Monster Magazine Galleries

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Misc. Books

Famous Monster Movie Art of Basil Gogos
Compiled & Edited by Kerry Gammill & J. David Spurlock
Vanguard Productions (2006)

The master of movie monster art is profiled in this retrospective of his career. Over 150 color and 50 b/w reproductions of Gogos' work from men's adventure mags, paperback books, movie posters, album covers and, of course, monster magazines. Also includes tributes by other artists and famous fans. Introduction by Rob Zombie.

Hardcover Edition

Deluxe Slipcase Hardcover Edition
Includes a 16 page bonus folio.

Trade Paperback

The Warren Companion
Edited by David A. Roach & Jon B. Cooke
TwoMorrows Publishing (2001 / OOP)

The ultimate compendium to the great comics of Warren Publishing! The book features a complete reprinting of the Eisner Award-winning Comic Book Artist #4, plus the entire history of the company from 1956 to 1983, examining all the titles including Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, Blazing Combat, Help!, The Spirit, and many more. Includes the most definitive Warren checklist ever compiled, unpublished art, archival photos, plus Warren merchandise, conventions, most prolific contributors, foreign publications and many other fascinating oddities! Also featuring interviews with Jim Warren, Bernie Wrightson, Will Eisner, Neil Adams, Gene Colan and many more.

Hardcover Limited Edition
Signed and numbered by James Warren, with
16 extra pages, plus extra Bernie Wrightson plate.

Trade Paperback

Cover Art by Alex Horley

Shock! Theater: An Illustrated History
by Jim Clatterbaugh (editor) and Michael Kronenberg (designer)
Published by Monsters From The Vault (2001 / OOP)

In 1957, Screen Gems released it's package of 52 Universal horror and mystery films to television. Within a year the first monster mag was published and the monster boom was on! This volume contains the complete, rare Shock! TV promotional book. Also included are an introduction by the "Cool Ghoul", Zacherley, tributes and memories of Shock! Theater from the writers of Monsters From The Vault and tons of rare photos and promotional material. 136 glossy pgs.

Trade Paperback

The Complete Illustrated History Of The
Skywald Horror-Mood
by Alan Hewetson
Headpress/Critical Vision (2004)

Skywald editor Alan Hewetson tells the complete, behind-the-scenes story of this influential horror comic publisher from the 1970s. With titles like Nightmare, Psycho and Scream this small New York publishing company produced some of the ghastliest stories in the history of illustrated horror. Also includes contributions from all the Skywald writers and artists, plus special features and unpublished artwork. 224 pages.

Trade Paperback

The Great Monster Magazines
A Critical Study of the Black and White Publications of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s
by Robert Michael Cotter
McFarland & Company (2008)

An overview of horror film magazines and b/w comics mags from the 1950s through the 1970s. The book examines the contributions of Marvel, Warren, Eerie, Skywald and others. The book includes several indexes and technical credits.

Hardcover

The Weird World of Eerie Publications
Edited by Mike Howlett
Feral House (2010)

From the publisher's description:
Eerie Publications' horror magazines brought blood and bad taste to America's newsstands from 1965 through 1975. Ultra-gory covers and bottom-of-the-barrel production values lent an air of danger to every issue, daring you to look at (and purchase) them. Introduction by Stephen R. Bissette.

COMING SOON

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Monster Magazine Indexes

The Teratoid Guide

The International Guide To Magazines Dealing With Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. Four issues were published in 1973-1974 by Claude D. Plum Jr. List of monster magazines and fanzines with publisher information. Magazine

No. 3

Fantasy Magazine Index

In 1976, Maryland fan Delbert Winans published the one shot Fantasy Magazine Index, an index of the contents of most monster magazines published up until 1974. All articles of every issue of Famous Monsters, Castle of Frankenstein, Horror Monsters, Fantastic Monsters, etc. Still the only publication that can offer all of that information in one place and a valuable resource for today's collector. Magazine

Cover Art by David Robinson

Forrest J Ackerman, Famous Monster of Filmland

Published in 1986 by Imagine Inc. (Bob Michelucci et al) and written by Uncle Forry, these books were designed in the style of early FM's and include Forry's reminiscences of editing the first fifty issues of FM. Filled with way too much good stuff to list here, the book has an introduction by Vincent Price, a new Graveyard Examiner and You Axed For It, an alumni section of fans turned pro, a look at the Captain Company, plus 150 fascinating photos and much more.
Trade Paperback

Vol. 2 (1991 Hollywood Publishing Co.) covers FM #51 - #100 and has a forward by Bill Warren and 60th and 50th anniversary tributes to Universal Studios' Frankenstein, Dracula and The Wolf Man.
Trade Paperback

Famous Monsters Chronicles

Published by Fantaco Inc. in 1991 and edited by Dennis Daniel.
A complete index to all 191 issues of FM, the Yearbooks, Monster World #1-10 and the FM paperbacks. Each listing also contains a cover photo. Too much to cover here, but there's Greg Theakston's Warren Report, interviews with FM cover artists and others, tributes from top writers, reminiscences from actors, writers and directors and a wonderfully nostalgiac cover by Theakston. A must for the FM fan.
Trade Paperback

Cover Art by Greg Theakston

Gathering Horror
A Completist Collector’s Catalogue and Index for Warren Publishing

Edited by David Horne. A comprehensive guide to the complete output of Warren Publishing assembled to date. Famous Monsters, Vampirella, Creepy, Eerie, Help!, Spacemen, Warren Presents, Blazing Combat, Heidi Saha, and many more. Over 700 pages.
Phrona Press 2010.

Complete listings of all Warren publications, including full contents, full indicia information, and any relevant historical or background information.
A complete listing and description of all Warren-related merchandise.
A comprehensive list of publications that reprinted Warren material.
The first detailed, comprehensive list of foreign Warren reprint or related publications.
An extensive section devoted to books and magazines that included information about Warren Publishing.
Over 100 pages of appendixes, featuring writer, artist, and editor indexes for Warren titles; title indexes for both comics and movie-related magazines; feature indexes for the movie-related magazines ("You Axed For It," etc.); and a Warren chronology featuring issue pub dates, among other things
Only 300 copies of this reference book have been printed.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Monster Magazine Price Guides

Larry Kenton's Monsters Price Guides

Baltimore area ephemera dealer Larry Kenton put out the first monster magazines price guide in 1974. The 20 page digest sized Monsters Price Guide included prices (but no photos) for monster mags, horror comics and monster trading cards. The second edition (with 8 cover photos) of the Kenton guide was published in 1975. Interior art in both volumes was by Claude Brooks. Magazine

1974 Guide

Cover Art by Claude Brooks

1975 Guide

Cover Art by Bernie Wrightson

The Collector's Guide To Monster Magazines

Published by Dick Z Associates and edited by Bob Michelucci, the guide featured b/w photos (with eight pages in color) of all issues of the magazines covered , along with publisher information, collector tips and prices (FM #1 - $150 !). The book also included a foreward by Forrest J Ackerman, interviews with Forry and Fred (Cinefantastique) Clarke, plus fan club, convention and fanzine info and other articles. Trade Paperback

1977 Guide
Cover Art by Bob Michelucci

It would be another decade before the second edition came out. Now published by Imagine Inc. and again edited by Michelucci, the guide was retitled The Collector's Guide To Monster, Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Magazines and was updated to include the newer magazines, like Starlog, Cinefex and Filmfax. An eight page color section, pricing and grading guide and articles by Steve Dolnick, Tom Skulan, Mark Sielski and F.J.A. rounded out the book.
Trade Paperback Thanks to Brian K. for the scan.

1988 Guide
Cover Art by Jack Davis

Monster Magazine & Fanzine Collector's Guides

The most recent guides were published by monster magazine dealer Michael W. Pierce of Monsters Among Us. His 1995 Monster Magazine & Fanzine Collector's Guide had more than 500 titles and 2,400 covers of monster magazines and fanzines (plus foreign magazines and fanzines), as well as a color center spread of every issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland. Trade Paperback

1995 Guide

Monster Magazine & Fanzine Collector's Guide #2, published in 2000 by Pierce and co-editor John M. Ballentine, had 600 titles and over 5,200 covers. Like the previous volume, it lists prices for Good, VG-F and VF-NM condition. Also included are articles on collecting and reminiscences by Ron Borst, Gary Dorst, Mark Frank, Gary Svehla and the editors and a foreward by FJA. Trade Paperback

2000 Guide
Cover Art by Michael F. Calandra

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Famous Monsters of Filmland 4

Warren Publishing Company
Publisher: James Warren
Editor: Forrest J Ackerman
February 1958 - March 1983

The End of FM!

Nearly all photo covers the last few years of the Warren FM. The Gogos "Phantom" makes his 3rd appearance, along with three older, previously unpublished Gogos paintings. A Sanjulian "Mummy", an unknown "Frankenstein" and "ET" and finishing up with a new cover painting by Bill Selby on #191.

Also shown are the 1974 and 1975 FM Convention programs and the 1982 Famous Monsters Game Book, made up of reprinted material from FM and a reused cover from Creepy #1.