The Retold Saga Of Dax The Damned!

Ken Kelly knocked it out of the park with this wild cover art for Warren's Dax the Damned Eerie special from the summer of 1975. This was my introduction to the mighty warrior drawn with so much gusto by Estaban Maroto. To read this entire issue check out this Internet Archive link. 

I fear I took the work of Ken Kelly a little bit for granted. His stuff seemed a bit shinier than the work of the god Frazetta, so I dissed it a little back in the day. I was very, very dumb. But Kelly is not the only focus of his post. 

And Sanjulian's back cover is even more mysterious and atmospheric. Esteban Maroto's sage of a very dark and "manly" warrior. I say that because the hero's original name was "Manly" or "Wolff" when he appeared in Spain and England. Here are a few pages of that glorious Maroto artwork. 

Here's that scrumptious page sans Cousin Eerie's obnoxious mug. Maroto's art is so crisp and elegant. 

Maroto's babes are second to none. He was the absolute master of drawing that gorgeous siren luring a man to his doom. I'd sure walk though hot coals to get a wee taste. 

The series debuted in Eerie #39 and rated cover mention, but alas no art to support it. 

This Sanjulian effort reinterprets a Dax image by Maroto to excellent effect. This story was my first taste of Maroto's somber hero. 

Luis Dominguez is the first artist to render Dax on an actual Eerie cover. 

Dax the Damned wandered through the next few years of Eerie, getting some cover attention on a few. To fully enjoy these Dax the Damned classics, check out this Destination Nightmare link. Enjoy! 

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Octobris!

This October has turned into celebrations of two great talents. The first is Rich Corben who started out his career in the underground of comix but soon migrated to the more respectable (if not necessarily better) comic books and comic magazines when his talent became obvious to one and all. Currently Dark Horse is reprinting his famous Den saga and this month I will examine the first four volumes as well as other vibrant Corben offerings. That includes some more traditional Corben horror set up as Halloween itself nears.

The second great talent is Fritz Leiber, a grandmaster of science fiction and the creator of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser (that's them in the bottom right corner), the most urbane and sophisticated "heroes" in an extraordinarily weird world in the sword and sorcery genre. We'll take another long look at the complete bizarre saga.  I love this mismatched but exceedingly dynamic duo, and I have to make a journey to Nehwon every so often, just to remind myself of its splendid quality.  And I'd love to slip in a few other classic Leiber novels if I can get the chance. 

The Jim Henson Company is most famous for The Muppets of course, but I'd like to take a gander at two of the company's darker creations, the fantasy films The Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. Both of these films were made when movies were still mostly done on the stage or in camera. 

Warren Magazines created a batch of truly weird heroes. One of the most successful was Hunter and the sequel Hunter II. Jim Warren's outfit was responsible for getting some work from across the pond published for the first time in the United States, albeit with some changes. Hope to get around to some of those such as El Cid and Dax the Damned. Some of these have been collected by Dark Horse over the years. 

The Web of Horror was a short-lived magazine during the heyday of other horror mags like Creepy and Eerie. A lot of great young talent broke out in these pages. The magazine ran just three issues but four were prepared and finally Fantagraphics has reprinted them with lots of extras. I've been waiting all year to dive into this tome, and now is the month. 

That leaves time for a few other items to toss in, such as wrapping up my year-long look at Atlas-Seaboard. The company which burst onto the scene with so much promise and vigor gave up the ghost before the chill of the year had settled in. The last few comics and a look at their magazine line-up as well.

Also, I haven't forgotten about the great Neal Adams who I have been celebrating all year long. Look for some outstanding stuff from him a as this Halloween month shambles along. I've jammed in all sorts of surprises. 

Look for lots of creepy things, stuff with a sword and sorcery tilt. It's not so much traditional horror this year at the Dojo, but something a bit different. And who knows what else I'll find a way to fit in. It's a celebration of the weird and the unusual. And that's got Halloween written all over it. 

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Favorite Covers - The Abominable Snowman!

A cold winter day is a the perfect time to reflect on one of the grand mysteries of the Earth, the Abominable Snowman or Yeti. One of a number of mysteriously mythic creatures said to roam the planet, the Yeti snags the imagination in all manner of ways. Here are some Abominable Snowman comic covers which demonstrate that point.

Above is an exquisite Ken Kelly painting for Creepy magazine. The Yeti pictured there conforms to most of the classic tales about the elusive mountain monster.

Nick Cardy shows an "Abominable Snowman" of a slightly different sort, but one no less dangerous for the Man of Steel.

Jim Aparo creates a typically dramatic confrontation here between the Snowman and the Batman.

Bob Oksner's hilarious Snowman seems quite antic and does for Jerry Lewis what many have imagined themselves doing over the decades.

Daffy seems typically unaware of his surroundings as he misinterprets a cautionary sign.

Scooby and Shaggy find monsters everywhere, so stumbling up against the Yeti was unavoidable.

Bigfoot is the North American cousin of the classic Yeti, and here Ernie Colon shows a clash between that beast and Super Richie.

The Black Panther under the hand of Jack Kirby had some pretty wild adventures for a short time, and the Yeti was just one more of those.

The clash between the Snowman and the the Incredible Hulk is an inevitable outcome. This abominable creature looks like it can hold its own against Jadejaws.

Steve Austin mixed it up with the Yeti, sort of, but as usual with him it turned to be at least a six-million dollar hoax.

Even the Big Boy himself finds the Snowman a nemesis, though I suspect all is well in the end.

Leave it to Scrooge McDuck to find a different kind of Yeti, one with more than a dash more style.

And here's an ABSM suggested by a follower of the blog. Thanks Gene. 

Another ABSM addition thanks to regular McScotty. Thanks for the addition. 

This classic Atlas monster by Jack Kirby cover shows off a giant "Abominable Snowman", who has an incredibly bizarre secret. To know more, see this and then this at Atomic Kommie Comics.
 
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Conan And Kin By Kelly!

People of the Black Circle
The Hour of the Dragon
Red Nails
Lost Valley of Iskander
Black Canaan
Marchers of Valhalla
Skull Face
Son of the White Wolf
Sword of Shahrazar
For a moment in the late 70's Ken Kelly captured the field of fantasy cover illustration with his covers to a large number of Robert E. Howard's vintage heroes. His Conan covers for the Berkley editions remain some of my favorite images of the brawny barbarian. I have both the paperback and hardback versions of these, and they were the one source for raw REH until the relatively recent Ballantine editions.

Here is the art with the logos intact.

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