Copper Age Horror II

“This is chapter three of the saga of the Victims, the tormented tale of those who are innocent yet victims to a series of incidents brutal, fiendish, lunatic, and seemingly pointless.”

The issue's opening line sums up the unfolding terror of this five-issue series from Eternity which follows two innocent girls trapped in a series of horrific events

Featuring early covers from industry veteran, Jim Balent

Balent's roots are as an independent artist having worked with Chaos! and Cry for Dawn publications but also known for his bad girl-inspired, 90s Catwoman run

In 1999, Balent formed BroadSword Comics, which publishes his own story, Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose, firmly positioning himself outside of the mainstream

Balent continues to provide covers for Coffin Comics and titles such as Zombie Tramp

An overlooked master of contemporary good/bad girl art, Balent has most likely drawn your favorite heroine in dynamic and provocative scenarios

Balent's cover for Victims #3 is a highlight of the series and showcases his talent for offering just the right amount of sleaze and suspense

Jim Balent deserves his flowers!

Having been released just weeks after the 1982 family friendly hit, E.T., John Carpenter’s sci-fi horror, The Thing opened as a box office dud and was panned by critics and the public as too violent, causing Universal to pull the film early from theaters

Now understood to have been an ahead-of-its-time masterpiece, the film eventually found its audience on home video and cable, giving it a second life, much like the creatures in the movie which had early concept art provided by Mike Ploog

Released almost a decade after the film’s release, this two-issue series from Dark Horse takes its title from the 1951 film that inspired Carpenter’s homage

Aside from being the first appearance of The Thing in comics, the story provides an answer to the still debated question from the film’s final scene: Is it MacReady or Childs who is the alien imposter?

In this beautifully rendered series with a grisly cover from Watchman colorist John Higgins, you’ll finally get an answer

Keep in mind, this cardstock cover is known to have split and frayed spines

John Carpenter is known to make the comic con circuit and a high grade signed copy of this overlooked key would be out of this world

Fleetway/Quality was a publishing conglomerate known for reprinting British comic strips. This UK publisher has a jumbled history of being bought and sold and existing in one form or another since the late 1950s

In 1991, before yet another merger and acquisition, the press began publishing the horror anthology 666: Mark of the Beast which reprinted British magazine comic strips for Americans in comic format from titles such as Scream! and 2000AD

Tucked away in issue #13 is the beginning of one of Alan Moore’s earliest horror works, “Monster”, about a deformed man who goes on a murderous killing spree after escaping his family’s attic

The story was first published in Scream! #1 in 1984, but not seen in the states until this issue

The complete “Monster” story was collected in a 2016 omnibus by Rebellion Developments

The late renowned Scottish artist, Ken Barr supplied a new cover for this issue and others in the series

Barr’s early DC work focused on war comics and he would eventually go on to produce cover art for Eerie, Creepy and Vampirella as well as Marvel Magazines

An obscure book with a Moore story, Barr cover, and epic trade dress? Count me in!

Everette Hartsoes’s leather clad vigilante, Razor, slashed her way into comics in 1991 through a 300 copy limited print run of Razor #0, Tour Edition

Razor's popularity led Hartsoe to establish his publishing imprint London Night Studios the following year

Razor’s bloody legacy includes multiple crossovers, ashcans, and variant covers with her story continuing to this day through Hartsoe’s Razorverse

With story/art by Hartsoe, inks by Tim Tyler, and color by Brad Moore on a Tim Vigil cover, this issue presents the four horseman of outlaw splatter gore

Although Brad Moore’s colors on cover A add a dimension of grisly realism to Vigil’s work, this rare early example of a 1:10 black-and-white retailer incentive makes this a special book with only two copies graded on the CGC census, neither being a 9.8

This issue also features the first appearance of Tim Tyler’s grimy Ratsbane, “a cyber thief on his last hit when he steals a cryptically encoded microchip.”

Tyler is without a doubt one the great talents of underground Copper Age comics

After a mysterious comet crashes into the Arlington National Cemetery, undead soldiers rise from the dead to destroy the world

Zombie War, a four-part mini from Fantaco, features one of Kevin Eastman’s few horror stories

Delving further into the visual grime that made him famous, Eastman provides a zombie filled wraparound cover and art for this ink splattered, black and white gore fest

With the potential of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Last Ronin property, the work of Kevin Eastman continues to enthrall comic fans

As Eastman's legacy continues to grow, this fan favorite title holds its own amongst his body of work, having been colorized and reprinted by IDW in 2013

Although copies can be found, this violently quirky work from a legendary creator only has one 9.8 on the CGC census

Freddy Krueger's famous first cover appearance in 1988's Fright #3 from Eternity is well known to fans of the horror movie icon. Lately, his first appearance found in 1989's Nightmare on Elm Street magazine from Marvel has been gaining steam, and rightfully so

While the Fright issue carries an expected premium, it's this overlooked final issue from Innovation that rivals his first cover appearance in scarcity

As with most final issues, a low print run makes this ending to Krueger’s first dedicated comic series a nightmare to find

After 1992, we wouldn't see Freddy in comics again until Avatar's 2005 one shot special

Those in the know are on the lookout for exceptional copies although you'll be hard-pressed to find a CGC 9.8 of this sought-after book as none currently exist

Take note of the terrifying back cover by underappreciated horror legend, Dan Day

Known for publishing comics of unauthorized stories of popular culture icons, Revolutionary made a name for itself in the early 90s with the sixty-five-issue run of Rock N' Roll Comics

A plethora of pop, rap, and rock luminaries such as Kiss, Metallica, and Prince were included with many issues featuring painted covers by artist Scott Jackson

For their only horror series, Revolutionary leaned into their music roots to produce Heavy Metal Monsters, a three-issue anthology with art and covers by the talented Jackson, who cranked it up eleven for the cover of issue #3

Featuring a painted cover of his original character, Harley David, Jackson confirmed that the black-and-white issue containing music-themed horror stories with werewolf crowds and a demonic lead singer was limited to 1,000 copies

Regarding the cover, Jackson said he was “attempting a Vallejo/ Frazetta feel with the addition of chrome for effect.”

Given the epic character design and toxic color scheme, I’d say he nailed it!

Mike Diana is the only artist in American history to be jailed on obscenity for his artwork

After his self-published zine 'Boiled Angels' came to the attention of the FBI while they were investigating a series of murders in Florida, they considered him a suspect of the crimes due to the zines graphic nature

Once cleared, the FBI alerted Diana’s local police of him and his artwork

In 1992, an undercover cop in Largo, FL ordered copies of the zine through the mail, leading to the State Attorney charging Diana with three counts of obscenity

Among the fines and penalties, as part of his year’s long probation, it was deemed illegal for him to draw so much as a line

Although the crowd funded 2018 documentary Boiled Angels: The Trial of Mike Diana was streaming on Amazon, it is no longer available but can be found elsewhere online

The feature gives insights into the SOTI trials, 70s underground comix, and features creators such as George Romero and Neil Gaiman speaking in defense of Diana’s art

While the Boiled Angels zines exist in multiple editions and reprints, his first standard comic, Superfly #1 was published in 1993 between his initial charges and before his trial, making it a significant part of comic history

Earlier this year, the much-hyped return of EC Comics from Oni Press put a new spin on the revered legacy of pre-code horror comic titles but EC Comics had already made an overlooked return of sorts in the late 90s featuring their original star artists

Cryptic Entertainment, which was seemingly created by the mysterious PhanTomb Publishing released seven issues of Tomb Tales beginning in 1997

The one-off series brought EC’s startling lineup back together to provide new cover art

Renowned artists Johnny Craig, George Evans, John Severin, Al Williamson, Joe Orlando, and Jack Kamen all returned for this gruesome love letter to their former publishing house

Issue #2 by Jack Kamen, known for his work on Shock and Crime Suspenstories, easily serves up the most outrageous cover, outdoing his legendary peers

This work also appears to be one of the last, if not the final cover art from the EC legend before his passing in 2008

Keep in mind that this series features all black, front and back card stock covers which makes finding a decent copy nearly impossible of an already scarce comic

I’d like to include a modern book that exists in the spirit of indie Copper Age Horror

The 2023 Kickstarter funded 'Angel Slayer' follows the story of a murdered village boy who family were killed by soldiers of The Crusades only for him to make a deal with Marduk, the arch-goat of Hell, to be transformed into the hellgoat commando, Diabolis, who first appears on the cover

Eldrich Fog, guitarist/vocalist/lyricist for Savage Necromancy and Moribund Dawn, wrote the story which follow Diabolis in this “outlaw comic of blasphemous impiety and Black Metal War!!”

The issue features absolutely diabolical art from Jenglot Hitam who is known for his prolific album covers in the Metal genre but this is his first work on a comic book

Hitam’s chaotic, devilish orgy of mark-making must be seen to be believed, although finding this book will be tough

Issue #1 has four nearly indistinguishable printings, each with 100 copies or less

To try and grab your own, follow Angel Slayer and Hitam on Instagram as issue #4 was quickly and successfully funded in July