Creepy #32: "Rock God" (Frank Frazetta and Neal Adams)

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Another boy wonder, Frank Frazetta entered comics while in his teens. After working as an assistant to John Giunta, he joined the Bernard Baily shop in 1945. The next year he was appearing in such Ned Pine titles as Startling Comics and Thrilling Comics. He was doing mostly light stuff at this point, teenage characters, funny animals, and a hillbilly strip called Looie Lazybones. By the time he went to work for Vincent Sullivan's Magazine Enterprises in 1949, Frazetta had perfected his straight illustration style, which owed a good deal to his idol Hal Foster. For ME he drew Dan Brand in the Durango Kid and produced some striking covers for Ghost Rider. His most ambitious work for ME was the first issue of Thun'da. Next at DC Frazetta drew some episodes of Tomahawk and The Shining Knight. Over at Famous Funnies, he did a series of memorable covers featuring Buck Rogers and also drew some true stories for Heroic Comics. Frazetta did a few jobs for EC before taking on the newspaper racing-car strip Johnny Comet in the early 1950s. He also began a several-year run ghosting Li'l Abner for Al Capp, who was later outraged that many fans could tell Frazetta's work from his.

By the 1960s he had pretty much left comic books, except for the black-and-white Creepy. He painted covers for Vampirella and for the Ace reprints of the Conan novels. He went on to become a highly successful and much collected painter and illustrator and even set up his own museum.

Cover: Frank Frazetta
Script: (Redacted) (based on the Frazetta cover painting).
Pencils and inks: Neal Adams.

Note: "Rock God" won the 1970 Best Illustrated Story Award. Cover story.

Reprinted:

• in Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor Quarterly (Dark Horse, 1996 series) #1.

Creepy #65: "The Land of Bone"

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By the Nine Bloody Gods! When I was a kid growing up in small-town rural America, there was this kindly young woman who lived up the block from me who advertised used comic books for a dime. That was unusual for the small city, but being a comic book fanatic I jumped for joy, rode my bike to her house and eagerly knocked on her door. She brought out this large box of comics for me to peruse and, while we were swapping stories about our favorite comic books, she abruptly announced that she was a witch! That really surprised me, but she went on to regale me with tales of her supernatural powers, none of which I privately believed. Still, she was one of the most interesting people I had ever met and very friendly, too. I had nearly forgotten about her, until I decided to upload this particular issue of Creepy.

I purchased Creepy #65 from my friendly neighborhood "sorceress" for only a dime, which I thought was a steal of a deal even back in 1974. I also thought that this was one of the slickest magazines that I had ever read and I was no fan of "mere black and white" back then either. I drooled as I was witness to fantastic and gorgeous art by illustrators I had never heard of before, such as Esteban Maroto, Ramon Torrents, José Luis García-López, Reed Crandall, Auraleon, Felix Mas, Jose Bea, Jorge B. Galvez, and Jamie Brocal. All of this was topped off by that beautiful Ken Kelly cover painting. I was in heaven! While I was downright fanatical about keeping my comic book collection in near mint condition, I literally read and reread this magazine until the cover fell off, it was that good.

The first two stories are "The Land of Bone" by Buddy Saunders & Esteban Moroto and "Star Slaughter" by Richard Margopoulos and they are the two best. I have often debated with myself whether or not "The Land of Bone" is what all sword and sorcery stories should strive to be, or is nostalgia coloring my thoughts? I will say it's my personal favorite from the entire genre, but everyone is different and please share your thoughts by commenting on what your favorite swords and sorcery story is. "The Quaking Horror" by Gardner Fox and Auraleon is also very good, all of which I will upload here in time.

Please enjoy "The Land of Bone."

Note: this was originally posted on 7/14/09, but a software conflict with a widget forces me to post this anew.

Creepy #71: "The Song of Alan Bane"

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Warrior Poet Dept. Sword and Sorcery is the order of the day and here's Creepy #71, with a stunning Ken Kelly cover. Fortunately for us kids who had been burned too many times in the past, the interior of this magazine actually has a story relating to the beautiful cover art. James Warren was pretty good about that sort of thing, to his credit. The story in question is "The Song of Alan Bane," which was written by Gerry Boudreau and drawn by Luis Bermejo. In fact, this is an all-Bermejo issue. Also included is Nathaniel Hawthorn's "The Minotaur." Overall this issue is pretty good! Check it out for yourselves.

Note: I originally posted this on 7/25/09, but a technical glitch forces me to post it anew.

Creepy #73: "The Argo Standing By!"

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Alone. That's what Frawley was. Sealed within a sterile environment. Hurtling between this galaxy and the next. While the nations of Earth bombed each other out of existence!

A tale written by Budd Lewis and illustrated by Paul Neary during the Cold War era.