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[CLOSED] Warren Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, 1984/94, Skywald
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51 posts in this topic

1 hour ago, Taylor G said:

Vampirella #85 Mar 1980.  8.0 VF $22.

Very nice Paul Gulacy cover.  The Vampi story, illustrated by Jon and Val Lakey, eschewed the usual cheesecake and told a very nice story, but the fans objected, they wanted Vampi in her stripper costume.

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1 hour ago, Taylor G said:

Vampirella #86 Apr 1980.  7.5 VF- $16.

Cover by Terrence Lindall.  Slight impression of 4 1"-wide X's on front cover (only visible at an angle under a light). Vampi art by Gonzalo Mayo.

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4 hours ago, Taylor G said:

Vampirella #82 Oct 1979.  7.0 F/VF $20.  [Copy A]

A rare painted cover by Jose Gonzalez, who preferred to work in pen and pencil.  The highlight of the issue is the story The Night Willa Jane Gormley Went Home by Archie Goodwin, Val Mayerik and Jeff Easley, one of Warren's best.

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Take it 

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5 hours ago, Taylor G said:

Vampirella #58 Mar 1977.  6.0 FN $10.

Cover by Enrich.  The highlight of this issue is the Bruce Jones/Russ Heath story, Yellow Heat.  The story invites some controversy now, but honestly I think the story is too silly (and the ending is obvious from the first page) to give offense.  Heath's Shadow of the Axe (in Creepy #79) is a far more subtle and superior story.  In any case, Russ' art for this story is undeniably some of his best work.

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Take it 

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21 minutes ago, Taylor G said:

Vampirella #111 Jan 1983.   6.0 FN $15.

Cover by Pujolar, actually reprinted from the Seaboard/Atlas Devilina book that was a Vampirella clone.  An all-reprint issue.  Tearing at top staple, including 1/4" tear left edge FC (the staple is still attached).

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Take this as well 

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6 minutes ago, Taylor G said:

Eerie #97 Sept 1978.  9.0 VF/NM $14 [Copy B]

Cover by Val Mayerik.  A second and much better copy of the 1978 Eerie annual, brings together the Bruce Jones/Richard Corben time travel storyline from previous issues (Eerie #77, 79 and 87), as well as a similarly themed Archie Goodwin/Neal Adams story from Creepy #15.  Very faint imprint of a couple of numbers on the FC, otherwise a very nice unread copy.

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So now it's time to talk about 1984/1994, and to talk about that, we have to talk about Bill Dubay.

I think we can presume that Dubay was a complicated guy.  I've heard of great things he did as editor, such as trying to get the Warren employees unionized.  One of the strengths Warren had going for them was their art production, doing things Marvel could not, and Dubay seems to have had a hand in that.  He also wrote some great stories and kept the ship afloat in four stints as editor (being succeeded by, and later succeeding, Louise Jones).  Timothy Moriarty, Warren's final editor, recalled him as

Quote

a volatile guy. Very funny and creative, both on the writing and art ends. Sort of like Bruce Willis, physically and from the way he carried himself. I learned a ton from him, about comic storytelling, writing cover blurbs, composition. We got on well. But toward the end, he was writing, what, 60% of the stories in the comics...

The 1984 magazine was apparently born from Warren panicking at the success of Heavy Metal, bringing as it did the French New Wave of Moebius and Druillet to American audiences (as well as reprinting American underground work like Corben's Den).  Given that Warren's strength was always in their art, one can imagine their worry.  So one can understand that the initial idea was to build a competing science fiction magazine, ladled with a bit of spicy sex in the European fashion, using Warren's existing stable of writers and artists.  

But the problem is that Dubay decided that the key to the success of this magazine was to deliberately stoke controversy in its stories.  This meant lots and lots of nudity in the art, drawn by great artists like Jose Ortiz and Jose Gonzalez and Esteban Maroto, some of their best artistic work in fact, in service of stories that were usually puerile and stupid.  Unfortunately if that was the only part that was controversial, we could look on it with fondness for a relatively more innocent era, before hardcore pornography became available to any teenager on the internet.  But sometimes the controversial stuff went dark.  This is what Jim Stenstrum has said of Dubay and the magazine:

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Bill DuBay never understood why Warren’s 1984/1994 Magazine was so universally reviled. I truly believe he saw himself as the comicbook industry’s Lenny Bruce—that he was consistently producing cutting edge material and being pilloried for it—when in fact the material in 1984 rarely rose above the wit found scratched on a men’s room wall.

The damn shame of it is, Warren had all these great artists on the payroll and their talents were being squandered. 1984 Magazine could have been a neat little science-fiction comic unfettered by the Comics Code—maybe even have given some of the great old EC stories a run for their money—and instead it was reduced to whack-off material for teenage boys who were too stupid to just steal a Penthouse Magazine.

Now I ask you, how can you resist a magazine after hearing that?

In case it is not clear, this will never be collected.  There will never be a Dark Horse 1984/1994 Archives. Your only chance to read this legendary material, is to read the original magazines.

Edited by Taylor G
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30 minutes ago, Taylor G said:

Eerie #60 Sept 1974.  8.0 VF $21 [Copy B]

Cover by Ken Kelly.  One of Eerie's best issues, including Wrightson's Nightfall (a humorous horror take on Little Nemo), and the start of the Jack*** storyline, arguably the best serial that ran in Eerie, with great Jose Ortiz art.  The cover is an obvious homage to Wally Wood EC stories, and Wally Wood writes and illustrates the cover story.  As if that wasn't enough, it includes a Berni Wrightson painted rear cover, the only painting Wrightson contributed to Warren.  I don't think the grade does this copy justice, but rulez is rulez.

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1 hour ago, Taylor G said:

Creepy #113 Nov 1979.  7.5 VF- $17

Cover by Berni Wrightson.  The 1979 Annual, reprinting Wrightson's best stories for Warren.  This is up there with Creepy #91 as one of the best Warren annuals.  Outside of his Frankenstein plates, Wrightson's best work was done for Warren, and this collects the best of it.

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2 hours ago, Taylor G said:

1994 #17 Feb 1981. 8.5/9.0 VF/NM $9.

Cover by Jim Stenstrum and Bill Dubay, who were also artists in their own right.  Stenstrum went to work in the animation industry after he left Warren.

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:takeit:

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@ 20% off  lol you have a good amt i need mostly vampies but it's how it goes :sorry:

1984/94 8 $3

creepy 125 $8, 84 $10

eerie 111 $9

vampie 80 $10, 99 $10, 62 $10, 92 $12, 98 $12

Nightmare 74yr book $25

:takeit:

Edited by Dark Prime 0
thought of a joke but it failed once written
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On 6/26/2020 at 6:50 PM, Taylor G said:

Creepy #67, Dec 1974.  7.5 VF- $14.

Another Ken Kelly cover.  Some light finger bends on the right side of the FC.  There is an amusing story behind this cover: Rich Corben's classic Bowser story was supposed to be published in this issue, but the printer made a mistake and included his adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven instead, leading to this letter in Creepy #69:

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Take at 20% off

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