Friday, March 29, 2024

COMING . . . A NEW MONSTER MAG!


Who says print monster magazines are a thing of the past? The folks at TwoMorrows Publishing are unleashing a new magazine, CRYPTOLOGY with the first issue due this October. According to their website, three more are planned through the beginning of 2025. The editor is horror comics' Crown Prince, Peter Normanton, who dazzled us some years ago with his indie-published FROM THE TOMB.

 À la EC Comics, et al, The Cryptologist will guide us through each issue, and according to the provided information, it will be a mix of articles about retro monster movies and comics, which sounds quite alright to me.

If any of you are lucky enough to know about this outfit and the quality -- no. the highest quality publications about comics and pop culture, you know this will be as good as it gets.

Other recommended titles from TwoMorrows: ALTER EGO, BACK ISSUE, COMIC BOOK ARTIST, and JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR.

CRYPTOLOGY pre-order information is HERE.

Now, excuse me while I go do a happy dance.


“Greetings, creep culturists! For my debut issue, I, the Cryptologist (with the help of From The Tomb editor Peter Normanton), have exhumed the worst Horror Comics excesses of the 1950s, Killer “B” movies to die for, and the creepiest, kookiest toys that crossed your boney little fingers as a child! But wait... do you dare enter the House of Usher, or choose sides in the skirmish between the Addams Family and The Munsters?! Can you stand to gaze at Warren magazine frontispieces by this issue’s cover artist Bernie Wrightson, or spend some Hammer Time with that studio’s most frightening films? And if Atlas pre-code covers or terrifying science-fiction are more than you can take, stay away! All this, and more, is lurching toward you in TwoMorrows Publishing’s latest, and most decrepit, magazine—just for retro horror fans, and featuring my henchmen Will Murray, Mark Voger, Barry Forshaw, Tim Leese, Pete von Sholly, and Steve and Michael Kronenberg!”


"Heh-heh-heh, it’s me again—the Cryptologist—and my ghastly little band have cooked up a few more grisly morsels to terrorize you with! Amongst them is Roger Hill’s conversation with diabolical Don Heck, along with a complete 1950s story by that fabled horror comics artist! For something even more gruesome, Steven Kronenberg slices up his favorite severed hand films! Barry Forshaw brings back the otherworldly horrors of Hammer’s Quatermass, while Tim Leese spends more Hammer Time on that studio’s output. Then, Richard Hand resurrects spooky old radio shows, while editor Peter Normanton prepares a viewing of horror-inspired covers from the Shadow’s own 1940s comic book! We’ll cover another Killer “B” movie classic, along with more pre-Code comic books, and Pete Von Sholly gives his twisted take on cartoon horror. So peer into the dark side with TwoMorrows Publishing’s latest terror—scribed just for retro horror fans!"


“I, the Cryptologist, am back with editor Peter Normanton and my horrible little troop of ne’er do wells, to inflict the dread of Mars Attacks upon you—the banned cards, model kits, and despicable comics, along with a few words from the film’s deranged storyboard artist Pete von Sholly! The chilling poster art of Reynold Brown gets brought up from my vault by Steve Kronenberg, along with a host of terrifying puppets from film, and more pre-Code comic books Dr. Wertham would prefer you forget! Plus, Tim Leese spends more Hammer Time on that studio’s films, we run from another Killer “B” movie (1959’s The Manster), and Justin Marriot flips through obscure ’70s fear-filled paperbacks. It’s more retro-horror to satiate your sinister side!”


“I, the Cryptologist, throw open my putrid sanctuary, as acclaimed illustrator Alex Ross regales us with the gory lowdown on his Universal Monsters paintings. Tim Leese and Hammer Time then take us face-to-face with that studio’s classic film “Brides of Dracula.” Mark Voger puts the horrors of 3-D movies of the 1950s into focus, and editor Peter Normanton literally brings that era’s 3-D comic books to life with a mini-history, and complete 3-D story reprint! From there, we embark on a journey to discover the early origins of blood-curdling slasher movies, as a prelude to the macabre pre-Code artwork of Atlas’s Bill Everett and ACG’s 3-D maestro Harry Lazarus. Another Killer “B” movie awaits (courtesy of Steve Kronenberg), as does cartoon creepiness by Pete Von Sholly. It’s a crypt full of the macabre, prepared especially for retro horror fans!””

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

THE HOUSE OF HAMMER NO. 7 (PART 1)


HOUSE OF HAMMER, THE
Vol. 1 No.  7
February 1977 (second printing)
Publisher: General Book Distribution (Warner House)
Editor: Dez Skin
Art Editor: Paul Harwood
Production: Ron Letchford; John Hunt
Cover art: Brian Lewis
Pages: 52
Cover price: 35p (About 50 cents)

Lots of recognizable authors and artists in this issue: Blas Gallego illustration the comic adaptation of Hammer's TWINS OF EVIL, novelist John Brosnan provides two articles and Dave "Watchmen" Gibbons draws the one-page werewolf strip for this installment of "Van Helsing's Terror Tales". An article on female vampires rounds out another good issue of this UK horror mag.

CONTENTS
"Twins of Evil"
Script: Chris Lowder (adaptation)
Art: Blas Gallego

"My Favourite Things" text article by John Brosnan.

"The Omen" review by John Brosnan.

"The Golden Age of Horror: Boris Karloff" text article by Denis Gifford.

"The Devil's Men" movie preview.

"Daughters of the Night" text article by Tise Vahimagi.

"Van Helsing's Terror Tales: The Werewolf!"
Script: Dave Gibbons
Art: Dave Gibbons