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Essential Tales of the Zombie, Vol. 1
Jaded by heroes who come back from the dead? Meet the hero who started there and stayed there! His stare's the only thing that's empty about the adventures of Simon Garth through mad science and madder magic! Terrors criminal, corporate and just plain creepy reprinted for the first time in more than a quarter-century! Collects stories from Tales of the Zombie #1-10; Dracula Lives #1-2.
576 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1975
3 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
About the author
Steve Gerber
642 books66 followersSteve Gerber graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in communications and took a job in advertising. To keep himself sane, he wrote bizarre short stories such as "Elves Against Hitler," "Conversion in a Terminal Subway," and "...And the Birds Hummed Dirges!" He noticed acquaintance Roy Thomas working at Marvel, and Thomas sent him Marvel's standard writing test, dialoguing Daredevil art. He was soon made a regular on Daredevil and Sub-Mariner, and the newly created Man-Thing, the latter of which pegged him as having a strong personal style--intellectual, introspective, and literary. In one issue, he introduced an anthropomorphic duck into a horror fantasy, because he wanted something weird and incongruous, and Thomas made the character, named for Gerber's childhood friend Howard, fall to his apparent death in the following issue. Fans were outraged, and the character was revived in a new and deeply personal series. Gerber said in interview that the joke of Howard the Duck is that "there is no joke." The series was existential and dealt with the necessities of life, such as finding employment to pay the rent. Such unusual fare for comicbooks also informed his writing on The Defenders. Other works included Morbius, the Lving Vampire, The Son of Satan, Tales of the Zombie, The Living Mummy, Marvel Two-in-One, Guardians of the Galaxy, Shanna the She-Devil, and Crazy Magazine for Marvel, and Mister Miracle, Metal Men,
The Phantom Zone
, and The Immortal Doctor Fate for DC. Gerber eventually lost a lawsuit for control of Howard the Duck when he was defending artist Gene Colan's claim of delayed paychecks for the series, which was less important to him personally because he had a staff job and Colan did not.
He left comics for animation in the early 1980s, working mainly with Ruby-Spears, creating Thundarr the Barbarian with Alex Toth and Jack Kirby and episodes of The Puppy's Further Adventures, and Marvel Productions, where he was story editor on multiple Marvel series including Dungeons & Dragons, G.I. Joe, and The Transformers. He continued to dabble in comics, mainly for Eclipse, including the graphic novel Stewart the Rat, the two-part horror story "Role Model: Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others," and the seven-issue Destroyer Duck with Jack Kirby, which began as a fundraiser for Gerber's lawsuit.
In the early 1990s, he returned to Marvel with Foolkiller, a ten-issue limited series featuring a new version of a villain he had used in The Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown, who communicated with a previous version of the character through internet bulletin boards. An early internet adopter himself, he wrote two chapters of BBSs for Dummies with Beth Woods Slick, with whom he also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Contagion." During this period, he also wrote The Sensational She-Hulk and Cloak and Dagger for Marvel, Cybernary and WildC.A.T.s for Image, and Sludge and Exiles for the writer-driven Malibu Ultraverse, and Nevada for DC's mature readers Vertigo line.
In 2002, he returned to the Howard the Duck character for Marvel's mature readers MAX line, and for DC created Hard Time with Mary Skrenes, with whom he had co-created the cult hit Omega the Unknown for Marvel. Their ending for Omega the Unknown remains a secret that Skrenes plans to take to the grave if Marvel refuses to publish it. Suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ("idiopathic" meaning of unknown origin despite having been a heavy smoker much of his life), he was on a waiting list for a double lung transplant. His final work was the Doctor Fate story arc, "More Pain Comics," for DC Comics'
He left comics for animation in the early 1980s, working mainly with Ruby-Spears, creating Thundarr the Barbarian with Alex Toth and Jack Kirby and episodes of The Puppy's Further Adventures, and Marvel Productions, where he was story editor on multiple Marvel series including Dungeons & Dragons, G.I. Joe, and The Transformers. He continued to dabble in comics, mainly for Eclipse, including the graphic novel Stewart the Rat, the two-part horror story "Role Model: Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others," and the seven-issue Destroyer Duck with Jack Kirby, which began as a fundraiser for Gerber's lawsuit.
In the early 1990s, he returned to Marvel with Foolkiller, a ten-issue limited series featuring a new version of a villain he had used in The Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown, who communicated with a previous version of the character through internet bulletin boards. An early internet adopter himself, he wrote two chapters of BBSs for Dummies with Beth Woods Slick, with whom he also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Contagion." During this period, he also wrote The Sensational She-Hulk and Cloak and Dagger for Marvel, Cybernary and WildC.A.T.s for Image, and Sludge and Exiles for the writer-driven Malibu Ultraverse, and Nevada for DC's mature readers Vertigo line.
In 2002, he returned to the Howard the Duck character for Marvel's mature readers MAX line, and for DC created Hard Time with Mary Skrenes, with whom he had co-created the cult hit Omega the Unknown for Marvel. Their ending for Omega the Unknown remains a secret that Skrenes plans to take to the grave if Marvel refuses to publish it. Suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ("idiopathic" meaning of unknown origin despite having been a heavy smoker much of his life), he was on a waiting list for a double lung transplant. His final work was the Doctor Fate story arc, "More Pain Comics," for DC Comics'
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 21, 2014
This book is more praiseworthy for its ambition and uniqueness than its quality, although there are some good parts.
The "main" part of the magazine, the story of Simon Garth, AKA the guy who became a lifeless corpse who does what other people want, is pretty fun to read. Well, only when Steve Gerber is still writing him, but luckily he survives most of the book. It builds up some tension about what will happen to the Zombie, while otherwise mixing social commentary ("how is this guy so evil?" like 200 times every issue) and comic book violence. Very similar to his work on "Man-Thing", which I recommend.
I REALLY loved the back-up comic book stories. Tom Sutton, mostly used as an artist, wrote and drew some beautifully looking stuff. And writers like Gerry Conway and other writers less known that Gerry are able to really let it hang loose with different types of action/suspense stories involving the undead and zombies. It's like actually fun to read.
The main reason, however, that it's 4 stars and not 5 is the text stories. I never liked it. These overwrought fictional stories, or movie criticism, or whatever, badly put together and too long. Some of the movie stuff is ok, and Chris Claremont wrote a couple of good voodoo history pieces, but they blur together. And the short fiction is simply not interesting enough to warrant literature.
I feel like they were simply trying to fill a 60 page magazine. But for the large part it was ok (Tony Isabella's scripting was pretty bad, per usual), and very unique and fun to see what would happen.
Would it have been better as a Simon Garth narrative, his own 20 page book? Absolutely. But this is ok too.
The "main" part of the magazine, the story of Simon Garth, AKA the guy who became a lifeless corpse who does what other people want, is pretty fun to read. Well, only when Steve Gerber is still writing him, but luckily he survives most of the book. It builds up some tension about what will happen to the Zombie, while otherwise mixing social commentary ("how is this guy so evil?" like 200 times every issue) and comic book violence. Very similar to his work on "Man-Thing", which I recommend.
I REALLY loved the back-up comic book stories. Tom Sutton, mostly used as an artist, wrote and drew some beautifully looking stuff. And writers like Gerry Conway and other writers less known that Gerry are able to really let it hang loose with different types of action/suspense stories involving the undead and zombies. It's like actually fun to read.
The main reason, however, that it's 4 stars and not 5 is the text stories. I never liked it. These overwrought fictional stories, or movie criticism, or whatever, badly put together and too long. Some of the movie stuff is ok, and Chris Claremont wrote a couple of good voodoo history pieces, but they blur together. And the short fiction is simply not interesting enough to warrant literature.
I feel like they were simply trying to fill a 60 page magazine. But for the large part it was ok (Tony Isabella's scripting was pretty bad, per usual), and very unique and fun to see what would happen.
Would it have been better as a Simon Garth narrative, his own 20 page book? Absolutely. But this is ok too.
December 21, 2017
I am a sucker for the late Steve Gerber's writing and this is some of his best stuff. The art, mostly by Pablo Marcos couldn't be better for these creepy stories; gritty and grim. I remember reading these back in the 1970's in Marvel Comics' black-and-white magazines and enjoyed reading them in this collected volume even more.
March 4, 2025
Pues nada, un popurrí de historias de las cuales más o menos la mitad están protagonizadas por Simon Garth, el zombi que sale en la portada. El resto es relleno, hablando en plata, aunque algo de este relleno está realmente bien dibujado (las historias ilustradas por el nunca suficientemente estimado Alfredo Alcalá). En cuanto al resto, salvemos la «historia de origen» de Bill Everett. Y ya.
Especialmente sonrojantes son los artículos de cine del inefable Don McGregor, ese hombre que utilizaba infinitas palabras para contar lo que se podía ver de un solo vistazo en una viñeta, y que demuestran que sabe tanto de cine como de narrativa. Pero hasta este despliegue de verborrea inane se queda tamañito si lo comparamos con los denodados esfuerzos de Chris Claremont para demostrarnos lo muchísimo que sabe sobre vudú tras haberse leído unos cuantos libros chorras sobre el tema. Claremont es un todoterreno de la ignorancia, así que nos la muestra mediante artículos y también mediante relatos, en los cuales confunde contar una historia con meter nombres raros a saco con el fin de epatar al lector. Al final, acaban todos muertos, menos uno que no sé si es bueno o malo. Pues vale.
En cuanto a los relatos de Simon Garth en sí, cuentan con los guiones de Gerber y los sólidos dibujos de Pablo Marcos, que llega al virtuosismo en las magníficas «splash pages» con las que da comienzo a cada historia. Gerber, como siempre, va improvisando el hombre a ver lo que le sale, y unas veces le sale mejor, y otras peor, pero en general acaba saliendo airoso en la tarea. Tampoco tiene ni idea de vudú, pero le da igual (y al lector también). Bien por él.
Mención aparte merecen las sonrojantes aventuras del Hermano Vudú, que no se merecen estar dibujadas por, por ejemplo, Tony De Zuñiga, que es un grande. Este personaje, salido de la más cutre «blaxploitation» debería haber desaparecido por la puerta de atrás de los estereotipos raciales Marvel hace siglos, pero ahí sigue, dando por saco. Parece un chiste malo de esos que se alargan y se alargan y nadie sabe cuándo parará. A ver si es ya.
En fin, en conjunto, muy irregular. ¿Merece la pena? Pssssí... Bueno, no. Bueno, venga, sí. Bueno...
Especialmente sonrojantes son los artículos de cine del inefable Don McGregor, ese hombre que utilizaba infinitas palabras para contar lo que se podía ver de un solo vistazo en una viñeta, y que demuestran que sabe tanto de cine como de narrativa. Pero hasta este despliegue de verborrea inane se queda tamañito si lo comparamos con los denodados esfuerzos de Chris Claremont para demostrarnos lo muchísimo que sabe sobre vudú tras haberse leído unos cuantos libros chorras sobre el tema. Claremont es un todoterreno de la ignorancia, así que nos la muestra mediante artículos y también mediante relatos, en los cuales confunde contar una historia con meter nombres raros a saco con el fin de epatar al lector. Al final, acaban todos muertos, menos uno que no sé si es bueno o malo. Pues vale.
En cuanto a los relatos de Simon Garth en sí, cuentan con los guiones de Gerber y los sólidos dibujos de Pablo Marcos, que llega al virtuosismo en las magníficas «splash pages» con las que da comienzo a cada historia. Gerber, como siempre, va improvisando el hombre a ver lo que le sale, y unas veces le sale mejor, y otras peor, pero en general acaba saliendo airoso en la tarea. Tampoco tiene ni idea de vudú, pero le da igual (y al lector también). Bien por él.
Mención aparte merecen las sonrojantes aventuras del Hermano Vudú, que no se merecen estar dibujadas por, por ejemplo, Tony De Zuñiga, que es un grande. Este personaje, salido de la más cutre «blaxploitation» debería haber desaparecido por la puerta de atrás de los estereotipos raciales Marvel hace siglos, pero ahí sigue, dando por saco. Parece un chiste malo de esos que se alargan y se alargan y nadie sabe cuándo parará. A ver si es ya.
En fin, en conjunto, muy irregular. ¿Merece la pena? Pssssí... Bueno, no. Bueno, venga, sí. Bueno...
October 16, 2020
First of all the art was top notch. This collection was from Marvel's magazine imprint which didn't have to abide by the Comics Code, so it was much more like the pre-code horror comics of the 50s in regards to violence and sexual situations.
The content though...mostly meh. Steve Gerber wrote the continuing story of Simon Garth, a rich man who was "zombified," and while it's an interesting exercise, having a main character who is essentially dull, ponderous, and easily manipulated--though incredibly powerful--it really requires exceptional supporting characters to pull off (go watch the first Terminator movie for a great example).
Gerber also wrote a similar character for Marvel (the Man-Thing) in the 70s. If I was assigned an English paper, I would perhaps compare these stories to how it might have felt to be an American during the Vietnam war.
The magazines (and this collection) also had serious articles on Voodoo and Zombies and how they were portrayed in movies and other pop culture, but I found these tedious and skippable.
Actually, this was going to leave a rather sour taste in my mouth (it took me over a year to read through), but the last few independent stories were exceptionally strong.
Gerry Conway's "An Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth" was a not too original tale of a man falling prey to the power he enlisted for revenge, but it definitely flowed better than most of the other stories. Likewise, John Warner's "Malaka's Curse" tale of just desserts wasn't surprising, but it did focus more effectively on the problem of innocent black men being sentenced to death. And the final story, Tom Sutton's (most famous for being the first artist for Vampirella) "Grave Business," was masterful, twice going beyond the "obvious" climax to deepen the story and its effect.
I just may hunt down that final issue of Tales from the Zombie, but I don't need most of what is in this collection.
The content though...mostly meh. Steve Gerber wrote the continuing story of Simon Garth, a rich man who was "zombified," and while it's an interesting exercise, having a main character who is essentially dull, ponderous, and easily manipulated--though incredibly powerful--it really requires exceptional supporting characters to pull off (go watch the first Terminator movie for a great example).
Gerber also wrote a similar character for Marvel (the Man-Thing) in the 70s. If I was assigned an English paper, I would perhaps compare these stories to how it might have felt to be an American during the Vietnam war.
The magazines (and this collection) also had serious articles on Voodoo and Zombies and how they were portrayed in movies and other pop culture, but I found these tedious and skippable.
Actually, this was going to leave a rather sour taste in my mouth (it took me over a year to read through), but the last few independent stories were exceptionally strong.
Gerry Conway's "An Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth" was a not too original tale of a man falling prey to the power he enlisted for revenge, but it definitely flowed better than most of the other stories. Likewise, John Warner's "Malaka's Curse" tale of just desserts wasn't surprising, but it did focus more effectively on the problem of innocent black men being sentenced to death. And the final story, Tom Sutton's (most famous for being the first artist for Vampirella) "Grave Business," was masterful, twice going beyond the "obvious" climax to deepen the story and its effect.
I just may hunt down that final issue of Tales from the Zombie, but I don't need most of what is in this collection.
December 9, 2022
70'li yılların kült çizgi romanının tüm sayılarını içeren bu derleme, çok farklı bir çizgi roman deneyimi sunuyor. Bunun üç sebebi var: Birincisi, hikâyenin klişeliğine rağmen, sıradışı bir anlatış şekli var; zombiye sürekli "sen" diye hitap eden bir dış ses, onun olası dürtülerini okura sezdiriyor; Creepy/Eeerie ekolünden her bir hikâyede, zombinin karşısına hep kendinden daha beterleri çıkıyor. İkincisi, klasik Conan'ı anımsatan siyah beyaz grafikler bence çok başarılı; vudunun ve Güney'in tekinsiz ruhunu çok iyi yansıtıyor. Üçüncüsü ve en önemlisi, hırstan gözü dönmüş bir iş adamıyken zombiye dönüştürülen Simon Garth'ın hikâyesi, fırsat buldukça düzenin yabancılaştırdığı insan ilişkilerine sosyal eleştiri oklarını göndermekten çekinmiyor. Ardışık olmasa da birbiriyle bağlantılı hikâyelerin bağlandığı noktada, Simon Garth'ın zombi halinin insan halinden daha insancıl olduğunu düşünür hale geliyoruz...
February 11, 2024
Simon Garth wasn’t a very good man in life, but in death, he might just be a hero…
Essential Tales of the Zombie, Vol. 1 collects issues of the Tales of the Zombie magazine…a horror anthology that includes a running serial about Simon Garth, the Zombie.
Simon Garth was a brutal businessman with little care for others when he found himself killed and resurrected as a zombie…one who was controlled by a special amulet coin. However, even when he must obey certain orders, he still had a slight measure of free will…especially when I allowed him to resist harming someone he cared about.
He had a wild ride throughout the stories of this volume…travelled between New Orleans and Haiti, as we learn more about his curse and those in his life.
Meanwhile, being that the magazine was an anthology, this book also reprints some of the original horror articles and other tales of zombies, voodoo, and ghosts.
There are also a lot of old brother voodoo stories in here…
Essential Tales of the Zombie, Vol. 1 collects issues of the Tales of the Zombie magazine…a horror anthology that includes a running serial about Simon Garth, the Zombie.
Simon Garth was a brutal businessman with little care for others when he found himself killed and resurrected as a zombie…one who was controlled by a special amulet coin. However, even when he must obey certain orders, he still had a slight measure of free will…especially when I allowed him to resist harming someone he cared about.
He had a wild ride throughout the stories of this volume…travelled between New Orleans and Haiti, as we learn more about his curse and those in his life.
Meanwhile, being that the magazine was an anthology, this book also reprints some of the original horror articles and other tales of zombies, voodoo, and ghosts.
There are also a lot of old brother voodoo stories in here…
September 30, 2020
Not Gerber's best work, but enjoyable. Probably 50% or less are the core Simon Garth/Zombie stories, which have great B&W Pablo Marcos art. The rest is reprints from Golden Age, a few Brother Voodoo and others. Some is done by great like Alcala, DeZuninga, etc. Overall, it scratched a Bronze age marvel horror hero itch, but that's about it.
October 16, 2018
Marvel should bring this guy back as an Avenger.
November 5, 2010
For all those folks out there like myself who have had a steady diet of the Romero zombies in both movies and in print this very sizeable compendium that covers the arc of Simon Garth, who is cursed to walk the earth as a voodoo resurected zombie, this gives you a different slant on the whole walking dead thing.
We are given the entire progression of the somewhat free willed zombie (he wears a necklace that has a twin, whoever possesses it controls him, but at certain times he can resist its powers). He is supposed to be mindless, but that would not be any fun and while Simon craves his release from the curse, he will do whatever he can to protect his still living daughter from the clutches of evil. He kills without remorse and is immune to pain or most emotions.
Besides the high quality art work and excellent story telling, we are also given quite a few editorials on the power of voodoo, details on Brother Voodoo, a superhero created by Marvel, and even a review of Night of the Living Dead. Since these works came out around the same time as Romero's first movie, it is interesting to hear about the perspective that some folks had back then, especially when comparing and contrasting it with the more traditional voodoo zombie. Other critiques of zombie films are here as well in this very sizeable and extremely satisfying tome.
Great stuff. If you enjoy classic horror comics or wholesome zombie goodness this thick book, with all its great artwork and classic story telling is the real deal.
We are given the entire progression of the somewhat free willed zombie (he wears a necklace that has a twin, whoever possesses it controls him, but at certain times he can resist its powers). He is supposed to be mindless, but that would not be any fun and while Simon craves his release from the curse, he will do whatever he can to protect his still living daughter from the clutches of evil. He kills without remorse and is immune to pain or most emotions.
Besides the high quality art work and excellent story telling, we are also given quite a few editorials on the power of voodoo, details on Brother Voodoo, a superhero created by Marvel, and even a review of Night of the Living Dead. Since these works came out around the same time as Romero's first movie, it is interesting to hear about the perspective that some folks had back then, especially when comparing and contrasting it with the more traditional voodoo zombie. Other critiques of zombie films are here as well in this very sizeable and extremely satisfying tome.
Great stuff. If you enjoy classic horror comics or wholesome zombie goodness this thick book, with all its great artwork and classic story telling is the real deal.
August 25, 2013
This was my favorite of the Marvel B&W monster magazines published early to mid-1970s.
It featured zombie Simon Garth, from a 1950s short story in comics published when Marvel was known as Atlas, with art by the great Bill Everett. Revived for these newsstand publications, the lead feature was scripted by the great Steve Gerber, who had a knack for misanthropic protagonists, and drawn by Pablo Marcos. Each magazine featured a mix of new short stories and reprints from 1950s horror comics, as well as unusual text features.
Recommended.
It featured zombie Simon Garth, from a 1950s short story in comics published when Marvel was known as Atlas, with art by the great Bill Everett. Revived for these newsstand publications, the lead feature was scripted by the great Steve Gerber, who had a knack for misanthropic protagonists, and drawn by Pablo Marcos. Each magazine featured a mix of new short stories and reprints from 1950s horror comics, as well as unusual text features.
Recommended.
May 24, 2009
Coffee King Simon Garth's grisly, gory, and uneven quest to reunite his humanity and soul to the cyanotic construct which has become his prison often mirrors other great misunderstood monsters of literature and comic book fare. Throw in reprints of Marvel's version of Dracula, plus Brother Voodoo and add some rather bizarre voodoo-zombie revenge stories, and you'll catch a small nostalgic glimpse of all the zaniness of the monster craze which swept many comic publishers in the 70's.
July 4, 2013
Una sequenza di storie decisamente intriganti anche oggi, spesso ottimamente disegnate da gente come John Buscema e Pablo Marcos.
Lo zombie è quello classico, niente a che vedere con la pessima roba che passa la moda odierna. Voodoo, controllo dei morti, donne in pericolo, avventura e macabro.
Lo zombie è quello classico, niente a che vedere con la pessima roba che passa la moda odierna. Voodoo, controllo dei morti, donne in pericolo, avventura e macabro.
February 12, 2016
I read these in the original magazines when they came out in the 1070s. These were one of the better horror magazine Marvel did. Recommended
January 7, 2018
I have read book one of 10 and it was great can't wait to read the rest
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews