Constantine, Review by Case Wright

Posted on October 7, 2019 by casewright

Can one act stain your soul for all eternity? It turns out that if you attempt suicide, you’re going to Hell. Anywho, Constantine was a comic by Alan Moore (Watchmen) long before Keanu Reeves played the demon fighter. Full disclosure, I have purchased, but not read the comic. It’s long and I’m not sure if I can get through it for this horrorthon, but I WILL TRY!

Constantine was born with a “gift” that he could see demons among us. This drives him out of his mind; so, he commits suicide and is sent promptly to Hell. He’s tormented for what seems like an eternity, but in our time was just two minutes. He returns to Earth because paramedics revive him. Because he attempted to kill himself, he’s condemned to Hell when he dies. How do I know this?The “Half-Angel” Gabriel tells it to us in really clunky exposition. It turns out that Heaven and Hell are basically in a Cold War and can’t directly fight on Earth.

Constantine REALLY doesn’t want to go back to Hell. His solution is to fight demons for a living to get into heaven. He does an exorcism here and there and fights evil, but this isn’t his ticket back to heaven- as I was told by MORE exposition. Constantine is kind of a depressive and a little whiny at times. I guess that’s why I kept getting annoyed by him. Yeah, Yeah, your life sucks, but there’s no reason to do this all the time:

There’s a lot of these “I’m so broody Boohoo” moments in this film.

Like this one: broody 3.jpg

This one was a long trip to bummer time with a soupçon of anger:

broody 2.jpg

Between the complaining, Constantine uncovers a plot that Lucifer’s son Mammon is trying to break into earth and cause a lot of trouble. Trouble….Trouble….that starts with M …. and ends with N, which stands for Mammon!

Constantine was entertaining, but it seems kinda all over the place at times. The parts that had him hot on the trail of Mammon and his evil plans were fun, but all the side plots and side characters were a mixture of goofy and dull. Overall, it was a good burgers and fries flick. Not to say that the comics or the cartoon (yep, there’s a cartoon, I know because of Google) aren’t awesome, but if they are the same quality as the movie, they are beach reads or I’m stuck on public transportation reading. There might be sequel. Will I watch it? Yes, because despite my snark, I’m basically 14.

The Corrupting Covers of Tales From The Crypt

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Dazzling Erin

Published by EC Comics, Tales From The Crypt is one of the most fondly-remembered horror comics books of the 1950s. The series actually began under the title International Comics and went through several other title changes before becoming Tales From The Crypt. A horror anthology series that was hosted by The Crypt Keeper, The Vault Keeper, and the Old Witch, Tales From The Crypt ran from 1950 to 1955 and was so popular with young readers that a psychologist named Fredric Wertham claimed that reading the comic book could lead to juvenile delinquency and other deviant behavior. The resulting moral panic led to a Congressional investigation and the adaptation of the Comic Book Code. It also led to the cancellation of all of EC’s horror titles, including Tales From The Crypt.

In the decades since, issues of Tales From The Crypt have been highly sought after by collectors and the comic book even inspired a television show on HBO. Below is a selection of the covers of Tales From The Crypt, the series that corrupted America’s youth.

It’s always interesting to see what used to be controversial.

Joker, Book Review, By Case Wright

Posted on October 3, 2019 by casewright

Happy Horrorthon! 2008 – Barack Obama was becoming a household name, I still had some hair, and Heath Ledger’s Joker brought the absolute evil of clowns to the silver screen. I understand that some of you might think that the comic Joker is not a horror comic, but guys it’s got a clown right there on the cover; they are ALL trying to kill you. IT COUNTS!

Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo sought to bring Ledger’s Joker into a comic form and dig a little deeper into the psychology of Joker and why someone would follow him. The story is narrated by Jonny Frost – a small time gangster- who wanted to be big. Jonny figures that he himself is not larger than life, but by being near bright evil, he too could shine like the moon does with the earth. He picks the Joker.

Christopher Nolan described the Joker as an absolute. He is an id of Corruption and destruction. In this story, the Joker has gotten out of Arkham….again. SIDE NOTE: what’s with Gotham?! They must have the single party liberal governing that we have in Seattle because you’d think they’d have a Three Strikes Rule or the Death Penalty by now. I mean, why let the Joker continue to keep breathing? I get how Batman has this weird code- he wears rubber, cape, lives in a cave, and is all kinds of weirdo, but why do the rest of Gotham’s citizens have it? Do they not vote? Do they have only one ballot choice? So, the Joker meets Jonny Frost the second that he leaves Arkham and Jonny works as a toady and hanger on for the majority of the book.

Jonny narrates the Joker’s return to power as he reaps through the underworld, but he burns most of his possessions down and kills all of his own henchmen and even shoots Jonny at the end. Really, the story depicted the Joker as a force of Anti-Creation. While it was a deeper dive into this Super Villain, it left me wanting because it was told through the lens of this mediocrity Jonny Frost. It says Joker right there on the cover so you’d think it would be all about the Clown Prince of Crime, but instead it was this tangential view of him. I would’ve been more captivated by a story just about the Joker without a go-between.

The story was strong and depicting LOTS AND LOTS of gore. In fact, the Joker kills more people than the Spanish Flu. He’s Lucifer and Death combined to cause havoc. In the end, we get the obvious conclusion that he’s just this disease of evil and that Batman is really just a treatment, but not a cure. It seems that Gotham’s real disease is a soft on crime public policy.

Horror Review: Glyceride by Junji Ito

Posted on October 2, 2019 by Arleigh

Junji Ito Glyceride

While Junji Ito’s work has been done both in long-series format and novella-style stand-alone, most of his work has been through short story collections which has been collected in tanboko collections. It’s with some of his short stories that themes really shine through despite their short length. He’s able to disturb unnerve, disgust and horrify a reader with a quick read than most horror writers and filmmakers have tried using much longer formats.

One such short tale is “Glyceride.”

“Glyceride” is chapter 5 of his collection of one-shot stories in the collection Yami no Koe (Voices in the Dark). It tells the tale of a girl named Yui whose family owns a barbecue restaurant (city or town never mentioned other than it has a clear view of Mt. Fuji) in town. The place is always dark, dirty and there’s a heavy atmosphere of grease permeating everything in the place.

It’s this sense of grease both literal and figuratively which creates that sense of otherworldly horror and uneasiness. Ito’s artwork makes one feel the very grease the tale’s protagonist speaks about to such a level that, at least for me, one would need to take a thorough shower once done.

While the story is quite brief it leaves a definite imprint on the reader. Below is the anime adaptation of the short story.

Titans S2Ep1, “Trigon”, Review by Case Wright (Dir. Carol Banker)

Posted on September 6, 2019 by casewright

titans-1

Welcome back! This has been a hard year for me in terms of reviewing season two and three shows-

Sabrina 2- garbage

Stranger Things 3- Just so very sad.

And then there was Titans. I was prepared for a sophomore slump like I had seen all year with my favorite shows and ….. it NEVER happened. Season 2 Episode 1 was like a new pilot of my most beloved show. It had family murder, a quasi Lucifer, and an introduction of Death Stroke, Bruce Wayne, a new Titans Headquarters, and a cure for male pattern baldness!

The episode picked up where it left off with Dick turned into an evil minion and the rest of the gang trying to help. Hawk and Dove go to Jason Todd and they all descend upon the EVIL Farmhouse …. and are invited in or are they? Trigon (Seamus Dever) is up to his old tricks of temptation, manipulation, and pagination – he’s really into orderly manuscripts; it can’t be all about world destruction.

The Titans fall one by one. Jason Todd is manipulated to kill his “older brother” Dick, Starfire is tricked into killing Rachel, Hank gets Dawn hooked on smack… yes smack…horse…the dragon…the boy…the beast…H…or dope. You even see the needle enter her arm and shoot it up. I’m not sure whether this show or Breaking Bad is darker? Maybe I need to watch something lighter like Disneyland being hit by a meteor or all the unicorns dying to Adiago For Strings. But, man oh man it is enthralling!!! I know that DCU is yet another subscription service, BUT it is worth every single penny to me! *Views expressed do not represent this blog, but are always correct. *

Once everyone is turned and Gar is nearly beaten to death by the now Evil Titans, Raven’s heart breaks allowing Trigon to fulfill his prophecy and start some earth destroying. He reaches into his daughter’s chest, crushes her beating heart, turns it into a ruby, and puts the stone on her forehead….and I thought my childhood Thanksgivings were awkward…HIYOOO! Then, Trigon goes full-on Lucifer, which almost made this a Horrorthon post.

Gar wakes and breaks Raven free of the curse and she kills/banishes her father. EPIC… JUST EPIC! Anywho, once the dust settles, we get introduced to our new villain Death Stroke (who apparently hates Jason Todd; I don’t know why because he really grows on you) and Bruce Wayne. This was a really good portrayal of an older aging Bruce- from father to Dick’s peer. The episode ends with the Titans in San Francisco in their familiar HQ to the fans of the animated series.

This show succeeded in so many ways. It’s deliciously 99% Cacao Dark. It has great action, great dialogue, heart wrenching failure and redemption. The performances, as always, were superb across the board. I will say that Jason Todd (Curran Walters) should get a spinoff of the Red Hood. He would be an amazing Anti-Hero and a clever take on a Batman like hero without ANY rules. Ahem Greg….Ahem! See you in a week!

Artist Profile: L.B. Cole (1918 — 1995)

Posted on August 26, 2019 by Dazzling Erin

L.B. Cole, who was born Leonard Cohen in the Bronx, New York, ended his formal education when he was 13 years old. That was when he dropped out of school and went to work in his uncle’s cigar factory. It was while working in the factory that Cole first noticed all of the work that went into designing the labels and the packages of his grandfather’s cigars. This was the start of an interest in illustration that would lead to L.B. Cole becoming one of the busiest and most prolific artists of both the pulps and the Golden Age of Comics.

Cole left his grandfather’s factory in 1936 and, at the age of 16, joined the art staff of the company the designed the factory’s cigar box labels. Cole spent three years working as an apprentice and learning the ins and outs of graphic design. By the time that Cole turned 21, he had already begun his career as a commercial artist.

Cole apparently did his first paperback covers in 1942, for Phoenix Press. He would go on to work in both the paperback and the comic book industry, dabbling in every genre and making a name for himself with his bold and colorful work. Cole even briefly made the transition from artist to publisher when, in 1949, he founded Star Publications. L.B. Cole was also one of the few commercial artists of the era to sign his name to almost all of his covers.

Cole worked regularly through the mid-60s. After his retirement, he was rediscovered by collectors and continued to contribute occasional illustrations to fan publications. After his death in 1995, Cole was posthumously inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame.

Here’s some of his work:

Great Moments In Comic Book History: Crisis on Campus

Posted on August 2, 2019 by Jedadiah Leland

This has always been one of my favorite Spider-Man covers. Credit for it goes to John Romita, Sr.

This issue of The Amazing Spider-Man came out in 1969, at the height of the student protests that rocked campuses across America. Since Spider-Man was a student at Empire State University at the time, it makes sense that he would eventually be drawn into the protests. In typical Marvel fashion, Spider-Man ended up supporting both the protesters and the police who later busted them. Spider-Man felt the protesters had a right to protest but that the police were also necessary to maintain the peace. Of course, in the end, the Kingpin would use the distraction of the protests to steal an ancient tablet, leaving the students to take the blame.

This cover perfectly captured the ambiguous place of both Spider-Man and Marvel in the counter culture. Spider-Man may appear to be with the protesters but it’s also not a coincidence that he’s swinging above them, indicating that Spider-Man was both a part of the counterculture and yet above it all at the same time. At a time of intense national polarization, Marvel manged to pull off the balancing act of supporting both sides at the same time.

Is Spider-Man a part of the protest or is he the one being protested? It all depends on what you want to see.

The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #68 (January, 1969)

“Crisis On Campus!”

Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: John Romita Sr. and Jim Mooney
Inker: Jim Mooney
Letterer: Sam Rosen
Editor: Stan Lee
Cover Artist: John Romita, Sr.

Previous Great Moments In Comic Book History:

Great Moments In Comic Book History: The Avengers Appear On David Letterman

Posted on July 13, 2019 by Jedadiah Leland

Remember that episode of Late Night with David Letterman with the Avengers?

It happened in 1984 and, as you can see, even Paul Shaffer came down with a case of Avengers fever.

As you can see below, The Avengers didn’t send their top members to meet with Dave. Back in 1984, the Avengers had over a dozen members but Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor were all presumably busy so Dave had to make due with Hawkeye, Wonder Man, and The Beast. At least Black Panther and Black Widow tagged along.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a day in the life of the Avengers if a wannabe super villain didn’t show up and try to take control of the show. This time, it was a real idiot named Fabian Stankowicz. Fabian was always trying to make a name for himself as a super villain but he was always easily defeated by The Avengers. This time, he was actually defeated by none other than David Letterman himself!

Atta boy, Dave!

Avengers Vol. 1 #239 (January, 1984)

“Late Night of the Super Stars”

Writer: Roger Stern
Penciler: Al Milgrom
Inker: Joe Sinnott
Colourist: Christie Scheele
Letterer: Jim Novak
Editor: Michael Carlin

Previous Great Moments In Comic Book History:

Winchester Before Winchester: Swamp Thing Vol. 2 #45 “Ghost Dance”

MAD Magazine Is Shutting Down

Posted on July 3, 2019 by Jedadiah Leland

I just heard from a friend of mine who is in a Facebook group with a MAD writer that, after the next two issues, MAD will no longer be publishing original material. Instead, it’ll publish reprinted material until it’s subscription responsibilities are fulfilled and then the magazine will cease publication.

Obviously, MAD isn’t the cultural force that it once was but it’s still an American institution. In a time when even having a sense of humor can be a subversive act, MAD will be missed.

Titans, S1E3, Origins, Dir. Kevin Rodney Sullivan, No review ep 4

Posted on June 24, 2019 by casewright

titans

This episode – Origins – digs deeper into Dick and how he evolved into Robin and how Dick, Koriand’r, and Rachel evolved into the Titans. I don’t mention Beast Boy because he joins in the next episode and he is kinda lame. Speaking of Beast Boy, I won’t review Episode 4- Doom Patrol. It’s a backdoor pilot for the eponymous show that was reviewed on this site – check it out here.

The episode opens with my only critique for the season. Rachel is captured, but doesn’t use her Goth powers to kill everyone. Why not? This was not explained. It seems that somehow her powers were neutered, but I’m not sure how. She ends up being driven around by the world’s creepiest suburban family. This quick cuts to Koriand’r searching for Rachel and kicking serious ass kinda unnecessarily. I mean these were cops and she just breaks one guy’s arm when he begs for mercy. OUCH! Koriand’r catches up to the “Nuclear Family” and sets the dad on fire and rescues Rachel. Koriand’r sets more people on fire than the Romans did! Not too long after, she practically tears apart a wife beater at a diner! WOW! Koriand’r takes Rachel to a convent where she discovered Rachel spent the first few years of her life. All the while, Dick is on the hunt for them both!

The B- Story is Dick Grayson’s youth and how he became Robin. I wasn’t sure how I thought of this device, but it re-centered the story around Dick to keep the narrative clear: This show is Dick’s Story. Young Dick Grayson is adopted by Bruce Wayne who doesn’t speak, but lurks around the house staring at Dick. HMMMM. Anywho, Dick starts breaking out of Wayne Manor using his acrobat and car stealing techniques. He’s caught and brought into his social worker who is certain that she knows the way forward: reason with the boy. Unfortunately, she doesn’t get it. Dick isn’t running away; he’s hunting his parents’ killer to kill them. This causes Bruce to take an interest in Dick and recruit him into becoming Robin.

If you look at Dick as someone with deep-seeded PTSD, (which is exactly what’s going on) Bruce and Dick’s actions are very logical. They have repressed rage and, unlike many of us, the means and ability to exact revenge on people who mirror the cause of their trauma. Most of us just end up in therapy, but I admit that I envy these guys. Yes, it’s easier on your family to go to the VA and work through your justified rage, but wouldn’t it also be fun to wear some sort of leather and beat the ever loving snot out of a bunch of wife beaters, drug dealers, and child molesters?! It’s be a lot more fun than therapy and far fewer group sessions where you get slightly better than mediocre ham sandwiches.

Dick, being a pretty good detective, catches up to them and Rachel loses it full-on Carrie style. Dick Koriand’r and Rachel back to the convent and has a heart to heart with Rachel. He said something that stuck with me. Rachel was going on about how no one can really help and Dick admits, Yes. He thought Bruce could solve his problems by having him beat the snot out of people, but no one else can be responsible for your pain. You have to channel it yourself into something constructive, but it never goes away because it did happen to you.

It turns out that the sisters decide to lock up Rachel in the basement for her own good while Dick and Koriad’r step out for a few. This seems like an odd choice for the sisters. It’s obvious that Rachel is still there and why would they think that Dick and Koriand’r would be okay with her being locked away in a basement?! Kinda weird. Other than a few flaws, the episode lays the framework for an expanding family. I really do enjoy watching this group evolve into the Titans and they are really good at showing the subtle sparks that Koriand’r and Dick have for one another. Once again, I’m impressed with how accurately and directly they deal with PTSD and how that would affect all superheroes.