MONSTER MANIACS #1: A Vintage Print Overview For Your Inner Monster Kid
If you are a bibliophile with a yen for vintagepaperbacks from the less respectable side of the tracks - men's action novels, horror books, tabloidcash-ins and the adult paperbacks kept in "the back room" - thenJustin Marriott is a name you should get to know. As writer and editor, he has published overforty issues of his popular ThePaperback Fanatic 'zine since 2007. He has also spun off a series ofsatellite publications that go deeper into related niche interests like The Sleazy Reader, Men Of Violence and PulpHorror.
If all that activity isn't enough for you, he justpublished the first issue of yet another spin-off title. This one's called Monster Maniacs and pitches itself tothe reader as "The Journal Of Vintage Horror In Magazines, Comics AndFanzines." It's 68 pages with full color illustrations throughout and itsmixture of focused content and clean design gives its private press brethren arun for the money.
Marriott breaks his enterprise into three key sections.The first is called "Monster Media" and it focuses on currentpublications. Its biggest feature is an interview with friend of SchlockmaniaBill Van Ryn, publisher of Drive-InAsylum. It's a fun chat about how his love of vintage horror movie ads inthe newspaper grew into a zine about vintage horror films. Marriott did the interview and gets Van Rynto open up about some of his favorite pieces from the 'zine's run. Alsoincluded in this section is an in-depth review of the recent Bill Warrenbiography Empire Of Monsters thatweighs its pros and cons in a clear-eyed manner and a quick roundup of othercurrent zines.
The second section is called "MonsterMicroscope" and goes deals with older publications of a monster-maniacilk. This is the biggest section of the'zine and Schlockmania's favorite. Itbegins with another Marriott-conducted interview. This time, the subject isPeter Normanton, the man behind long-running horror comics zine From The Tomb. It covers how hispassion for horror comics developed into writing about them and gives anintriguing insight into the highs and lows of self-publishing.
The biggest piece in this section is "The LegendsOf Atlas," in which horror comics blogger Peter Enfantino runs down hisfavorite pre-code horror stories from comics published by Atlas (thepredecessor to Marvel). He does a nice job of synopsizing the stories, pointingout what makes them unique and/or campy and what future Marvel personnel wereinvolved. Best of all, it's copiously illustrated with covers and panels fromthe stories.
Elsewhere in the section, you get an overview of For Monsters Only, a short-lived kiddieriposte to Famous Monsters from thecreators of Cracked Magazine, and anifty overview of horror-themed comics that appeared in National Lampoon. Author TomTeserak does a good job tip-toeing through the mine field of content that mightbe offensive to modern sensibilities in the latter piece, carefully clarifyingwhere the satire hits the bullseye and where it veers off the mark. He alsopoints out the classic comics artists used for these stories and shows howskillfully they emulated everything from E.C. Comics to underground titles(again, illustrated with plenty of color scans).
The final section of the 'zine is "MonsterGallery," a ten-page collection. It collects an array of eye-catchingitems, mixing comic scans and related illustrations with reproductions ofpaintings used for covers and even a few photo-and-print features frommagazines and newspapers. Highlights include a series of scans forhorror-themed German pulps, a great Berni Wrightson full-page panel from afamous Plop! story and a charminglygoofy/sleazy set of pics from an adults-only party where topless models wearmonster masks(!).
All in all, this is a strong first issue that shows offthe skills Marriott has developed toiling in the self-publishing mines. Monster Maniacs #1 delivers a niceblend of thoughtful text and eye-popping visuals. It costs a few bucks morethan the usual zine this size because it is full color throughout but thefrequent, skillfully-reproduced color scans make it worth the price. If you'reinto vintage horror publications, particularly comics, this is a smartinvestment that will send you prowling comics stores and EBay for thepublications it covers.