Len Wein | Magazines and Monsters!

The Phantom Stranger 23, 1973 “Panic in the Night!”

Posted on October 12, 2020 by billyd75

In this second week of October fun, it will be my last week spotlighting the Phantom Stranger, sadly. No worries though, as I’m sure he’ll make more appearances down the road. This is my last issue from this run, though. but the other issues that feature a different creative team are still pretty good. The character is awesome but for me, these two creators took him to heights no one else had before or since. Alright, onto the story…

The setting is Paris, France, and the police find a prowler in a cathedral. He’s ringing the bells and laughing at his behavior at the same time. The villain looks like the Gentleman Ghost, but the police refer to him as Quasimodo. A plane lands at the airport, and the Phantom Stranger and Cassandra Craft exit the aircraft, and she tells the Stranger that her powers of perception are telling her this is the place of a disturbance. The Stranger then begins to question some locals about an organization that calls itself the Dark Circle. Later that very same night, a crowd is horrified to see the same ghostly figure from the cathedral sawing through the chain of a huge chandelier. If it falls, it will surely kill a few dozen people at the least. The Stranger jumps in at the last moment to save the day. But he still must contend with the Dark Circle, and they have abducted Cassandra! Awesome story by Len Wein in this issue. He really gets this character perfectly, and I feel it’s one of his best jobs in comics. Jim Aparo (interior and cover art) has done more than a serviceable job on many characters/books, but this one for me is right up there with his best (The Spectre, The Brave and the Bold). What a great team.

The back up story in this book is something to be celebrated as well. Marv Wolfman and Mike Kaluta (via Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley) bring us “The Spawn of Frankenstein!” Two men digging in the Arctic find the remains of the Monster and are hell-bent on reanimating this abomination. A welcomed switch from Dr. 13. for sure!

The Phantom Stranger 21, 1972, “The Resurrection of Johnny Glory!”

Posted on October 5, 2020 by billyd75

October is finally here! As you can see, it might be a new month, but I’m going to continue to spotlight the Phantom Stranger! These issues by Wein and Aparo are right up there with any short run in comics for me. The stories are creepy and moody, and you also get a Twilight Zone vibe from them. This run needs to get more airtime, and I intend to give it to the masses. Both creators are nothing short of legends, and they deserve it.

The story starts out with a guy named Johnny, as he’s being led to the electric chair for his crimes (murder). The switch is thrown, and Johnny is toast. The onlookers flinch from the scene. Later at the morgue, two shady looking individuals show up with paperwork stating that the body of Johnny is now their property. They take the body to an underground cave, where the rest of their satanic buddies are hanging out. They perform a ritual and bring Johnny back to life! The head man tells Johnny he was resurrected to murder a saint! There’s a spiritual leader from a middle eastern country that is touring the area, and this group wants him dead! Written by Len Wein, with art by Jim Aparo!

As usual, we get a Dr. 13 backup story. “Woman of Stone” is the usual set up where he debunks something that appears to be magic/sorcery. Not a big fan of the character, but I do recognize good scripting by Len Wein and art by Tony DeZuniga.

The cover is super cool, but I do have a nitpick about it. It’s the exact same image from the first splash page inside the issue. And I mean exact, no variation whatsoever (except the background). So kudos to Aparo for the cover, but the fact that it’s reused for an interior page is not awesome.

The Phantom Stranger 19, 1972 “Return to the Tomb of the Ice Giants!”

Posted on September 28, 2020 by billyd75

Welcome, to week four of the Halloween siege! In this week’s post, I’ll be spotlighting one of my favorite characters from DC comics, The Phantom Stranger! This character has been a favorite of mine ever since I began diving into the supernatural universe of DC comics. I talked about a story starring him on a podcast for Halloween in 2019 (click here to listen in!), and that is probably my favorite story about this enigmatic entity! But now, on to this story!

Our tale begins with the Phantom Stranger giving a monologue to us about the follies of mankind. We then see two men searching for something in the Arctic Circle. They have some machinery working to pump oil out of the ice, but then the pressure decreases rapidly. When they check the line, they’re stunned to see a sword the size of a Cadillac cutting through the line! We see a giant hand reaching out for them, and then they are gone. Back at the main office, two more men talk about how many have gone missing up here and they aim to find out why. A man named Blake then takes a jeep out to the work site, but an earthquake opens up a hole in the ice, and it looks like he’s a goner. A hand reaches out to save him, and it is none other than the Phantom Stranger that comes to his aid. The man in charge still wants to proceed with pipeline, though, but the Phantom Stranger and Blake try to talk him out of it. His greed will not allow him to stop, and it might just be his undoing!

This morality play by Len Wein (writer) and Jim Aparo (art) is not only a good one, but still holds relevancy in 2020. It doesn’t feel like you’re being force-fed their opinion or nonsense either. The story works well in all phases and truly shows the ability of both creators to tell a good story. The dialogue and visuals are both on par with anything of its time.

There’s also a backup story about Dr. 13, by Steve Skeates (writer) and Tony DeZuniga (art). This one involves a man that is being haunted by a ghostly voice that sounds like his dead father!

A bonus feature of Mark Merlin, Sleuth of the Supernatural closes out the issue nicely. This reprint stars the talents of Arnold Drake (story), and the art team of Mort Meskin and George Roussos!

This incredible issue is kicked off by the talents of Neal Adams! The cover is spectacular!

Strange Tales 171, 1973 “March of the Dead!”

Posted on June 15, 2020 by billyd75

After recently acquiring a few of these issues, I felt compelled to write a blog post about them. Brother Voodoo, zombies, and my all time favorite artist isn’t a tough sell though. This is one of my favorite characters in the Marvel Universe, and I honestly can’t think of a bad story he was involved in. A voodoo based character is right up my alley, and his frequent guest appearances with the likes of Dr. Strange are cool as well.

This story picks right up with the action, as Brother Voodoo is creeping around a cemetery and gets attacked by a horde of zombies! He kicks the crap out of a few of them, but they’re too high in number to fight off. Jericho then summons the spirit of his dead brother, Daniel, to possess one of them to help. It doesn’t work, as he can’t possess the dead apparently. By the time he gets back to Jericho, they’re both too weak to stop the oncoming blitz. As the zombies are overwhelming him, he looks up to see Baron Samedi, Lord of the Dead! (a dead zombie guy). And if that wasn’t enough, we get guest stars in the form of A.I.M.!

This title is very much an unsung classic from the Bronze Age. The creators behind it are some of the best from this era, and should be lauded for their efforts. Writer Len Wein does a great job of telling this horror story. Everyone that knows his name can attest to the quality you get from him every time he put pen to paper. The art team is just as stellar, as Gene Colan (pencils) and Frank Giacoia (inks) really set the horror tone. Excellent colors by Glynis Wein and letters by Gaspar Saladino! Oh, and let us not forget the awesome cover by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia!

Adventure Comics 459, 1978 “6 All-New Super-Star Features”

Posted on March 18, 2019 by billyd75

The never-ending search for more awesome comics from the Bronze and Silver Ages continues! With a bigger focus on DC for now, let us focus on this issue of Adventure Comics! With sixty-eight big pages and no ads, features six stories with the likes of the Justice League, Elongated Man, and the New Gods! This book is a recent acquisition, but has already climbed the ladder to one of my favorite DC comics. The cool cover is by DC stalwart, Jim Aparo!

The first story features The Flash, and the name alone is incredible…”The Crimson Comets of Fallville High.” Barry (Allen) saves a pilot from a deathly crash, then sprints to a class reunion! There’s more than the usual tripe at this gathering though! Writer Cary Bates, art by Irv Novick and Frank McLaughlin, letters by Gaspar Saladino, and colors by Gene D’Angelo.

“Murder Haunts the Midway” is the second story, and involves a somber Deadman, as he recounts some of his past, then also must feel what it’s like to be inside the body of a suicidal man! Oh and there are Commies, too. Writer Len Wein, art by Jim Aparo, and colors by Glynis Wein.

The third installment brings everybody’s favorite green guardian, Hal Jordan! “The Call of the Cosmos” brings a hot, alien chick that needs Hal’s help. He flies around in space and blows stuff up like only Green Lantern can. Just a little action-packed story, nothing too heavy. Writer Cary Burkett, art by Joe Staton, letters by Ben Oda, and colors by Adrienne Roy.

We next see “Orion of the New Gods.” A story involving all your usual suspects – Desaad, Forager, Metron, Lightray, and Jimmy Carter…? Neat story, and cool artwork, but it’s just pale in comparison to Jack ‘King’ Kirby’s work with these characters. Writer Gerry Conway, art by Don Newton and Augie Scotto, letters by Ben Oda, and colors by Jerry Serpe.

The Elongated Man is the star of “The Case of the Fortune Cookie Fortune” and this is the most absurd tale in the entire book. Not that it isn’t a fun romp, but it just doesn’t really feel like it fits with the rest of the stories. A fortune cookie has a one-thousand dollar bill inside of it instead of a fortune, and it’s up to Ralph to figure out what’s going on. Written by Len Wein, Paul Levitz, Mike Gold, Ann Delary-Gold, and Steve Mitchell (not quite sure why they needed a small army to write this one), art by George Ruppert and Bruce Patterson, letters by Clem Robins, and colors by Glynis Wein.

Lastly, we have Princess Diana of Themiscyra, Wonder Woman, battling the Shark! This is one is very bizarre as well, but keeps with the action theme nonetheless. Diana fights the Shark, is defeated by him, then isn’t, then uses her magic lasso to turn him back into a shark. Yeah, um, this one is wild to say the least, including Hippolyte speaking Spanish. Writer Jack C. Harris, art by Jack Abel and Frank Giacoia, letters by Shelly Leferman, and colors by Gene D’Angelo.

Spider-Man vs Dracula (Giant-Size Spider-Man 1, 1974)!

Posted on October 16, 2018 by billyd75

Back in the 1990s, there was still a good bit of material being reprinted from decades earlier. Case in point, Marvel Tales ran until 1994 (starting in 1966)! Almost thirty years of reprinted material, and that feat is nothing short of…dare I say spectacular? There were also one-shots, oversized books, etc., including this one from 1993/4. “The Spider and the Bat” recounts the first ever meeting between the 1970s king of monsters, Dracula, and your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!

The cover for the original book is pretty good (John Romita, cover at the very bottom, borrowed from the interwebs), but the reprint isn’t the greatest. I’m not the biggest Joe Mad fan, (so keep that in mind) but I can’t imagine too many people thinking this is one of his (or anyone else) best. The story is by perennial comic book great, the late Len Wein. The man was seemingly one of the nicest men to ever grace the industry ( I met him once at a NYCC and he was cool), and created some very good content in his day, plus was editor on some of the best works in the industry. For the artistic duties, we have the team of Ross Andru (pencils) and Don Heck (inks). A solid team as far as this book goes for sure, and they tell a great visual story together. John Kalisz (colors) John Costanza (letters), and Roy Thomas (editor) round out the creative force behind this cool book! There are also two reprints from the Silver Age in the back as well and both are about vampires!

Gold Key comics – Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery and Dark Shadows

Posted on October 8, 2018 by billyd75

Everybody knows about the “big two” in comics, plus hardcore horror comics like EC comics titles, but there were others and one of them was Gold Key Comics. Western Publishing company produced children’s books for a long time then threw their hat into the ring of comics in 1962. They had some original series but were more famous for their licensed properties, such as Buck Rogers, Disney characters like Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny, Popeye, etc. Two more of those titles being Dark Shadows and Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery.

Both series had some very bizarre issues (especially Boris Karloff), but they always had great covers, usually the painted variety. The interiors sported artwork from some of the creators from the Golden Age right on up to the young blood of the Bronze Age. This mix of creative juices always had interesting results, and definitely gave older fans and younger ones something to look forward to.

Credits include (for Boris Karloff 39 & 41)- Len Wein, Joe Certa, John Celardo, Win Mortimer, Jack Sparling, Giorgio Cambiotti, Oscar Novelle, Luis Dominguez, and a few more that are uncredited. Dark Shadows (9) – painted cover by George Wilson, interior art by Joe Certa, written by D. J. Arneson, and letters by John Duffy.

Thor Annual 6, 1977 “Thunder in the 31st Century!”

Posted on September 10, 2018 by billyd75

It took me quite a while to obtain this annual, and with the soaring prices of certain back issues, it was no small feat. Especially with the Guardians of the Galaxy craze following the release of the films. Most of this issue has nothing to do with the films of the MCU, but there is one scene that was an obvious steal from the book (I’ll include the page below).

This era for Thor doesn’t get mentioned very often (especially if you exclude me) and it’s a tragedy. The creators that worked on this title in the Bronze Age were great. Sometimes the stories were a little one-note, but sometimes they were epic in scope and took your imagination to new places. It’s widely known that the John Byrne zealots will attack if you don’t revere his FF run, but the Bronze Age is very comparable if you read it thoroughly. Tons of the Asgardian mythos, stand-alone stories, adventures with the Avengers, space travel, etc., you get it all.

This annual is very interesting as it shows Thor getting transported to the future (via an explosion at some nuclear facility…). He ends up drifting through space, and becomes like a frozen rock. He’s then picked up by a band of misfits that call themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy! Small talk ensues, then, they must face Korvac and his Minions of Menace!

The creative team on this one reads like an all-star team from comic books! Co-plotter/Editor Len Wein, co-plotter/scripter Roger Stern, Sal Buscema and Klaus Janson art, Glynis Wein colors, and Joe Rosen letters.

Marvel Team-Up 12, 1973 “Wolf at Bay!”

Posted on October 10, 2016 by billyd75

IS there a video montage out there with Werewolf by Night panels while Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” is playing? If not, could someone get on that asap please? Alright, so October is one of my favorite times of year, simply because it reinvigorates my love of horror comics and gives me renewed energy to blog about them. One of the best from the Bronze Age is most definitely Werewolf by Night. Most of that is thanks to Doug Moench and Don Perlin, but there is also Mike Ploog and a few others that did the hairy side of Jack Russell justice over time.

In this fantastic issue, we see Werewolf by Night and Spider-Man in San Francisco, as the two super-powered characters go at it! Jack is under the sway of Moondark (his first appearance), and maybe with Spidey’s help, he can shake it! Hopefully they can accomplish this before the Werewolf tears Spidey into ribbons!

The credits for this issue are a who’s who from the Bronze Age! Scripted by Len Wein, plot by Gerry Conway, pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Don Perlin, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Charlotte Jetter, and cover by Gil Kane (pencils) and John Romita (inks)!

Daredevil 124, 1975 “In The Coils of The Copperhead!”

Posted on February 22, 2016 by billyd75

Back again, and this time I have another shot of Daredevil for you! The silly villain this time around is called “Copperhead.” It seems that Daredevil has competition out there in the form of a person imitating a character from a pulp book from the 1930s. This man has no regard for life (sort of like the Punisher), and lays down judgement on wrongdoers all over the city. It’s up to Mr. Murdoch to try to stop this renegade, if he can! Copperhead is no joke…OK, he is but he does have poison tipped darts that he shoots out of his gun, and a diamond hard mask to protect his identity! Plus, we get some political drama with Foggy as well in this issue!

I’m not quite sure why, but the issue is written by Len Wein and Marv Wolfman (he was the steady writer around this time, and Wein the editor). No matter though, as both guys gives us the straight forward dialogue you came to expect from this title in the Bronze Age. The artistic team is one that I’m torn over. Gene Colan (pencils) is without a doubt my favorite penciler of all time. He’s so uniquely talented, you’ve got to love the guy’s work. The inks are provided by Klaus Janson. His work with Frank Miller on Daredevil in the 1980s is fantastic, as is his solo work. He just doesn’t seem like the best match for Colan’s pencils. The colors are provided by Michele Wolfman, and the letters by Joe Rosen. We also get a great cover by the team of Gil Kane (pencils) and Frank Giacoia (inks)!