I still remember the day I first laid eyes on Wulf and Batsy. I was browsing the comic racks at my local comic shop and feeling a little glum because I’d made it almost all the way through the entire alphabet without finding a single thing worth my hard earned money. It was looking like I might be heading home empty handed and broken hearted until I got to the “W” section and my eyes came upon the cover of Wulf and Batsy #1.

At that moment, so many different things fell into place and clicked for me. It was an indie comic published by Viper Comics and that appealed to me because I was pretty disgusted with mainstream comics at the time. It featured black and white artwork which I have always felt suits horror comics the best. It had cartoony humor juxtaposed against grim and violent content, a combination that I’ve always been a sucker for. But most of all, it had Wulf and Batsy. The beast and the beauty, another horror archetype that always gets me. I can’t explain it, but it was like love at first sight. I was instantly drawn to these characters and that was all there was to it.

Wulf and Batsy are unique anti-heroes in that they are bloodthirsty monsters who are capable of slaughtering humans mercilessly, yet we completely sympathize with them. All they want is to be left alone. But everywhere they turn, they are constantly harassed. Whether its by angry mobs with torches and pitchforks hunting them down at night, or whether its by a graveyard full of ghouls who are begging for their help, Wulf and Batsy are always forced to fight at the center of the action… exactly what they don’t want to do and exactly where they don’t want to be.

Bryan Baugh’s artwork is so perfectly tight and playfully expressive that I was not at all surprised to discover that he is a professional animator for a very prominent animation studio by day in addition to being a comic creator by night. Bryan also writes the stories, which are so humorous and personal that I felt like I knew him before I ever made contact with him in real life. That’s how cool he is, he even finds time to chat with fanboys like me.

The comic books are really hard to find these days, but luckily they have been collected into the trade paperback book “Wulf and Batsy Volume 1″ (pictured above) which contains two story arcs. The first story arc is “We Have No Home”, which introduces us to the characters as they stumble into trouble in a small country town. We quickly learn that although he’s a werewolf and she’s a vampire, they are just as “human” as the townsfolk, if not more human. The second story arc is “Bizarre Experiments”, which follows our horrific duo as they continue their search for a home where they can settle down, free from persecution. Instead, they find fellow monsters who desperately need their help battling monsters of their own.

“Wulf and Batsy Volume 2: Lustmord Nightmares” (pictured below) was never released in comic book form and is only available as a trade paperback book. It follows Wulf and Batsy as they infiltrate an all-girl’s school, striving to pass themselves off as ordinary humans in their never-ending search to find a peaceful place to call home. Unfortunately, the school is being terrorized by an ancient and bloodthirsty monster. Before long Wulf and Batsy are not only struggling to fit in, but they are struggling just to keep themselves and those they have grown to care about alive!

Why buy the books? 1) The comics are hard to find these days, 2) Buying all the comics is more expensive than the books, and 3) The comics don’t have the awesome bonus content that the books do. And we’re not talking sloppy-drawings-on-napkins-they-found-and-decided-to-cram-in-at-the-last-minute bonus content. This bonus content includes pages and pages of in-depth information from Bryan himself as he talks about the origins of the characters and explains some of the deeper symbolism and mythology presented in the books. There are also incredible artworks ranging from early character sketches to full page pinups, many by famous-artists-turned-fans like Josh Howard and Dave Hartman. I own the comics but I’m also happy to own the trade paperback books because, as a Wulf and Batsy fan, I am totally engrossed by the bonus behind-the-scenes looks at these two characters that I am such a fan of. Plus, the books look great on my bookshelf!

You can purchase both books directly from Bryan in the official store on his web site, and while you’re there be sure to check out his other awesome artwork and great books for sale. Bryan Baugh is such a great guy, I’m sure he would love to chat with you on Twitter, where you might even catch me and him in the middle of a conversation!

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Alessandro Biffignandi was born in Rome in 1935, and supposedly he still lives there today. He painted hundreds of pulp covers and comic covers (aka “fumetti”) throughout the 50′s, 60′s and 70′s, occasionally even drawing for comics. In the 80′s he moved towards book cover illustration, and the 90′s found him focusing on calendar art. He is mostly a genre painter, focusing on the horror, spy, war, and science fiction genres.

I strongly suggest you give his Facebook page a Like and spend some time there checking out some more of his art. Much of it features nudity, and between the Facebook page and Google Images you can find plenty of his incredible naughty paintings! I have chosen to post my favorite non-nude paintings here. Lord knows I love the nudies but I tend to like Alessandro’s PG rated stuff better for some reason. Enjoy.

He went to Hair Club for Gill-Men to impress her, but she still says she has a headache.

It might be your last palm reading, but it will be your best palm reading.

I’m not sure if this qualifies as necrophilia, but it’s definitely dead sexy.

And you thought YOU had creepy pervy uncles.

OK, now this one is just scary and sad and depressing. And awesome.

Here is a bigger badder version of what is still my all-time favorite Alessandro Biffignandi painting. Gotta love it!

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So will the reboot help DC horror, or will it bring it down the dismal level of Marvel horror? Below is the official press release concerning DC’s horror comic titles. Right or wrong, I can’t help but have my own impressions of DC’s announcements, so I have interjected my own comments after each title in this nauseating green color, just for shits and gigs.

“SWAMP THING” Issue #1

WRITTEN BY: Scott Snyder
ILLUSTRATIONS BY: Yannick Paquette

“DC Comics embraces its dark side. On the 40th anniversary of the character’s creation, the New York Times bestselling writer of AMERICAN VAMPIRE, Scott Snyder, teams up with Yannick Paquette (BATMAN, INCORPORATED) to bring horror back to the DC Universe in SWAMP THING #1. For years, one man served against his will as the avatar of nature. And while he may have been freed of the monster, he’s about to learn the monster will never truly let go of him.”

As far as monsters go, its hard not to compare DC’s Swamp Thing to Marvel’s Man-Thing, and I’ve always been personally partial to Man-Thing. But I’m forced to admit that Swamp Thing is more popular, he had better people working on him (Alan Moore, Bernie Wrightson, anyone?) which resulted in some truly classic story arcs, and he had his own movie (and its still good for cheese value, if nothing else). This is a title that deserves quality and I hope this team can deliver that. I might even read this.

“JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK” Issue #1

WRITTEN BY: Peter Milligan
ILLUSTRATIONS BY: Mikel Janin

“John Constantine, Deadman, Shade the Changing Man and Madame Xanadu are Justice League Dark, a band of supernatural heroes united to stop the dark things the rest of the DCU does not see in JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #1, by Peter Milligan and artist Mikel Janin.”

This title is the one I’m most excited about. I liked Deadman when I was a little kid, but Kelley Jones and Mike Baron made me a huge Deadman fan ever since they rebooted the character in such a creepy cool way in Deadman: Love After Death and Deadman: Exorcism. Nowadays he’s closer to his old self than Kelley Jones’ nightmarish interpretation, but he’s still awesome. I like Constantine and Madame Xanadu too, and I love the idea of a supernatural Justice League. Good move, DC!

“ANIMAL MAN” Issue #1

WRITTEN BY: Jeff Lemire
ILLUSTRATIONS BY: Travel Foreman

“Buddy Baker has gone from “super” man to family man – but is he strong enough to hold his family together when Maxine, his young daughter, starts to manifest her own dangerous powers? Find out in ANIMAL MAN #1, the start of a dramatic new series by acclaimed writer Jeff Lemire and artists Travel Foreman and Dan Green.”

I honestly wasn’t aware Animal Man was a horror title, I thought he was a superhero. The synopsis seems to confirm that. Upon researching him I found out that he more recently moved over to the Vertigo imprint and cut his superhero ties, lost the superhero suit, quit his superhero ways and became some kind of animal god. Supposedly his books took on a more horrific bent, and he drifted along US Route 66 to end up in living in Montana, which is pretty fucking scary. Take it from me, I had to live there. But then he had recent appearances and, without explanation, was back to being a superhero (?!). This seems to be the kind of confusion DC is hoping to weed out by rebooting all their comics and shrinking their universe. I suppose an elephant could be scary if it was chasing after you, but I just don’t see Animal Man working.

“DEMON KNIGHTS” Issue #1

WRITTEN BY: Paul Cornell
ILLUSTRATIONS BY: Diogenes Neves And Oclair Albert

“Set in the Middle Ages, the Demon leads an unlikely team to defend civilization and preserve the last vestiges of Camelot against the tide of history. Critically-acclaimed writer Paul Cornell and artists Diogenes Neves and Oclair Albert combine sorcery, swords and superheroes in DEMON KNIGHTS #1.”

Now we’re talking! Etrigan the Demon has always been a potentially great character that has been held back, mostly by keeping him into the superhero universe and making him wear the requisite embarrassing super-spandex-tights. Now its back to the Middle Ages (where there better not be any fucking superheroes in spandex) and he looks like he might actually kick a little ass rather than just be on his way to a yoga class.

“FRANKENSTEIN: AGENT OF SHADE” Issue #1

WRITTEN BY: Jeff Lemire
ILLUSTRATIONS BY: Alberto Ponticelli

“Frankenstein and his network of strange beings work for an even stranger government organization: The Super Human Advanced Defense Executive. It’s the breakout hero of Seven Soldiers as you’ve never seen him before in FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF SHADE #1, the first issue of a dark new series from acclaimed writer Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth, The Nobody) and artist Alberto Ponticelli.”

I’m probably going to embarrass myself here, but I haven’t kept up on the DC Frankenstein. Am I missing out? Who knows. This just looks a little silly to me. Simon William Garth (Zombie) and Jack Russel (Werewolf by Night) work for me because anyone can become a zombie or a werewolf. But Frankenstein’s Monster is a specific individual with a long history that I’m far too familiar with to buy him running around with a sword and a pistol by his side like fuckin’ Puss In Boots or some shit. WTF?

“RESURRECTION MAN” Issue #1

WRITTEN BY: Fernando Dagnino
ILLUSTRATIONS BY: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning

“A cult favorite character returns in a new series written by his classic creative team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Joining them is JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST artist Fernando Dagnino. RESURRECTION MAN #1 is the story of a hero who wakes up with new powers each time he’s killed.”

This sounds fuckin’ KICK ASS! He gets killed a lot and comes back with different super-abilities every time. How cool is that? I wasn’t even aware this guy existed, I might have to backtrack and check his stuff out. Reviving this semi-obscure character is definitely an interesting choice for DC to make and I’m behind it, I’m excited to see it!

“I, VAMPIRE” Issue #1

“Vampires threaten to bring ruin to the DC Universe in I, VAMPIRE #1 by rising star Josh Fialkov and artist Andrea Sorrentino. Tortured by his centuries-old love for the Queen of the Damned, Andrew Bennett must save humanity from the violent uprising of his fellow vampires, even if it means exterminating his own kind.”

Sorry, I fell asleep there for a bit, did somebody say “vampires”? Oh, back to sleep then. That “Queen of the Damned” bit is pretty derivative, hope they don’t get sued.

“VOODOO” Issue #1

WRITTEN BY: Ron Marz
ILLUSTRATIONS: Sami Basri

“Priscilla Kitaen has just found out she’s a monster. A half-alien hybrid, the woman known as Voodoo must confront the secrets of her past to make sense of the nightmare her life has suddenly become. VOODOO #1 will be written by Ron Marz with art by Sami Basri.”

An odd title, the word “voodoo” doesn’t necessarily bring aliens to mind. Then they throw in the word “monster”, and this whole synopsis reads like word soup of the day, trying to pander to as many archetypes as possible. Not a great first impression, but maybe this book will surprise us.

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I recently caught up with Drew Edwards, writer and creator of “Halloween Man” and mover and shaker in the Austin, Texas horror rock scene through “Halloween Man Productions”. Comics about girls and monsters are my kinda thang, and I love horror themed music, especially horrorpunk. So naturally I jumped at the chance to interview Drew and get the scoop on his upcoming projects on both the comic and music fronts…

Morbidementia: Who is Halloween Man?

Drew Edwards: “Halloween Man” is actually Solomon Hitch. A superheroic monster with the power of the horror movie sequel and a taste for living flesh! He’ is what happens when you combine the immortal “movie monster” archetype with your classic silver age superhero.

He also happens to be the star of a comic book that I write and, as of late, a series of rock ‘n’ roll shows here in Austin, Texas.

Morbidementia: Who is Lucy?

Drew Edwards: That would be Dr. Lucy Chaplin, the co-star of my comic and Solomon’s girlfriend/soul-mate. Picture the brain of a super genius in the body of a really hot rockabilly chick. Then you’ve pretty much got the idea.

Morbidementia: Yeah, Lucy is dead sexy. Can you hook me up with her?

Drew Edwards: Like Solomon, she is a creature of the id. So I don’t think I can set up a date. But even if I could, would you really risk her boyfriend’s temper?

Morbidementia: How long have you been writing Halloween Man?

Drew Edwards: For over a decade now. The 10 year anniversary party was on Halloween 2010, topping off 10 long years of blood, violence and freaks of nature.

I was a teenager when I started off on this life changing adventure. Here I am in my 30s and I’m still doing it. It’s wonderful to be able to look back on that. A lot of people ask me how I’ve stuck with it, and it’s simple. I’m living my dream. Sometimes it’s rocky, but I still very much believe in what I’m doing. And I love the characters. I hope I’m still doing this when I’m 90!

Morbidementia: What was your inspiration for Halloween Man?

Drew Edwards: I grew up in a really small town here in Texas. I didn’t have a lot to do, so I spent a lot time watching movies, either at home or at the local drive-in. I loved all kinds of movies, but the ones that really captured my imagination the most were monster movies. When you watch a lot of monster flicks, one of the things you sort to notice is that often the monster just wants a girlfriend. But then some muscle-bound hero type shows up, steals the girl away and kills the monster. Well, I always related more to the monsters. So I felt bad for them. I wanted to see a story where the monster got the girl.

As I grew older, I discovered comic books, most notable the Marvel comics of the 60s and 70s. There you had angst ridden heroes like Spider-Man or even deformed freaks like the Thing. There was something both lurid and intriguing about that world.

The genesis of Halloween Man was melding the two. I often compare the comic to Psychobilly, which fuses 50′s rock ‘n’ roll with horror punk. My comic combines silver age innocence with horror movie kinkiness.

Morbidementia: Can you tell us a little more about your partners in crime? Or at least the people who helped you work on Halloween Man?

Drew Edwards: These days I work mostly with artist Sergio Calvet and Editor Russell Hillman. But over the years I’ve had the pleasure to work with a number of very talented artists, inkers, letterers, and art directors. Far too many to name really.

Morbidementia: I’m betting you’ll agree with me when I say that hot girls and scary monsters are two great tastes that taste great together. Why do you think it’s so much more interesting for people like us to see beauty AND the beast, rather than just one or the other?

Drew Edwards: Well, I think a lot of horror fans have that feeling of being of “the other.” Being different. Maybe even ugly, if only on the inside. So there’s that very real sense of being a beast that is reaching out for beauty. The thing about most of the iconic monsters is that while they’re “evil”, they also have this nobility about them. So you’re hoping that others will see that same nobility in you.

Then again, maybe I am totally off-base on this. We could just be a bunch of weirdoes who like seeing pretty girls menaced by guys in monster make-up. But I’d like to think it’s the latter rather than the former.

Morbidementia: I understand that you’re pretty active in the Austin, Texas horror rock show scene. Can you tell us more about that?

Drew Edwards: As previously mentioned I did a ten year show and it went over VERY well. I had two stages, with an entire night of bands. Afterwards I started getting contacting by bands asking “when are you going to do another one?” At first I sort of resisted the idea. I don’t really think of myself as a booking agent you see. However, I like helping people and I love musicians. So finally I gave in.

In this weird way, it’s sort of made my comic this interactive thing. One of my influences is William Castle, who was all about putting a “gimmick” into his horror films.

I put together entire nights, revolving around a theme. Sometimes it’s a pin-up contest, other times it’s been a “twist-off”, and this month it’s going to be costume party where people can dress up as zombies, vampires, and ghosts. I think there’s a huge need for escapism right now and if I’m helping provide that, awesome. As long as I am able to keep dreaming up kooky concepts, I’ll keep putting together shows.

Morbidementia: Misfits: best band in the world, or best band ever?

Drew Edwards: I do love the Misfits. But the best band ever is, was, and always will be the Ramones. They’re the ones who provided Solly with his hairstyle and motorcycle jacket.

Morbidementia: Do you have a favorite monster? Or how about your top five?

Drew Edwards: That’s a really tough question. I’ll give it a shot and in no certain order.

1: The Wolfman
2: Jason Voorhees
3: Godzilla
4: The Creature from the Black Lagoon
5: Count Dracula (Christopher Lee flavored)

I could probably list off a few hundred if you let me. I’m an addict.

Morbidementia: I don’t want to take up too much more of your time, so before I let you go, can you please tell us about anything else you are working on, or would like to work on soon?

Drew Edwards: As previously mentioned, this month we have the “Swing Dance of the Living Dead” at Flamingo Cantina! There’s going to be a great line-up of Danger*Cakes, Hello Wheels, the Octanes, Idiosyncrasy, and the Tex Offenders. So, those of you in Austin should come on down, dressed like the undead of your choice.

“Halloween Man” is also a monthly web-comic, and you can read the latest issue for free. This month we have “Return of the Loving Dead” with art by the very talented Eliseu Gouveia! We also hope to have our second trade paperback out within the year. So keep your noses glued to my site for info on that!

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Love her or hate her, bestselling author Charlaine Harris has undoubtedly left her mark on the face of horror. It started with her Sookie Stackhouse novels, which were then adapted into the HBO television hit True Blood, which was then adapted into True Blood comics. Soon she will be tightening her death grip on the horror comic world when she releases Charlaine Harris’ Grave Sight Part 1 of the graphic novel adaptation of the first novel in her Harper Connelly Mysteries series.

I myself am a huge fan of True Blood, which is probably my favorite currently running television show. I have only recently started enjoying the Sookie Stackhouse novels, (I’m listening to them on audiobook, which means I get through them much slower than if I were actually reading them), and its clear that the television show is very different than the books. But I enjoy them both.

Charlaine Harris is an incredibly prolific writer, and other than the first 2 Sookie Stackhouse novels I haven’t read any of her other books yet, including the Harper Connelly Mystery series. But its probably only a matter of time. I like the way she mashes up the horror and mystery genres together, and her writing style is very straightforward and easy and quick and exciting to read. In fact I think that this aspect of her writing is probably what most of her detractors are complaining about. There are a lot of literary snobs out there who think if your book doesn’t have paragraphs that are 10 pages long and it doesn’t make you reach for a dictionary every 10 seconds, then your book sucks. I tend to think the opposite… the easier it is to read your book, the more immersed I get and the more I enjoy it and can’t put it down! THAT’s the sign of a good book.

This graphic novel is reportedly the first of three parts and is currently slated to come out June 7, 2011. Here is official synopsis:
Acclaimed New York Times Bestselling author Charlaine Harris, the writer of the Sookie Stackhouse series, has joined the Dynamite Entertainment family with the first book of her hit Harper Connelly series, Grave Sight. For the past five years, readers have been thrilled by the Harper Connelly series which follows a woman who has what you might call a strange job: she finds dead people. She can sense the final location of a person who’s passed, and share their very last moment. The way Harper sees it, she’s providing a service to the dead while bringing some closure to the living – but she’s used to most people treating her like a blood-sucking leech. Traveling with her step-brother, Tolliver, as manager and sometime-bodyguard, she’s become an expert at getting in, getting paid, and getting out fast. Because for the living it’s always urgent – even if the dead can wait forever. At the age of 15, Harper Connelly was struck by lightning, an event that gave her the ability to find the dead and see how they died. Since then, Harper’s scratched out a living selling her services to anyone with a checkbook. It’s not the best life, but it beats the alternative – at least until Harper and her brother Tolliver roll into Sarne, Arkansas and find themselves embroiled in a murder mystery!

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I just finished reading Vampirella Crimson Chronicles Maximum: Volume 1. Now, I’m not one of those people who reminisces for “the good old days”… I’m not quite old enough to start that yet, thank you very much. But reading this book has made me realize that the “good old days” of Vampirella really were the BEST days of Vampirella. Everything since just pales in comparison.

Reprinting issues #1-37 (originally published by Warren back in September of 1969, oh yeah) in their original black and white glory, this book is a sight to behold. They just don’t make comic art like this anymore. Its that same realistic yet sketchy pen and ink style found in classic horror magazines like Creepy and Eerie, that stark and striking style that works so well for mature horror. Color would only ruin it.

Tom Sutton starts out the Vampirella series with a classic splash page (pun intended, pictured left). His style is a little cartoony, but it matches well with the tone of the story, which is extremely cartoony. Mike Royer takes over the art duties for the second story, which turns out to be his only contribution to the series. I mean no disrespect, but Royer is easily my least favorite artist in the book, so I’m not sad to see him go. These first two stories are written by Forrest J. Ackerman and are surprisingly cute and silly, with a childish immaturity that seems to conflict directly with the overtly sexy artwork. The stories also feels extremely rushed, with her entire origin story, including her trip to earth, being depicted in only 5 pages. The fast and funny attack is a somewhat strange beginning for the series, and feels very disjoint compared to the serious adult-oriented material that Vampirella will evolve into.

With the third issue, Tom Sutton thankfully takes back the art duties, and with Archie Goodwin taking over the writing duties, the series promptly begins a new chapter. Everything following this point is far more coherent and mature than the first two issues. We are introduced to Van Helsing and his son, Adam, two major characters that will be recurring throughout the book. Deadly drama replaces slapstick shenanigans as Vampirella tangles with a devil-worshiping cult and then an evil carnival master, and the series has now improved by leaps and bounds in both art and story.

Archie Goodwin now has an excellent grasp of the character, and a new artist comes on board: Jose Gonzalez. Jose has an instantly recognizable and almost photorealistic style, and draws Vampirella with more sensuality and depth than any other artist. Just check out this full page from Jose Gonzalez:

When’s the last time your comics looked like that?

Gonzalez’s art is nothing short of incredible, and it seems to push Goodwin to write even better mature and frightful drama. The story “Death’s Dark Angel” is their first collaboration, and it heralds what is widely agreed to be the golden age of Vampirella. Over the next few issues they introduce Vampirella’s bumbling alcoholic friend Magician Pendragon, and along with Van Helsing and Adam, the core cast of characters is complete. While the group struggles to survive external confrontations with werewolves, voodoo shaman, and Dracula himself, the internal tension builds between Vampirella and Van Helsing, who is horrified that she and his son, Adam, have fallen in love. Van Helsing doesn’t trust her bloodsucking ways and wants to stake her through the heart before she can harm his boy, and she doesn’t do much to convince him that’s a bad idea.

Jose Gonzalez will continue to draw for most of the rest of the book, with Jose Ortiz taking over right near the end. Jose Ortiz is quite capable, with a style very similar to Gonzalez, so the transition feels very fluid. The writing duties will change hands several times before this book is done, but Goodwin has established such strong characters and such a rich legacy that the new writers have no problem maintaining good continuity and tone. By now the title has matured so much that nudity now appears in the pages, though its quite tasteful and fitting to the story.

Vampirella is a fascinating anti-hero. She constantly struggles with her evil nature, and she often loses this battle. When she loses control, she murders innocent people, and in one story she even kills her lover, Adam Van Helsing. She has considerable physical strength, but emotionally she can be weak and uncertain. She incessantly doubts herself and makes bad choices, (so bad that at one point she thinks she’s in love with Dracula!). This gives her more depth and more humanity than most comic characters possess, which is quite remarkable considering she’s not even human; she’s a vampire from another planet!

If you read comics only for the stories, and don’t care at all about art, then you might find the beginning of Vampirella Crimson Chronicles Maximum: Volume 1 a little rocky, but if you can stick with it you will soon be richly rewarded. Fans of comic art, especially classic sexy girl art, will definitely find much to love throughout this book, not the least of which is the incredible nippletastic cover by pinup legend Jim Silke.

I myself thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it to any and all Vampirella fans, as well as anyone who is interested in vampires, comic bad girls, and/or classic horror comics.

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This right here is MUST-VIEW YOUTUBE. Eric Powell, creator of the eternally awesome horror comedy funnybook “The Goon“, is sounding the call to arms. This video he made is a lot like his comics… depraved, disgusting, immature, and hilarious. But it also makes your headache-maker all tingly. I mean, I knew the comics scene was pretty grim for people who don’t read superhero comics, but this video scared poop out of my butt. If you’re a fan of horror comics then you owe it to yourself to check out this video and then check out The Creators Front for Diversity in Comics on Facebook to get involved. Some interesting questions to ask yourself:

– Does the subject of this video possibly have anything to do with the massive decline of comic sales over the last 20 years?

– Are all the superhero movies that Hollywood is currently making likely to help or hurt this situation?

– Why are there far more horror movies than horror comics, and far fewer superhero movies than superhero comics?

Please turn in your answers before the end of class. And young man, spit out that gum.

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Yeah? Well I think there ought to be a law against idiots like you trying to tell other people what they can and can’t do, buddy.

Censorship is back in the national spotlight with the brouhaha surrounding the law in California censoring violent video games, a law that was overturned by a lower court as unconstitutional. NPR called it “irony” that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is now arguing for the Supreme Court of the United States to censor violent video games when he himself has built his career on violent movies. I call it “hypocrisy”.

With the fate of freedom in jeopardy, the super-heroic Stan Lee came to the rescue, writing in an open letter: “In the 1950s, there was a national hysteria about the so-called “dangerous effect” comic books were having on our nation’s youth. Comic books, it was said, contributed to “juvenile delinquency.” A Senate subcommittee investigated and decided the U.S. could not “afford the calculated risk involved in feeding its children, through comic books, a concentrated diet of crime, horror and violence.” Comic books were burned. The State of Washington made it a crime to sell comic books without a license. And Los Angeles passed a law that said it was a crime to sell “crime comic books.” Looking back, the outcry was — forgive the expression — comical.”

I’d love to send each member of the Supreme Court a copy of Stan Lee’s open letter and a copy of The Horror! The Horror!: Comic Books the Government Didn’t Want You to Read!, though sadly I doubt they would read them. The good news is that the Supreme Court seems to be leaning towards upholding the ban of the unconstitutional censorship law, but unfortunately we’ll have to wait until sometime this summer to find out for sure. In the meantime, you can help defend freedom by joining the Video Game Voters Network and voting against Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger the next time you get a chance (if you live in California, of course).

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3. THURSDAY THIRST – HORROR COMIC BOOK ROUNDUP SEPT. 20

Several monsters have taken turns trying to ruin Christmas. Ghosts were some of the first monsters to haunt Christmas in Charles’ Dickens A Christmas Carol. Slashers took a whack at it in movies like Black Christmas and Silent Night, Bloody Night before the killer Santas took over the terrorizing in movies like Christmas Evil, Silent Night, Deadly Night, and Santa’s Slay. Other monsters that caused Christmas chaos along the way include gremlins gone bad and killer snowmen. And let’s not forget the Abominable Snowman who scared the crap out of me when I was a little kid in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

With the popularity of zombies these days it was inevitable that they would eventually infect Christmas. Books like Christmas is Dead: A Zombie Anthology and It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Zombies: A Book of Zombie Christmas Carols led the way in traditional print while a great little comic anthology known as A Very Zombie Christmas #1 helped lead the zombie Christmas invasion in graphical storytelling.

Published by Antarctic Press in crisp black and white, A Very Zombie Christmas begins with a story called “Unholy Night”. Grandpa Foster tells his grandchildren a story on Christmas Eve, but instead of leaving them visions of sugar plumbs dancing in their heads, he leaves them nightmarish visions of nazi zombie soldiers tearing out their beloved grandpas eyeball in World War 2. This story sports some excellent inks by writer/artist Joseph Wight and an explosive two page spread of the bloody battle between Foster’s 101st Airborne and an SS “Totenkorps” squad, a seemingly unstoppable squad rumored to be the product of twisted Nazi experimentation.

“The Littlest Zombie Meets Santa” is the second story and its by far my favorite one in the book. The Littlest Zombie rises from the his grave at night along with the rest of the grown-up zombies, but while they head into the city to hunt for food, The Littlest Zombie heads into the forest so that if he manages to make a kill the grown-up zombies won’t steal it from him. He finds a cabin in the woods and eavesdrops on the inhabitants while he plans his attack. While spying he overhears the uncle telling his nephew the story of Santa Claus and becomes enraptured by the magical tale. The Littlest Zombie makes his own Christmas wish, but is there such a thing as Christmas miracles, especially for evil flesh-eating zombies? Written and drawn by Fred Perry, this touching tale of terror has a tender side and a twist that put a huge smile on your face.

The final story (written and drawn by David Hutchison) is a story of a gangster heist gone awry. Dressed as Santas, four criminals trick an armored transport attempting to take valuable coins back to the mint. When the fourth robber hatches an evil plan to keep all the loot for himself, he gets a lot more than he bargained for in this bizarre Christmas crime tale.

Well, A Very Zombie Christmas #1 brought me a lot of Christmas cheer but now its time for me start hitting the eggnog…

And so I exclaim, fading into the night,
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good fright!”

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Yakov Levi is best known as the mad mastermind behind several shocking slices of schlock cinema. Filmed in the Ukraine and starring strippers, drug dealers and a toothless geriatric whore named Baba Alla instead of actors and actresses, his movies are towering testaments to atrocity. You can find trailers for Yakov’s films on his official site where you can also purchase a DVD containing several of his short films… IF YOU DARE.

The sickness that plagues Yakov’s movies also infects his comics. In the same way that “Tales from the Crypt” is hosted by the Crypt Keeper, “Tales from the Whorehouse of Horror” is hosted by a rotting old hag who calls herself the Whore of Horror. She is the comic book equivalent of Yakov’s movie muse named Baba Alla; they are both disgusting bitches who are totally overflowing with fat and so ugly you can smell their stench with your eyeballs. The Whore of Horror is the madame of a graveyard brothel where vampires, werewolves, zombies, goblins and all manner of monsters get their freak on.

After a nightmarish introduction to the nefarious naughtiness and gory goings-on in her cemetery of sex, the Whore of Horror leads us into her first scary story. “Horror Highway” takes the typical highway ghost story and turns it on its head. Then it kicks it in the ass, punches it in the dick, pisses in its ear and takes a steamy dump on its face. The story has more twists and turns than a rocky mountain road and will keep you guessing right up to the frightful end…

The second story is called “Sexth Sense”, and it follows an aspiring supermodel named Belinda who has absolutely no compunctions about taking it all off for the cameras and thoroughly enjoys every single bit of perverted sexual attention she gets. But when she suffers an accident and hits her head, she acquires a spooky sixth sense that drives her to edge of sanity and beyond…

For the most perverted and prurient readers who might need a masturbatory aid to help relieve themselves after reading these sexy scary stories, at the end of the comic is a clever creepy cutout for just such an occasion.

I absolutely loved this horror comic book. It had me laughing, screaming and gagging at the same time. How much would a creepy coital comic like this cost, you might ask? An arm? A leg? Your first born? Your mortal soul? NO! Its FREE! Just go to the official Whorror Comix site and download your copy now. While you’re there, check out the rest of the site for lots of grotesque gynecological goodies. And if you donate money to Yakov’s cause of spreading frightening filth worldwide, then you will get a bonus free adult horror comic called “I, Whorebot”. Again, its seriously sickening stuff for adults only, so brace yourself and be warned!

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