Greetings ghosts and ghoulies and welcome to The Theatre of Terror the home of horror comic news, reviews, classic comic scans and creepy art from around the world. Just remember, it's not for the nervous!
What’s in a name? My wife and I have just welcomed a Second Sidesy into the world and my wife, being a teacher, was quite insistent on a name that wasn’t going to remind her of some of the less favourable scrotes wading their malodourous way through puberty. Having been raised by comics, films and television, I wanted to go with’ Logan McClane Skywalker’, but that went down like a shit sandwich.
Names evoke imagery of the person in question. And so, when it comes to our favourite comic writers and artists, their names immediately evoke our favourite of their works or their artwork – Warren Ellis (thought-provoking, politically motivated science-fiction), Jim Lee (incredibly detailed, beautifully crafted pencils), Mark Millar (superheroes, some more superheroes). And then there’s Garth Ennis.
As with Warren Ellis, when I see any book with Ennis’ name on it, I’ll buy it without reading the blurb or asking whether it’s any good because you know it will be. Brilliantly realised characters married with gloriously over-the-top visuals, you know you’re in for a good time. And with Stitched, a good time you get but it’s not the best of times.
Based on a story (and the original short film) by Garth Ennis, rather than written by Ennis himself, Stitched is the journey of three American military personnel whose helicopter has crash landed in the Taliban controlled mountains of eastern Afghanistan. With little to no supplies and with one of their number injured, they make their way cross-country to find some form of communication
that would allow them to be rescued. But (*adopt deep, gravel-filled voice*) something is in the mountains with them. Something ancient, something evil, something unrelenting. These are the ‘stitches’, the (you can stop doing the voice now) undead menace that threaten not only the stranded group, but the Taliban that control the area.
And threaten they do, in only ways that Garth Ennis knows how. Blood and gore flow liberally and nobody is safe. After being helped out by three members of an SAS regiment that the Americans were supposed to extract, the group work together to figure out what, or who, is behind the stitches before they all get, um, stitched up.
Although this is Ennis’ story concept, this is very much Avatar regular Mike Wolfer’s baby. His script is fast paced, the action never really letting up from the get go and the dialogue is snappy and drives the story nicely. The setting of ‘something afoot in Afghanistan’, similar to criminally under-rated low-budget sci-fi film The Objective, gives Ennis/Wolfer a platform to explore, albeit it briefly, the current state of the ‘war on terror’, taking the interesting angle of the killing and slavery of the local populace, a topic often ignored in the news headlines in favour of ‘Look At Harry Playing Video Games’.
The artwork is solid, Wolfer’s style very similar to fellow Avatar scribbler Jacen Burrows. I’m an avid fan of this almost European style of work; crisp lines with incredible detail complimented by vibrant colours, these courtesy of Digikore Studios. With this level of detail comes the anatomically correct gore and while not on the same level as the Crossed series, the sheer number of eviscerations in this book would make Tom Savini jealous. It also allows for stunning splash pages of the hostile terrain the group finds themselves in as well as giving us the characters’ honest reactions to the situations they encounter (I always wondered what sort of face someone might pull when having their guts pulled out through their mouth. Now I know).
Stitched is almost like an amalgamation of Ennis’ compelling 303 and clever shock-fest Crossed but not in the same league as his seminal Preacher or, my personal favourite, The Boys. It is however,
a thoroughly entertaining action-horror that benefits to be read as a trade and all at once, ramping up the action and the gore in every issue, leaving you with a quality, well-rounded blood-bath finish. Just make sure you know what you’re getting sewn up the next time you go to the doctors with a cut.
Check out some of the lovely Stitched covers below.
It will also probably also be available from Back From The Depths later on (where you can download issues of Hallowscream), and viewable online at MYEBOOK if it stops being awkward and lets me upload the bloomin’* thing.
American TV drives me mad. Not because of the quality, most of it is of an incredible standard, but due to the whimsical way that the networks decide their fates. Prime example is ‘Lost’, a show I loved but got increasingly frustrated with because it was pretty obvious where it should have finished but the networks squeezed every last ounce of story out of the writers to milk the cash- cow for all it was worth. Alternatively, you have ‘Defying Gravity’; a science-fiction show that was so brilliant, so ambitious and so (literally) out of this world and the network cancelled it after one series. If I had hair, I’d tear it out.
However, one show that was positively guaranteed more than one series is The Walking Dead, due to the wealth of source material it’s based on – all 104 issues and counting. And, judging by the latest collected offering (97-102) from Kirkman, Adlard and Rathburn, it shows no signs of letting up in the foreseeable future. Which is good, because it’s f-ing brilliant.
This story arc is a no-holds barred tour de force which sees Rick and the rest of the survivors come face to face with the mysterious Negan that has been plaguing the hilltop community they met in the last arc. The continuous, masterful story development is all there; Carl is becoming increasingly hardened against the hopeless future that he has to inherit, Andrea and Rick’s relationship develops and Maggie has some big news to impart on Glenn but it’s the monumentally heart-wrenching issue 100 that makes this collection worth reading, not least because it features one of the series’ most brutal scenes since the ‘eye surgery with a spoon’ issue, but because Kirkman and Adlard pace it so perfectly that you are literally on the edge of your seat when reading.
The pacing should be perfect, mind you; they’ve had 99 issues to make it so, but the trick is they make you care about everything that happens. They make you care about the characters because you’ve been following them through Hell since the beginning and you’re willing them to survive, to live, to be happy and Kirkman teases these survivors with that possibility all the way through this arc only to whip it out from under them in such a shocking manner that you can’t help but feel it in the pit of your stomach. All of this is captured by Charlie Adlard’s ever-consistent pencils, producing arguably some of his best (and most gruesome) Walking Dead work to date. (Man, that guy can draw guts).
As always, the ‘meat puppets’ are there in the background, shuffling and moaning, waiting for an unsuspecting survivor to slip up so they can turn the poor sod’s brains into poo. There’s an exchange between some of the characters about the zombie situation that makes for interesting speculation as to the eventual end of the dead-head threat but it’s not them the survivors really have to worry about anymore.
The media is saturated with post-apocalyptic horror/sci-fi but The Walking Dead remains one of the best due to its consistency, pace, believability and most importantly, its cast of characters. Through Kirkman’s compelling story-telling and Adlard’s expert use of close-ups and facial expressions, you get drawn into their world kicking and screaming, you believe the injustices of what happens in issue 100 and as a result, you want to exact bloody retribution as much as Rick does. And you’d enjoy doing it, too.
I used to live in a haunted house. True story. As in a ‘what’s that noise coming from the attic?’/’should we call in a priest?’ haunted house. Our ghost wasn’t that bad though (the place was a converted grain mill, hardly the stereotypical, murderous hack and slash pit that seems to characterise haunted places).Occasionally you’d hear footsteps coming up the stairs, some rooms were permanently colder than others and on one or two occasions, we’d hear scratching in the walls, which my Dad attributed at the time to birds nesting in the roof. The fact that birds couldn’t get into the roof was only told to me after we moved, but that’s neither here nor there. The idea of being in the presence of a supernatural entity scares the shit out of me.
So, with that in mind, I bought Vertigo’s one-shot anthology ‘Ghosts’, expecting a veritable feast of paranormal activity. While there is some, ‘Ghosts’ veers from the obvious titular spook fest and instead examines themes of loss, regret of lives never lived and relationships that grow apart and fade into the ether. Oh and there’s a sci-fi, ghost ship pirate story but I’ll get to that in a minute.
The stories here are strong, not surprising given the talent on board. Al Ewing’s ’The Night I Took The Data Entry Job I Was Visited By My Own Ghost’ (yes, that is the title) is a funny, almost Dickensian take on the choices we make in life whereas Cecil Castellucci’s ‘Wallflower’ is a sparsely written tale of a relationship that fades over time, the couple becoming like ghosts to each other, that lets Amy Reeder’s superlative artwork pull at the heart strings.
One of the main attractions of this anthology is the superstar pairing of Geoff Johns and Jeff Lemire on ’Ghost-For-Hire’, a quirky tale of 2 brothers, one dead, scaring folk out of houses for a cash payment. Johns and Lemire tease the possibility of more whereas the other star attraction, the Neil Gaiman created ‘Dead Boy Detectives’ (literally does what it says on the tin) absolutely guarantees more in other Vertigo anthologies which left me feeling a little cheated. The hidden gems in this collection, however, are Gilbert Hernandez’ ‘The Dark Lady’, a superbly crafted story of inexplicable innocence with a satisfying ending and Joe Kubert’s ’The Boy and the Old Man’, particularly poignant as this was the last story he produced before he died. The artwork is rough, consisting of just his unfinished pencils, but the story of a dying grandfather trying to protect his grandson from an evil spirit is one of the best of the bunch.
The rest of the stories border on the gratuitously surreal – Neil Kleid’s ’A Bowl of Red’ about the creation of a transcendental chili is beautifully drawn by the ever reliable John McCrea, the slightly disappointing ’Treasure Lost’ by Paul Pope and scripted by David Lapham, included in this collection by the most tenuous of links – a ’ghost ship’, is a sci-fi, adventure romp that feels a little out of place but it is the utterly bonkers ’Bride’ by Mary HK Choi that I struggled with; the story of a rich, drug dealing hedonist’s grief at the loss of his spouse who then seemingly ODs after snorting his wife’s ashes. The artwork, by Phil Jimenez, however, is outstanding.
Is it worth 8 dollars/5 of your good pounds? Of course, it’s Vertigo after all and anything that Jeff Lemire stamps his name on is worth the price of admission. But if you’re expecting to read this looking for some brown-trouser inducing terror, I’d look elsewhere.
The Back From The Depths 2012 HALLOWSCREAM! Hallowe’en Special has returned from the depths once more and is available to download as a totally free pdf file!
60pages of horror for your delectation, a bevvy of beasties and brutality behind a monstrous cover by Malcolm Kirk!
SEE the stomach-churning sideshow freak!
HEAR the bellowing countryside beast which feasts upon unwary wanderers into its domain!
SMELL the bodily emissions of the not exactly undead!
They sing! They dance!
Page 3 : Beaten Path Story by John J Owens, Art by Neil Roberts Page 9 : The Gravedigger Story by Matt Garvey, Art by Erick Marquez Page 14 : Sucked Story by Dirk Van Dom, Art by El Chivo, Letters by Jim Campbell Page 17 : Farmin’ Story by Paul Eldridge, Art by Chow Martin Page 19 : Cash 4 Souls Story & Art by Gordon Innes Page 20 : Youkai Chronicles : Mokumokuren Story by Dirk Van Dom, Art by Antony Rothwell Page 25 : Terrorvision Guide by Malcolm Kirk Page 26 : Gaki Story by Paul Bristow, Design by Malcolm Kirk Page 29 : Charles Wynford Lodge Movie Posters by Julian Jones Page 30 : Buck Tucker : Enemy of Love Story by Dirk Van Dom, Art by Bhuna Page 33 : Terribly Bad Monsters : To Be Frank Story & Art by Christopher Geary Page 34 : The Pond Story by Chris Sides, Art by Chris Travell Page 41 : Terribly Bad Monsters : A Curse Unwound Story & Art by Christopher Geary Page 42 : A Grim Tale : Freakshow Story & Art by Malcolm Kirk Page 43 : Dead Wood Story by Dave Roberts, Art & Letters by Michael Kennedy Page 47 : The Nuisance Story & Art by Antony Rothwell Page 49 : Rayne : Demon Hunter Story & Art by Rattan Bhagwandin Page 54 : AAIIEEE! Advertisement Page 55 : The Wanbies Story by Tim West, Art by Neil McClements Page 59 : Deadvertisements by Malcolm Kirk
…and… Page 60 : Back Cover Skull by Malcolm Kirk
Horror comic royalty team-up alert! Back in 83, award winning horror comic artist Bernie Wrightson, along with Marvel, released an illustrated version of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein which pretty much received universal acclaim as a masterclass in combining written text with i
“This is an idea that’s been rattling around somewhere in the back of my mind for a good many years,” said Wrightson. “I mentioned it to Steve and we started talking. In about two minutes I realized that not only were we on the same page, we shared a vision. I’m very excited to see this finally happening. It’s going to be lot of fun.”
said, Wrightson.
Have a read of Niles interview with Wrightson over on www.steveniles.net
Shock Till You Drop have an exclusive ‘motion comic’ to co-inside with the release of upcoming movie mashup Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. The film is based on the 2010 novel of the same name, by Seth Grahame-Smith, who also wrote the screenplay for the film. Grahame-Smith is no stranger to mixing up old and new ideas, having already achieved acclaim for his zombie novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. This time it’s American president Abe Lincoln who gets the supernatural treatment as he attempts to save the country he loves from vampires.
The motion comic is created using the latest HTML 5 techniques and is a pretty good example of how to make a webcomic dynamic. A swipe of the mouse or click of a button slides the images from right to left, which also triggers some neat effects using various CSS styles to give the impression of action.
From the banned 1950s horror comics that Dr. Fredric Wertham of the U.S. Senate and mothers didn’t want innocent children to devour comes a terrifying and timely anthology of comics of the undead… Zombies. These gruesome mini-masterpieces are hauntingly delineated by some of the Golden Age’s greatest artists: Jack Cole, Bob Powell, Wally Wood, Gene Colan, Lou Cameron, Reed Crandall, and others at their very best. The nightmarish scripts of the unstoppable living dead will make your spine freeze over in terror! Co-edited and designed by Eisner winner Craig Yoe with an introduction by co-editor and host of the popular “The Horrors of It All” vintage comics blog, Steve “Karswell” Banes, Zombies follows in the footsteps of the Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein and Bob Powell’s Terror as the third not-to-be-missed book in The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics! As with the entire line of Yoe Books, the reproduction techniques employed strive to preserve the look and feel of expensive vintage comics. Painstakingly remastered, enjoy the closest possible recreation of reading these comics when first released.
You can purchase this lovely book over on the Yeo! Books website.
Launched last weekend, at London’s Kapow comic-con, British anthology Overload will be a comic to keep your eyes on. Kicking off the series is an exciting story by Gordon Rennie, Emma Beeby and Eoin Coveney being: a zombie critique of modern Coalition Britain. Just check out the glorious zombie Thatcher cover art by Graeme Neil Reid.
She shut the coal mines, privatised every major public utility in the UK, introduced the poll tax, pre-empted the banking crisis and stole the milk from our childrens’ mouths – and now she’s back from the dead to re-take her rightful place as the leader of the country from the weak-minded ConDem coalition.
Also featured in issue #1 is ‘Comort’ written by Dave Cook and Gary Crutchely (2000AD), a short story about the things in life we turn to when the chips are down.
‘Staring Into The Eye Of A Blackbird, You Can See The Things He Likes And The Things He Doesn’t’, written by Martin Hayes with art by Graeme Howard depicts the tale of a lonely young man whose existence disturbed by dreams of a mysterious blackbird that watches his every move… ‘Omen’, written by Geoffrey D. Wessel (Keeper) with art by Steve Penfold (Fallen Heroes)the right-wing media agenda while an alien invasion takes place… Cy Dethan (Cancertown) scripts ‘Open Source’ with art by Aaron Moran in a story about protect something precious by keeping it hidden in plain sight…
While writer Matt Gibbs and James Reekie (The Ballad of Frank Satre) deliver the haunting ‘Otherworld Sailor’ – a tale about ancient religion and a shocking visitation.
Check out this preview selection of pages below. You can almost smell the quality…
Overload is intended to be a regular black and white anthology title showcasing the work of established talent, while introducing some new creators to the comics industry.The brainchild of writer/editor Martin Conaghan (who brought us the fine Burke and Hare), it is, in classic Brit comics fashion, an anthology (using creator owned tales), with Martin explaining the idea is to have a showcase for established and also some incoming writers and artists.
Publishing house Dark Horse are set to release a selection of pre-code golden oldies updated with accurate color restoration, uncoated off-white paper, and an impressive roster of foreword writers.
Amongst this selection stands the amazing Adventures into the Unknown. The title was released in the fall of 1948 by B&I Publishing (later known as American Comics Group) and enjoyed a run of 174 issues for nearly two decades, ceasing publication in August 1967. Though not the first horror comic published (one-shot Eerie Comics of January 1947 holds the distinction), Adventures Into the Unknown was the first horror comic to enjoy regularly scheduled publication.
The comic will feature a series of essays by Bruce Jones, focusing on the long-running horror anthology and the climate that led to the Comics Code Authority. Adventures into the Unknown managed to dodge the mass cull of the 1954 Comics Code Authority due to a focus on ghost stories and spooky goings on rather than rampant canabilism and sexy ladies.
The pre-Code delights found in this anthology include exciting tales such as “The Living Ghost,” “Kill, Puppets, Kill,” “The Affair of Room 1313,” and the ongoing “True Ghosts of History” feature—and contributions from Golden Age greats Fred Guardineer, Al Feldstein, Leonard Starr, Edvard Moritz, and others!
Check out the preview…
Also available in this range: Silver Streak, Crime Does Not Pay, and Forbidden Worlds.
The comics found in these collections are incredibly hard to find, expensive, and full of freewheeling, pre-Code fun (and sometimes viscera). It’s a joy to be able to handle these comics and work on these collections—but a bigger joy comes from being able to bring these stories to new readers and to finally assign credits to some creators who have been uncredited for decades!
said Dark Horse editor Philip Simon.
The comics in these anthologies are seen as revered and influential—but they’ve been impossible to find. Now Dark Horse is making these gems available in affordable collections for discussion, dissection, and inspiration!
Adventures into the Unknown Archives Volume 1 is on sale May 30, 2012.
Silver Streak Archives Featuring the Original Daredevil Volume 1 is on sale June 27, 2012.
Crime Does Not Pay Archives Volume 2 is on sale July 11, 2012.
Forbidden Worlds Archives Volume 1 is on sale December 12, 2012.
War ensues between the forces of good and evil as Hellboy finally confronts the Queen of Blood one on one, setting the stage for a new chapter in Hellboy’s life!
Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo conclude an epic collaboration that began in Hellboy: Darkness Calls!
Based on the Dark Horse comics series Hellboy: The Fury.
There’s a great sound track to these movies that add a new level of interest to the whole proceedings. However, there seems to be a lot of mixed reactions over the voice actors, and whether of not these videos are actually any good. Tell us what you think.
Do you want to join the Scream team? We're looking for enthusiastic people to contribute articles on horror or comics here on The Theatre of Terror. Contact me for more info.
Stitched Vol. 1 (Issues 1-7) TPB review
Based on a story (and the original short film) by Garth Ennis, rather than written by Ennis himself, Stitched is the journey of three American military personnel whose helicopter has crash landed in the Taliban controlled mountains of eastern Afghanistan. With little to no supplies and with one of their number injured, they make their way cross-country to find some form of communication
Launched last weekend, at London’s Kapow comic-con, British anthology Overload will be a comic to keep your eyes on. Kicking off the series is an exciting story by Gordon Rennie, Emma Beeby and Eoin Coveney being: a zombie critique of modern Coalition Britain. Just check out the glorious zombie Thatcher cover art by Graeme Neil Reid. 
Publishing house Dark Horse are set to release a selection of pre-code golden oldies updated with accurate color restoration, uncoated off-white paper, and an impressive roster of foreword writers.
War ensues between the forces of good and evil as Hellboy finally confronts the Queen of Blood one on one, setting the stage for a new chapter in Hellboy’s life!
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