Paranormal Stuff

Something timely, as it were (or as it is), since almost everybody is jumping in on the 2012 end-of-the-world bandwagon (even the usually skeptical mainstream media).
Will it be the end? Probly not. Will something happen? Maybe. but as you'll see in this comic, people have known about the date for years.


by Doug Moench and Rick Parker
from THE BIG BOOK OF THE UNEXPLAINED (ISBN: 1-563-89254-5), 1997



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Something Else

NOT a scanlation.
This is a sample of an American publisher trying to cash in on the EuroComic market.
Published by DC, and translated by some random people that they had on staff at the time, here's a sample of how awesome the comic market would be if they stopped focusing on 'popular' titles, and started focusing on comics that are good.
SERIOUSLY: Art Spiegelman's "MAUS" would be the first choice for people to dismiss because of 'crappy art' (and it does look like the art was done by a little kid, but that's the point); and those people would miss out on a great story. Likewise, don't dismiss this vignette because it starts out in black-and-white. Like the WIZARD OF OZ, it goes into color at the appropriate time.
Like most EuroComics, the standard warnings for sexuality apply.

by Luc Schuiten and his brother François
from THE HOLLOW GROUNDS (2004)

















BONUS PIN UP! TELL ALL YER FRIENDS!


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CRAZYWORLD

Here's a short horror story that I picked mainly for the art. There's really not too much to the story otherwise, but I particularly like the way the panel layouts seem watery or fluid, almost psychedelic, and (appropriately enough) somewhat alien in the way they fill the pages. No plain ol' square boxes here.
To really appreciate them, ya kinda gotta look at the whole pages the way they were printed, but for a reasonable facsimile, you can do the old right click - view image option. I honestly couldn't say how much luck you'd have finding a hard copy of this as it's been out of print so long, but if you're really interested (as you should be), here's a link to the author's blog that was selling copies. It's an old link, but good luck.

by Mark Burbey and Marc Hempel
from HORROR SHOW, October 1991












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Carl Burgos Original Art

Carl Burgos is probably one of the most underrated and under-appreciated artists who worked during the golden and silver ages of comics. Starting way, way back on the original Human Torch comics (the robot one, not Johnny Storm), his career included work with almost every major publisher in his lifetime.
A lot of his published output was just simple formula works for anthology titles, but ya can't hold it against a guy for trying to earn a living can ya?
This original art is, sadly, not owned by me; I just got these scans off of ebay. If you're interested, the set of five pages are for sale for about $500 USD.

by Carl Burgos
finished art published in ALARMING ADVENTURES #3, February 1963






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GENE POOL

We try not to make a habit of looking at so-called 'adult' comics (so-called because more often than not they are extremely juvenile in their portrayal of sexual situations). For a change of pace, we're going to make an exception.
This story is from the most unlikely of sources: HUSTLER COMIX. But don't let that scare you. This is probably one of the tamest comics to ever grace their pages. Yes, there's nudity. Yes, there's a bit of adult humor. Yet and still, this is one of the best homages to the old EC comics that I've come across.
Take away the bare boobs and you could actually see this as coming from an old issue of WEIRD FANTASY.
Also of note is the fact that the 'tentacle rape' scene on pages 4 & 5 is actually done somewhat tastefully and discreetly (more tasteful and discreet than you'd expect from HUSTLER). And, this is the only story in the magazine that doesn't have a graphically depicted sex scene(??!).

by Hector Gomez and Bruce David
from HUSTLER COMIX #1, Spring 1997







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SUPERMAN AND MUTANT BOY

Here's a type of story that ya just don't see too much of anymore (if truth be told, ya didn't see too much of it back then either). Here's our pal Kal running into a Twilight Zone refugee with a very strange mutant power.
And if nobody else is gonna say it, let me be the first: this is Cary Bates channeling his inner Otto Binder on this story.
And y'all should know by now how much I ♥ Otto Binder's writing.

by Cary Bates, Curt Swan, and Murphy Anderson
from ACTION COMICS #422, March 1973















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Alex Toth Draws Animals

Two comic legends got together once, and this was the result. A classic short morality tale disguised as science fiction fantasy. This story wouldn't be out of place if adapted as a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits episode. Originally buried in the back of Adventure Comics behind a classic Spectre story, it was subsequently shelved and never seen again (allegedly, it was reprinted only once). Amazingly, it ranks on most reader's top 10 lists as one of the greatest short stories in comics. No small feat when you consider the millions of comic stories that have been published.
This story has been dissected, critiqued, examined, and reviewed by numerous other comic bloggers; I really don't have anything to say about it that hasn't already been said dozens of times before, so I'll let y'all form your own opinion.

by Shelly Mayer and Alex Toth
from ADVENTURE COMICS #431, January 1974









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