31 October 2017

These'uns Ain't So Deathly

Midnight soon approaches here and the good times begin. So a final Happy Hallowe'en post.
I haven't been doing any painting since the technical problems manifested some weeks back, so no new Halloween artwork this year. Instead, a couple of very different pieces the past. A painting from last Halloween, and Halloween greetings from my old web comic earlier in the decade-



G'night folks!
Drive careful.

art-ish by -3- (2011, 2016)

Strange Things Are Afoot In Wyldwood Cemetary

cover by Sanjulian
On Sunday i teased a faded image beyond the mists of time showing an encounter most odd. Plainly visible in the first page splash is our heroine, the scantily clad Vampirella and the headstone of Denny Colt - the Spirit! And to dispel any suspicions of mere name similarity, the gate of Wildwood Cemetery is plainly visible in the background.

But, perhaps you exclaim, how could this be possible? Could they get the rights to use the Spirit?
You betch'um, Red Rider. At this point in time, Warren was not only publishing reprints of The Spirit, but Will Eisner himself was editing the book for them. Many things were possible.

I'll be honest, i'd completely forgotten this strange little story from the 50th issue of Vampirella. Add in a Pantha girl or two, ancient Egyptians, the mystery of the pyramids and a blackmarket baby operation run by Granny Goose, and you've got a packed full 50th issue extravaganza.
And it's a big one, so unbuckle-up and here we go!

Our story opens with the previously teased splash page-


NOTE: Due to restructuring of this blog,
pages containing (mild) nudity have been moved to our back room for adult content.


After that first chapter to set the tale, we shift to find Conrad Van Helsing suffering bloody visions in the night:


NOTE: Due to restructuring of this blog,
pages containing (mild) nudity have been moved to our back room for adult content.



Note that in the tradition of the classic tales like early Justice Society Of America adventures, each chapter is drawn by a different artist, and frequently features different members of the cast. After Conrad shares his premonitions with Vampi and his son, Adam, the pair head off to seek information from Nubia El Marna - yet another in his global web of informants and mystics. Specifically, they need to learn more about the amulet she acquired as Conrad feels it is at the center of things...



NOTE: Due to restructuring of this blog,
pages containing (mild) nudity have been moved to our back room for adult content.


She tells them of how the Pharaoh Khufu one day rescued a mysterious stranger, to whom he gave the name Khafra. Kahfra was a shapeshifter from the stars and original owner of the amulet. He constructed the great pyramid of Khufu, and his own, as well and began construction on a third for his successor. "Khafra wished the three pyramids placed in a line, so, he claimed, the great gods could see that the people of Egypt had not forgotten them!"



That night, after all have settled to bed and sleep...



NOTE: Due to restructuring of this blog,
pages containing (mild) nudity have been moved to our back room for adult content.



Meanwhile, in New York City, our next chapter begins...


While the opening circumstances may seem to have little bearing on our tale, the conversations turn back to Wildwood...


While Conrad seeks the Spirit of Denny Colt, Vampir & Adam arrive just in time to see their contact kidnapped and quickly pursue. Tracking the kidnappers to their lair, they find the hostages about to be shot. Adam uses the amulet to join with Vampi as...


"For as long as there has been recorded time, this amulet has graced the throats of a noble family. A family that was spawned by Khafra, Pharaoh, Healer, and Star-Traveler."
She explains that the power to shift to panther form is bread into their genetics, but the amulet is required to assuage the shock, preventing mental damage and insanity. Tracing the vibrations, she determines that the last descendant is a girl in Egypt, and sends the pair off again on her trail.
The next chapter had no credits on the splash page, so we'll jump straight into the action as Vampi seeks our missing girl. But first, let's meet her next contacts:


Vampi arrives soon after, and the meeting proceeds as a typical courteous brush-off until...


Not at all suspicious behaviour, eh? Unsurprisingly, Vampi returns surreptitiously in aerial rodent form to find-


After the messy bits, the amulet is returned and her memory restored - including her recollection of having been sold by Granny Goose! With the shock and horror of all that has happened to her, Pantha decides to leave this miserable world and return to her own. It turns out she was found with her own craft, which is still accessible...


With Pantha's mystery solved, we break tradition from those old JSA stories - the entire team does not reunite for the final chapter, at last delving into the question of


And, so, in the end - no Spirit in this world. But a delightfully odd intersection between two realities.

story by Bill Dubay, art by Jose Gonzales, Esteban Maroto, Ramon Torrents, and Jose Ortiz for  Vampirella #50 (1976)

A Lesser Orange Horror

Have you taken a look at that new version of The Tick?

I kinda like it. Once you get past Patrick Warburton being behind the camera instead of in the suit, it's a pretty good interpretation. They're taking things fairly slow, building up the world as we follow Arthur's immersion into the Tick's reality with his own fractured grip on a shattered life.

We haven't seen the hero parodies that populate this world yet, because there aren't any here. Heroes have been gone from the city for a while, and The Tick (and Arthur) are the first new heroes to arise. Who might join them over the course of the series is a matter for speculation. Previous hero parodies on the show have often been tied to the individual incarnation of the show, and i've no clue what previous characters may be contractually available, assuming they don't want to use new characters to satirize the modern market. Generally speaking, i don't go looking, either. If i already know i'm going to watch it, then i'll avoid as much foreknowledge as possible. (And quite a bit is possible if one works at it. I didn't know who the villain was in Spider-Man: Homecoming until i heard the name Toomes spoken while watching the film.)

ANYWAY....   I like the Tick. I like Halloween. Oh, look! We've got both!


Arthur and The Tick have gone pumpkin hunting for Halloween, unaware the pumpkin hunt is about to change dramatically...

The pumpkins are soon driven off with the help of Extension Agent (of the USDA), and explanations are provided-

 It doesn't take too long for the Tick to realize that if "the city is filled with pumpkins juiced to the gills with virulent puma genes," tonight when the pumpkins wake "HALLOWEEN WILL MEAN THE END OF LIFE AS WE KNOW IT!"


All havoc erupts throughout the city, overwhelming our heroes as they struggle through the chaos with little hope of slowing, much less stopping, the orange horror. Eventually, they realize that it's time to use their brains - "It's all that separates us from the pumpkins." A brief pause to think, a bit of vandalism, and...  A-Ha! At the Vegetable Expo-Rama farmers claim to have grown the King Pumpkin!
Quickly, to the Tri-Town Fairgrounds!



Messy fighting ensues, with the Tick trapped in pumpkin goo, while the others (now joined by The Spectacle) fall prey to the tendriled terrors...


And nobody got chocolate.

(Don't worry - we'll talk about Peter Serafinowicz on another day)

The Orange Teeth Of Horror by Clay & Susan Griffith, art by Dave Garcia (2000)

Holiday Cards

Here's an odd little tidbit -
Did you know there's a Halloween Tarot deck? Probably not a big surprise once you think about it - plenty of symbology to work with, and they make so many that there's probably a Hello Kitty Tarot.

They changed the suits from Coins, Cups, Swords, and Wands to Pumpkins, Ghosts, Bats, and Imps.
The cards were designed in the Rider-Waite tradition by Karin Lee with artist Kipling West for US Games.
Here's the card back design, and the Major Arcana cards:



Sadly, my old hand crafted tarot deck was destroyed before we had home scanner technology.

Artwork by Kipling West for US Games (1997)