Friday, January 14, 2022
Not from what you were probably thinking it was:
It looks like Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein, but is much shorter and should run you much less: From 1983, Berni Wrightson: Master of the Macabre #1, featuring "The Muck Monster," "The Pepper Lake Monster," and "The Black Cat."
There's a slight chance it could have been elsewhere, but I'm almost positive I was introduced to Bernie Wrightson through Creepshow--I recall a childhood friend having it, and I'm still jealous. (And I'm a huge Stephen King fan, yet am not positive I've ever had a copy of my own...? I say that, but should get up and make sure I don't have three copies...) Today's book was from Pacific Comics, and featured three reprints from Eerie #68, Eerie #58, and Creepy #62; now with color by Steve Oliff.
"The Muck Monster" is a Frankenstein riff, of course, with the added step of this mad scientist seemingly failing to create life, until he dissolves his unliving creation in acid, pours it down the drain, it congeals around a corpse, then comes back. The first person narration from the monster is somber and existential, but not completely without hope. In "The Pepper Lake Monster" an investigator tries to corral a small-town lake's sea monster, and succeeds!...briefly. "The Black Cat" is a Poe adaptation, but it's doubtful you'll find it done better. $1.50 in 1983, a buck out of the bins last week, but well worth it either way!
I just watched a video from a podcast called Cartoonist Kayfabe (Ed Piskor & Jim Rugg) where they talk about this and the later collected edition of this. Still can't believe the original hardcover costs you over 100 dollars. Damn.
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