We've sold horror/monster mags before here at ACC. But it's always been a couple here, a few there. Well, last week an awesome guy came in with about 100 of them. Everything from Eerie to Weird, Voodoo to Shock, and many more. All the mags date between 1965 and 1973. So these books were very much on the cutting edge of breaking down the censorship barriers that were imposed on the mainstream comic companies at that time.
It wasn't until Marvel's Amazing Spider-Man # 96 or DC's Green Lantern Green Arrow # 85 that the big two even began pushing back against the comics code, and that was as a service to the US govt (speaking out against drug use), AND, that wasn't until 1971. The visionaries at companies like Eerie and Stanley Publications were bringing the kind of content you'd expect to see on The Walking Dead or your favorite slasher film to our fathers and grandfathers YEARS before the code let up and titles like Crossed, Saga, or Revival were allowed to flourish.
The artists that worked on these books are a virtual who's who or all star team from the time. Everyone from the king himself Jack Kirby to other A-Listers like Steve Ditko or Wally Wood. To slightly more indie creators like Frank Frazetta or Vaughan Bode. All of these greats allowed their imaginations to run wild in the cape free environment of the horror genre.
These issues will have you staring at their covers for hours, as the inside joke of the day seemed to be, "let's see what we can get away with!" Everything from decapitated heads, to dismembered bodies, and freakish monsters are right there on the cover, challenging you to open the mag and see if you can handle what's inside.
I'll say personally these aren't my bag, but you've got to respect the sheer creativity of the art, as well as the willingness to fill a void in the comics market left absent by the larger companies after "Seduction of the Innocent" forced the comics industry into a "change or perish" censorship agreement.
Let's talk a little about the seller. His name is Dennis and he's an absolute die-hard for the horror genre. We're selling these on consignment for him as I really didn't even know what they were worth while initially looking at them, and didn't want to low ball him for what may be really cool & valuable stuff. Needless to say I've enjoyed the learning experience that researching these has been; and probably spent way more time than I needed to, mouth ajar, looking at the crazy artwork in these.
Dennis' specific collecting interests currently lie in anything Rat Fink, as well as any hard to find Funko pieces. After all, he is member # 32 of the Funko Hall Of Fame. Yes, HALL OF FAME. I didn't even know Funko had a hall of fame, but apparently they do, and Dennis is in it. I guess it's time to add "Getting in the Funko HOF" to the bucket list.
Funny story about the first time I met Dennis. He walks in after unloading the books and while I'm scrambling to get settled and ready to review the goodies, I look over and notice him scoping out our Funko wall. In hindsight, FOR A FUNKO HALL OF FAMER, this must have been like Derek Jeter looking at the "back of the card" stats for a little leaguer, but I digress. He was very nice and not totally arrogant about it, as he could have been, as he mentioned very casually that he was into Funko too. As I believe he said, "they put me in the hall of fame a couple years ago." Like it was no big deal. Totally serious.
Anyway, Dennis proceeded to show me a bunch of the cool pieces he still has in his collection, (my personal favorite was a disfigured head in a vintage glass and wooden box that sits proudly on top of his REFRIGERATOR) and we had a great conversation. It's been a real joy to bring these insanely cool monster mags to market and you can find them all in our store by searching box-code DW1 in the store search bar of our ebay store.
I'll include some pics below of some of our favorites.
Enjoy!
-Jeff/ACC
