In honor of
Halloween tomorrow, and for that
extra dose of
horror and sugar we all crave this time of year, I have plucked
not 1, not
2, but
3 fantastic, fur-covered fright fables out of my goodie bag for you!!
Hooowwwwllll you like that??!!
The first tale is from
Atlas/Marvel, and features the first appearance of their
most famous werewolf,
WEREWOLF BY NIGHT! The second chiller is also from Marvel and shows the Werewolf character revived and in his own title. And for the finale I have saved the
best for last. Also from Marvel, this is my
all-time favorite werewolf story, drawn with
cinematic perfection by
Reed Crandall. You are in for a treat!
It was 1953. That month
MARVEL TALES # 116 sported an amazing
transformation cover by
Joe Maneely, and the caption beneath said
"WEREWOLF BY NIGHT!". Inside was a 5 page story drawn by
Jack Abel that featured the cover character and the
obligatory twist ending. But this was only the beginning.
_____________________________________________
Almost 20 years later Marvel
resurrected the cleverly named character in
Marvel Spotlight, and with a few
tweaks here and there, the reborn
WEREWOLF BY NIGHT had his own comic title by September, 1972. Initially drawn by
Mike Ploog, soon after Atlas veteran
Don Perlin would become the regular penciller until the series folded in 1977. This story is from
WEREWOLF BY NIGHT #3 and includes such horrific
treats as
burning at the stake, flesh melting off of bones, a sword-swinging demonic dragon, and a
mad Karloff-ian monk, to name a few. Art by Mike Ploog.
___________________________________________
In 1971 a young lad went to the local drugstore and took a comic book off the rack. He then walked over to the counter, and layed down his fifteen cents for Marvel's
CREATURES ON THE LOOSE #13. Within the hour his mind would be
blown forever after reading a story entitled
WHERE WALKS THE WEREWOLF. Reed Crandall was the artist, and what an artist! The image of Crandall's werewolf has remained
burned into my psyche. I hope you're ready to be
horribly delighted to death! Snaarrrll!!
I told you that was GOOD STUFF, man! Well, that's all for now, fiends!
Right now I have to go get my flea collar let out! Go bob for apples, remove the razor blades, and I'll meet you back here in a few hours! HOOOOOWWWWWWLL!!!
Great post~ I'd never seen that last story by Reed Crandall before. His realistic rendition is very reminiscent of John Bolten artwork in King Kull Special Edition #2. If you took it a step further~ and exagerated the Wolf-Man~ you would end up with something like Richard Corben art~ which~ though interesting~ would not be as effective (scary !). By the way~ I voted for your severed head over @ THOIA~ classic and simple~ +, loved the way you incorporated the original ad info !!
ReplyDeleteLysdexicuss, Thanks for your insightful comment, and for your support! (Actually, that severed head was a photo of me and the wife!)
ReplyDelete