several pages. Heck, even the non-mantis violence is graphic and cruel, such as the thieves' slow torture of the man they rob. And there are exactly no likable characters. Everyone is a sadistic jerk, an idiot or a cypher. And yet I eat it up (no pun intended). (Horror by Candlelight reviews)
Forget Guy Smith's The Sucking Pit. Forget Spawn and Slugs and Piranha and Slimer. And forget all the other tacky novels you can think of. Because none come close to this......it's the bloodiest, nastiest, most sadistic, go-for-broke gore novel in existence......Those who despise Hutson and Smith and the rest of the gratuitous gore merchants will lose their lunch to this, but the gorehounds will lap it up and it will end up one of the most reread books in their library. (Dawtrina.com reviews)
The book's plot is a uniquely contrived one. As the novel opens, protagonist Dyke Mellis is eking out a meager existence as a trader in the Caribbean islands off the coast of Colombia. Dyke is a bitter man, the result of a botched murder and robbery he committed along with four other associates eleven years previously....a murder and robbery that left Dyke castrated (!) and dying on the sandy wastelands of Texas.
Only the intervention of a kindly Mexican couple, who retrieved Dyke's bleeding half-dead body from the desert and nursed him back to health, saved him from death.
Dyke's every waking hours are consumed with angst over his mutilated state, and a desire to revenge himself on his four former associates.
But Dyke's musings are put on hold when, while out at sea, he witnesses a massive earthquake, one that tears gigantic fissures in the nearby island of Malpelo. To Dyke's astonishment, once the quake subsides, giant, man-sized praying mantises (!) emerge from the fissures and instantly go into a frenzy of cannibalism (!).
However, once he recovers from his shock at this violent spectacle, Dyke begins to scheme....an audacious scheme, at that. For Dyke Mellis is going to train the largest and most vicious of the mantids of Malpelo Island to be his pet killer.
And then Dyke and his pet mantid Slayer are going to embark on Dyke's long-sought quest for vengeance.....for his four former associates all reside in Colombia. And they have no idea that Dyke's plans call for each of them....TO BE EATEN ALIVE !
Reading 'Eat' was a considerable chore. This is due to two things:
1. The author's prose skills barely are those of a junior high-age writer. Awkward (or even nonexistent) syntax vies with pulp-style dialogue on every page. Here's a sample of the dialogue between Dyke Mellis and his pet mantid, Slayer:
Dyke said, "Good boy, Slayer. You do understand my orders, don't you ? And you will lead the mantises in my avenging destruction. The people-meat you will eat at Pete Stuart's house will be the sweetest you ever tasted. And the blood will be the reddest, the fastest-flowing, the best of all your blood-drinks."
2. Most of the novel consists of highly explicit, almost pornographic descriptions of the processes by which Slayer and the other mantises devour their screaming victims, with Dyke Mellis looking on in a state of sexual excitement. This stuff loses its shock value after it's replayed for the 7th time......
Summing up, if you are adamant that you read one of the most gory, offensive, schlock-worthy pieces of horror fiction / sci-fi ever written, then, you'll want your own copy of 'Eat Them Alive'. But if you decide to pass, you're not missing much........!
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Wings in the Night Part Two
Solomon Kane: 'Wings in the Night'
Part Two
by Don Glut (story) and David Wenzel (art)
The Savage Sword of Conan No. 54 (July 1980)
Part Two
by Don Glut (story) and David Wenzel (art)
The Savage Sword of Conan No. 54 (July 1980)
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Wings in the Night Part One
Solomon Kane: 'Wings in the Night'
Part One
by Don Glut (story) and David Wenzel (art)
The Savage Sword of Conan No. 53 (June 1980)
Part One
by Don Glut (story) and David Wenzel (art)
The Savage Sword of Conan No. 53 (June 1980)
Robert E. Howard published the story 'Wings in the Night' in the July, 1932 issue of Weird Tales magazine. In 1980, Don Glut and David Wenzel teamed up to produce the story in comic form as a two-part backup feature in the June and July, 1980 issues of the Marvel / Curtis magazine The Savage Sword of Conan.
'Wings', which is a Solomon Kane adventure set in Africa, is one of Howard's most effective and memorable horror stories. The story opens with Kane coming upon a bound and dying man who, despite being horribly mutilated, can still speak....
Kane then comes upon a village beset by vicious, winged predators; he attempts to intervene, but this not a conventional 'hero' story where Good Triumphs over Evil........
Glut's script avoids padding or embellishing the original story, making the wise decision to let Howard's plot speak for itself. With his artwork, David Wenzel uses a stark, expressionistic style that, in its graphic depiction of severed heads, ripped flesh, and spurts of gore, goes quite a bit beyond what was usually presented in the Savage Sword franchise.
Part One is posted below; Part Two will appear in the next post here at the PorPor Books Blog.
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