Mr. Monster's Hi-Shock Schlock #2

Michael T. Gilbert's Mr. Monster wasn't so much his creation as it was a re-purposing of an forgotten monster-fighting hero who was languishing in the public domain. Gilbert mainly gave Mr. Monster a new identity in Doc Stearn; a scholar whose parents were killed by monsters. In turn, Gilbert turned his Mr Monster into a parody of a slew of monster fighting heroes who came before him; including Blade, Van Helsing and a hearty dose of The Punisher. And Mr. Monster got a girl Friday in the bombshell Kelly, who is seemingly way smarter at this monster killing thing than old Doc Stearn.

After the initial run of Mr. Monster original stories, MM took over as host of a slew of anthology titles at Eclipse devoted to reprinting other obscure public domain works. Hi-Shock Schlock focused on stories so outlandish that you had to see them to believe them.

I never really examined the cover to this book too closely when I bought it about a year ago. I was just excited to find a handful of Mr. Monster titles. Yes- there really was a series called Toni Gay. And it really did co-star a boy named Butch Dykeman. The series was apparently a parody of a teen girl comic series called Toni Gayle. Gilbert, along with myself are astonished that this book made it past the stodgy censors of the 1950s. But since the main store was pretty tame with Toni and Butch getting lost during a horseback riding trip, maybe the names were overlooked despite their obvious anti-gay overtones.

Then there's an adventure starring Frank Thomas' The Eye which is exactly what it sounds like. A giant disembodied eyeball that goes around enforcing vigilante justice with a healthy dose of supernatural power behind it all. This story was a pleasant surprise as I remember having read about the eye a while back in the pages of the League of Regrettable Superheroes. It was kinda neat getting to read about something I had read in a comic book history book of not-so-great ideas in superhero characters.

Lastly, to fill in the book, (rounding out this trio) Gilbert features a story by Basil Wolverton. Gilbert seems to be a big fan of the absurdist creator who loved stories about weird creatures from Venus and Mars. This story occurs on Jupiter where a man with large arms gets twisted into a literal pretzel and needs help from an impish hero named Jumping Jupiter to get untangled. 

Plus, there's a couple of amazing articles about the history of these and other comics peppered throughout the issue that are not to be missed!

I am getting to that stage in my life where I am greatly appreciating those classic comics from days gone by. Right now, the world is too angry and tense. Being able to escape to a time which seems simpler despite humanity having a long way to go in becoming civil just seems to be what the Doc Stearn ordered for this Madman. 

It's not perfect. But it is perfect for me.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.