Eerie Archives Volume 2

Eerie Archives #2

by Shawna Gore

When publisher Jim Warren created Creepy magazine in 1962, he soon realized he'd hit pay dirt on a gruesome gold mine of great comics storytelling. Under the leadership of editor/writer Archie Goodwin, Warren's hit line of horror-comics magazines grew another lurid limb with the introduction of Eerie in 1964, and soon there were two great horror magazines on the rack instead of one. Following in the fetid footsteps of our sinfully successful archive library of Creepy, Dark Horse is also proudly publishing its Eerie equivalent -- keeping chilling stories and incredible artwork in the family!

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Fantasy, Comic Book, Thriller

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 12, 2009

About the author

Shawna Gore is an editor at Dark Horse where she has worked on such titles as the Creepy, Eerie, Herbie Archives, The Cleaners, and more.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collects Eerie 6-10. The art is exquisite. The horror tales range from okay to great. The art team is an all-star lineup with Reed Crandall, Gene Colan, Steve Ditko, and Neal Adams just to name a few. The vintage ads are reproduced. It felt like too much of a good thing at times, though.

[Diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those who are unfamiliar with this series, this is an anthology of horror comics published by Warren Comics starting in the late 60s. The focus is on horror stories with a twist at the end. In this particular volume, the stories were entertaining, but there weren't any that stood out. The nice thing is that each story is only a few pages, so it is easy to pick up for 5 or 10 minutes of reading at a time. However, you might end up telling yourself, "Just one more."

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an old 1966 comic by Warren magazine redone this year after it looks like Dark Horse got the rights to have reprined.

Done in a nice hardbound volume with crisp black and white art which jump out at you it has issues 6- 10 of Eerie reprinted with artwork from the likes of Steve Ditko and Frank Frazzetta

Eerie (and Creepy) filled the void that EC comics left after the senate inquiry into them and the advent of the Comics Code Authority closed EC down bar the MAD magazine

get this from Amazon they seem to have the best deal on it and check out the others too

Well worth the $$$

[Printable Tire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection starts out pretty weak (I mean how many twist endings where it's revealed X is really a vampire can you take?) but it ends strong, and I can honestly say there wasn't a story in issue #10 I didn't like.

Some favorites:

-The Frazetta cover for #7 (http://frankfrazetta.net/images/eerie...)

-The weird art of Hector Castellon for "Hitchhike Horror"

-The art of Joe Orlando, especially on "Slugs" - truly a story that filled me with gross dread.

-Anything by Jerry Grandenetti, who draws perfect spooky eyes, but especially "Typecast" and "Cry Fear, Cry Phantom."

-"Experiment in Fear"- because even Cousin Eerie had to look pretty solemn and avoid bad puns after a horror story involving a nazi concentration camp.

-"Oversight"- a clever precursor to "They Live"

-"The Wanderer"- This and the one about the haunted jewel and anyone about weird, dreadful dimensions.

-"It that Lurks"- a fairly confusing but nonetheless novel twist.

-Dan Adkins' art, but especially the mind-blowing "Day After Tomorrow" and "It."

To the Creepie Archives next!

[Rodrigo Tello · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colan, Crandall, Frazetta, STEVE DITKO y más, mucho más... Simplemente una MARAVILLA

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really cool stories in this volume. But I felt like the first couple of issues were a bit dull. But things picked up by about half way through. Major standout work is all the Steve Ditko stuff, followed by the amazing art of Jerry Grandenetti and Dan Adkins. Rocco Mastroserio and John Severin both do really nice work as well, but they only did one or two stories each, so they don't really get the chance to shine like the other featured artists.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terrific art marred by mediocre storytelling, this was a slog to get through. Your mileage may vary!

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the 1960's, Warren Publications began putting out "Creepy" and "Eerie". Much like the transformation of "Mad" the comic to "Mad Magazine", they were collections of black and white illustrated stories that avoided the strictures of the Comics code by calling themselves "magazines".

Assembling a stable of artists from the EC comics line such as Johnny Craig, Wallace Wood and Al Williamson, combined with some of the best comics artists of the day like Steve Ditko and Neal Adams and often with spectacular covers by Frank Frazetta, these mags. became some of the best illustrated of their time.

Dark Horse has collected these magazines into huge archive volumes that show the fine artwork they contained. It's fun that they included the entire printing of each issue, including the color cover, the letters section and even the novelty ads that were to be found in every comic book at the time.

While the artwork is great, the stories aren't quite as good. Sure there are some outstanding ones, but I thought there was an over reliance on the classic monsters such as Werewolves and Vampires all with a Twilight Zone-like twist at the end. Still, they are an enjoyable diversion and I plan to get the other volumes from the library.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another finely produced hardcover with many finely rendered tales by some of the all-time greats, such as Steve Ditko, Joe Orlando, Neal Adams, Dan Adkins, Archie Goodwin, Frank Frazetta and Gene Colan, among many others. The stories probably seem dated and formulaic to modern day readers but bleed lovable Gothic Horror charm in my opinion. The cover of this book is one of the many great Frank Frazetta paintings that graced the covers of this series and it's sister title, Creepy.

I first encountered this image 20 odd years ago, when I picked up Nazareth's Expect No Mercy album on cassette, the cover image being the reason that I selected that album over several of their other available titles. This was 1989 or 1990, and there was no Internet as such. In fact, if you didn't hear a song on the radio or know anyone who owned the album, the only way that you got to hear it was to buy it. Oh, the stone age! In any case, Frazetta's artwork also prompted me to buy Molly Hatchet's debut album way back when too, but that one sucked. More recently, the cover to Eerie #7 appeared as the artwork to the cover of Wolfmother's debut album. OK, comic book and music history lesson's done.

[Phil Zimmerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I have read too many of these in a short period of time, but I found myself bored with this installment. The nostagia has worn off and 90% of the stories in this volume were written by the same guy. The stories were wordy and not very inventive.

I think it is time for a Warren Pub break.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky and collected a full set of these magazines and got a chance to read the fantastic stories and enjoy the incredible art from many of the greats, many of who got their start here, from the comic world. If you like offbeat horror, supernatural, SiFi and just plan different stories then these are the magazines for you. Very recommended

[Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has been the weakest of the Warren reprints to date. I wonder if Archie Goodwin's quality as a writer and editor got diluted with both Creepy and Eerie to get out the door every month, along with his other duties.

Beautifully packaged.

[Ruz El · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another dead solid volume. Steve Ditko is amazingly good in this one. Some of the stories are a bit meh, but that's to be expected in an anthology like this.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eerie never fails to deliver!

More fantastic artwork and clever scary stories. Another good horror story read for only the true fans of the genre

[Robert Hudder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love these. Sometimes they are a bit cheesy but always the artwork, the artwork.