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AWESOME-tober-fest 2016: Cavalcade Comics #13 Halloween Edition!!

Posted in comic books, Halloween, holiday, monsters, pop culture, vampires, werewolf, werewolves with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2016, Halloween, holiday, Vintage Comic Throwdowns on October 24, 2016 by Paxton

Here we are, the final week of AWESOME-tober-fest. It’s this week the last few years that I’ve started a tradition to diverge from my overall theme to do a sort of “greatest hits” of my previous topics. So instead of more mummies, I’m happily going to be doing other things like vampires, werewolves and movie maniacs.

Another sort of tradition I’ve started to debut during this week is a brand new Cavalcade Comics vintage throwdown cover. Last year I did the Dell Monster Squad featuring three of Dell Comics’ monster superheroes. I was actually pretty proud of that cover.

This year, I’m going a little bit more generic but still featuring 2 of those monsters in the form of Werewolf vs A Planet of Vampires!

It’s poetic that I’m debuting issue #13 of these covers during my Halloween celebration. I love that it worked out like that (no, I didn’t plan it that way). Also, this particular cover was actually developed very early on when I started this feature. It was probably the fourth or fifth cover I actually did but for some reason I just sat on it until I decided now is the time to reveal it.

The werewolf part of this cover in the background is taken from Werewolf by Night #19 (1974). One of my favorite covers from that series. The vampire and his victim in the foreground are from Atlas Comics’ Planet of Vampires #2 (1975). However, the Planet of Vampires logo is actually from issue #3.

I still have several other covers done that I haven’t released yet. One of them is actually the second cover I ever did and just never released it. We’ll see when, or if, that one ever comes up.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

AWESOME-tober-fest 2015: Hammer’s Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

Posted in Genres, horror, monsters, movies, nostalgia, pop culture, werewolf with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2015, Halloween, Hammer Studios, holiday, monsters, movies, reviews, werewolf, werewolves on October 28, 2015 by Paxton

Today I’m journeying back to the heady days of October 2010 when I covered werewolves for Halloween. My intention that year was to actually watch and review Hammer’s 1961 werewolf film, Curse of the Werewolf. It was supposed to go right there during that last week after I covered Universal’s Wolf Man movies. However, plans got away from me and I was not able to cover it that year.

Now, I have that chance back. Plus, I haven’t had a Hammer movie review on AWESOME-tober-fest since 2013’s review of The Plague of the Zombies. So, let’s do this.

Hammer’s Curse of the Werewolf starred Oliver Reed and Catherine Feller. It was the only werewolf movie Hammer ever made. It’s very gothic and tragic, lots of sexual subtext and, kind of all over the place.

Let’s take a look, shall we?

Hammer Films card COTW card
Title cards for this movie. Not quite as cool as the Horror of Dracula cards.

Marques and wife
This is the Marques Siniestro and his new bride. In this opening scene the movie goes out of its way to show you how mean and cruel this Marques can be. Even his wife is looking at him like, “You’re such an asshole.”

Chef 01 Chef 02
The chef brings out some roasted goose for the newlyweds. The Marquesa says she doesn’t like goose, so the Marques actually gets up out of his chair, yells at the chef for not knowing the Marquesa doesn’t like goose and throws the entire tray of goose on the floor. Then while the chef cleans up the mess the Marques pushes the chef down into the mess.
ASS. HOLE.

Beggar 01 Beggar 02
After the chef debacle, a lowly beggar comes to the Marques’ table to beg for food and drink. The Marques offers him a handful of gold to be the Marquesa’s pet. Then, he completely humiliates the beggar by making him dance in front of everyone for some food and wine. Then the beggar is sent to the dungeons anyway.

Here’s the Marques leering at his wife before sending the beggar to the dungeons. He just informed her it’s time for them to “retire”. Ugh, shivers went up my spine the way he said it. She’s clearly re-thinking her life choices at this point.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2015: The Dell Comics Monster Squad

Posted in comic books, Dracula, Frankenstein, Halloween, holiday, monsters, pop culture, werewolf with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2015, Cavalcade Comics, comic books, Dell Monsters, Dracula, Halloween, holiday, monsters, vintage, Vintage Comic Throwdowns, werewolf, Wolf Man on October 27, 2015 by Paxton

Yesterday, with my review of Dell’s Frankenstein, I finally completed all three infamous 60s Dell superhero monster comics reviews (Here’s Dracula and Werewolf). I love all three of these zany re-imagining of the classic monsters. And as I mentioned in my reviews, the only thing that was missing was a team up. We did see Frankenstein pop up briefly in a one panel cameo in Dracula, but other than that, no other crossover ever happened. It’s time I rectify this situation.

So, issue #10 of Cavalcade Comics features the debut of the Dell monster super heroes in a team up. Finally we get the Dell Comics Monster Squad.

How did this never happen? I’ll tell you how, the comics never sold. It’s why we only got three issues of each title. I would love to see these characters come back in a cool retro reboot. I don’t even know who owns the license to them anymore, but with the right writer and tone, they could be fantastic.

I had only three covers of each of the three heroes to try to make work, but I luckily found Marvel’s Where Monsters Dwell #3 (1970) which works as a really nice base image for this cover.

where-monsters-dwell

I love all those 70s horror comics from Marvel. Such good cover artwork and great to use as a base for these types of Photoshop projects.

The Dell Monster Squad logo was going to be a re-interpretation of some awesome original art by Nathan Milliner.

Nathan created these awesome EC-style vintage comic covers I just love. I really wanted to use that logo, but no matter how I manipulated it, it didn’t fit in the 60-70s vintage comic cover I was trying to create, so I sadly had to abandon it. I then went back to the original Where Monsters Dwell logo and just created the new logo off those letters and I think it turned out pretty good. I’m happy with it.

As for the monster heroes themselves; Dracula comes from Dell Dracula #4, Frankenstein comes from Dell Frankenstein #2 and Werewolf from Dell Werewolf #1.

I also had to change the background a bit and add the night sky with the full moon which I believe I got from Marvel’s Werewolf by Night #11.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

AWESOME-tober-fest 2012: Finishing up The Astounding Wolf-Man

Posted in comic books, Halloween, holiday, monsters, werewolf, werewolves, Wolf Man with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2012, Cavalcade Comics, comic books, Halloween, holiday, werewolf, werewolves, Wolf Man on October 30, 2012 by Paxton

Since this final week of AWESOME-tober-fest is a short week, I’m straying from the movie maniac theme and doing updates to previous Halloween reviews. Yesterday I reviewed the final book in The Strain trilogy which I had previously reviewed the first two books last year. Today, I’m going to talk about the comic series The Astounding Wolf-Man.

Two years ago for AWESOME-tober-fest 2010, I reviewed the first 18 issues of the comic that were collected in Volumes 1-3 of the trade paperbacks. The final fourth volume collecting issues 19-25 had yet to be released. However, I acquired the final collection earlier this year and read the concluding story.

The last and concluding story arc was called Legacy. It’s a five-parter that takes place in issues #21-25. So much happens in this concluding story. Seriously, it’s packed with a lot of action. We see the main character reunited with his daughter, we see the end game of the Elder Wolf’s plans and we see the final confrontation between Wolf-Man and Zachariah (which is awesome, btw).

astoundingwolf-man21 astoundingwolf-man22 astoundingwolf-man23

In short, I loved this series. So many great characters written so well. Kirkman really does a great job with so many characters to juggle. It was actually this series that led me to Kirkman and had me checking out his other work like Invincible, The Walking Dead and Marvel Zombies. But that’s only half of the whole. Jason Howard’s amazingly dynamic art really sells it. I love the dynamics of Howard’s action and how he designs the look and feel of the universe. Plus, his 2 page action spreads are breathtaking. It really adds a lot of character to the story.

Speaking of characters, several of them are standouts. Gary Hampton/Astounding Wolf-Man is great. Zecariah the vampire is also a great villain. The Elder Wolf is BAD ASS. And in this final run of issues, we really see some good character work with Mecha-Maid. I really enjoyed her character and I want to see more of her. You can see her in the second comic cover above. Btw, that scene on the cover never happens. But it’s a great cover, nonetheless.

Anyway, like I said, I want to see more of these Astounding Wolf-Man characters. I think he and Mecha Maid may pop up from time to time in Kirkman’s Invincible, but I want to see more. This series was just too much fun not to continue. However, like I said, as of today, issue #25 was the final issue.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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Still waiting for the f**king Teen Wolf cartoon on DVD

Posted in cartoons, monsters, TV shows, werewolf, werewolves with tags cartoon, cartoons, movies, pop culture, TV shows, werewolf, werewolves on December 9, 2011 by Paxton

Teen Wolf cartoon
So, I’ve talked many times on this blog about my love for the cartoon adventures of Teen Wolf and my desire for a North American release of the complete series (It was already released in Australia). Well, I was writing my On the Shelves column this week for Strange Kid’s Club and two very obscure cartoons popped up as having complete season sets being released. The two cartoon series are Captain Power (1987) and Skeleton Warriors (1994).

Don’t get me wrong, both of these series are pretty good. Skeleton Warriors is actually a pretty awesome concept, but the cartoon itself is, like I said, rather obscure. What’s next? Mummies Alive? King Arthur and the Knights of Justice? Oh yeah, BOTH of those cartoons already have DVD releases (here and here). What the hell is the hold up for the release of Teen Wolf cartoon episodes? They wouldn’t have to do much more than remaster the Australian set into NTSC format. I don’t really care about extras. Why hasn’t this been done? As I’ve seen the parade of odd 80s-90s cartoons get their releases on DVD I become more and more baffled. The Herculoids get a complete series release? The f**king Herculoids? Frankenstein Jr? Moby Dick and the Mighty Mightor?! Seriously? The Teen Wolf cartoon was based on a popular movie. There’s a fairly decent TV show on MTV right this very f**king moment also based on said movie. How much more current or relevant can you get?!

At this point, I have to assume there’s a rights issue. Maybe the fact that MTV is airing the TV show is also causing the rights to the cartoon to be up in the air or on hold. But that’s not my problem. I want the show. I’m tired of watching shi**y, grainy episodes on YouTube like I used to watch porn movies on old pay cable stations. I want these bitches on DVD and I want them NOW.

I mean, The Mighty Hercules was released on DVD. THE MIGHTY GODDAM HERCULES.

Hollywood, your ancestors are WEEPING!

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