Comic Book Talk

While not a Halloween story per se, this is an all time favorite spooky cover of mine.

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This cover was penciled, inked, colored and lettered by one of the all time great comic book artists, the late Wally Wood. Wally was a true renaissance man in the field of comics. He could do it all: Write, pencil, ink, letter, color, edit, publish. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if he ran the printing presses. And what was really amazing was not only could he do it all, he was one of the best at everything he did. Even more amazing, it was all different genres, too. Superheroes, science fiction, horror, romance, westerns, teen comedies, funny animals, war, satire. He was at or near the top in everything he did.

The cover of Weird Science 16 has always stayed with me from the moment I first saw it. It was so unbelievably stark and terrifying. What if kids who looked like they stepped right out of a Norman Rockwell painting stumbled on a massive Alien invasion? At a time when flying saucers was a real gut churning fear that many Americans had?

This cover was the inspiration for the Topps Mars Attacks trading cards of the early 1960's. The trading cards in turn inspired the 1996 Mars Attacks movie directed by Tim Burton.
 
So today, October 2nd, is the 75th anniversary of the comic strip Peanuts. It was on this day back in 1950 that Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the gang first appeared in a handful of newspapers across the country.

So, in honor of that, and because we're so close to Halloween, it's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

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I've never even looked at a Peanuts comic in my life, but that cartoon is such a powerful memory from my childhood that it's actually ridiculous.
 
www.comicsbeat.com

Two SUPERMAN/SPIDER-MAN crossovers coming from DC and Marvel in 2026

Facsimile editions of the classic Superman/Spider-Man crossovers will precede the two new one-shots from DC and Marvel next year.
www.comicsbeat.com www.comicsbeat.com

It has now been confirmed that the next Marvel and DC crossover will be Superman vs The Amazing Spider-Man, one to be published by DC and one by Marvel. No official word on creative teams yet but Jim Lee doing the art on the the DC book seems like a logical choice.

Also, DC is going to publish BOTH Superman vs Spider-Man Treasuries as facsimile reprints in 2026:

13thdimension.com

SUPERMAN VS. SPIDER-MAN: DC to Publish BOTH Treasuries as Facsimile Editions in 2026

PLUS: Two NEW Superman/Spider-Man crossovers from DC and Marvel are coming too…
13thdimension.com 13thdimension.com

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Nice!
 
SDcomics said:
So today, October 2nd, is the 75th anniversary of the comic strip Peanuts.
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Love Peanuts! I had the pleasure of reading many volumes of his early work growing up. I remember how it was a big deal to see the Peanuts specials during Halloween and Christmas. There is also a great museum in Santa Rosa. If you ever get a chance to visit, it's worth your time. There will never be another artist quite like Charles Schulz.
 
Dracula and Halloween. Two great tastes that go great together, to paraphrase an old Reese's commercial.

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I've said many times that I love Marvel's Bronze Age horror comics, and I love Tomb of Dracula most of all. Writer Marv Wolfman, artist Gene Colan and inker Tom Palmer's 70 issue run produced a 20th century masterpiece, a gothic thriller that holds up to this day. Tomb of Dracula is a must read for horror fans.
 
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Keep 'em coming, @SDcomics ! I'm loving this trip down memory lane with great Halloween-centric comics! Also loving the Marvel vs. DC stuff...I have fond memories of reading those as a kid and being so thrilled to have Superman meeting Spider-Man, Batman clashing with Hulk, etc.! It was REALLY a huge surprise when that first Superman/Spider-Man crossover happened. I'm sure it's hard for younger readers to grasp how we really didn't get much in the way of advanced knowledge of these types of things back then. Just going over to the magazine/comics section in the grocery store and seeing those two icons on a comic together was mind-blowing!

100% agree about Marvel's horror stuff from that era. It was so distinct, with sharp writing and incredible art. Wolfman, Colan and Palmer created some of the best comics of their time with Tomb of Dracula.
 
From early in 1968, a truly iconic Silver Age DC horror cover: House of Mystery #174.

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It was penciled by Carmine Infantino who would go on to become DC's editor in chief. The name of whoever inked and colored it is lost to time but if I had to guess I would say Joe Orlando.

My 9 year old self was absolutely mesmerized by that art. The arched doorway, the ornate knocker, the pale, ghastly hand with the long gnarled fingers beckoning the children to enter, the evil, glowing eyes. I had to have that comic. Mom said, "No, you'll get scared and then you'll be up all night." "Please, please please!" I whined. She finally relented and bought it to shut me up.

So I read it and then I got scared and I was up all night. I wound up sleeping between Mom and Dad. But whadday gonna do? That cover was too good to resist.

A couple of years later the great Neal Adams did a variation of this cover for The Brave and The Bold:

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Yep, Mom bought it, I read it, and I was up all night. Give me a break. Even Batman was afraid to enter The House of Mystery. This story was written and drawn by the Batman team supreme of Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams, the same two gents who created Ra's Al Ghul. And it came out on October 27th, 1970. Right before Halloween.

I love comics.
 
puckace said:
Love Peanuts! I had the pleasure of reading many volumes of his early work growing up. I remember how it was a big deal to see the Peanuts specials during Halloween and Christmas. There is also a great museum in Santa Rosa. If you ever get a chance to visit, it's worth your time. There will never be another artist quite like Charles Schulz.
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The Fantagraphics Complete Peanuts collected editions of the strip is great, and in particular the volumes from the 60's and 70's - when I think the strip peaked - has great stuff. Thanks for the call out/reminder about the museum, it is on my list of things to see in the greater San Fran area next time I am there...

A 75th Anniversary history comes out next week - I may pick it up.
The Essential Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz: The Greatest Comic Strip of All Time, by Mark Evanier
 
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Frank Frazetta is arguably one of the greatest fantasy and science fiction artists who ever lived. He defined the look of Conan The Barbarian for generations of readers and had enormous influence on comic book art that lasts to this day.

From 1966, an iconic Frazetta horror painting. Wolfman versus Dracula on the cover of Creepy 7.

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Who doesn't love a good Monster Mash?
 
Yeah. I have the first 13 volumes of the Complete Peanuts set too. The strips peak is 54-73 or so. Schulz divorce and new wife made him actually happy and the strip was never quite the same. He was a brilliant cartoonist and I might have to say one of the most important 20th Century American artists. Like Duke Ellington, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mark Rothko level important.

Awesome design by the brilliant Seth. My only regret is not waiting for the softcovers to regain those few inches back on my shelf.
 
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I have the full set (need to go back and re-read), but initially I didn't really notice any major down periods as much as not reaching the highs of the 60's/70's. Got a little Snoopy, Spike and Snoopy family heavy later on which never really worked for me, but I did like Rerun as more of a primary character in the later years.

It takes a few years to get going into what we think of the main cast, a few characters (Violet, Shermy) who were more prominent at the start getting pushed aside for the Van Pelts by the mid 50's, and Sally isn't born until late 50's.
 
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