WISHLIST WEDNESDAY - 60s MARVEL HORROR

Tower Of Shadows #1 unused cover by Jim Steranko

Welcome to Wishlist Wednesday, an occasional (probably VERY occasional!) series in which I'll look at collections I'd like to see, however improbable. Marvel Comics have, over the past couple of decades been collecting much of their 1960s and early 1970s output in a series of hardcovers (and later also in softcover) called Marvel Masterworks. Over 200 volumes have been published in the series to date, covering nearly all the superhero output, plus some Western (Rawhide Kid) and War (Sgt. Fury) titles. The series has also gone back to cover some of Marvels 1940s Golden Age material and 1950s books from the period when they were known as Atlas Comics. One area that has so far escaped collection though is the early 1970s horror titles. While I suspect that ongoing series such as Werewolf By Night and Ghost Rider will eventually be collected, I don't hold out much hope for the various one-off stories that emerged in Marvel's short lived horror anthology titles.
In 1969 DC Comics had done a major revamp of it's two long-running mystery titles, House Of Mystery and House Of Secrets. Both had in recent years shifted their emphasis from horror/suspense stories firstly to science-fiction, then to superheroes. Then, at the close of the 1960s, the books came full circle and returned to their roots with new mystery/horror stories by artists like Berni Wrightson. Neal Adams, Mike Kaluta, Jack Sparling, Joe Orlando and Alex Toth.
The re-imagined books obviously sold well enough to attract the attention of DC's main competitor, Marvel Comics. Their response was to launch two new horror/mystery anthology titles, Tower Of Shadows and Chamber Of Darkness. Both featured new stories by the industry's biggest names of the time. Adams, Jim Steranko, Barry Windsor-Smith (back in the days when he was plain old Barry Smith), Gene Colan and John Buscema all provided art for the new titles. Despite the talent involved  the books didn't sell as well as DCs and the new material was gradually replaced by pre-hero monster reprints before being relaunched as Monsters On The Prowl and Creatures On The Loose.
So what could we expect from such a Masterworks collection? Well, here's a list of those odd stories from Tower Of Shadows/Creatures On The Loose and Chamber Of Darkness/Monsters On The Prowl plus on odd story from Adventure into Fear. 

At The Stroke Of Midnight from TOS #1. 

Art  by Jim Steranko.

TOWER OF SHADOWS #1  
At the Stroke of Midnight! (Writer/Artist Jim Steranko)  

From Beyond the Brink (Writer/Artist Johnny Craig)  

A Time to Die (Writer Stan Lee; Pencils John Buscema; Inks Don Heck)

TOWER OF SHADOWS #2

Witch Hunt (Writer Roy Thomas; Pencils Don Heck; Inks Dan Adkins)

Look Out Wyatt! Automation's Gonna Get You (Writer Gary Friedrich; Pencils John Buscema; Inks John Verpooten)

One Hungers (Writer/Artist Neal Adams)

TOWER OF SHADOWS #3 
The Moving Finger Writhes (Writer Len Wein; Pencils Gene Colan; Inks Mike Esposito)
Midnight In The Wax Museum (Writer Gary Friedrich; Art George Tuska)
The Terrible Old Man (Writer Roy Thomas (from a story by H. P. Lovecraft); Pencils Barry Smith; Inks Dan Adkins and John Verpooten)

TOWER OF SHADOWS #4

Evil Is A Baaaad Scene! (Writer Allyn Brodsky; Art Don Heck) 

One Little Indian (Writer Marv Wolfman; Pencils Gene Colan; Inks Dan Adkins) 

To Sneak, Perchance To Dream! (Writer Denny O'Neil; Plot/Art Tom Sutton) 

TOWER OF SHADOWS #5

The Demon That Devoured Hollywood! (Writer Roy Thomas; Pencils Barry Smith; Inks Dan Adkins)  

Flight Into Fear (Writer/Artist Wally Wood)

Time Out! (Writer Gerry Conway; Art Syd Shores)

TOWER OF SHADOWS #6

The Ghost Beast (Writer/Artist Wally Wood)

Contact! (Writer/Artist Tom Sutton)

The Scream From Beyond (Writer Steve Skeates; Pencils Gene Colan; Inks Dan Adkins) 

TOWER OF SHADOWS #7
The Scream Of Things (Writer Allyn Brodsky; Pencils Barry Smith; Inks Vince Colletta)
Of Swords And Sorcery! (Writer/Artist Wally Wood)

TOWER OF SHADOWS #8
Sanctuary! (Writer/Artist Wally Wood)

TOWER OF SHADOWS #9
Pickman's Model (Writer Roy Thomas (from the story by H. P. Lovecraft); Artist Tom Palmer)

CREATURES ON THE LOOSE #11
The Underground Gambit (writer Len Wein; Art Herb Trimpe)

CREATURES ON THE LOOSE #12
Master And Slave (Writer Al Hewston; Art Syd Shores)

CREATURES ON THE LOOSE #13
Where Walks The Werewolf (Writer Len Wein; Art Reed Crandell)

CHAMBER OF DARKNESS #1
It's Only Magic (Writer Stan Lee; Pencils John Buscema; Inks John Verpooten)
Mr. Craven Buys His Scream House (Writer Denny O'Neil; Artist Tom Sutton)
Always Leave Them Laughing! (Writer Gary Friedrich; Pencils Don Heck; Inks Frank Giacoia)

COD #2 cover by John Romita

CHAMBER OF DARKNESS #2
Forewarned Is Four-Armed! (Writers Roy Thomas and Neal Adams; Pencils Marie Severin; Inks Herb Trimpe and Tom Sutton)
The Face Of Fear! (Plot Stan Lee; Script Archie Goodwin; Art Syd Shores)
The Day Of The Red Death (Writer Roy Thomas; Artist Don Heck)

CHAMBER OF DARKNESS #3
The Warlock Tree (Writer Gerry Conway; Pencils Barry Smith; Inks Syd Shores)
The Tell Tell Heart (Writer Denny O'Neil (from the story by Edgar Allen Poe); Art Tom Palmer)
Something Lurks On Shadow Mountain (Writer Roy Thomas; pencils John Buscema; Inks John Verpooten)

COD #4 cover by Marie Severin

CHAMBER OF DARKNESS #4
The Monster (Writer/Pencils Jack Kirby; Inks John Verpooten)
The Man Who Owned The World (Script Denny O'Neil; Plot/Art Tom Sutton)
The Sword And The Sorcerers (Script Roy Thomas;  Art Barry Smith)

CHAMBER OF DARKNESS #5
...And Fear Shall Follow! (Writer/Artist Jack Kirby)
The Music From Beyond (Writer Roy Thomas, based on the story "The Music of Erich Zann." by H. P. Lovecraft; Art Johnny Craig)
The Beast From The Bog (writer Denny O'Neil; art Paul Reinman)

CHAMBER OF DARKNESS #6
A Change Of Mind (Writer Len Wein; Pencils Sal Buscema; Inks Syd Shores)
Put Another Nickel In (Writer Mimi Gold; Art Dick Ayers)

CHAMBER OF DARKNESS #7
Gargoyle Every Night (Writers Roy Thomas and Bernie Wrightson; artist Bernie Wrightson)
Mastermind (Writer/artist Tom Sutton)

CHAMBER OF DARKNESS #8
Believe It... Or Not! (Writer/Inker Bill Everett; Pencils Dan Adkins)

MONSTERS ON THE PROWL #9
Desert Scream (Writer Allyn Brodsky; Pencils Jack Katz; Inks Barry Smith)

MONSTERS ON THE PROWL #10
One Last Wish! (Writer Gary Friedrich; Pencils Don Heck; Inks George Roussos)

MONSTERS ON THE PROWL #11
Escape! (Writer/Artist Ralph Reese)

MONSTERS ON THE PROWL #12
The Maiden And The Monster (writer Stan Lee; artist Leo Summers)

MONSTERS ON THE PROWL #13
In The Shadow Of Tragg (writer Gerry Conway; artist Syd Shores)

MONSTERS ON THE PROWL #14
Terror Of The Pterodactyl (Plot Al Hewston; Script Steve Englehart; Art Syd Shores)

ADVENTURE INTO FEAR #10 
The Spell Of The Sea Witch (Writer Allen Brodsky; Pencils Jack Katz; Inks Bill Everett) 

There are probably other odd stories I haven't yet come across, but what a collection this would make!

Well, I can dream, can't I?

I'll be back sometime tomorrow with the next edition of Fourth World Thursday.

See you then,

Steve

 

 

MUCK MONSTER MONDAY - IT'S A GLOB BLOG!

Incredible Hulk #121 cover by Herb Trimpe

Welcome back to Muck Monster Monday, where this week we'll be looking at Marvel's first returning swamp creature. No, not the Man-Thing, whose debut was still a year and a half away. We are talking about The Glob. Now, if you don't remember The Glob, it's not that surprising as the character only appeared a handful of times, most notably as an antagonist for The Hulk. And it was in the pages of The Incredible Hulk that he/it made its debut.

Oh, a quick aside here. There had been another character called The Glob in the pre-hero Marvel monster title Journey Into Mystery (#72, September 1961). That Glob has no connection to this one, and although it looks like a typical swamp creature it is actually just a statue that comes to life because of some magical paint. Which is why I've not included it in Muck Monster Monday.

A Glob is born! Art by Herb Trimpe.

Right, let's get back to this Glob. We first meet him (or is it it?) in the pages of Incredible Hulk #121 (November 1969). Joe Timms was a petty criminal in prison when he received a letter telling him that his wife was close to death. In an attempt to be with her one last time, Timms broke out of jail, but in attempting to get across a nearby swamp he stumbled upon a patch of quicksand and was pulled down. For a number of years his body lay there, until a passing Hulk kicked a can of radioactive waste into the swamp. The waste reacted with the swamp and Timms' remains and then from out of the mire rose a grotesque mockery of a man, which we (or rather Roy Thomas, who wrote the story) shall call -- The Glob!

The Glob stumbled upon Betty Ross, and mistook  her for his/its lost love. It grabs Betty and drags her into the swamp pursued by  both the army, led by her father General "Thunderbolt" Ross, and The Hulk. After an initial confrontation between the Hulk and The Glob, during which the emerald hued monster discovers that his blows have no effect on the swamp creature, The Glob continues to take Betty further into the swamp. However, as the Glob approached the spot of it's birth, the same radioactive waters that spawned it, start to destroy it. The Glob starts to melt away, it's last action is to protect Betty, allowing the Hulk to get her to safety. Writer Roy Thomas shows great affection for the swamp monster genre, while penciller Herb Trimpe, surely one of the industry's most under-rated artists, in on top form. Check out his full page illo of The Glob rising from the mire somewhere on this page.

The Glob obviously proved popular and was quickly brought back a mere eight months later in Incredible Hulk #129 (July 1970).  The Hulk's arch-nemesis The Leader learns about The Glob's existence and re-creates the swamp creature. Planting the idea in the Glob's mind (or, at least, what passes for a mind) that The Hulk is attacking Betty, The Leader sends the swamp creature on a cross country rampage ending in Los Angeles, where the Hulk's alter ego Bruce Banner is currently hiding out.
The Glob attacks Banner, triggering the inevitable transformation into the Emerald Titan. The two engage in battle, ending up in a power station. High up on a tower, the Hulk electrocutes the bog monster, causing him/it to fall to the ground. There's an explosion and the Glob is blown into a million pieces. That's not quite the end of the story though, for as the Hulk strides off into the metaphorical sunset, we see two of the Glob fragments start to move slowly, but surely, together.

I TOLD you! I'm NOT going there!

It was a few years before readers once again encountered the Glob. In 1974 he/it returned again, not in the pages of The Incredible Hulk, but in Man-Thing. Or rather Man-Thing's quarterly companion title Giant-Size Man-Thing. No, I'm not saying anything. We've all heard the jokes about that title. 
After his encounter with the Florida based swamp monster, the Glob once again encountered The Hulk in a two part story in Incredible Hulk #197/8 which also featured a guest appearance by Man-Thing.
And then the Glob disappeared. A second Glob popped up in Incredible Hulk #398, but the original vanished, not to be seen again until 2005 when he/it turned up alongside Clone of Frankenstein, Gorilla-Man, Grogg, N'Kantu (The Living Mummy), Nina Price (Vampire By Night), Warwolf, and The Zombie as one of Nick Fury's monstrous Howling Commandos. One final appearance in the pages of She-Hulk, and that's all she wrote for Joe Timms.
Now, the first appearance of The Glob obviously proved popular, hence his rather rapid return eight months later. But was The Glob popular enough for someone at Marvel to think about a regular comic featuring a swamp creature? Who knows, but it wasn't too long before Marvel's more familiar muck monster Man-Thing made his first appearance. And we'll come to him in a couple of weeks. Next week however -- The Heap! Again! 
Before that of course there's another Fourth World Thursday, and a little feature in the works about some of Marvel's short horror stories.
'Til next time,
Steve