Central Publications Inc. / Warren Publishing Co.
Publisher: James Warren
Editor: Forrest J AckermanPublisher: James Warren
February 1958 - March 1983
The World's First Monster Magazine!
The idea for Famous Monsters of Filmland was born during a late 1957 business meeting between James Warren and Forrest J Ackerman. Ackerman had been selling a few articles to Warren for his girly mag After Hours and brought along an issue of the French journal Cinema 57 (no. 20, a history of fantastic cinema), that he picked up on a recent trip to Europe. Warren had been looking for an idea for a one-shot mag and imagined the French tome, translated into English, would fit the bill nicely.
Aware of the recent resurgence in popularity of the old horror films with kids across the country (via the Screen Gems TV package "Shock"), Warren decided to gear the mag to young readers, using plenty of humor to leaven the horror (as the TV "horror hosts" were doing). Forry Ackerman was quite up to the challenge and was chosen to be the editor and principle writer (and supplier of stills from his vast collection). Getting backing and a distributor proved to be a little more difficult, but a deal with Kable News was struck and the mag went out to the newsstands in Feb. of 1958 and was a sellout, requiring a second printing to be done.
Thus was born the first true "monster magazine" and the Warren Publishing empire (which included Spacemen, Famous Westerns of Filmland, Screen Thrills Illustrated, Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella and other titles) Many imitators would follow, but few would match FM's success or longevity.
FM is remembered almost as much for it's covers as it is for it's contents. Ackerman client Albert Nuetzell contributed several early covers, but when fate brought art student Basil Gogos and Famous Monsters together, monster mag history was made. Gogos' art adorned 30% of all FM covers and are a large part of it's continuing popularity. Other major FM cover art contributors include Ken Kelly (13 covers), Ron Cobb (10), Vic Prezio (8) and Nuetzell (6).
No. 1
No. 2Cover: James Warren in a devil mask.
No. 3
No. 4Cover Art by Albert Nuetzell
The "Ghoul's Eye" sticker (advertising the Willow Grove Amusement Park) was added to the covers of FM #4 that were distributed in the Philadelphia area.
No. 5Cover Art by Albert Nuetzell
Cover Art by Albert Nuetzell
M. T. Graves Sticker
Only a few copies are known to exist of FM #6 with a special sticker advertising Miami FL TV horror host "M. T. Graves".
No. 7
Only a few copies are known to exist of FM #6 with a special sticker advertising Miami FL TV horror host "M. T. Graves".
No. 7Cover Art by Albert Nuetzell
"Zacherley" cover variation.
If you found the "Lucky 7" imprint in your copy of FM #7, you could mail it to the publisher and get a free lifetime subscription!
No. 7"Roland" cover variation.
No. 7"Tomorrow's Monsters" cover variation.
No. 8Cover Art by Albert Nuetzell
No. 9Cover Art by Basil Gogos
No. 10Cover Art by Basil Gogos
No. 11Cover Art by Basil Gogos
No. 12
No. 13Cover Art by Basil Gogos
No. 14
No. 15
No. 16
No. 17
No. 18
No. 19
No. 20
No. 21
No. 22
No. 23
No. 24
No. 25
No. 26Cover Artist Unknown
No. 27Though uncredited in the mag, Nuetzell's son confirms that this cover painting was done by his father.
No. 28
No. 29
No. 30Cover Art by Russ Jones
No. 31
No. 32Cover: Model Contest Photo
No. 33
No. 34
No. 35
No. 36
No. 37
No. 38
No. 39
No. 40
No. 41Cover Art by Ron Cobb
No. 42Cover Art by Ron Cobb
No. 43Cover Art by Ron Cobb
No. 44Cover Art by Dan Adkins
No. 45Cover Art by Ron Cobb
No. 46Cover Artist Unknown
Artist is thought to be either Ron Cobb, or Dan Adkins.
No. 47Cover Art by Basil Gogos
No. 48Cover: Don Post Mask
No. 49Cover Art by Ron Cobb
No. 50Cover Art by Basil Gogos
Mighty fine looking stuff! Keep 'em coming!
ReplyDeleteThese are just great. It's nice to see them all together like this so that everyone can appreciate these great artists.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
lazaruslair, I intend to put up more FM covers, but am trying to get "The Monster Times" and "Monster Mag" galleries up first. Glad you're enjoying them!
ReplyDeleteGreat about the Monster times. I asume you done it by now
DeleteRaymond, all of the monster magazine cover galleries were finished years ago. I quit contributing to both blogs in 2011 to do other things. Thanks for looking!
DeleteGreat stuff!! If you're interested, I have converted the Monster World covers to FMOF format, to fill in the 70-79 "missing" issues. I first restored the scans I found on the internet to "pristine" condition, and I think they came out pretty darned good. If you would like to see them, just let me know. Looking forward to seeing more covers on here.
ReplyDeleteHellnbak,
ReplyDeleteThat sounds pretty cool! If you have someplace we can look at those, post a URL! (If you don't, I'd be happt to post some or all them on the blog.)
Great. Don't have a URL, just on my computer. How would I get them to you?
ReplyDeleteYou could just email them to me.
ReplyDeleteunifan2001@yahoo.com
i have quite a good few of these early editions, inc 1, 2, great ole' mags
ReplyDeleteI often wonder how (not if) Forry died a little seeing those early Nuetzell covers. I can also imagine his awe and gratitude when Basil Gogos walked in the office,and why not? Look at Gogos' first cover, 9, and then look at the Nuetzell monstrosity that precedes it. Or those first two supremely-awful Warren photo covers! Willing to bet FM #9 & 10 sold more copies than the first eight combined.
ReplyDeleteI believe Nuetzell was one of Forry's clients and that he recommended Al to Warren. Of course, Forry had not yet seen Gogos' work.
DeleteAnyone know where to get higher quality cover images? I love the thumbnails but need bigger files for an art project.
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm writing an article on House of Wax. Could someone share with me the article about that movie in number 64 ...? My mail is laberintodehuesos@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteThank you very much