Plop! #14

1973-76's Plop! was a sister anthology series of DC titles such as House of Mystery, House of Secrets and Secrets of Sinister House. Even though Plop! was hosted by horror hosts Cain & Abel as well as the lesser known Eve, this series was not a horror title. Instead, Plop! was a title devoted to the oddball and weird. There was definitely an element of humor running throughout this book as the majority of the stories and one-page gags revolved around the use of the word 'plop' to end the tale or for the punchline.

With Sergio Aragones, Basil Wolverton and Wally Wood all working on this book, Plop! felt like MAD Magazine lite. The trio had all at one point or another worked on the definitive humor mag of the 20th century. Aragones is a living legend, one of the last bastions of the William Gaines era of MAD. Wolverton was renowned for his grotesque creators such as the 'World's Ugliest Woman', Lena the Hyena and the cult-classic sci-fi storyline, 'The Brain Bats of Venus'! But it's Wally Wood that interests me the most!

Wallace Wood was one of the superstars of EC Comics. Known for work on such titles as Weird Science and Weird Fantasy and developing fan favorites in the Comics Code era such as THUNDER Agents, Wally Wood's artistic talent was set at 11. A tragic figure in comics, Wood battled a number of unexplained health issues and alcoholism, while maintaining a portfolio of work unparalleled to most.

The subject matter of the two main stories is rather varied. In the first yarn, a pair of spinster sisters are visited by their long-lost brother who returns home seeking his share of the family fortune. The ladies claim that they're flat broke. However, with the mystery of a forbidden, locked door, the brother is convinced that his share of wealth lies on the other side. Story 2 is a Marv Wolfman/Wally Wood collaboration. It has an aspiring knight looking for his place at King Arthur's Round Table. If he can rescue a damsel in distress, it will surely cement this squire's reputation. In a nearby castle, the young man finds a woman being terrorized by demons. Eager to save her life, the knight is faced with a dilemma that could make him a hero but it would damn the world in return.

Both stories were very good. The medieval story bears that signature MAD Magazine touch of adding funny signs and Easter eggs throughout the background scenery. The inheritance tale had just enough mix of kook factor and suspense to make the tale weird but not scary enough to warrant a place in DC's pantheon of horror titles.

The one-page gags were all weird. You can see a production number in the bottom corner of most. The numbers vary in range. I'm wondering if these were gags that were considered too unusual for MAD and not spooky enough for the House of Mystery. 

A good read that lacks the satirical edge of MAD Magazine as well as the adult edginess of EC Comics. I blame the age in which this work was produced. The 70s was a time of relaxing the rules of the Comics Code. If Marvel had produced this book, some of the material would have pushed the envelope. With DC, they were willing to tackle the ghouls, demons and other monsters finally allowed by the CCA. But when it came to counterculture and anti-establishmentism, DC just didn't do enough to be edgy. It would take a few more years before the publisher would be truly willing to stick it to the man. And when they finally do, Plop! would be a cancelled memory.

Worth Consuming! 

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Curse of the Weird #1

Steve Ditko. Through his artistic lens, Ditko is a legend; having a hand in creating Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, The Blue Beetle and nameless others. But while I am fan of Steve Ditko the artist, I am even more of a fan of Steve Ditko the writer! 

A lot of this is due to the very first comic I ever bought (Ghostly Tales #152) featured a Ditko penned and penciled story. Though it was a reprint, I was hooked at a very young age. And so for Day 5 of my Halloween readings, I'm devoting some time to one of my all-time favs in Curse of the Weird #1.

It's true! This issue isn't 100% devoted to Steve Ditko. But it was a definite selling point to me. Curse of the Weird was a 1993 4-issue miniseries from Marvel. It was one of several short run series and one-shots published at this time that chronicled Marvel's rich horror history. This title focused on the pre-code horror published by Marvel's parent company- Atlas!

The first story was a Stan Lee/Ditko collaboration called 'Do Not Panic!' It's an alien first contact story with a great twist ending. 

Next up was a Russ Heath beauty called 'The Brain.' It looked like something destined for the pages of Vault of Horror or Tales From The Crypt. The only thing missing was that crisp, clean type-set style font. Well, that and a believable storyline.

Surrealist illustrator Basil Wolverton is featured in the third slot. 'The Eye of Doom' is reminiscent of Wolverton's magnum opus 'The Brain Bats of Venus'. So much to the point that this story too takes place on the same heavenly body! It's classic Wolverton! Not for everyone. But I loved it!

Things get wrapped up with a terrifying tale from Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett. In 'The Man Who Owned a Ghost' a man trades away his soul in hopes of killing his wife. In typical Faust-fashion, things never go right proving you should never make a deal with a devil!

This is a very good collection of classic horror from before the beginning of the Marvel Age of Comics. Don't pass up Mort Todd's (Cracked Magazine) in-depth article about the creation of these fabulous lost tales. It's a little bit disjointed with randomly inserted images of other titles. But it also gives an intimate glimpse into one of my favorite eras in comics- the comic book scare of the 1950s. 

There's 3 more issues out there. I've never run across them. But they'll definitely be coming home with me when I do. 

4 great artists. 3 fantastic stories. Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

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.

Spacehawk #1

That creature on the cover... not a brain-bat!

This Dark Horse title was a reprint of legendary comic artist Basil Wolverton’s greatest creation, Spacehawk. Spacehawk #1 was supposed to reprint all of Wolverton’s Spacehawk stories while introducing the 90s crowd to new adventures of the galactic do-gooder in an all-new adventure at the back of each book.

Sadly, it only lasted 5 issues.

However, I am not that sad to see it go. Spacehawk was done in 1940 and even for books of that era, the art is preposterous (Spacehawk’s space ship looks like a flying school bus), the plots were paper thin, and the dialogue A), often repeated what was just said in the captions and B), used poor sentence structure that made for uneasy reading.

The new modern tale didn’t fare much better as the art was merely cleaned up and the story ended abruptly with the newly rescued heroine saying she's now going to be following Spacehawk wherever he goes. Yet, the story ends there and we don’t get a “The End” or a “Tune in next time..” teaser to help explain the loose ends.

I only got this book because of the 'brain-bats' story this volume contains. I had read one of Wolverton’s 'brain-bat' stories in another comic or treasury (to which I can’t figure out where I read or saw the story that compelled me to get this book.) But, I remember that that tale was very good and it had turned me on to further Spacehawk adventures. Alas, in was this very volume that I am now reviewing, that has ended that curiosity for good.

NOT Worth Consuming.

Rating: 2 out of 10 stars.

The Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #60- PLOP!

Plop!- the short-lived companion piece to the House Of Secrets, the House Of Mystery, and The Witching Hour. It's true, as brother Cain and Abel and the Old Witch shared duties as the host to many of the stories contained within. It's moniker billed the comic as the “Magazine of Weird Humor” and boy does this collection not disappoint.

  This Blue Ribbon Digest was a much sought after gem that I stumbled across at a pop-up book sale. These digests, while completely filled with reprints, are holy grails to collectors such as myself who have found memories of these treasuries and actively seek them out and buy them with gusto. However, age has caught up with me as the tiny print was hard to read and I had to take frequent breaks least I end up with a headache. But that doesn't mean that I didn't have a ball reading this.

 Plop! featured the creative talents of Basil Wolverton, Wally Wood, Bernie Wrightson, and Sergio Aragones. It was like an old EC Comic was combined with Mad Magazine and had a baby… a very weird baby. Along with some silly fables, a Lord of the Rings parody, and a reprint of the award-winning story ‘ The Poster Plague’- a short tale from House Of Mystery that started it all. Why there's even a few Murphy Anderson penciled shorts that skewer some of you favorite heroes of the DC Universe.

I enjoyed this so much that if I ever come across further issues of PLOP! in my scourings of bargain bins, they will become a part of my collection! Without a doubt!

Worth Consuming

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.