From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

Posted on October 12, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. As you can see, we are entering The Conjuring Universe for this “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update. Shockingly enough it took until 2021for New Line Cinema and Warner Brothers to allow DC Comics to make a comic series based around the films, and I say shocking as they are all owned by the same parent company Discovery! And to be honest, I am very shocked on how little DC Comics and New Line Cinema have come together as they could truly use comic books to help promote their upcoming horror films. But sadly I feel that the big two in the world of comics lack imagination, and horror comics, as well as comics based on horror films their parent companies own, just are not a priority nor even cross their minds. So with that, let’s sit back and be ready to be scared as we enter the world of The Conjuring 3!

Before we talk about the film, let’s talk about Isla The Occultist and her ways of dealing death and conjuring the demons of Hell. Isla is the daughter of Father Kastner and had become obsessed with the occult and her studies has made her very powerful in black magic, placing curses and conjuring demons all to do her dirty work and cause chaos on the living that have crossed her path. Isla is a Satanist and Occultist who grew up obsessed with things on the dark side and as she has gotten older, she has made a deal with demons and uses cursed totems to place a target on random people in order to please them. Her black magic is very strong and allows her to allow demons to enter the bodies of her victims and cause them to do bad things from murder to suicide. She has a almost second sight and can see what others who have her gifts can see and this makes her dangerous as if you are a threat to her, she can find your location and send a sinister curse your way. She can also make her victims thank they are seeing things and have them attack their own loved ones and friends, as Isla is a master of mind games. But while she is a scary magical person she is still mortal and can be killed like any normal person via being stabbed, shot, drowned, burnt or beaten! She also has to use her altar to control her powers and if it’s destroyed her spells and deals with demons are broken and with the demons this could lead them turning on her and bringing her death. While she is mortal, her dark power makes her very dangerous and a person you would not want to be the target of unless you want a demon to take over your soul.

So as you can see, Isla The Occultist is very deadly due to her dark magic and can cause people extreme pain as well as death. Now I think we should take a look at the film she is from and that’s of course The Conjuring: Devil Made Me Do It, the third film in the series. Like always, the film’s plot will be taken from our friends at IMDB and after that I will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts on it. So if you are ready, let’s hope that Isla has not cursed this update and take a look at this film.

The Conjuring: Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

“A chilling story of terror, murder and unknown evil that shocked even experienced real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. One of the most sensational cases from their files, it starts with a fight for the soul of a young boy, then takes them beyond anything they’d ever seen before, to mark the first time in U.S. history that a murder suspect would claim demonic possession as a defense.”

The Conjuring films that follow the cases of real life paranormal investigators The Warrens are one of New Line Cinema’s top Horror Franchises that has even had film spin-offs that have as well did good at the box office. And in 2016, a third film in the main series was being talked about by the film series creator James Wan, who at first mentioned that the film could be about the Warren’s famed Werewolf case, and in May 2017 it was said that the third film would not be another haunted house fright flick and would be one of the bigger cases of The Warrens careers and would take place in the 80s. And by June of 2017 New Line Cinema gave the third film the green light and it started production with David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick being hired to write the script, and in 2019 James Wan came on to help co-write the script as he was not directing. They brought in Michael Chaves in to do so, and that the film would be based on the court case where a young man claimed a demon made him commit murder, and the Warrens backed up his claims. When casting the film Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returned as The Warrens and names like Ruairi O’Connor, Debbie Glatzel, John Noble and Eugenie Bondurant was brought on board in big roles. The film was shot in Atlanta, Georgia and had a few setbacks due to the pandemic and even one of the film’s demon characters was removed from the film fully. Once done the film was scored by Joseph Bishara and was released in theaters as well as HBO Max on June 4, 2021 and did really well world wide for New Line Cinema bringing in $201,965,074.00 on a budget of $39 million. The film was released that year with other Horror Films like “Halloween Kills”, “Candyman”, “Forever Purge”, “Army Of The Dead”, “Godzilla vs. Kong”, “Quiet Place II” and “Don’t Breath 2” to name a few. And the film ranked # 22 out of 33 for my Matt Goes To The Movies 2021 Horror Movie rankings and was # 19 that year at the US Box Office.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It was a film that both Juliet and I was very much looking forward to seeing in theaters as we have been fans of the series from the start and we even enjoy all the spin off movies. We saw the film by renting out a Cinemark Theater and we invited some of our closest friends to watch it with us on the big screen. And when the film was over, we all enjoyed it but we all also agreed that this was missing the touch of James Wan and while it did a good job of showing another case of The Warrens, it also just seemed a bit off and not as spooky as the first two films in the main series as the stakes did not seem as high and the main spirit and villain just was not as powerful or iconic as others they have faced before. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson I do have to say are fantastic once more as Ed and Lorraine Warren and without them in these Conjuring films I feel that the series just would not work. So while this one was not the best in the series, watching them work adds to the enjoyment of the film. And even after all this time and watching the film again once on home media I still found the film good but lacking and I truly do think that it all falls onto Isla The Occultist as she just seems to lack motivation, any kind of backstory and is just not as scary nor threatening as any of the other villains from this cinematic universe. I should also say that some moments of the film do pack a scare and the film does play at your heartstrings as Ed Warren suffers a massive heart attack and there is a fear of him passing. And with this film not getting a very mixed response from critics and fans I am hoping that New Line Cinema will pull out all the stops when they do part four and make it a truly scary viewing experience, as I would love to see the next film be about Bill Ramsey, a man who was possessed by a wolf-spirit that made him act like a werewolf! And while it was my least favorite of the films, I am not saying that you should not watch it as the film is a enjoyable watch and you should check it out if you like the other films in the series or just like films about possessions and demons.

So as you can see, the third film in The Conjuring film series was a hit at the box office even after being released during the pandemic as well as also streaming at the same time on HBO Max and would be the one that finally got the films to get a comic mini series. And with that I would like to say a big thanks for Game Swap Kettering for having these comics in stock and making this update possible. I would also like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, their entertainment value and their art and story. So with that, let’s dive in and take a look at The Conjuring: The Lover series that is about Isla The Occultist.

The Conjuring: The Lover # 1 ***
Released in 2021 Cover Price $3.99 DC Comics # 1 of 5

It’s 1981 and Jessica wants to drop out of college as she is back from break to start her classes again but her mother is not happy about it as she wants her daughter to be something big in life, and when her mother meets Kyle one of Jessica’s classmates she tries to tell her to also look for a boyfriend! Once back at school Jessica feels lonely and annoyed by everything around her as her grades are low, her roommate brings her boyfriend home and Kyle has a crush on her…and worse of all it is that unknown to her Isla has places a curse on her. And it’s clear that something is watching her and following her as Jessica is missing home and her friend Katie. As Katie drifts off to sleep above her bed something evil is watching over her.

This is an interesting story this far and is about a young college girl who hates being away from home as well as her best friend Katie who she clearly likes more than just a friend. And while Jessica is battling her own depression something wicked is following her around looking for the right moment to attach it’s self to her and cause her harm. Jessica is a young woman who’s depression is causing her to have bad grades as well as not make friend easy as she seems to always be in a slump and want to stay away from her fellow classmates. Her mother is a little rough on her but you can tell it’s all out of love, as she just wants so much more for her daughter. Kyle seems like a good guy who just wants to get to know Jessica as it’s clear he has a crush on her and would like to be her boyfriend as her roommate Tammy as well seems like a nice person just a little carless. Isla The Occultist is around and has placed a curse on Jessica and to do so she has even killed a goat in order to please the dark spirit that is now hunting the young collage girl. So far this main story is a little spooky and is building up the suspense of what is going to happen to Jessica and the people around her. The issue also has a backup story that is based around an item from the Warrens Artifact Room with one being about The Ferryman and his coin, a short and pretty creepy little tale that has a man looking for the coin he stole off a dead body when he was a kid and now The Ferryman has followed him around and killed everyone he loves until he gets it back. So far so good as I have found myself enjoying this first issue and wanting to see what is next for Jessica! The cover for this issue is pretty cool and showcases Isla and the interior art for the main story is done by Garry Brown and is pretty cool and has a classic feel to it but also has that modern creepy look that much of the newer indie horror comics have. And with that I am jumping into issue two and to see how this story is going to unfold.

The Conjuring: The Lover # 2 ***
Released in 2021 Cover Price $3.99 DC Comics # 2 of 5

Jessica is in the shower and is hearing voices and even seeing things as she thinks that she gets burnt by the hot water that of course is not that hot, and this causes fellow female classmates to think she is weird. Jessica ends up calling Katie who is back home working two jobs and who makes Jessica promise to go to the next party she is invited to, and it just so happens that Kyle asks her to one and she goes and she tries to have fun but the demon voice in her head keeps saying very mean and nasty things to her. Kyle kisses Jessica at the party and this makes her panic and she walks home alone in the snow to find her roommate home as well, and as the two head off to bed the demon voice will not leave her alone and taunts her to try and kill him as now she is seeing it’s shadow and red glowing eyes and this drives her to grab a pair of scissors off the nightstand to protect her self and unknown to Jessica the person she is about to stab is not the demon but Tammy her sleeping roommate!

This is another very interesting issue as we follow Jessica who is now being plagued by a demon that is allowing her to see it in shadows and is as well talking to her in her thoughts and is even driving her to see things that are not there! The Demon is super mean spirited and is playing on all of Jessica’s fears and inner demons and wants to break her down and feel as if she is alone and no one loves her…this of course is un-true but to a depressed young woman dealing with her sexuality this is really beating her down. Jessica is a likable character as she is odd but is a good person who is quit and it’s clear that she really just wants to be home with Katie and not being hounded by the pressures of school and making new friends. And you have to feel for poor Tammy at this point as she might just get stabbed with scissors while she sleeps in Jessica don’t break the illusion that the demon is making her see. And imagine if Tammy wakes up before Jessica can break the hold or even stab her, as this will make everyone at the college think Jessica is psycho! Isla is truly evil as she is making this young woman’s life even more complicated and is leading her to a patch of murder, death and damnation. This issue as well has a cool backup story form the Warren’s Artifacts this time about The Bloody Bride and her cursed wedding dress. The cover for this issue is pretty cool and haunting and the main interior artwork is once more done by Garry Brown and is great stuff as he is capturing the slow brooding mood that has made the film series special over the years. Over all another solid issue and it has done its job as I am hooked on seeing were this story goes.

The Conjuring: The Lover # 3 ***
Released in 2021 Cover Price $3.99 DC Comics # 3 of 5

Jessica is in the dean’s office with Tammy who woke up to find her roommate over her with a pair of scissors, and this causes Tammy to move out and for Jessica to be all alone in the room…and while trying to eat lunch at the school cafeteria the demon once more makes her see things and act out making even more of her classmates think she is crazy or on drugs. Jessica tries to call Katie who is not home and she finds herself at the library were she meets Isla who is working their and takes her to the basement to find books on the occult as Jessica thinks she is possessed and under faking caring Isla wants to help, but soon she shows her true attentions and this causes Jessica to freak out and rush to her dorm to call her mother to come pick her up…but her mother refuses thinking her daughter is just stressed and hangs up on her. Jessica sits alone in her room for days even thinking bugs are crawling on her and her only glimmer of hope is when Kyle stops by her room and takes her out to eat. On the way back to her dorm Kyle tells Jessica how much he likes her and Jessica starts to come out to him, but she has a vision and Kyle becomes Isla with a knife and Jessica shoves her into the street but in reality she has just shoved Kyle in front of a bus.

This third issue the demon and Isla have turned up the torture factor on Jessica and are more and more playing with her mind making her not only hear more and more negative things but are really starting to make her see things that are not there as well as see those around her as demonic enemies. Jessica is loosing her mind as well as grip on reality as she is not eating, not attending classes and is acting out in harmful ways to her friends causing her roommate to leave and at the end of this issue leaving us on a cliffhanger of pushing Kyle in front of a bus. It also appears that Katie is not around for her as much as Jessica would like as her friend is holding down two jobs and having a life of her own back in their home town, and it also shows that Jessica’s mom is not their for her daughter as well as she hangs up on her when she is begging to come home. Kyle is a good guy who clearly cares for Jessica as he is the one who checks on her and makes sure she has food in her belly and know that some one cares about her. It will be interesting to see if he is killed or hurt by the bus and how he will react if he survives this attempted murder that was by accident. The demon as well is allowing Jessica to see more of it and Isla is now being apart of this torture as she has allowed herself to be seen and is enjoying playing with this young girls mind. The backup story this time around is about the Accordion Monkey that is found in the Warrens artifacts. The cover is nice and spooky as it shows that cursed Accordion Monkey and the main interior art is still great and done by Garry Brown again who I must say draws a cool looking demon. Yet another solid issue and a nice cliffhanger ending, so with that let’s head to issue four and see what Isla and the demon have planned for Jessica.

The Conjuring: The Lover # 4 ***
Released in 2021 Cover Price $3.99 DC Comics # 4 of 5

Kyle is able to get out of the way of the bus and is very upset and goes off on Jessica calling her a psycho and to stay away from him, and this incident leads to the dean to kick Jessica out of collage and forces her to move back home with her parents. While Jessica’s dad is caring her mother is ashamed of her and thinks she got kicked out on purpose. But even while home the demon speaks to her and shows up when she is alone in her room causing her to yell out and her father to come to her side. Jessica has a talk with her father who tells her that he knows what she is going through and that she needs to call Katie as she is the one that will truly understand. Jessica calls Katie to tell her she has returned home and the two make plans to meet up that night in the woods, and once together they share a kiss…but Katie soon turns into Isla and Jessica fights back and stabs her attacker that sadly turns out to be her lover Katie as the illusions have tricked her again and caused her to kill the one person she cared the most about.

Poor Jessica just can not catch a break as she has been accused by two students of trying to kill them, gets kicked out of school, has a mother who thinks she is just looking for attention and worse has a demon and an Occultist trying to ruin her life and drive her into madness. And Jessica has not true support besides her father and Katie and the demon makes sure that Katie is taken out of her life for good. Jessica clearly has no hope and no one to help her break this curse and the only route she has right now is damnation and that’s sad as all she wanted was happiness with someone she loved. Katie is a good friend as well as had the same feelings for Jessica, but is just used in this sick game of Isla as a pawn to be murdered very violently with a big knife. The demon and Isla have now pushed Jessica to the point of no return and it’s clear that they have won her soul as well as have had he take a life for their own entertainment. Her father is a good man who loves his daughter and will do what he can to protect her as well as be there for her, and understands that she is having a hard to of coming to grips about her love for another woman. Her mother who I at first thought was acting mean as a way of tough love is just truly a bad person who cares more about her self than her daughter’s mental and physical health. This issue is the bloodiest so far as Jessica stabs Katie to death in the woods and the attack is pretty brutal for a main stream DC Comic release. The backup story for this issue is The Sleeping Song and the music box that is found in the Warrens Artifacts.The cover for this issue is great and captures that Conjuring mood and feel, and you know what I am going to say about the art done by Gary Brown being good so I will skip the broken record for you. Another great issue and this one leads us to the final issue in the series and one that we all know how it will end if you seen the third Conjuring film, so with that let’s take a look at issue five.

The Conjuring: The Lover # 5 ***
Released in 2021 Cover Price $3.99 DC Comics # 5 of 5

Jessica is in shock as she stands over the dead body of her lover Katie, but to her horror the body starts to move as the demon has taken control of it and it chases Jessica through the woods to a cliff that is above raging water below. The demon Katie tries to push for Jessica to admit to herself that she hated being in love with Katie and that she all along wanted Katie to die so that she could close that chapter of her life and be alone…Jessica stands up to the demon and tells of the first time she and Katie meet and how the each had feelings for each other but were both to scared to make the first move. The demon keeps pushing Jessica to admit she hates herself and that she hated that she loved Katie and finally the demons words break her down and Jessica jumps to her death to the water below. In the cliff the demon Katie morphs into Isla who thanks Jessica for committing suicide and heads back to her alter and places another curse this time on a young child as our comic tale ends.

I have to say this first I really enjoyed this Conjuring comic book mini series and to be honest I think I even like it better than the third film it’s a prelude to! As for those of you who don’t know the tragic case of Jessica and Katie is mentioned in the film and this murder suicide plays a big part in the film, and while we only hear and briefly see the events in the film this comic book flushes it out and gives a backstory to the characters. You really do have to feel for Jessica as she is tormented and driven into a deeper depression throughout this series, as by the end of this comic you find that she hates herself and had no one to truly come to about it. While she loved Katie she also hated Katie as being homosexual in the early 80’s was more taboo and people would judge and hate you for it. And Jessica who already was an odd person who had a terrible mother already had that pressure of being not a letdown in life. While you read Jessica’s story here you are cheering for her to break the curse but in the back of your mind you know its not going to end well. Isla The Occultist picked Jessica because she was a lover, a lover who had deep feelings but was very easy to corrupt and trick into killing the one she cared for as well as talked into ending her own life. Isla truly used some very mean spirited mind games and with the help of the demon they were able to ruin that young woman’s life in no time and also was able to complete a part of a packed that had made. It’s also kind of telling just how much joy it seemed Isla was getting from doing this and it makes you even more sick when she thanks the young woman at the end for jumping…she is truly evil and selfish. The back up story for this issue is The Chalice, another artifact found in the Warrens collection of haunted things, and these bonus stories were also a very nice touch as they added scares to your reading experience. The cover for this issue is very dark and brooding and has Jessica running through the woods toward her fate. The main interior artwork by Garry Brown really is good stuff and fitting as I find that his style was a good choice for showing demonic spirits as well as a person’s mental breakdown from being cursed. I feel that this five issue mini series really did do The Conjuring film series justice and I hope that DC Comics decides to make more mini series in this universe as they did a great job here. Checkout the artwork below to see they style that Garry Brown used in this series.

The Conjuring Universe really does lend itself to being made into comic books as I would love to see DC Comics not only continue this series but also do comics based on the spin-offs like The Nun, Annabelle and even the Crooked Man as all of them could truly make for some spooky reads, as I am not going to lie I would really love to see a very dark and spooky comic mini series based around The Nun. And again I think DC Comics for their horror comics should dig deep into what they own as many of their films would make for great comics in these modern times. I also would like to share that in The Conjuring: Devil Made Me Do It film actress Ingrid Bisu plays Jessica and Andrea Andrade played Katie. But as you can see, our update has come to an end and before we part ways here I would like to let you know that the next update will take us to the Rotten Ink Arena as we take a look at that Iconic Horror Themed Wrestler Vampiro! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update as we take a look at one of my favorite Luchadors who is a perfect fit to cover this Halloween season.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Little Shop Of Horrors (1986)

Posted on September 23, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. Our countdown to Halloween 2025 continues! Horror films come in all types of sub-genres, and one that is often over looked and not talked about is the horror musical. One of the best hands down for me was the 1986 film “Little Shop Of Horrors” that truly set the bar for all those that followed. And of course this film was base off the Off-Broadway musical that was based off the Roger Corman film from 1960! And as you noticed, this is another PG-13 film and ends our updates for September. And with that I think it’s time that we start this long overdue “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update that is all about that mean green mother from outer space named Audrey II, and the Little Shop Of Horrors he’s hiding out in.

So let’s start off by taking a look at the killer plant from this film named Audrey II and it’s ways of dealing death to mankind. Audrey II is an alien from outer space. When it first lands on our planet during a total eclipse of the sun, it is very small in size, but grows in size when it gets fresh blood and human meat to eat. The more blood it eats, the bigger it can grow and it can grow to be Kaiju size as well as can sprout more of its kind. Audrey II when small is cute and can draw people into its trap, but as it grows the more frightful it looks and can truly shock the weak. Audrey II as well has a mind of its own and is super smart and can use it to plot out evil plans, it can also talk and sing and can uses its words to get one simple minded florist to do its bidding of bringing him blood and people to eat with the promise of fame and fortune. Audrey II has razor sharp teeth that can rip apart flesh, vines that can grab and pull plus grow smaller heads with teeth and a mouth big enough to eat a person in one or two chomps. Audrey II also has a very mean temper and a wicked attitude and has goals of taking over our planet and does not care how many humans it has to eat to complete this goal. But while Audrey II is a big green mother from outer space that is bad, it can be hurt and even killed as it needs blood to live and without it will shrivel up and die, you can also crush it, burn it and possible chop it up into little pieces but that is only before it grows to Kaiju size. The main way to destroy Audrey II is use high voltage electricity, as this will cause the alien plant to explode, and end its reign of terror. Audrey II is a truly dangerous alien plant from outer space and if not put in check his species could easily take over the planet.

Now that we see just how dangerous that Audrey II is and just how easily it could take over the world and make every human dinner, I think we should take a few moments and talk about the film its from and that of course is the 1986 Musical Horror Film Little Shop Of Horrors that was a remake of a cheesy 1960 fright film. And I would like to remind you that I will be taking the film’s plot from our friends at IMDB and then I will write about the film’s production and then my thoughts on the film. So with that, let’s avoid becoming plant food and head to this little shop of terrors.

Little Shop Of Horrors (1986)

“A nerdy florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed.”

David Geffen was a music executive that was producing a off-Broadway musical show based on the 1960 Roger Corman film Little Shop Of Horrors and he had the want to turn the stage show into a big production musical film to release in theaters and even at one point in time had big names like Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and John Landis attached to the film, and this was causing it to have a big buzz around it. But the film stalled for a while due to Charles B. Griffith, the original film’s script writer and voice of Audrey Jr. tried to sue Geffen in a failed attempt. And once the lawsuit ended, Frank Oz was hired to be the director and he even helped writer Howard Ashman with the script to bring the Broadway show to the big screen and this meant adding and subtracting some of the songs to make it have that big theater event film feel. When casting the film, Rick Moranis was hired to play Seymour Krelborn with Levi Stubbs from the musical group The Four Tops being the voice of Audrey II. Other names attached to the film in supporting as well as cameo roles include Steve Martin, Vincent Gardenia, Jim Belushi, John Candy, Bill Murray, Christopher Guest, Vincent Wong and the trio of Tisha Campbell, Tichina Arnold and Michelle Weeks acted as the singing chorus who act as the stories guides. When it came to casting Audrey, it was given to Ellen Greene who had played the part for the stage, but the roll was also offered to pop singer Cyndi Lauper and even rumored to Barbra Streisand. The film’s main villain Audrey II took many puppeteers to control and filming would take place in England at the 007 Stage. The film was given a $25million budget with Warner Brothers stepping in to distribute the film in theaters and home media. The film’s ending had to be re-shot after the test screens did not like the original downbeat ending of Audrey II growing to giant size and taking over the Earth as Seymour Krelborn failed in the final fight and was killed. The film would be released on December 19, 1986 and would bring in $39 million and was well loved by fans as well as critics and would become an even bigger hit for Warner Brothers when it was released on video. The film was released along side such other Horror Films as Class Of Nuke’Em High, Demons 2, Friday The 13^th Part VI: Jason Lives, The Hitcher, Maximum Overdrive, Night Of The Creeps, Psycho III, Rawhead Rex and Trick Or Treat to name a few.

Little Shop Of Horrors is a film that was a big part of my childhood as it was one I watched all the time and I knew almost all the songs by heart as they are just so damn catchy. I can remember seeing the film’s TV spots for coming to the theaters and also remember the poster being printed in the newspaper and really wanted to go to the theater to see it. My parents did not take me but to hold me over till it came out on home media, they did buy me the trading cards and candy based around the film. And when I finally did get to see the film, I was a fan as the acting, songs, special effects and monster were all fantastic and helped draw me in as a viewer. The film’s star Rick Moranis was a big star of the 1980’s and 1990’s as most people know him for his roles like Bob McKenzie from Strange Brew (1983), Louis Tully from Ghostbusters (1984), Dark Helmet in Spaceballs (1987), Wayne Szalinski from Honey I Shrunk The Kids (1989), Barney Rubble from The Flintsones (1994) and the voice of Rutt in the Brother Bear franchise to name a very few. As you can see, Rick Moranis was a big star for kids of that time and was one of the big draws for the young Monster Kids of 1986 to want to see Little Shop Of Horrors. The puppet used for Audrey II is amazing and the puppeteers who controlled it are masters of their craft as he really does seem like a living thing! I should also note that Levi Stubbs, the voice actor and singer for Audrey II is known of course for being the lead vocalist for the group Four Tops but I also should point out that he was the voice for Mother Brain for the cartoon “Captain N: The Game Master” that ran from 1989-1991. And this is the movie that made me have a crush on Tisha Campbell that would continue when she was also on the sitcom Martin were she played Gina, and in fact she is still a very beautiful woman to this day and one talented actress. If you have not seen this film, I really thank that you should not only for the great songs, a top-notch lead cast, amazing special effects but also for all the cameos from some of the top comedians going at that time. And really this is one of my favorite films and is one I have watched so many times over the years and of course own on home media. And over the years the film has been slated for a remake that never gets out of the talking stage, and I for one say if they cast it they should have Lady Gaga play Audrey, Rami Malek as Seymour, Jared Leto as Orin Scrivello DDS, John Leguizamo as Mr. Mushnik, Poppy, Mya and Charli XCX as the Chore Ladies and lastly Bruno Mars as Audrey II…just saying.

Little Shop Of Horrors was slated to be a big film and with that when released lots of cool merchandise was made to promote it before, during and after the film’s release as cool items are still being made based around it to this day. When the film first came out, you could buy the soundtrack on CD or cassette, trading cards from Topps, DC Comic adaptation, a paperback adaptation, posters and a very cool candy dispenser of Audrey II, and I had many of these things with my favorite being the Audrey II candy holder. After the release and through the decades the film has also gotten shirts, art prints, buttons, cups, bed covering, Funko Pops and so much more as this film’s popularity is still very strong and it has a huge cult following. So if you are a fan of Little Shop Of Horrors, there are lots of cool things for you to collect and add to your collection.

So as you can see, Audrey II is a very dangerous plant from another planet and the film it’s from Little Shop Of Horrors was an awesome film that spawned some great merchandise and was a big part of so many kids lives in the late 1980’s and also showed that Musicals and Horror can really mix! And I am really happy that DC Comics gave this film the comic book treatment as you readers know I always say that comics make great promo items for films, and I wish more companies would see this and make more in these modern times. I would also like to thank Mavericks Comics and Cards for having this comic in stock those many, many years ago to make this update possible. I would also like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So let’s head into Mushnik Florist and see what that strange and unusual plant in the window is all about.

Little Shop Of Horrors # 1 ***
Released in 1987 Cover Price $2.00 DC Comics # 1 of 1

Seymour lives and works at Mushnik Florist owned by the grumpy Mr. Mushnik who also employs Audrey who comes to work late this day and is sporting a black eye that he boyfriend gave her, and after Seymour trips and breaks some flower pots and its now 6pm and they have not seen a customer all day Mushnik threatens to close the shop down for good. But Seymour and Audrey have a plan and that is to put some strange plants in the widow to attract new customers and Seymour brings up a flytrap of sorts that he calls Audrey II and once in the window a customer comes in asking about it and Seymour tells the story of how he bought it after it mysteriously appeared at a sidewalk plant shop after a total eclipse of the sun. And Audrey II does its job as more customers keep coming in asking about it and before they leave they are buy flowers and plants causing the shop to make some money! But after the store closes and Audrey and Mr. Mushnik leaves for the night Seymour has to stay behind as Audrey II is sick and that is when he learns that the plant needs human blood to feed in order to grow. A week later Seymour and Audrey II are a guest on a local radio show in order to promote the shop, and at the shop Audrey and Mr. Mushnik listen as it’s clear that her boyfriend once more beat her up. Once back home Audrey thinks about a life she could have if only she would be dating Seymour. Days pass and Seymour is tried as he has to keep feeding Audrey II his blood, and while the shop is packed and the money is coming in Seymour just cannot build up the nerve to ask out Audrey. Meanwhile her boyfriend the motorcycle-driving dentist Orin Scrivello who torments his patients and huffs the nitrous oxide as he enjoys causing living things pain, and that night he heads to the shop to pick up Audrey for a date and Seymour witnesses how bad he treats her. That night Seymour sits next to Audrey II all sad about Audrey being treated bad when he learns that Audrey II can talk and needs fresh blood, and promises Seymour fame and the two decide that Orin will be the victim after they see him smack Audrey after their date. And when Seymour goes to the office of Orin Scrivello to kill him the dentist dies from an overdose of nitrous oxide gas and Seymour drags his body to the shop and chops it up to feed to Audrey II but unknown to Seymour his boss Mr. Mushnik witnesses him chopping up the body! The next day Audrey finds out her boyfriend is missing and she and Seymour bond as they both let their feeling for one another be known, but once Seymour gets back to the shop he is confronted by Mr. Mushnik who in turn is eaten alive by Audrey II. The days that follow lots of pressure falls on Seymour and he buckles under it all as in order to keep up the fame that means he needs to get more blood for the now massive planet, but when he finds out that Audrey would still love him even if he was broke he comes up with an idea to marry her that night and for them both to run away. Later Seymour heads to the butcher shop to get Audrey II some bloody meat, but while he is away Audrey II uses the phone to call Audrey into the shop with the idea of eating her…Seymour arrives just in time to save her and then knows what has to be done Audrey II must be destroyed. Seymour goes inside the shop and tries using a gun first and it does nothing but make Audrey II mad and he brings down the walls but this exposes an electrical wire that Seymour uses to zap and fry Audrey II killing the man eating plant. In the end Seymour and Audrey get married and but a little house together…but unknown to them another Audrey II is in their very flower garden.

The comic adaptation of the 1986 Musical Horror film Little Shop Of Horrors is a very fun read but it does lack something that makes it amazing and that is well the musical numbers as all the songs as well as many characters are missing from this comic and the changes are very noticeable. And for me the biggest missing element from this comic is the characters of Crystal, Chiffon and Ronette as they are not around to move the story forward nor are they even around to interact with the characters…they are just gone. But while this is just one of several changes the comic is still a fun read and captures the story of the film with out the musical numbers. The plot is this a man working and living on skid row has a crush on his co-worker and after finding a strange plant after a total eclipse of the sun his life turns hectic but also more positive as fame and money start coming his way, but he soon finds out that the plant is really an alien who eats blood and human meat and grows and has world conquest on its mind! When it comes to the hero of this comic you would have to give that role to Seymour who is the one in the end that stops the alien plant, but to be fair he is also the one who ended up given it the human blood and meat it needed to grow into the super dangerous creature all because of fame and wanting to try and get the attention of his crush. Audrey is a sweet woman who sadly has poor taste in men who abuse her, but her sweetness and caring nature is what helps Seymour stand up and finally defeat Audrey II who of course is the evil alien plant who was sent to Earth with the idea of taking over once he can get large enough as well as sprout offspring. Audrey II is very smart as well as manipulative as he can use his words in order to get Seymour to do what he wants him to do and that includes feeding him the dead body of Audrey’s boyfriend! And when Audrey II gets big enough and finds out that his hold over Seymour is weakened he decides to kill him and start his quest to take over the world! This film has some blood but nothing major and it of course has death as several characters find themselves plant food. The cover for this comic is pretty dang cool and has the main cast around a baby Audrey II with the interior art being done by Gene Colan being great stuff, but I also have to say that the characters sadly do not look like the actors who play them. This is a pretty great comic adaptation and while there is big changes the spooky and fun nature of the core of the film are here and make for a great read for fans of the film as well as Horror Comic readers in general. Checkout the artwork below to see the style Colan used in this comic, and I have to say make sure to grab yourself a copy of this comic for your collection.

The 1986 Horror Musical version of Little Shop Of Horrors was a very odd choice when you think about it to be turned into a comic book as the musical songs just could never be done well on the pages of a comic, but somehow DC Comics made it work here. And it’s a shame that DC did not do more comics based on Horror Films that their parent company Warner Brothers was making at the time like it would have been great to get comics based on such films as Deadly Friend, The Lost Boys, A Return To Salem’s Lot, It’s Alive III: Island Of The Alive to name a few from 1986-1987 from them and all would have made for some very cool and creepy comics. While our time at this little shop of horror has come to an end, we will be staying in the world of horror as our next update we will be taking a look at Horror Host Jeepers the host of Jeepers Creepers Theatre out of California. So until next time, read a horror comic or three, watch a horror film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update as we spend time with a true icon of Horror Hosting.

DC’s Hero Master Of The Elements Metamorpho!

Posted on June 3, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. As you can see, we find ourselves once more back in the world of DC Comics as we take a look at yet another superhero that they seem to overlook. I am talking about Metamorpho this time around, a hero who can turn himself into every type of element and is another overlooked character in the DC Comic Universe. When thinking about the updates for 2025, I wanted to at least cover two superheroes from DC. I knew that Plastic Man was a must, and I covered him back in May; and when choosing the second hero to cover I was torn between several as Catwoman, Black Canary, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Green Arrow were all considered but in the end I wanted to go for a hero who was not as mainstream as the above mentioned and that is why Metamorpho was chosen to get the Rotten Ink treatment. So with that, sit back and relax as we take a fun and brief look at Metamorpho, a DC Hero that is on the verge of being forgotten.

Rex Mason was a very famous archaeologist who found some of the world’s most priceless treasures. He was mostly on the payroll of Simon Stagg, the owner of Stagg Enterprises who needed him to go to Egypt and find The Orb Of Ra, and during this time Rex would even fall in love with Sapphire Stagg, the daughter of Simon. But once in the pyramid that held the orb he was attacked by Java, the bodyguard of Simon, and exposed to a meteor that disfigures and turns him into Metamorpho The Element Man as he got the power of turning himself into every type of element! He would also soon find that Simon could use the Orb against him to keep him for getting revenge for this betrayal. And while a good guy, Metamorpho can never turn his appearance back to normal and has spent most of his life trying to find a cure even at one point getting the help of Green Lantern whose Power Ring even fails to get turn him back normal. Over the years he has worked alongside such teams as The Outsiders, Justice League Europe, Doom Patrol and even had a crime fighter partner named Element Girl. He also has a son Joseph Mason who has the powers of turning object into other elements. And like every DC Comic character, Metamorpho of course has many different versions from all the different Earths with each having different paths and adventures. Metamorpho was created by Bob Haney and Romona Fradon in 1965 and first appeared in The Brave And The Bold # 57 and is a classic character that has also appeared in cartoons and animated films over the years. This is just a quick crash course lesson on Metamorpho and who he is and what he can do.

Metamorpho is one of those classic DC Comic characters that I remember seeing in issues of Brave And The Bold when I was a kid and while I liked his look, I never truly connected to him as I was way more into Plastic Man who had a similar ability and was created many years before him. But for some reason this weirdly colored hero always did get my attention as I can remember asking my brother all the time how you pronounce the character’s name as well as what his deal was because to me he looked like a super villain and not a super hero. Over the years as I was getting more and more comics thanks to comic shops and garage sales, I was able to read comics with Metamorpho in them as a hero and I found myself enjoying them as well as finding his powers cooler than I originally thought, as how cool it is that he can turn his whole body or even parts of his body into elements like gold, silver, helium and tin to name a few! Plus such things cannot hurt him as bullets and knives and only an ancient Egyptian orb can truly hurt him. And while he is not a topnotch hero in DC, I do find that they seem to overlook him when it comes to appearing in more comics as well as live action films as I think it’s time he gets to shine on the silver screen. I also have to say that back in 1975, as part of a vinyl record called “Songs And Stories Of The Justice League,” Metamorpho has his own song done by Arthur Korb and you must listen to it as its super catchy and can be found on YouTube. Also after reading this update, head to your local comic shop and grab yourself some comics featuring Metamorpho and give him a chance.

Well as you can see, Metamorpho is a classic superhero from DC Comics that has been around sin d the 60’s and has made his way into being a member of the Justice League as well as appeared in some animated shows and films and in the 90’s even got his own mini series again to showcase this hero to the comic reading masses. I would first like to thank Bell, Book And Comic for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. I would also like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s see what Metamorpho has in store for us as this mini series will be a first time read for me and I am excited to see what kind of action awaits in these pages.

Metamorpho # 1 ***
Released in 1993 Cover Price $1.50 DC Comics # 1 of 4

Rex Mason is an archaeologist on an adventure to get the Himalayan Ice Crystal and has to escape a pack of Yetis to get away. Years have passed and Rex is now the superhero Metamorpho and visiting the museum looking back at some of the items he had uncovered and talks with his friend Haney who runs it all. They chat about the past and why Metamorpho no longer gets these items, they speak of Joey who is the son of Metamorpho who is also cursed with powers due to his dad…and the possibility of a cure. Enter Jillian Conway, a fellow archaeologist who thinks a cure can be found inside a pyramid in Egypt due to some wall carvings she found and it is The Orb Of Ra that can reverse the super powered curse. Jillian also shows Metamorpho and Haney that she as well was exposed to the meteor that transformed Rex and his son as her face is hidden behind a mask, and she blames Simon Stagg who is the ex-father in law of Metamorpho and who is rich and abuses his power…he was also the last owner of The Orb Of Ra and claims it has been stolen and could be in Ireland. Metamorpho agrees to help Jillian to get the orb and tells her to get an extra seat for the plane ride as he heads to Stagg’s mansion and gets his infant son away from all the armed guards, as he wants the item that can cure him of his curse once and for all.

This is a pretty interesting first issue in a mini series that features Metamorpho, a hero who can transform himself into every type of element, and this series skips going through his origin story and takes it that you already know who he is and what he can do. The plot has Metamorpho teaming up with another archaeologist by the name of Jillian as they both have been effected by a meteor that was found in a tomb in Egypt and this has caused them to gain superpowers as well as be very badly disfigured and now they think that they might have found a cure and this is important to Metamorpho as this also has infected his infant son and he will do whatever he can to cure his son. Metamorpho is a hero who misses his old life of collecting artifacts and while he uses his new superpowers for good, he does feel guilty that his powers also has passed onto his infant son, and will do whatever he can to help his son and that even includes taking orders from his sleazy ex-father in law who only truly cares about money. Simon Stagg is that scumbag who runs his own company that collects artifacts and use to be the man behind paying for Rex’s quests to get the artifacts. He also is trying his best to ruin the relationship between Metamorpho and his ex-wife and baby’s mom Sapphire when he hides the note left for his daughter written by Metamorpho as to why he took Joseph from the Stagg mansion. And while the issue is not super action packed, the moments of Metamorpho fighting the Stagg Security Force and robotic Nanny are pretty cool as he kicks their butts and showcases his powers well. I also like that we get a look at some Yetis and that for some reason the flashback to getting the Himalayan Ice Crystal reminds me of Indiana Jones! The cover for this issue is pretty cool as it features Metamorpho looking all smug, and the interior art is very well done and was done by artist Graham Nolan. And if you are like me, I am sure you want to see if this orb can truly cure Metamorpho and his son Joseph and if they can trust Jillian Conway who I am starting to think might not be telling the full truth to our hero as I got a vibe from her that made me not trust her.

Metamorpho # 2 ***
Released in 1993 Cover Price $1.50 DC Comics # 2 of 4

While on the plane heading to Ireland, Metamorpho remembers back to the time he was attacked in the pyramid by Java and left for dead, but instead found himself changed and infected by a powerful meteor. Jillian snaps him out of his day dream and talks up her theory that the Orb Of Ra will be the key to their cure. While back at Stagg Mansion Sapphire is besides herself as her son Joseph is missing and her father Simon is still acting clueless on why Metamorpho attacked and took the child, and when Java is raged and wants to go after Metamorpho to get Joseph back he is shot and killed by Simon who claims to Sapphire that her new husband went insane and that he had to kill him in self defense…he then makes some very creepy remarks to his daughter. While in Ireland Metamorpho and Jillian do some tracking and call in a few favors and find that a man named Peter O’Grady might have or know who does the Orb Of Ra…but once at the bar Peter hangs out in, a big brawl breaks out and lots of guns are fired and even a flamethrower used with Metamorpho standing tall as many goons are knocked out on the bar room floor. But while he beat up lots of goons he finds that his son Joseph is in the hands of Peter O’Grady who has a gun to the child’s head and is threatening to end his life!

Oh man what a cliffhanger to end this issue as poor young Joseph Mason is in the dangerous hands of the scumbag named Peter O’Grady who is known for being a thief and killer. Makes me wonder just how Metamorpho is going to save his son’s life…or I wonder if the son’s own powers will save the day is he touches O’Grady. The plot of this second issue can be summed up like this Metamorpho with his small group land in Ireland and find big trouble with criminal Peter O’Grady while at the Stagg Mansion Simon continues his sneak plan as he keeps his daughter in the dark and also kills her new husband for not listening to his orders. Metamorpho in this issue shows that he cares about his son as well as ex-wife and will do whatever it takes to get the orb if it’s a key to heal them of this terrible super powered curse. And with his powers he is able to beat the heck out of a bunch of goons as well as show off his amazing ability to shake off attacks. Peter O’Grady seems to have been waiting for Metamorpho to come for him and thought that he and his men could take the hero down, but soon found that he was wrong and comes to the final plan of trying to take the heroes son hostage. Jillian Conway is clearly new to having these powers and almost seems afraid to use them, but does so in the bar brawl to help Metamorpho out, maybe I was wrong about not trusting her. Simon Stagg is pure scum as he is a cold blooded killer, has to be in control at all times and almost seems to like to see his daughter Sapphire suffer…and I think he was also hitting on her…gross. Java was the new husband of Sapphire and the bodyguard who attacked Rex in the pyramid. He was also a caveman that was melted out of a block of ice who finds himself dead when he questions the orders of Simon who made the murder look like self defense. The cover for this issue is just ok and not as cool nor eye catching as the first issues, and like before Graham Nolan is the artist who did the interior artwork and it is solid good stuff. Over all another great issue in this mini series and thickens the plot a little more as Metamorpho seems to be finding himself more and more enemies on his search for the cure.

Metamorpho # 3 ***
Released in 1993 Cover Price $1.50 DC Comics # 3 of 4

Peter O’Grady gets the shock of his life when Joseph touches the gun and it melts away, as Peter drops Joseph it’s Jillian that catches him and Metamorpho goes on the attack and gets the information out of O’Grady that he needs as the orb has been sold to Emir Abd-Al-Aziz from Egypt and that is were our hero heads next. Meanwhile Simon has his security force remove the body of Java as Sapphire heads to her room knowing now what kind of master her father really is as he still talks about the killing being self-defense. But once back in Egypt Emir finds his palace under attack by invaders and Metamorpho and Jillian save the day and are given the Orb as a reward…but this is a fake and Metamorpho figures out that a conman named Delacroix is the one who must have it now. This leads them now to Casablanca and to a little bar where Delacroix hangs out and learns that the Orb has been returned to the pyramid it came from, and while there Metamorpho also finds is able to read some of the papers of Jillian who has headed to the hotel to put Joseph to bed. Metamorpho learns that the orb can only cure one person and that Jillian was going to use it on herself and the two end up having an element fight with Metamorpho making a mistake and getting hurt just as Jillian revels that she has been working with Simon Stagg the whole time who is as well in Casablanca now, but unknown to them all is that Sapphire is also there.

I knew it Jillian Conway should not be trusted and while she tricked me into thinking that maybe she was not a baddie her true colors come out in this issues as she is really into hurting people, watching people be hurt, is enjoying her powers now and was just using Metamorpho in order to track down the orb so that she could use if on herself as the cure is a one and done. Plus it tells you want kind of person she is when her business partner is Simon Stagg, the rich scumbag who seems to really get his jollies in making life terrible for Metamorpho who is his ex-son in law. And while this issue is a cat and mouse game of Metamorpho trying to track down the orb from location to location it very much is a very fun issue as you as a reader feel like you are apart of this adventure to find this cure. Metamorpho also proves that he will do whatever he has to do in order to cure his son and that includes fighting baddies and uncovering every clue he can. Also it is great to see in this issue that Sapphire is starting to truly see the monster that his her father and with her now hearing his plan as well as the lack of care to have her son be cured will I hope make he help her ex-husband get to the orb first. Having a part of the comic take place in Casablanca was very cool as one panel has a person at the bar look like Humphrey Bogart and his character Rick Blaine from the 1942 film Casablanca…nice touch guys. The action is lots of fun as Metamorpho, Joseph and Jillian all use their powers to fight off baddies and in the case of the two adults against each other in a showdown on who will get the orb first to get the cure. The cover for this issue is cool and has Metamorpho’s hands as blades and he is looking very angry and like the past issues the interior art is done by Graham Nolan and is really cool stuff. With issue three being another great issue I am looking forward to the fourth and final issue to see how this story ends.

Metamorpho # 4 ***
Released in 1993 Cover Price $1.50 DC Comics # 4 of 4

Metamorpho wakes up to see Sapphire and the two make up when he tells her about the note and she tells him how her father killed Java and now together they are heading to Egypt to get their son and the Orb to try and cure him. While at the pyramid Jillian holding Jonathan and Simon start their search for the Orb and are discussing the cure it could hold, and Simon lets her know that he wants to use it to cure Metamorpho so that he will return back to Rex so that he can kill him! Meanwhile Jillian knows she cannot trust Simon and has kept the fact it can only cure one person to herself figuring out a way to get the Orb in her hands to do so. As Simon and Jillian find the Orb Metamorpho and Sapphire arrive and are ready for a fight in order to get and cure their son, and as Sapphire attacks her father Jillian is able to sneak away with the Orb as Metamorpho gives chase. The Orb was no cure and when Jillian uses it on herself she turns to dust and dies as Metamorpho rushes to get his son and ex-wife to safety. In the end Simon Stagg is beaten up, Sapphire finds her inner power, Joseph is cured when he touches the meteor and Metamorpho gets his family back together and is happy once more.

The final issue has a happy ending for our hero as he gets his family back and his son is cured of his super powers by the meteor that had started this nightmare from the start! Metamorpho does what he can to bring his family back as it is clear that he has never truly gotten over Sapphire and loves her just as much as he does his son. And when the two find that common bond again its clear that she feels the same way about him. Metamorpho also while not sure caring towards others that he feels have done him wrong does try and save Jillian from her fate of turning to sand and dying, but she would not listen to his warnings and just wanted to be pretty again no matter the coast. And that is the thing about Jillian is that she used so many people to try and cure herself and would kill anyone that crosses her path and even is mean to a child in her attempt to make herself normal again. It is also great to see Simon Stagg get what is coming to him as he is beaten up by his daughter and even out smarted by Jillian when it came to getting and using the Orb and by the end of the issue he is a very broken man. Sapphire also finds her inner fighter and is sick and tired of being bullied by her father and fights back and because a stronger person by the end of this adventure. You also have to be happy that Joseph is cured of his powers, as that youngster would have had a super hard life if he had to live with them. And I am kind of shocked on how much I really did enjoy this mini series and how it really did remind me of a super powered version of an Indiana Jones adventure and Metamorpho was a pretty cool hero as while he is strong and powerful he also finds himself getting beat up and hurt throughout the series and that helps add to the drama and cliffhanger style endings. The cover for the final issue is pretty cool and is super eye catching if you are a fan of the character and like before the interior artwork by Graham Nolan is very good and his work is solid throughout the mini series. If you like Metamorpho as a character or just enjoy superhero comics that have a classic cliffhanger adventure feel make sure to give this mini series a read. Checkout the artwork below to see the art style of Graham Nolan used in this series.

Well that was a fun comic series to read and I truly miss the days of DC Comics like this as I feel that the modern stuff just doesn’t have the magic touch like these classic issues due. And I myself find myself being a bigger fan of Metamorpho now after reading this as he really is more of an interesting character than I gave him credit for. But with that, our time in the DC Comics Universe has come to an end for now as out next update will take us back to the Rotten Ink Arena as we will be talking about the masked heel known as The Dark Patriot! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! The Dark Patriot was a wrestler I grew up watching and his R.I.W Legend Update Event should be a fun one!

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

Posted on May 12, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to another “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update. As you can see, this year has been packed with lots of Horror Comics that are based on films as I have been in that kind of mood, as these type of comics are something I have been a big fan of since I was a kid. This update we will be taking a look at a film that once more made giant spiders both scary and silly for movie goers in 2002 and that film is a Warner Brothers release called Eight Legged Freaks! The film would end up getting the comic book treatment thanks to Wilstorm Comics, the sub company of DC Comics! So if you are ready, let’s avoid these rampaging giant spiders and let’s talk about a Horror Film and Comic!

So let’s start by taking a look at the massive spiders that are the killing machines of the film and comic, who have many ways of dealing death to humans. The Spiders started out normal size and were from the collection of Joshua Taft, who had a massive arachnid farm and are all types of breeds like Orb-Weavers, Tiger Wolf Spiders, Spitting Spiders, Trapdoor Spiders, Jumping Spiders and a Tarantula, all who have their own ways of trapping and attacking their prey, but things get worse when these spiders are feed grasshoppers from a local pond that have been near a toxic chemical that causes the spiders to grow in size and become more and more aggressive. When they escape the spider farm, they attack the small town of Prosperity, Arizona and kill any living thing in their way from human to animal. The spiders are lead by Consuela, the female Orb Weaver, as she calls the shots and almost all the spiders are attacking to impress her as she is truly their Queen. The Spiders are pack killers who attack in large groups but are just as deadly on their own, and their size as well as appearance truly strikes fear into the hearts of the humans who have the displeasure of running into them. The Spiders have many ways to attacking and tracking humans with some using the ground to pull victims in while others will leap onto their human prey and they all do so with super fast speed. They also have long fangs to bite into flesh as well as spread poison into blood streams. They can also use their legs to grab and pull their victims to death. They also feed on the humans they attack with some of them being webbed up in order to eat later and even give as a gift to their Queen for her to snack on. The Tarantula himself is like a tank as his massive size and power allows him to break through doors, walls and obstacles in his way as he really is a powerhouse of death and destruction. Plus again the sheer number of them and the way they work together with deadly speed and precision make them the ultimate killing machines. But while The Spiders are very deadly and way larger than your normal arachnids, they can be killed by fire, explosions, gunshots and even stabbing can punch their final ticket to Spider Heaven. So in other words these chemically enhanced spiders are super deadly and super effective at killing humans.

So as you can see, these mutated large spiders are very dangerous and can kill a human very quickly with so many different painful ways, but now that we have chatted about them I think that it’s time that we take a look at the film they are from and that’s of course Eight Legged Freaks! And like always, we will be taking the film’s write up for our good old friends at IMDB, and then I will write about the film’s production and then my thoughts on the film. So if you are ready, grab some massive bug spray and lets talk about these eight legged freaks!

Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

“After a long absence, Chris McCormick returns to his quiet hometown of Prosperity, Arizona, to reopen his late father’s mines. However, a chemical spill and lethal toxic waste have created an unstoppable army of giant spiders who prey on the unsuspecting locals, turning Prosperity into an endless buffet. Now, it’s up to Chris, Sheriff Sam Parker, her son Mike, Sam’s plucky daughter, Ashley, the conspiracy theorist Harlan, and a handful of survivors to stop the hairy menace, and save the town. But, who can stand in the way of the disgusting eight-legged freaks?”

Director Ellory Elkayem was no stranger to Horror Films about insects as he already did a short film called “Larger Than Life” in 1998, and in 2000 he directed the film “Creepy Crawlers” that was also known as They Nest. When he was thinking of his next film, spiders came to mind and so Eight Legged Freaks was to be. The film was originally called “Arach Attack” and the screenplay was written by Ellory as well as Jesse Alexander and would be produced by Dean Devlin and find its distribution via Warner Brothers. The film would hire David Arquette and Kari Wuhrer as the lead roles with such names as Scarlett Johansson, Doug E. Doug, Scott Terra, Rick Overton and Leon Rippy making up most of the supporting cast. The film would go through a name change as the Iraq War was about to start and they thought the name Arach Attack was in bad taste so Eight Legged Freaks was selected, even though in some foreign markets they stuck with the original title. The film had a budget of $30 million and lots of time went into the film’s special effects as most of the film’s spiders were CGI based around real spiders movements. I should also note that the spiders kind of have voices with iconic voice actor Frank Welker lending his talents to some of them as did Rob Paulsen and Kevin Michael Richardson. The film was slated for release on March 15, 2002 but was moved to July 17, 2002 when the original release date had it going up against the animated kids film Ice Age. The film was released with mixed reviews with both critics and fans finding themselves enjoying it silly nature, but many think that it runs out of steam by the film’s final. The film would end up bringing in around $45,867,333.00 and was a modest hit for Warner Brothers that ended up spawning a PC Game based around it called “Eight Legged Freaks: Let The Squashing Begin” and even was in talks for a sequel that never happened as it looks like WB pulled the plug. In 2002, the film was released along such other Horror Films as Cabin Fever, Signs, Bubba Ho-Tep, Queen Of The Damned, May, Halloween Resurrection, The Ring, Resident Evil and Fear Dot Com to name a few.

Eight Legged Freaks is a film that clearly was inspired by the classic B-Movies of the 1950’s and that is what made it such a fun watch as I saw it for the first time at the Drive-In as a double feature with Halloween: Resurrection and it was such a great time spent with friends and family. I can remember everyone having a great time with Eight Legged Freaks and even hearing cheers at times when the spiders would get blasted, plus I am pretty sure every male in the 1990’s loved and had a crush on Kari Wuhrer, who played the Sheriff and was known for her roles in such films as Adventures Of Ford Fairlane, Beastmaster 2, Thinner and Anaconda before being in this film. It’s shocking that she was not cast in way more Horror Films over the years as she had the prefect look for them. The film’s main star was David Arquette who of course is the brother of Patricia, Rosanna and Alexis and was a popular actor with the youth in the 90’s thanks to his roles in such films as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Airheads, Scream 1-5, Muppets In Space and Ready To Rumble, to name a select few. And what makes David great for this role is that he brings a level of heroism as well as goofball that is prefect for this type of film. The effects for the Giant Mutant Spiders are really good for the time, and while they are CGI, they do seem like they are there live with the actors. The films score by John Ottman is also really well done and captures that classic movie sound of the past and yet also has the sounds of the present day Sci-Fi Horror. One thing that also makes this film cool is that the spiders have a hierarchy with The Female Orb Weaver being the true Queen and the one calling all the shots with the massive Tarantula being the general of her army and the true battle tank when it comes to going after the humans. When the film was released, I originally owned it on VHS and would upgrade to DVD over time and it’s a film that I still watch every few years. I think the best way to sum this one up is if you like Horror Movies like “Giant Spider Invasion (1975)”, “Tarantula! (1955)”, “Arachnophobia (1990)”, “Earth vs. The Spider (1958)”, “Kingdom Of The Spiders (1977)”, “Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (1977)” or any of the other Spider themed Horror Films make sure to give this one a watch as I think you will truly enjoy it.

Now that we have chatted about the Giant Spiders and the film they are from, Eight Legged Freaks, I think that it is time that we take a look at the comic adaptation done by DC Comics (WildStorm). I want to first thank Bell Book And Comic for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. I would also like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s see what these Giant Spiders have in store for us in these spooky comic pages.

Eight Legged Freaks # 1 ***
Released in 2002 Cover Price $6.95 Wildstorm # 1 of 1

Sheriff Sam Parker is in front of the town’s mall with her shotgun in hand shooting at the massive spiders that are attacking her town, and as she fights for not only her life but the people she swore to protect, she thinks back to how this all started. A trucking caring toxic waste swerves to avoid hitting an animal and this causes a barrel to fall into the town’s stream and turn the grasshoppers big, in turn Josh the owner of exotic spiders has been capturing them and feeding them to his spiders and this causes them to grow in size as well. And after Mike Parker visits and leaves Josh’s spider shop they escape and attack and kill Josh and his pet bird! The town’s mines are in trouble and are slated to be closed as the owner has passed away and his son Chris McCromick has returned to town to over see the sale, and is feeling guilty for doing so. Meanwhile the barrel of toxic waste as been found in the stream by Sam and her Deputy, and on her way home Sam finds her daughter on the back of a motorbike with Bret, the son of the Mayor, and gives the teen a ticket for endangering her daughter! Later that night the town is having a meeting in the mall held by Wade, the mayor, as he is saying that a big company wants to buy the land and houses for a project, but Chris shows up and refuses to sell the mine as he claims his father seen the mother load of gold in them and he intends to find it…he also punches Wade for saying things about his father! That night several towns people including one cat are attacked and killed by the Giant Spiders, as these arachnids are making their way into town. The next morning Sam gives her daughter a stun gun for protection and Chris shows up to ask her out on a date as Sam and Chris have a past. But things get crazy for the town as the Giant Spiders keep attacking and the only people to stand in their way of taking over is Sheriff Sam Parker, Chris McCormick, Conspiracy Theory Radio DJ Harlan Griffith, Sam’s two kids Ashley and Mike Parker, the Mayor Wade and his son Bret as well as what is left of the town! The standoff takes place in the towns mall and then spills into the mines…and thanks to teamwork and the methane gas that fills the mines they are able to spark a big fire that kills off the massive fires and saves the town from being destroyed.

This comic adaptation is a fun read with lots of spider attacking action, but it also speeds up lots of the film’s plot as well as downplays major characters from the film as Harlan Griffith is barely around and only has one major angle in the story besides being the comics narrator, and poor Deputy Pete Willis is nothing more than a background player. So if those two are some of your favorite characters from the film, be prepared to be a little disappointed in their lack of appearance in this comic. The plot is simple and has toxic waste making spiders grow to monstrous size that attack a small town that’s people must fight back to survive. The main hero for me in this comic is Sheriff Sam Parker as she is the town’s law as well armed with her shotgun she takes out lots of spiders, also comes up with meeting at the mall for all the survivors and is also the one who watches after her kids and uses the stun gun to start the spark that sets the mines ablaze the burns up the spiders. And Chris McCormick is the secondary hero as he does his part of keeping people safe, and knows his families mines well and comes up with the idea to start the fire to ignite the gas, but he does fail in his attempt to save Ashley from the spiders, and it’s Sam that has to rescue them both…so yeah Sam is the hero. And to a lesser degree you also have to say that Mike Parker’s knowledge of spiders makes him a hero, as his warnings of the abilities of the spiders make the people more aware. The Spiders are very violent and are looking to make humans meals as well as trap them to impress their Queen. The comic is lots of spooky fun, but I also feel that while they retain some of the scares of the film they humor is a little lacking and the laughs are pulled from the story to clearly speed it up to fit on the pages of the comic. The comic does have lots of deaths but is lacking in human blood splattering, but you do get the green blood of the spiders all over the place. The cover is very cool and showcases Sam, Chris and Harlan with a massive Spider behind them, very cool and eye catching for fans of the film as well as those who like Horror Comics in general. The interior art is really cool and is done by Joe Phillips, and the way he draws the spiders is fantastic, and his art for the humans is good but the likeness to the actors who play the characters is very slight. This is a comic that I truly think fans of the film should get and read as well as those Horror Comic readers who enjoy spiders and more family friendly horror. Checkout the artwork below to see the style of artist Phillips used in this comic.

Eight Legged Freaks is a fun cult film and also an entertaining comic book and is one that I think is often overlooked when people talk about PG-13 Horror Films. And I am still very annoyed with Warner Brothers and their subsidiary New Line Cinema as their parent company Discovery owns as well DC Comics and they have yet to truly merge their film properties into Horror Comics as I think readers would enjoy comics based on A Nightmare On Elm Street, Lost Boys, Critters and Final Destination to name a few. And before you say it, yes, I know that many of the above mentioned films have had comic books over the years. But as you can see, this From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update is winding down, but do not worry our next update will be another of those themed updates as this time I will be talking about the 2003 shot on video Horror Film “The Bonesetter”! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. Make sure to lock you doors at 7pm as The Bonesetter is on the loose.

Plastic Man: The Amazing Silly Stretchy Superhero Of DC

Posted on May 2, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. For this update, we find ourselves in the world of DC Comics as what better way to start May 2025 off with than looking at a mini series that features one of their underrated characters like we have before with the updates on Hawkman, Red Tornado, Jonni Thunder and Steel The Indestructible Man, but this time around we will be talking about Plastic Man who was originally a character created for Quality Comics, a indie company that was around from 1937 to 1956 and was founded by Everett M. “Busy” Arnold. Once that company folded up Plastic Man along with many other characters would find a home at DC Comics. And for kids of the 80’s and 90’s like myself, Plastic Man was a pretty popular B-Team hero from DC and it’s about time that he gets the Rotten Ink treatment! So with that, let’s get this update started and go on a weird and silly ride with the stretchy hero known as Plastic Man!

Plastic Man’s real name is Patrick O’Brian, and he was created by Jack Cole in 1941. Because it’s DC, he also has two different origin stories cause Infinite Earth nonsense. His original origin has Patrick as a criminal as he grew up an orphan on the streets from the age of 10 and as he grew up he became involved in a burglary ring. One night, while trying to break into the Crawford Chemical Works, the robbery goes wrong and Patrick is shot, an unknown chemical spills all over him and his gang leave him at the scene of the crime. Patrick ends up running away in pain, and once he passes out, he wakes up in the mountains being taken care of by a monk who teaches him the ways of being good and this helps him turn on his life of crime. And Patrick’s body goes through a change due to the chemical as his body can stretch now and he can distort his body into all types of shapes and would become a true hero who would join the police and FBI in order to stop crime. The second origin story is covered here in the mini series that I will be reviewing, so for that story read the comic reviews to find out more about him and his kooky friend Woozy Winks. Over the years, Plastic Man has also became a member of such teams as Justice League, Freedom Fighters and All-Star Squadron to name a few. While Plastic Man is not as iconic as his fellow DC Heroes like Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman or The Flash, he is one that has a loyal following and is iconic in his own way as the character is still used to this day.

Kenner in the 1980’s had a very cool figure series going called Super Powers that was based around the heroes and villains of the DC Universe. And during the third series the legendary Plastic Man was part of the line and was a figure that was harder to get and was a “chase” figure for the series when it was released. Growing up my brother and I collected the Super Powers toys and always were on the look out for Plastic Man, but we never found one…my brother ended up getting him decades later and has him as part of his collection. The Plastic Man’s action feature was that he grows and for the time, this feature was pretty cool for an action figure. Just wanted to briefly talk about this figure as I find it to be very cool and part of Plastic Man’s history in pop culture.

Ruby-Spears in 1979 made the cartoon show “The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show” that was for ABC and aired after Super Friends and was a very popular show that had Plastic Man teaming up with Bad Luck Hula-Hula, Penny and later Baby Plas as they would stop criminals and silly super villains like Carrot-Man, Doctor Dome and many others. In the cartoon Plastic Man also worked alongside the police and would have to use his abilities to out smarty and trick his enemies. In the cartoon Plastic Man would be voiced by Michael Bell who lent his voice to many different cartoons such as G.I. Joe were he voiced such characters as Major Bludd, Duke and Xamot with other cartoons being The Incredible Hulk (1982), DuckTales (1987), Rugrats (1991) and Batman The Animated Series (1992) among many others. Other voice actors include Frank Welker, Joe Baker, Melendy Britt, Clare Peck and John Stephenson to name a few. The series would last for 5 Seasons and a total of 112 episodes and would find life again once it was reran on Cartoon Network and made it way to DVD. And this was a cartoon I watched when I was younger and back when it aired on Cartoon Network I would tape episodes on a old VHS and it was so silly and goofy that I loved every second of it as even the baddies in the episodes were so odd that it made for great watches. If you get a chance and find this DVD make sure to pick it up if you enjoy classic late 70’s and early 80’s cartoons. Also Baby Plas was terrible in the series and I use to hate the episodes that showcased him…he really is the worst thing about the cartoon series. I should also note that this cartoon series while it ran for five seasons really is two different series as at one point they add the Plastic Family and it becomes more and more about Baby Plas and the DVD set is the early episodes.

Growing up being a comic reader Plastic Man was a character that I knew about from an early age due to seeing him in the pages of DC Comics, his action figure via Kenner as well of course the Cartoon series and he always was a favorite of mine as he was silly and fun and was way cooler that the other stretchy characters in comics like Reed Richards (Fantastic Four) and Elongated Man as they lacked the charm of Plastic Man. And what is crazy is that I can even remember kids talking about Plastic Man on the playground. While he was not as popular as Spider-Man, Batman or Superman he still got some love. Heck, I can even remember some of my friends and myself drawing Plastic Man in art class. I think Plastic Man always stood out to me because he was a very colorful character who had a very goofy personality and had a superpower that is just basic as all he can do is stretch and mimic the look of people and objects. The cartoon as well as the Kenner Super Power figure also made him a standout for me as did his many appearances in my random comics when I was a youngster. While he never was one of my top heroes of the DC Comic characters, I would say he would be in my Top 15, maybe by Top 10 heroes from that company.

So as you can see, Plastic Man was a pretty big deal when I was a kid and he got way more attention from DC Comics than he does now, but sadly that seems to go for most of their heroes nowadays unless it is Batman, Harley Quinn or Batman…wait I said him already. But sadly I do not think that this will ever change at DC Comics as the focus seems to be far away from the comics and more on the movies, shows and cartoons. I would like to thank Bell, Book And Comic for having this mini series in stock and making this update possible. I also would like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, their entertainment value and their art and story. I am looking forward to reading this mini series again as it has been decades since I read it last, and it will be interesting to see how well it holds up now. So if you are ready, let’s head to New York City and see what Plastic Man has in store for us.

Plastic Man # 1 ***
Released in 1988 Cover Price $1.00 DC Comics # 1 of 4

The Eel is part of a gang, and they are breaking into a safe when the security guard shows up and opens fire hitting Eel in the arm as well as shooting a barrel full of a gooey chemical waste that splashes on his wound, The Eel wakes up in an ally after running from the scene and being left behind by his gang and his body is oddly out of shape as he tries to make is back to the gang’s hideout. But as The Eel walks down the road his misshapen body freaks out the locals who run for their lives thinking he is a monster or alien. The cops are called in as it’s now a full riot to get away from him. The Eel, still unaware of his new stretchy plastic like powers, ends up causing chaos for the cops who are crashing cars and making fools of themselves trying to stop him as they think he is a monster. Once at his old hideout even his old gang fear him and after trying to shoot him, them run away in fear just as the army shows up with the plan to kill him! The Eel’s new super powers really have caused him to be feared and wanted to be killed by the authorities. The Eel escapes via the toilet by flushing himself and winds up in the sewer, than at a bar on Skid Row and then flirting with a lady of the night only to be rejected an decides that he is just going to kill himself. But while attempting to leap off a bridge, he meets Woozy Winks, a mental patient who wants to be his friend and who thinks his powers of stretching are cool! Together they hang out and test the powers The Eel has, get him a new snazzy costume and after flipping a coin they decide to use his powers for good and The Eel becomes Plastic Man and stops his old gang from robbing a bank. While they get no reward, Plastic Man and Woozy get some press and their run at superheroes has began.

This is such a weird and silly first issue as we join Plastic Man from his time as a criminal to turning into a hero all because of the outcome of a toss of a coin. The plot has small time criminal The Eel being injured and splashed with a chemical that turns his skin into rubber that can stretch who becomes feared and the target of the police and army who after meeting a mental patient turns into a hero looking for reward money and even stops his old gang from pulling off a bank robbery. Plastic Man is this issue is super depressed by his new stretching powers and even at several points wants to end his own life as he thinks he is a freak an that the world is out to get him. But when he finally finds a friend, he is able to cheer up and find a use for his powers and that is fighting crime. Plastic Man is also super silly in nature and now with a more stretchy face makes all types of goofy expression that clearly is freaking out those around him. Woozy Winks is a very strange man who goes fishing with chewing gum, is weird in nature and who was kicked out of the asylum he was in due to politics! But while Woozy is crazy, he does seem to be a good influence on Plastic Man…well for the most part. This origin story is similar to the other “Earth” version from the classic days of the character, and I cannot stress enough how mush I dislike all the other world stuff of DC Comics as its confusing and messes with characters’ backstories, secret identities and more…but I will get off my soap box on that topic. The issue also has lots of humor with most of it being kind of dark humor, but it works as Plastic Man kind of lends himself to humor. The cover for this issue is very cool and eye catching as it has Plastic Man punching people, and the interior art is done by Hilary Barta an is great stuff as it has a crazy look to it and truly set its apart from most of the superhero comics going at this time. So with a very solid and entertaining first issue, let’s see what the second has in store for us.

Plastic Man # 2 ***
Released in 1988 Cover Price $1.00 DC Comics # 2 of 4

A group of cops are running off homeless people sleeping in a New York park when they are given a fright by Plastic Man and Woozy Winks who then start looking in the newspaper for job listing, only to find no paying work for heroes. Plastic Man and Woozy apply for a job at a bank as security guards and as they are being told no, the bank is being robbed by The Ooze Brothers who are made of a snot like substance and who defeat Plastic Man and escape with the money. But Plastic Man gives chase and almost captures them but the stolen money is now all over the streets with people grabbing it. The Ooze Brother escape into the sewer, while on the streets Plastic Man feels awful about losing the money and meets a man who runs the local circus and who’s payroll money was stolen and makes a deal with him that if he cannot get the money back that was taken from them he will work in the circus as a freak! Plastic and Woozy sneak into the Police Department files and get the file on The Ooze Brothers and end up finding their hideout where Plastic Man is able to trick and capture them in a toxic waste barrel, but Officer McNulty by accident lets them free when he comes to arrest Plastic Man. When The Ooze Brothers come out of the barrel, however, they are all stuck together and end up exploding! But Woozy shows up with paper towels and soaks them up so they cannot escape again. In the end Plastic Man and Woozy head to the circus and find that The Ooze Brothers are now working for them as a comedy freak show.

What another fun issue that has Plastic Man fighting other freaks of nature in the streets and waste dumps of New York this time around and is very entertaining as it does a great job of blending action and humor. The plot has a bank being robbed by three brothers who are made of snotty ooze and Plastic Man and Woozy try to stop them and get back the stolen money of the local circus all to prove that they are indeed superheroes! Plastic Man in this issue is really into trying to become a hero and wants to prove to the world that he is a changed man and that his stretchy powers are being used for the good of the world. Plastic Man also shows that he is smart and is able to come up with several plans that end up truly saving the day and bringing in the baddies. Woozy Winks in this issue kind of wants flip flop from being a hero to being a criminal as he really wants money and doesn’t mind the means he has to use to get it, but at the end of the day while crazy, he does have a good heart and helps his friend Plastic Man when he is in trouble. The Ooze Brothers are three brother criminals who are made out of a snot like goo and who argue and fight with each other and like to hideout in toxic waste dumps…but once defeated they find their calling working in a Freak Show at a New York circus. I should also take a moment to talk about Officer McNulty who has been the pain in Plastic Man’s side from the start and is an officer who seems to be super moody jerk that even his fellow officers do not like. I really do like that in this issue Plastic Man has to tangle with other weirdo’s with super powers as the fight between the two sides are silly, gross and fun. The cover art is cool and has Plastic Man stuck to the wall in a sewer by snot goo and like before the interior artwork is really weird and fantastic and is done by Hilary Barta once more and he was the perfect choice for this series as his art fits so well with the silly and weird story arch of this mini series. Let’s see what issue three has in store for Plastic Man and what weird situation he will find himself in next.

Plastic Man # 3 **1/2
Released in 1989 Cover Price $1.00 DC Comics # 3 of 4

Woozy Winks is feeling a little down as he feels that Plastic Man is getting all the fame for the crimes they are stopping, and Woozy feels like he is useless to the team and when his name is misspelled on their new slum office door, he is very angry and leaves to deposit some money in their bank account. As Woozy is walking, he meets a crazy man who is preaching about a better life with his master Ramalama, and after Woozy sees the beautiful ladies in this strange cult, he joins leaving the hero business and Plastic Man behind. But when Plastic Man finds out that Woozy joined a cult, he heads to their base in California to get his friend back safe to New York. While looking for him, he meets Ramalama himself, a con man who is trying to get followers and taking life insurance out for all of them with the hope of collecting on them when some of his members die after dancing for three days straight via his orders. Woozy snaps out of it after he notices that Ramalama is a very bad man who wants to kill anyone who stands against his word. So now Plastic Man, Woozy and an old Wizard that is also an enemy of Ramalama must team up to save lives from this dance-a-thon of death! Once they arrive at the concert that find that Ramalama has even more of a sinister plan as he is having his followers dance on the fault line to cause a massive earthquake that cracks open the Earth and while Ramalama falls into this crack and dies, it is Plastic Man and the Old Wizard that close it up and save the day! In the end the Ramalama cult chase after Plastic Man and Woozy as they want them both to be their new leaders!

This third issue is a fun and entertaining read, but does lack a little of the charm that made the first two issue over the top weird and silly. While this issue is lacking a little something, you have to love the idea of Plastic Man trying to save his friend from joining a cult that’s leader is so wacked out of his mind his goal is to cause his followers to stomp around and dance on a fault line to cause a massive earthquake in California as he is from New York and is mad about the health food craze! Really, that is the fun plot of this issue, and you have to love that the cult leader Ramalama dresses like a Greek God. Plastic Man in this issue is a hero like always at this point, but does kind of ignore the feelings of his friend Woozy who clearly is feeling like a second banana when it gets to getting credit to their heroic deeds. But when he finds out that his friend is in trouble Plastic Man kicks into high gear and saves his friend as well as prevents a massive quake. The Old Wizard claims that he is from Atlantis and that California is indeed the lost city, and oddly enough he really does have magical powers. Woozy Winks while at first is drawn to the cult cause of the beautiful ladies soon figures out that this cult is shady and is about making money for its leader, he also gives away the money Plastic Man and he made for rewards. The humor in this issue works well and the story is one that is fitting as so many people do fall for these cults and their smooth talking leaders. The cover for this issue is odd as it’s Plastic Man as a surfboard that Woozy is riding and you guessed it the interior artwork by Hilary Barta is great stuff. With that, let’s see what the fourth and final issue in the series has in store for us.

Plastic Man # 4 **1/2
Released in 1989 Cover Price $1.00 DC Comics # 4 of 4

Plastic Man and Woozy Winks return to New York after saving California and find that their state is being overrun by homeless people and the Mayor Of New York wants to hire them to find out why some many of them are coming from all around to his city. But just as the deal is done, a Robot appears and beats up Plastic Man and takes the Mayor away, and once our hero shakes off the beating he and Woozy head after the Robot to save the Mayor. But once more the robot beats up Plastic Man and this time they lose the trail or the Mayor but do find that all the homeless people are heading to the park so they follow. Once at the park the find the Mayor as well as more robots that are the bodyguards for the alien Zircon who comes down from the sky in his UFO to greet the homeless masses. And Plastic Man finds out that the Mayor has worked with Zircon all along as on his planet they need the homeless and he even faked being kidnapped…but the aliens are also going to steal part of New York to transport back to their planet in order to get the homeless there! As the UFO lifts part of New York into the sky Plastic Man fights with the robots as Woozy leads the homeless into the ship and together they break it down and stop the stealing of the land as well as this massive alien abduction! Superman then appears and helps Plastic Man and Woozy get the land put back into the right space as the Mayor is mocked on the evening news and the aliens are now homeless on the streets of New York trying to trade for items for the parts of their ship.

The final issue of this Plastic Man mini series is a good read and yet also a very strange ending for the series as it’s kind of lackluster when it comes to Plastic Man’s final villains being a couple of aliens and their robot soldiers as he beats them all up with ease and leaves the aliens homeless on Earth! The plot is this the Mayor of New York City has made a deal with some Aliens to allow them to take many of the Earth’s homeless back to their planet, but Plastic Man and Woozy Winks are on the case and end up saving the Homeless from getting kidnapped, and we also get to see Plastic Man interact with his first big superhero as Superman stops in for a visit. Plastic Man in this series really does turn his life around and stays true to the side of the coin that won the toss on being either as Superhero or a Super Villain, and goes out of his way to try and help save and protect people…and well he also likes award money and the fame of being a hero. And while Plastic Man can he hotheaded and his powers are not the most useful in situations he makes the best on what he has. It is also clear that while he does get angry with Woozy Winks sometimes he does respect his friend and his thankful for all his help in life. Woozy while crazy and greedy is really a good person at heart and values his friendship with Plastic Man and for the most part enjoys being his sidekick. This mini series is very all over the place and odd and that is so fitting for this version of Plastic Man as he himself is odd and all over the place as a hero, and while a superhero he kind of falls backwards into really saving the day and for most of his big “fights” with the baddies in the series he has help to truly stop them. The cover for this final issue is pretty cool and showcases Plastic Man being used as a bridge, and you guessed it, the interior art by Hilary Barta is very awesome and fitting for the character and this story. If you are a fan of Plastic Man, your superhero comics with humor, lots of weird villains and DC Comics back when they were making these awesome hero mini series, then make sure to give this one a read. I for one really enjoyed this comic series and while I do feel it fell apart at the end when it came to a big payout it still has lots of charm to it and I feel is worth the read for fans of Plastic Man. Checkout the artwork below to see the style of Barta used in this series.

This Plastic Man mini series will not be for everyone as it really is silly and goofy and is not your typical 80’s DC Hero comic so its goofy nature might scare some readers away from truly giving it a chance. And to be honest with you, I miss the DC Comics of this time as they did lots of really fun story arcs, mini series and adaptations, something they are very much lacking in these modern times. But with that, let’s take a break from comics with our next update being to the world of Horror Movies, as we will be talking about the PG-13 arachnid fright film Eight Legged Freaks! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next update as we try to survive giant spiders on the attack.

American Hero: Prez Rickard

Posted on July 4, 2024 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. I am sure you are like me and the 2020 Presidential Race drained you mentally as it was a crazy one that split the nation and had many Americans at each other’s throats, but I am not going to lie, I love the history and excitement of the race for our nation’s next president later this very year. And what better way to talk about July 4^th and an American Hero, than to cover an American comic president that was part of the DC Comic Universe. I am talking about Prez Rickard, who was elected President at the age of 18 thanks to a massive youth movement in the government. So let’s all gather around the grill and make up some burgers, dogs and even some veggie burgers, and let’s talk about the American Hero Prez before the fireworks fill the sky and allow us to celebrate our Independence. What a fun holiday this is as it’s really a way for family, friends and neighbors to come together with great food, great conversations and fun entertainment.

The United States started way back on July 4, 1776 when we broke away from British rule and our Constitution was created on September 17, 1787 and presented to the people on September 28 and these are the foundation and rules that we live by the real voices, rights and freedom of our people. Our first President was George Washington, a man who had fought in wars and was a true hero and he came into office on April 30, 1789 and would remain there until March 4, 1797! And as of this update we have had 46 Presidents lead us with the current one being Joe Biden. Over the years we have had many greats like our 16^th President Abe Lincoln, who was in charge and tried to hold our nation together during the Civil War and wanted to put an end to slavery! He was also a great amateur wrestler! And he was only one of many great Presidents and while some are better then others they all have left a mark on our Nation. Nowadays we have two big political parties and they are Democrat and Republican and we also have Green and Independent among a few smaller ones. And I am sure you all know that our President lives in the White House that is located in Washington D.C. and they can run for two four year terms and have a Vice President as well as a Cabinet members that help them during their terms. Plus Presidents have Congress that helps on big decisions that can affect Americans as well as foreign relations. I have voted in every Presidential election since I have been of age to do so and I will always do so as long as I am alive, as I find it to be very important to our nation as well as to yourself as an American. I am not going to get into who I voted for or what party I lean more toward as that’s always a red hot topic that causes tempers, arguments and fights among people and this blog is more about fun! I will say that my favorite President to read about is George Washington, and I have been to D.C. and seen the White House and our Government buildings and monuments. And one day I hope to do a Sparkle Comic based on George Washington.

William Henry Harrison was the 9^th President Of The United States and was a well respected Congress Man, Military Man and so much more. And he was an Ohio Politician and was a Senator for the state. And was an over all interesting politician and one that you should read up on if you are into American History and seriously after you read this blog update give his history a read. But William Henry Harrison is best known for being elected as our 9^th President and was apart of the Wig Party and was only in office from March 4, 1841 to only April 4, 1841 and had the shortest term in office! You see while in the White House for a short amount of time he fell very ill on March 26, 1841 and by the 28^th he had a high fever and doctors came in to try and help him, but all their treatments failed and he continued to get weaker and weaker that lead to his passing on April 4^th making him only President for a month. His illness and death was said to be from many things from septic shock, pneumonia as well as just a cold that got out of hand. But one thing is for sure that he was President for the shortest time and with his passing John Tyler his Vice President stepped into the role.

Prez Rickard is a 18 year old kid who grew up in a small town that was known for having so many clocks throughout town but the downside was that they were all off on time, and after fixing them all and getting some press, he is selected and tricked into running for government offices by a corrupt politician as a youth movement is sweeping over America. While at first he was going to be used as a pawn, they soon learn that Prez has a pure heart and wants to do what’s right for America and takes on all threats to freedom and safety! While the old geezers of Washington do not like him, he is well loved by the people as they see his good heart and his want to do the right thing. He takes on all issues that are affecting Americans and even fills his cabinet with youthful minds to make a real change. His best friend is Eagle Free, a Native American teen that he meets in the woods and later makes him the head of the F.B.I. Over the years he has had four issues released and has appeared in many other comics over the decades and even has been seen alongside superheroes like Superman. Prez even had a re-launch comic mini series in 2015 and this time is a teenage girl named Beth Ross who is elected President via Twitter in 2036, this was only 6 issues and was meet with mostly positive reviews. While Prez Rickard is not a super iconic DC Comic character he is one that has left his mark in that Universe and also is truly a forgotten hhero.

And with it being July 4^th and us talking about Presidents I would also like to take a moment to chat about a classic toy series that I have been collecting and as of this update have all of them that have been released and I am talking about the Marx Presidents line that are mini plastic American Presidents from George Washington to Joe Biden that can be set on a base that looks like the steps to the Lincoln Monument and to me are super cool and remind me of my youth as my grandparents on my dad’s side had an old set of these in their basement for decades. The original Marx series ended with Richard Nixon but after that an awesome fan going by historic figures has kept it up and picked up finishing the line had has released Gerald Ford to Joe Biden and these are fantastic and fit in with the originals so well. And who knows maybe this year I will be able to get a new Marx president for my collection depending on the outcome of this year’s election. But I just wanted to share my love for these underrated and often over looked toy series and wanted to share this picture of my collection.

As you can see, Prez is a young hip teenage president who has a vision and that vision is for a peaceful loving America! And I am sure you can smell those burgers cooking on the grill so I think its time for us to get to the reviews! And I would like to thank Game Swap Kettering for having these comics in stock and making this American Hero update possible! And I would also like to say that this will be a first time read for me and I am very much looking forward to this as I am a fan of Joe Simon as he is the co-creator of Captain America and he will always have my respect. I need to also remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, lets’ see what kind of platforms and bills this young President has in store for us.

Prez # 1 ***
Released in 1973 Cover Price .20 DC Comics # 1 of 4

Prez Rickard is a teenager who is the head of the stock car club, drives a blue race car he calls Lollipop and lives in the small town of Steadfast, the downside to this town is that its filled with clocks that are all off and give the wrong times and this cause chaos in the town, and his mission is to fix all the clocks to make them on time. Meanwhile in the crime ridden city of Central City things are getting out of hand as water ways are polluted, people are being robbed, cops have been bribed and the teens are being beat up in the streets during protests about the corruption that is all being done by Boss Smiley who wants more power and goes to his cousin Misery Marko who is a ad genius who is going to help them find a teen candidate to run for senate that they can control. Once they read about Prez fixing the clocks they visit him at his home and trick him into being their candidate, and on the way back to the city Boss Smiley almost causes a forest fire by discarding a cigar and the fire is put out by a Native American teen names Eagle Free who has a bad feeling about the cars that just passed. Some time passes and Prez becomes a senator and on Boss Smiley’s word they hold a press conference that has Prez blowing up some forest to build a highway and that’s when Eagle Free and his animal friends to attack the construction crew and as Prez gives chase he is wised up by Eagle who informs him of the evils of Smiley, and they two even break into his office and find all the evidence. Prez is elected to the senate and then very quickly to President as the age is lowered from 35 to 18 and he wins running under the Flower Party. Once in office he makes Eagle Free the head of the F.B.I and has a vice president that they hide in shadow.

What a strange comic that comes from the mind of Joe Simon, one of the co-creators of Captain America that is all about the youth running the world as America has been taken over by greed, corruption thanks to big business and how both Democrats and Republicans have allowed it as they have became rich from doing so. Prez Rickard is a good kid who tries his best to help his small town by fixing their clocks, as well as entertains then with his race car club. It’s clear that while being conned into getting into Government he is tricked into doing a few bad things that hurts nature and makes rich people richer, but once he finds out the truth he does what he can to right the wrongs and gets elected to President really fast. Eagle Free is also a good kid who is close friends with animals, tries to protect nature and befriends Prez and becomes the head of the F.B.I allowing him to look into the evils of corruption. While Boss Smiley is a total scumbag who cares nothing about people and is all about money and keeping people down, he will use anyone to gain control and power and has no respect from animals and nature and would destroy it all in order to turn a profit. The comic has a part political message mixed with humor and they even break the fourth wall as our cast know they are in a comic book and even want you to guess who the Vice President is! I have no real guesses besides maybe John F. Kennedy or Clark Kent (Superman) maybe? The comic has an original feel to it and does its job at being entertaining, yet also makes you think of the state of our politics back then and even still to this day. And this far I like both Prez and Eagle Free as characters as they both seem like honest teens who care about doing the right thing and fighting the evils of Boss Smiley who is everything that is wrong with the world wrapped up in once character. The cover is really cool and eye catching and does a great job of capturing the fun nature of the comic, and the interior art by Jerry Grandebetti is great and captures a playful superhero meets kids comic look. Over all a good first issue with an interesting concept and I am looking forward to see what issue two has in store for me.

Prez # 2 **1/2
Released in 1973 Cover Price .20 DC Comics # 2 of 4

Prez and Eagle Free are traveling all around the world and trying to bring world peace, but every nation puts on a front that they are happy as violence and war is raging all around. Once back to the White House he has a meeting with Chessking a weird world-class player who won the gold in the Olympics against the Russians and is set for a press conference along side Prez, as the press interview goes on Chessking comes of as a cocky jerk. Meanwhile the Russian Coach Krudnik and the Chess Queen are mad at the remarks of Chessking and challenge him to a game of live action chess, and he accepts! The chess game takes place in a arena and in attendance is Prez and Eagle Free as well as many fans as well as the press, and during the match Krudnik zaps Chessking with a wave gun that drives him crazy and causes America to loose the match, and be taken away by the police. Prez wants Eagle Free to look into this madness, a few days latter Chess Pawn Knight robots that are really bombs start attacking the landmarks around Washington and all fingers are point at the Chessking as the man behind the attacks and Senator’s Ebeneezer and McNitty are calling for impeachment hearings as they want Prez out of office! Eagle Free and Prez head to the mansion of Chessking and soon find themselves under attack by pawns and once they escape and get inside the find that the Chessking is really a prisoner in his own home and that it has been Chess Queen who has been sending the bombs out, and they of course stop and arrest her and set the King free. In the end as Prez is in his office listing to a Senator yelling at him a sniper fires and hits someone in the office, and we end on that cliffhanger.

This second issue of Prez is a very strange and silly adventure that takes our teenage President on a journey to figure out who is using chess pawn knight robots as bombs to attack places all around D.C. and cause chaos and panic in America. Prez in this issues still shows that he is a good guy who cares about people and American Pride, but that he is also clueless to the wars and terror that is happening around the world. Prez also is clearly fearless and investigates and rushes into danger in order to save lives and solve crimes. Eagle Free who is the head of the F.B.I has his office outside in the woods as he does not trust his own employees, but he is clearly very wise and is the one smartest character in this comic series. We also find out that the vice president is Martha Rickard that is his mother and who worries about his health and still treats Prez as her son and not her boss. Cheesking is a greedy, ego driven slimy guy who is smart and great at chess but only plays in order to get money. And the Chees Queen and her Russian Chess team are silly villains, but they do manage to destroy some of our countries biggest landmarks like the Lincoln Memorial. This comic is super silly and while it is humorous there is a message to it all as many parts are laced with political statements that is trying to get us readers thinking about politics and the issues that can effect us all. I also must point out that this issue has a big Scooby-Doo vibe of who is the phantom person that is behind the attack on the monuments. I also have to say I was WAY off on my guess who the Vice President was and I have to say it’s a little lackluster that it’s his Mom. Now let me try and guess who the Sniper will be and I am saying it will be a masked man that is form a company that the government is no longer turning a blind eye to their terrible doings. The cover for this issue is ok and not all that eye-catching and I could see how if could have gotten lost on the spinner rack. The interior art is done by Jerry Grandenetti and is good stuff just like last issue. While not as great as the first issue this second issue still has lots of charm and makes me look forward to reading the third issue in the series.

Prez # 3 **1/2
Released in 1974 Cover Price .20 DC Comics # 3 of 4

The White House is under attack by the Minute Men who is lead by the great, great, great nephew of George Washington named Gregor Washington and they fire a shell through a window and inside is little person Baron Von Stomp who warns the president not to ban firearms, and Senator Fireside enters as well and agrees that the bill should not be signed. After the dust settles Eagle Free goes to look into the Minute Men as Prez now wants to sign in the gun banned more then ever. While at camp Gregor and his men are freezing as its winter and their supplies are super low and it’s clear he is a little crazy. Before Prez can sign the bill a sniper fires into the White House and everyone is being super quite on weather or not Prez is alive, and the nation awaits the news in sorrow. Gregor Washington and his Minute Men decide to attack the White House now that the fate of Prez is unknown and even take down the National Guard, while in the forest Prez is injured but alive and is meeting with Eagle Free and Generals about what’s the plan to stop the Minute Men as he does not want blood spilled. Prez challenges Gregor to a fight to the death to prevent any more innocent lives lost, and Gregor cheats and gets his man Hood a martial arts expert to dress as him to enter the fight. Prez wins the fight but the Army and Minute Men clash any way, in the end Hood knocks out Gregor as he was really a F.B.I Agent working for Eagle Free and this uprising comes to an end. In the end Prez and Eagle Free are hanging out in his office and wondering whom the assassin is that tried to take his life.

This third issue is lots of fun and has the old government war machine clashing with the 70’s war machine and tackles the subject of does talking win wars or does weapons win them. The Prez is anti guns in this issues and wants to sign a bill that makes owning and selling them off limits, but soon has to grow as a person and realize that guns as defense are important and that cool words and catch phrases only get you so far. He is also once more shown to be brave as he fist fights a bigger opponent in order to stop a war and save lives, as well is slightly in fear as a unknown person wants him dead! Eagle Free is once more the smart one as he has a spy Agent Hood join the other side and stage it that he would be the one that fights the Prez. The Assassin is still unknown and does hit Prez with a bullet, and who knows at this point if we ever will find out their identity. Gregor Washington who is a distant relative to the 1^st American President George Washington is my favorite bad guy this far as he is clearly crazy and wants to dress and act like his ancestor! Gregor is so nuts that he wants to have war with America with his Minute Men and even has wooden teeth! The fact that this silly comic series shows war and clearly has people dying is crazy and not fitting for the normal mood of this series, and yet I love this more harsh reality element. The pacing of this issue is a little weird and some elements seem very disjointed and the story is kind of all over the place. I would say that this cover is good and eye catching and interior art by Jerry Grandenetti is great as always. Over all another solid issue in this series with hands down the silliest and coolest bad guy we have meet this far in the Prez universe is Gregor Washington! Lets see what the fourth and final issue has in store for us.

Prez # 4 **1/2
Released in 1974 Cover Price .20 DC Comics # 4 of 4

Prez and Eagle Free are in Moravia and have helped them build a canal that helps water their crops and will help them grow as a nation. Once back at the White House the Prez finds out that China is not a happy about the help to Moravia and late that night a helicopter shaped like a bat lands at the White House and a werewolf named Ambassador Wolfman comes out and his attacked by the secret service, and the fight lasts all night and finally Wolfman tells Prez he is here for business as he represents Count Dracula and the people of Transylvania and they are really mad over the canal as its stealing water from them and they want it dismantles, Prez refuses and Wolfman alerts them that this means war as he storms out. That night as Prez goes to bed for the night a tiny coffin that was hidden in the White House opens and a legless Count Dracula comes out from it on a rolling board and tries to attack Prez, who is saved by Eagle Free. As Count Dracula escapes into the night Prez knows that this really does mean war and he tells Congress his plan and they think the youngster has lost his mind talking about Vampires. While in the war room with the Army word gets to them that Count Dracula and Ambassador Wolfman are on their way with a plane full of bats with rabies! Eagle Free has an idea and he and Prez head to the woods and Eagle tells him that his bird friends are going to go on a suicide mission and bring the plane down, and they do just that many birds fly into the planes engine and causes it to crash into the ocean and this also brings an end to Count Dracula and Ambassador Wolfman who were on board. And after the threat of the rabid bats is over the drama for Prez and the nation starting to turn on him is one the horizon.

This fourth issue brings the strange world of Prez and adds a little bit of horror to the mix to make a very strange issue that oddly brings the end of the series. It’s very clear that this issue was not the planned last as the issue ends on a cliffhanger of Prez having a backlash over his issue of war declaration as well as talks of vampires. The plot of this issue is very silly and lots of fun and Prez and Eagle Free make enemies of Count Dracula and his Wolfman by helping a near by nation that takes away the drinking supply of the nation of Vampires, and it’s the Americans birds that give their lives in order to stop a rabies attack on America. Prez who is young thinks that he can help everyone in the world and does not really realize when you have this kind of power one action of friendship could cause equal amounts of enemies. And Prez looses his cool when an attempt at his life is made and he goes straight into war mode and wants to destroy those who wish him dead. I also like that because of his brash young ideas and emotions that both the young and old in America are starting to question if young eighteen year olds should be the President. Eagle Free the young Native American teenager who is also the head of the F.B.I is the best character in the series and is the one who saves Prez from the vampire attack and is also the one who talks his bird friends into given their lives in order to stop an attack on Washington. Count Dracula is angry, legless and wants to fight a war using bats that have rabies to infect American people, and this is all due to his nations drink supply being cut off. Dracula also has a werewolf as his nations Ambassador. This is a very strange series and Joe Simon does a great job of bringing in comedy as well as messages that make you think about the topics at hand, I also think that his strange humor was a perfect fit for this political comic in the 70’s. It’s a shame that the comic series came to an end with no real closing and final issue leaves all us readers on a cliffhanger. And who would ever think that a comic about politics and a fake American President would be so entertaining! The cover for this issue is ok and looks more like a Horror Comic then a comedy one and the interior art by Jerry Grandenetti is fantastic and I love the way he draws Dracula. So if you like 70’s Comics, Weird Comedy, Count Dracula, DC Comics, American Politics, Joe Simon’s Writing and Good Reads then check out Prez as its all of the above and more. But check out the artwork below to see the style of Grandenetti and see if you like his Dracula as much as I do.

So as you can see, Prez is an American Hero in his own way as he fixed a town’s clocks, helped solve crimes and even defeated Count Dracula all to help save America! But speaking of America I am sure all you friends and readers are gearing up to head to fireworks and celebrate America’s Independence so I think its time for me to wrap up this America Hero update so we can all enjoy this holiday, and I want to think you all for spending a part of your Fourth with me here on Rotten Ink and I hope that you all enjoy these American Hero updates and they help make your holiday even more special! And before we go head our separate ways, I would like to let you know that our next update will be one that celebrates the Monster Bash Convention and will be about Creepshow, the amazing film that had George Romero teaming with Stephen King! So until next time, read a DC Comic or three, watch a movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next update, and let’s hope we don’t get any meteor sh** on us!

Star Trek The End Of The Kirk Generation

Posted on January 13, 2024 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. This update is something very special as it will be the final update about the Star Trek films that featured members of the original cast, and of course, the film is Star Trek: Generations that was released in 1994 and featured Captain Kirk along with a few other members of his crew in small rolls as they passed the silver screen torch to Captain Picard and the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I have had a very fun time covering these adaptations of the Star Trek films as they were ones I grew up watching and they kept Captain Kirk and his crew alive in media as their show was long over with on TV. So I think it’s time that we come aboard the Enterprise and set off with the final film adventure of Captain Kirk as this is truly the end of the Original Star Trek cast updates here at Rotten Ink, and I hope that you readers enjoy it.

Okay before we get to deep into this update, I want to also now take a brief moment to introduce the crew that made up “Star Trek: The Next Generation” as they are the main focus of this film as well as comic adaptation. First up is Captain Jean-Luc Picard, a very smart and strategic Captain who comes off cold at times but is truly a caring person. He is played by Patrick Stewart. Commander William T. Riker is second in command on the Enterprise; he as well is very smart, is a ladies man and has a sly attitude. He is played by Jonathan Frakes. Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge is the ship’s chief engineer and is blind and must use a visor to see. He is played by LeVar Burton. Lieutenant Worf is the ship’s chief of security and is a Klingon and is the muscle of the crew. He is played by Michael Dorn. Commander Data is the operations officer and is an android that battles with wanting to be more human. He is played by Brent Spiner. Lieutenant Deanna Troi is the ship’s counselor. She is half human and half Betazoid and is the love interest of Riker. She is played by Marina Sirtis. Doctor Beverly Crusher is the ship’s chief medical officer and semi love interest for Picard, and she is played by Gates McFadden. Other returning characters include Wesley Crusher, the annoying son and acting ensign for the Enterprise played by Wil Wheaton. Guinan, the ship’s bartender and advice giver played by Whoopi Goldberg. Lieutenant Tasha Yar was the original chief and security before the character was killed and she was played by Denise Crosby. Miles O’Brien was the ship’s conn officer and transporter chief; he would be later transferred to the Deep Space Nine base and he was played by Colm Meaney. And lastly Doctor Katherine Pulaski who was the ships doctor for a short time when Crusher was away, and she was played by Diana Muldaur. This is just a really fast crash course of the crew of the USS Enterprise-D as to really dive into each crew member would be a massive update of its own.

So now that we have briefly talked about the crew, let’s now take a look at the 7^th film in the Star Trek movie series and the final movie voyage for the Original Star Trek cast. Like always, I will be taking the film’s plot from our friends at IMDB and then I will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts about the film. So if you are ready, let’s beam up to the Enterprise and take a look at Generations.

Star Trek: Generations (1994)

“With the help of long presumed dead Captain Kirk, Captain Picard must stop a deranged scientist willing to murder on a planetary scale in order to enter a space matrix.”

The films starting the Original Star Trek cast were coming to an end due to them all getting older as well as the box office dropping for them, but on TV, Star Trek: The Next Generation was a big hit and fans wanted to see Captain Picard and his crew on the big screen and so did Paramount Pictures and plans began to make a film staring them in production. Paramount Pictures ended up having Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore write the screenplay for the film as they both were working on Star Trek: The Next Generation at the time and were the perfect pair to handle this task. And when the story was coming about, the studio had some requests as well: the film had to have a funny Data subplot, that the film have an epic bad guy and that the original cast only appears shortly at the start of the film with Captain Kirk being the one that would come back in the end as well. The film’s plot went through many different ideas that also included having at one point a member of The Next Generation Crew dying, and one of the early ideas would have had Captain Kirk and Captain Picard along with their crews at odds with each other and having to battle one another with one Captain having to die…this would have been an epic film and would have really ruffled the feathers of many Trekkies as it’s clear that Kirk would have lost as Paramount wanted Picard and crew to be the new stars of the films. But after going back and fourth, the script was locked and a budget of around $35million was given, with David Carson coming on to direct after Leonard Nimoy turned it down. The cast of Star Trek The Next Generation Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Marina Sirtis and Whoopi Goldberg made up the main cast with Malcolm McDowell being cast as the main villain named Soran and Jacqueline Kim playing Demora Sulu the daughter of Hikaru Sulu a crewmember of Enterprise-B. The original cast brought in was William Shatner playing Kirk and James Doohan returned as Scotty with Walter Koenig once more as Chekov. The filming took place toward the end of Star Trek The Next Generation’s run on TV, and this allowed them to rough up the set more as the set was planned for demolish to make way for Star Trek Voyager that was on its way to TV. Once done the film was scored by Dennis McCarthy who worked on the music for such shows as MacGyver, Dynasty and V to name a few and also did the score for the 1980 Bigfoot Horror Film called Night Of The Demon. The film would be released in theaters on November 18, 1994 and was meet with good reviews from critics and fans as many liked that blending of the Original Cast with that of the Next Generation…plus Trekkies loved seeing Captain Picard with Captain Kirk fighting to save the Universe. The film ended up making over $118million worldwide and would rank at # 15 for the year. The film would also beat out such other films as Ace Ventura Pet Detective, Stargate, Wolf, Beverly Hills Cop III, The Shadow, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare to name a few. The film would also be a big hit when released on home media and would gain even more of a fan base.

When Star Trek Generations was first announced I was both excited and also a little sad as this was clearly the sign that Captain Kirk and the original crew’s film series was truly at an end and that the films were now in the hands of Picard and his crew. Now keep in mind, I grew up a big fan of the original series thatI can remember watching in reruns with my Dad and Brother, but I also have great memories of watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on a small black and white portable TV I had when I was a kid, as the show would air before reruns of Tales From The Crypt on FOX. Many critics and even some fans for years had been mocking the age of the original cast and this became more and more of a chatter and it was clear that the box office drop of the films as well as the age chatter was sealing the fate of Captain Kirk and his crew…and this was gearing up to be their final adventure on the big screen. In 1994, I was super busy at school and was also at this point moved to a new school so I was not able to see the film in the theater and had to wait for the film to be released on home media and rented it from the local small video store and can remember enjoying it as I liked that the film made Captain Kirk the hero in the past as well as the future and they worked around any limitations that William Shatner had and delivered one heck of an entertaining film and a fitting send off for Captain Kirk. While I enjoyed the film, I also have to say that I was a little disappointed that Spock, McCoy, Sulu and Uhura did not appear in this film as it would have been great to have seen them all together that one last time. The film is one I would end up buying on VHS and later would upgrade to DVD and is one I have watched at least every three years or so. I will say that also when this film was released in 1994 it had a buzz going as the Trekkies I knew seemed to be really excited about Captain Picard being the new focus of the films, and for me while I was looking forward to seeing Picard, I cannot stress just how sad it was to see Kirk go away. Over all I am a fan of Star Trek: Generations and have to say that it was a nice send off for the original cast even though not all of them appeared in the film. I will get more into my thoughts in the review of the comic so be prepared for that.

Like all Star Trek films that came before it, Star Trek: Generations had a great amount of cool merchandise released for fans to collect. Such things as books, magazines, posters, home media, toys, model kits, trading cards, shirts, soundtrack, stickers, buttons, pins, comic book and so much more! And of course over the years I have had many of these things in my collection as of course I have the comic book, the film on VHS and DVD, the soundtrack on CD, action figures and I had some of the trading cards. So if you are a big fan of Star Trek: Generations, make sure to track down some of this merchandise as they are worth having if you are a collector.

So as you can see, Star Trek: Generations was Paramount’s attempt to try and breath new life into the feature length film series for Star Trek and you can tell that while they cheaped out on the budget, they really did want these Star Trek films to continue with this new cast. Now for those wondering, Juliet has reviewed this comic before on her big update about Star Trek: The Next Generation and if you have not read it, make sure to do so here. I would like to thank Bell, Book And Comic for having this comic in stock and making this update possible, and I would also like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So with that, let’s head to the bridge and see how Captain Picard and Captain Kirk will save the galaxy this time.

Star Trek: Generations # 1 ***
Released in 1994 Cover Price $3.95 DC Comics # 1 of 1

Captain Kirk has jumped from a ship and as he lands he meets up with Scotty and Chekov and the three the next day the three are at a press event for the new Enterprise and meet the new Captain named Harriman as well as Demora Sulu, the daughter of Hikaru Sulu who is a member of the crew. And as the Enterprise heads off into space they get a distress call from The Lakul, a ship holding refugees and among these refugees is Guinan and Soran who are among those able to be saved and beamed aboard, but Soran seems to want to go back to the ship that is being ripped apart by time…and worse the Enterprise is being torn to shreds, but Captain Kirk comes up with a plan and saves everyone on board besides himself. Now 78 years later, the Enterprise is run by Captain Picard and he and his crew are on the Holodeck as they are promoting Worf and doing so via a classic navel way, but the fun is cut short when they get a distress call and find Soran as one of the survivors who informs them that the attacks was so quick and he has no clue who did it. Meanwhile the android Data is having an Emotion Chip implanted in order to understand humans better and gets the help of La Forge to install it. Once more Soran is wanting to head back to the destroyed lab ship and begs Captain Picard to let him return to it. Meanwhile the crew have discovered that Trilithium might have been used to blow up the ship, and when Data and La Forge are on the wreckage looking for it they are attacked by Soran. Picard seems very distracted and his crew has noticed and Counselor Troy speaks to him and learns that his brother and nephew have died in a fire and he is now thinking of death and legacy. But things quickly turn deadly as Soran has caused a Level 12 wave that will destroy everything in its path and as Worf and Riker beam down to the destroyed lab and are attacked by Soran who has La Forge hostage. We learn that Soran is working with the Klingons to create a weapon of mass destruction and as Picard learns about Soran from Guinan as well as a place called the Nexus that once you enter you do not want to leave as well as an event called The Ribbon that will rip through the galaxy. Meanwhile Soran is forcing La Forge to tell him all that the Enterprise knows. Picard and Data figure out that Soran wants to use The Ribbon in order to get back to the Nexus but this will also cause another shockwave that will kill nearby planets and they have to stop this and head to the projected planet that the event will hit. At the planet The Enterprise and The Klingons are at a standoff as Soran and Picard are on the planet having talks to try and stop this destruction as La Forge returns to the Enterprise and later the Enterprise must destroy the Klingon Bird Of Prey but they also suffer some serious damage and must split the ship in order to save lives and they crash to the planet below banged up but alive. Meanwhile Soran is able to set his plan in motion and Picard is taken into the Nexus and there he has a family of his own and they are celebrating Christmas together, but while there he sees Guinan who breaks the Nexus’s hold on Picard who ends up finding Captain Kirk and talks him into leaving the Nexus as well to stop Soran and close the Nexus for good. Captain Kirk and Captain Picard do just that and stop Soran as well as The Nexus opening via The Ribbon…but Kirk passes away being the hero. In the end the Enterpirse is gone but Picard and his crew live on and will get a new ship to have more adventures.

I have to say it first thing DC Comics and the creators of this adaptation did a great job of bringing this film to comic pages and keep the story going fast and showcase all the main characters from the cast. The plot has Picard and his crew responding to a distress call at a starship lab only to pick up a survivor who is really a madman and wants to use a natural solar event as well as a powerful bomb to open a path to another dimension, but in order to do this millions of people will die! And it’s up to Captain Picard and his crew to stop it as well as find Captain Kirk who was lost in the other dimension for over 70 years! The issues villain is Soran a brilliant scientist who has turned mad after his family was killed by The Borg and after finding a place called The Nexus were time does not matter he is willing to kill millions to return to it after being taken away from it via Captain Kirk in the past. He is cold very cold and does not care who he has to kill to get what he wants and is even willing to work with the Klingons by building them a weapon of mass destruction in order to get to his destination. The Klingons this time around are lead by The Duras Sisters who want to cause war and bring the Klingons back to their glory of being feared around the galaxy. Captain Picard is a great leader to his crew, but his a little shaken when he learns that his brother and nephew have died in a fire and this causes him to question death and how we all die, but he like always fights through his mental struggle and is able to save millions of lives with his quick thinking. The rest of the crew as well do what they can to help stop this massacre as well as help Picard, and Data himself has some major issues when his Emotion Chip goes wrong and causes him to have breakdowns and overloads with feelings. The true hero of this story is Captain Kirk who in the past saves many lives from an explosion even though he was retired from Starfleet, and his heroic act causes him to be stuck in the Nexus for over 70 years and once talked out of the Nexus by Picard he ends up given his life to stop the explosion…showing once more that Kirk is the best Captain. The comic also features Scotty and Chekov as they appear in the past events along side Kirk and it was also cool to see the daughter of Sulu. The cover is very eye catching for fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation as it showcases Picard and his crew and the interior artwork for this issue is really good and captures the likeness of the actors who played these characters and the artist behind it was Gordon Purcell. To sum it up this comic adaptation is very well done and does the film justice. Checkout the art bellow to see the style used by Purcell.

Star Trek: Generations is truly the passing of the torch from one crew to another and after this film Captain Picard and his crew would have three more films before they would end up being replaced with a reboot series that would feature a younger version of Kirk, Spock and McCoy. And I am not sure what Rotten Ink has in store for the future when it comes to Star Trek as I might end up covering the Next Generation movie series and the comic adaptations of them or I might even just cover the comics based on Deep Space Nine and Voyager, or does the Enterprise dock for good here at Rotten Ink…but only time will tell really on what I choose to do. But one thing is for sure is that I had a blast covering all these Star Trek films as they were apart of my childhood and it was fun revisiting not only the films but also the memories of the films and re-reading the comics. Our next update will take us away from space and will instead take us to the world of Horror as we take a look at The Screaming Skull. So until next time read a comic or three, watch a Star Trek film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you soon as I am sure this skull has lots to scream about!

DC Horror Showcase: Man-Bat

Posted on May 12, 2023 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. For years now we have taken a look at several Marvel horror characters and series like The Golem, Living Mummy, Dead Of Night and The Zombie up to this point, and I think that it’s time that we also showcase some of the characters that make up DC horror! Now DC horror is not as deep as Marvel’s, and while they have such titles as House Of Mystery and Swamp Thing, they have always mostly focused on their superhero comic lines like Batman and Superman with even many of the horror titles have that hero touch. One of those horror superheroes is the first topic for this DC Horror update, and of course it will be Man-Bat, that pain in the side of Batman who has been bad as well as good and has entertained comic readers for decades. So sit back, be ready to be scared and yet also pumped as this bat creature man is ready to deliver a heroic spooky good time.

Dr. Kirk Langstorm is a Chiropterologist who was working on a serum that would enhance humans senses like a bat’s sonar, and when using it on himself as a test, he turns into a bat creature that goes on rampages throughout Gotham City and has to clash with Batman as well as fellow superheroes over the years like Superman, Robin and Hawkman. From time to time Man-Bat would also find himself on the side of good and not be the monster the world sees him as but as a monster with the brain of the brilliant doctor. Man-Bat even has found himself discovering the Batcave and clashing with Batman in his own base and giving him a tough fight several times. By mistake, Man-Bat has infected his wife with the serum curse and turned her into She-Bat and once when losing control he believed that he killed his family, only for them to have survived. Man-Bat is dangerous and can fly and use his claws to rip flesh and can use his super sonar hearing to track his prey. He is also stronger than a normal man and is also super fast in speed making him a truly monstrous foe.

Man-Bat was created in 1970 and first appeared in Detective Comics # 400 with Julius Schwartz being his concept creator and Neal Adams being the artist to bring him to life on the comic pages. He was originally a villain for Batman and over the years would also have runs as a good guy helping Batman as well as other heroes and would even make appearances in DC Comics Presents teaming with Superman. At one time, he was a member of the Secret Society Of Super Villains and over the years has gotten his own comic mini series. He has also made the leap from comics to cartoons appearing in episodes of “Batman The Animated Series”, “Batman Beyond” and “Justice League Unlimited” but only in mention on the latter. He would also be in a few video games, mostly in the DC Lego series, and had many toys made of him from companies like Kenner and Mattel. And while Man-Bat never gained the following that other Batman villains did, namely The Joker, Catwoman, The Riddler, Two-Face and Penguin, he does have a cult following along the likes of Killer Croc, Killer Moth and Black Mask. He was always one of my favorites growing up as he looked cool and always seemed to be a threat to Batman, in fact he reminded me of the Lizard from the Marvel Comics series Spider-Man as many of the times both Batman and Spidey had to defeat their foes back to normal using science and both baddies are the way they are due to science. Say what you will, but if your read DC Comics and like your characters with a dash of horror then you know just how cool Man-Bat is!

Over the years Man-Bat has had his fair share of very cool figures come out and allow fans to have him go on adventures as well as fight the likes of Batman, Superman and even Killer Croc if they want to. And while not a ton of figures have been made of Man-Bat, the ones that have been are pretty cool stuff! Man-Bat has also graced other merchandise like posters, trading cards, shirts, stickers, toys and video games. While Man-Bat is a very cool looking character, he oddly does not get much merchandise and barely makes appearances in the games, movies and cartoons…I mean it would be awesome to see him in a future live action Batman film.

The Kenner Super Powers Collection was super popular with my brother and I growing up as we would collect all the ones we could get our hands on. Four figures I can remember getting the most as a kid were Superman, The Joke, Hawkman and Robin as they were some of my favorites but I also had The Flash, Aquaman, Penguin and Samurai. My brothers had Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Lex Luthor, Darkseid, Cyclorton and Steppenwolf. So as you can see, we had almost all of them. But sadly Kenner would pull the plug on the Super Powers Collection line before a series four could be released and over the years fans have uncovered the names that would have made up that series including Swamp Thing, Batgirl, Creeper, Catwoman, Blue Devil, Supergirl, Vigilante and many more, but most importantly on that list of planned figures was Man-Bat! That’s right, we almost got a Man-Bat figure by Kenner and that would have been awesome and would have been one that my brother and I would have harassed our parents to get for us as we both liked the character, and he would have been a great villain for our Batman and Robin Super Powers to have fought with. And with retro toy lines coming back I wish that Hasbro, who now owns Kenner, would get the DC Comics toy license once more and bring this series back and make them look just like they did back in the 80’s and that they would do the figures that were planned in the series that never got past the prototype and sketch phase and that would include Man-Bat…but sadly I think this will never happen.

Well now that we have taken a look at Man-Bat’s character and his history in comics and merchandise, I think that its time for us to get to the review part of this update. The Man-Bat series I chose to cover is the 1^st series that was released in 1975 and only lasted for two issues. I chose this series as I am a fan of the older comics from DC and plus these are the ones I remember owning and reading as a kid and would like to see if they hold up. I want to thank Bell, Book And Comic for having these issues in stock and making this update possible and I want to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, the entertainment value and the art and story. So if you are ready, let’s see what Man-Bat has in store for us, will it be scary or will it be superhero like?

Man-Bat # 1 **1/2
Released in 1975 Cover Price .25 DC Comics #1 of 2

Baron Tyme uses magic in order to turn Francine Langstorm into She-Bat with a mission to kill someone in Gotham City, and to his horror, Kirk watches as his wife flies away with a mission of murder on her mind. Kirk takes the serum and turns into Man-Bat as he needs to stop his wife from murdering a man, and while he looks for her, illusions created by Baron Tyme slow him down, but he is able to stop her just in time as she had found her prey. Man-Bat knocks out She-Bat and starts talking to the man who is Professor Raymond Arthur who works for a college and one of his co-workers is indeed Baron Tyme, but before he can get any more information to Man-Bat he is killed by She-Bat! The news breaks and now Batman is aware of the murder of Professor Arthur and hits the streets to find Man-Bat as it was clear that it was committed by a bat and he wants to stop him. Meanwhile Man-Bat uses the last of his powerful serum to turn She-Bat back into Francine, and as she changes back, someone cuts the lights and uses a sonar noise to confuse Man-Bat. It was Batman who set the trap and after a struggle, the two end up talking and Man-Bat alerts Batman that someone is using mind control on She-Bat and caused her to murder. Batman stays with Francine as Man-Bat heads to the college and comes face to face with Baron Tyme who uses illusions to keep our hero captive. Tyme then tells him that the murders are being done in order to please a demon and that he is going to also offer Man-Bat as well, but Man-Bat uses his low sonar sound to hurt the ears of Baron Tyme who ends up backing into an open flame and is caught on fire. As Man-Bat flies away, he wonders if his foes words of demons are true or if he was just a master of trickery who could use his hypnotizing ways to trick minds and mastermind murders.

This first issue of Man-Bat has more elements of superhero than horror but is still a very good read that features our creature hero on a quest to break a mind hold that a magical villain has on his wife, and with this mind hold he has her committing murder that gets the attention of Batman who gets involved. Man-Bat is in control and retains his smarts and is very angry that someone is using his ladylove as well as put doubt in the mind of Batman who knew that one of them had to be the ones committing the crimes. Man-Bat does his best to try and stop the super villains as well as at least one of the murders. She-Bat is out of control for most of the issue as she has a bloodlust and the want to kill and has to be knocked out in order to break those evil urges, and try to free her mind of these commands. Batman is around but besides having a brief fight with Man-Bat and staying with a subdued She-Bat he is not really a major player to our story. Baron Tyme is a man who is into black magic and can use it to control minds as well as create very realistic illusions, and he is doing all of this in order to send murdered souls to a demon that he has made a deal with. And while Baron Tyme is an interesting 70’s style comic book super villain, his motives are a little unclear and the way he is beaten in the end is a little rushed. But being set on fire and left for dead by the book’s hero does leave it open that his death could be one of his illusions so who knows maybe he will return in the next issue. The cover is pretty cool and eye catching as it shows not only Man-Bat but they also of course showcased Batman. The interior art is awesome as it is done by comic artist icon Steve Ditko! Over all this is a good read that did its best to try and make Man-Bat a hero when we all know he makes a better bad guy. With that, let’s see what the second and last issue in this series has in store for us.

Man-Bat # 2 **1/2
Released in 1976 Cover Price .25 DC Comics #2 of 2

Man-Bat is flying around Chicago on a windy day when he is attacked by unknown person who has a jet pack and clearly has been hired to take down Man-Bat, but for what reason is unknown. The two fight in the sky for a few moments and Man-Bat decides to dive into a river and take the serum to turn back into his human self Kirk and swims ashore and takes a taxi home confused on why he was attacked. Once Kirk gets home he gets the surprise of his life as his apartment is filled with his friends as well as his sister who are welcoming him back home to Chicago as he and Francine have moved back to his home city. But Kirk’s nerves go crazy when he finds Francine in her room fighting off not turning into She-Bat and outside on the balcony is his unknown attacker. So Kirk slips away and takes the serum and turns back into Man-Bat, but the attacker has a weird power that he can see using his fingers and once more he and Man-Bat start fighting in the sky and the attacker sprays weird sticky latex in the face of Man-Bat who ends up knocking out the attacker by causing pain to his fingers. While Man-Bat gets the sticky goo off his face he figures out that his attacker is really The 10 Eyed Man a villain from Gotham who was taken out of jail by the CLA group and hired to kill him! But as The 10 Eyed Man wakes back up he sets a bomb that he hopes will allow him to capture Man-Bat instead the bomb blows up and blinds the The 10 Eyed Man who falls off the building to his death. In the end Man-Bat wonders why the CLA wants him dead and then remembers he has to return to his apartment for the party.

This second and final issue of Man-Bat is an okay superhero comic mixed with a dash of horror and continues Man-Bat trying to cure She-Bat of her vampiric ways but finds himself being hunted down by The 10 Eyed Man who was hired by a group called the CLA and this causes Man-Bat drama and action. Man-Bat uses his brilliant mind to try and outsmart and outstep his attacker and in the end does so and it leads to the death of the attacker and no real questions answered, and while Man-Bat is strong and skilled his weaknesses do make him on the defense more then the offense. And that’s a shame as I would have liked to have seen Man-Bat going crazy and allow the animal side of him to go off, like the lost control version of Man-Bat who wanted to shred The 10 Eyed Man! Speaking of The 10 Eyed Man he is a very cheesy villain who uses his fingers to see and has to have his hands out in order to see and fight, and as you would guess this makes him super easy to beat up as take away his finger eyes and he is a mess and will loose. I am not sure if I like that Man-Bat is no longer in Gotham City and is now located in Chicago as to me the character just don’t fit in the Windy City. The big story arch that is showcased in this issue is the CLA getting super villains out of trouble and sending them to attack and capture Man-Bat and it’s a shame as the series had to have been such a poor seller that this story just kind of ends here with only two issues being released. I think that DC should not have made the comic series a superhero book and really should have played off the Horror aspects of Man-Bat as by making him just another hero it just was lost in the shuffle of late 70’s main company Superhero comics that flooded the market. The cover is very cool and eye catching and looks like a Horror Comic and the interior art by Pablo Marcos is really great and I like the way he draws Man-Bat as he does capture the monster aspect of the character. It’s a shame that this series did not last that long cause I do think it had potential to become a very entertaining series, but fate did not have it in the cards to have Man-Bat become a long running series. Check out the art below to see they style of art used in this two issue run.

While Man-Bat’s first solo series was more superhero than fright it was still a fun read and really did live up to my memories of reading them as a youngster. And yes before we move on I will say I do wish that DC would have played more on the horror aspect, but I would guess they got cold feet and knew that superheroes were what sold for them more. But with that our first look at DC Horror has came to an end. For our next update, we will be heading back to the world of Pro Wrestling and back to the Rotten Ink Arena as we will be talking Mr. Wrestling II! So until next time, read a DC Comic or three, watch a horror film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! And this next update is truly about a Wrestling Legend.

Star Trek VI: The Rotten DC Country

Posted on January 13, 2023 by bloodlinematt

As you can see, you have found yourself on Rotten Ink and on another trip down memory lane with the crew of the USS Enterprise as this time around we will be talking about Star Trek VI that has Captain Kirk and his crew once more at odds with Klingons when he is framed for the murder of a high ranking Klingon. And like most of the past films in the series, DC Comics was the company who took up the task of making the adaptation. This sixth film has an interesting back story of cheap budget, anniversary and even rumors of a star taking naughty photos on the set, so with those teasers lets get to the bridge and take flight through space with Captain Kirk and his crew as we try and beat a murder wrap and find that undiscovered country.

So let’s take a few moments and talk about the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. I will be taking the films write up from our pals at IMDB, and then I will talk about the films production as well as a little about my thoughts on the film. So let’s jump to warp speed and talk part six.

Star Trek VI: Undiscovered Country (1991)

“On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace.”

The fifth film in the series was a disappointment at the box office for Paramount Pictures and the future of the Star Trek films was on shaky ground, but they knew that they needed to do something as the series 25^th Anniversary was coming up and they wanted to do something to celebrate it but also did not want to spend a lot of money on a new film. And then ideas and scripts started to be pitched and considered with the first one being about The Starfleet Academy and would feature younger versions of Kirk, Spock and other characters from the classic series and would have focused mostly on Doctor McCoy who would be telling the story of how they all meet to recruits at the academy. And this cool idea was viewed very negatively by most of the original cast, heads at Paramount and even Gene Roddenberry himself and this caused Harve Bennett to be fired from Star Trek projects. And during this time even Walter Koening tried to create a new script that would have Starfleet and the Romulans teaming up to go to war with the Klingons and would see almost all the cast die in the end besides Spock and McCoy…this as well was not green lighted nor was an idea for the original cast to meet the cast of Star Trek The Next Generation. And it was an idea by Leonard Nimoy and the screenplay by director Nicholas Meyer that ended up being the bases for the sixth film in the series.

After the screenplay was locked Paramount gave the film the small budget of only $27million and filming started April 16, 1991 and needed to wrap on September 27, 1991 as Paramount wanted the film in theaters in December for a Holiday release. And during filming many coast cutting measures was used to keep the film in the given budget and they even filmed some parts at the iconic Bronson Canyon in California that has been the set for many iconic TV Shows and Movies over the years including such Horror and Sci-Fi films as “White Zombie (1932)”, “The Vampire Bat (1933)”. “Robot Monster (1953)”, “Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956)”, “Return Of Dracula (1958)”, “Equinox (1970)” and “Army Of Darkness (1992)” to name a very small few. I should also note that many classic heroes films, shows and serials has been shot here as well like Superman, Batman. Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon and Captain Marvel. The film would be scored by Cliff Eidelman and it would be released in theaters of December 6, 1991 and was meet with mostly positive reviews from critics as well as fans. But one sad thing is that Gene Roddenberry would pass away on October 24, 1991 at the age of 70 from heart failure and never got to see the film released. Star Trek VI would go on to bring in $96,888,996.00 worldwide and be the # 15 top grossing films in 1991 beating out such films as JFK, What About Bob?. Boyz In The Hood, The Rocketeer, Thelma & Louise, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, People Under The Stairs, Child’s Play 3, Ernest Scared Stupid, Drop Dead Fred and Suburban Commando to name a few. Over the years this film is also considered one of the best in the Original Cast Star Trek films and is still talked about and respected to this day. And I can see why I have always liked this film and have good memories once more of seeing the film in school and enjoying it for all the strange moments of the prison and the aliens that made it up. This film is also iconic for me as it marks the final film that features the classic crew all together and truly marks the end of a era of Science Fiction characters for me as while I like the reboots of Star Trek no once can replace these actors in those roles.

Star Trek VI is such a fun film and from the first time I seen it via renting it on VHS when released I was a fan as I felt that it was a great story that once more pitted Captain Kirk against the Klingons and really built up the bond and friendship between Kirk and McCoy. While the cast was getting older it was awesome to see the character they played as well grow as well as be promoted and yet all still remain friends and stick by each other during the ups and downs. It’s crazy to thank that this film is the last to feature all of the original cast together and while it’s not my favorite film in the series I feel that it was a fun one to go out on as it brings Captain Kirk and the Klingons back together and a healing moment happens for Kirk. I also think that casting David Warner as the Klingon High Council member Gorkon was very cool as I knew him from the films Tron, The Omen, Nightwing, Time Bandits, Waxwork and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret Of The Ooze and seeing him as a Klingon was fun. And growing up I owned this film on VHS and later DVD, I also had the paperback and comic adaptations as well as the films score on CD. I need to also point out that while they cut the films budget very low the film does not feel cheap, just a little less polished than the other films in the series. If you have not seen this film and enjoy Classic Star Trek make sure to give this one a watch.

Like all Star Trek films the merchandise machine was in full effect as they wanted to make a little extra money off it just in case if the box office numbers needed help. And besides the comic and of course home media release you also got the soundtrack, magazines, toys, novel, posters and shirts and like all other Star Trek movie merchandise that came before it fans flocked to buy it all up. And over the years I have had and have much of this as I still own the film on DVD as well as many of the toys, the novel and soundtrack. And at one point I had a few magazines featuring the film. I must say I do really like the classic Playmates Star Trek toys as they were well done for the time and covered all eras of the classic series and films. So if you are a fan of Star Trek VI, make sure to track down some of its merchandise for your collection.

Ok before we move onto the comic review part of this Star Trek themed update we need to talk about the fact that actress Kim Cattrall and her character Valeris are super attractive in this film I mean Kim was already a 80’s Actress Sex Symbol with her roles in such films as Police Academy, Big Trouble In Little China, Mannequin and Honeymoon Academy to name a few all adding to movie goers noticing her beauty. And when she took a roll in the then newest Star Trek film the world of Sci-Fi started to really take notice of her looks and her acting talent. And man did she look great as a Vulcan and in a Star Fleet Office uniform! And come on any of you fellow Trekkies out there know just how great it is to see an attractive woman in a Trek uniform. Rumor has it that Leonard Nimoy was not a fan of Kim’s on set as he thought she was driven by ego and again just a rumor is that she and her boyfriend at the time took sexy pictures of herself on the USS Enterprise set and this was the final straw for Nimoy who caught her doing so and forced them to destroy the pictures and made it that she would never work on a Star Trek project again…but again this was all just a rumor. But one thing is for sure and that’s Kim made her mark in the world of Star Trek and looked good doing it.

Well I think we are at the point to travel to that Undiscovered Country with the crew of the USS Enterprise and DC Comics and see how this comic adaptation compares to the film it’s based on. And this is a comic I am looking forward to re-reading as its been a very long time sense I did so, and I also would like to thank Mavericks Cards And Comics for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. I would like to also remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So if you are ready lets head to the criminal trail of Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy and see how and if they can beat the murder rap they are on the hook for.

Star Trek VI # 1
Released in 1991 Cover Price $2.95 DC Comics # 1 of 1

Captain Sulu and his crew have just finished up a three year mission and as they are returning an explosion from a Klingon owned moon rocks the star ship and worse when they call the planet to see if they need help the Klingons refuse it, and Sulu ends up calling for the Starfleet for help. Days pass and at a big Starfleet meeting Spock gives a speech about helping The Klingons who’s ozone is damaged after the moon explosion and that in 50 Years their planet will be unlivable and that Klingon Ambassador Gorkon is willing to call for peace in order to get help, and the Starfleet are torn on if they should trust them and help and Captain Kirk is against helping them! But after talk they majority vote to help and Spock has volunteered Kirk and the Enterprise to host Gorkon through federation territory and to the meeting, Kirk is not happy as he hates them but does so with his classic crew as well a new crew member Valeris a Vulcan who graduated at the top of her class. That evening Captain Kirk and the Enterprise Crew host Gorkon and his crew for dinner and that includes General Chang who clearly does not like Kirk, and the dinner ends in arguments between the two sides. Latter the ship of Gorkon is attacked by torpedo’s being fired by the Enterprise to Kirk and the crews shock as well as two masked men beam aboard the Klingon ship and shoot and kill Gorkon! After the attack General Chang blames Kirk for the attack as well as Doctor McCoy who tired to medically help Gorkon for his murder and this forces the two to be put to trial via Klingon law and are found guilty and sent to a frozen prison planet. Meanwhile Spock, Valeris, Scotty, Uhura and Chekov are all trying to figure out what happened as the ships computers are conflicting with each other on if the torpedo’s came from the Enterprise as well as some interference is keeping them from talking with Starfleet. While on the frozen prison planet Kirk and McCoy meet female alien Martia who fills them in on the rules of this prison, while on the Enterprise Spock leads a search of the ship in order to find the assassins. Kirk and McCoy are able to escape the prison with the help of Martia who was a spy for the Klingons and is killed during the escape and are beamed back to the Enterprise where they have discovered that a new cloaked Klingon Bird Of Prey ship is the one who fired the torpedo’s and that Valeris is the one who was the traitor of the Enterprise and helped set up the assassination. Kirk gets the help of Sulu and they head to the peace talks as another assassination is going to take place and they bring down General Chang who was one of the masterminds behind this framing of Kirk and is in the Bird Of Prey that is now blown up that fired on Gorkon’s ship. Once at the peace talks Kirk and his crew stop the assassination and expose the members of both sides that wanted the peace talks to fail, and Kirk forgives the Klingons for the death of his son and as all things change for the good Kirk knows this was the final ride for the Enterprise with him in as Captain.

This comic adaptation is very well done and DC Comics once more proved that they knew how to adapt the Star Trek films into comics! The plot is best summed up this way Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy are framed for the murder of a high ranking Klingon and are sent to a prison planet were they have to try and escape the clear their names and expose the Klingon traitor who has set up the whole thing to cause more tension and possible war between Starfleet and the Klingons as he thinks his people have gone soft. This plot is very cool and is kind of deep as it shows Race Tension between several different alien races and shows that all people are the same and there is good and bad in everyone as we all have the goal of just living our lives, and it also shows that people will come together for a common goal and that can be something positive or something foul. Captain Kirk goes from being very angry and hating the Klingon race for the death of his son, and by the end learns that forgiveness and change is what is best for the galaxy. And like always Kirk is a ladies man and a hero and risks his life several time in order to escape and do the right thing and that’s solve a murder, make sure peace is meet and to clear his name of murder. Doctor McCoy who does not trust the Klingon’s does do his best to save the life of one, but does not understand the biology of them and is not able to help. Spock along with Scotty, Uhura and Chekov do what they can to solve this murder mystery and of course figure it all out and save lives and Spock is the key to help Kirk grow as a person. Valeris and General Chang are the two masterminds behind the killing of Gorkon as they both on the side that The Klingons and Starfleet should never trust each other and that being at war is what is needed. I think what is great is that General Chang is so ego driven that even before he is blown up he is bragging and thinking he is in charge of the battle, such a great and sleazy bad guy. The comic does a great job of keeping the pace of the story going and yet also keeps all the important speeches and exchanges between characters. I also have to say that while they are around Sulu, Scotty, Uhura and Chekov do kind of seem like background players in the issue as they are helpful and around they just are not major players in the issue. The cover for this issue is awesome and showcases all the major character from the film and the interior artwork done by Gordon Purcell is really good and he does a great job of capturing the likeness of the actors. Over all a great comic adaptation and is a very fun and entertaining read. Checkout the artwork below to see the style of Purcell.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is a great film and as you can see DC Comics did a great job of turning the movie into a fun comic and capturing the mood and adventure elements of the film on paper. I also want to say that I was really sad hearing about the passing of Nichelle Nichols in 2022 who played Uhura, as she was an amazing actress and will be missed. But with the review coming to an end it also makes me a little sad as we only have one more film and comic adaptation that features the some of the cast of the original series to cover and of course that is Star Trek: Generations and we will be covering that in 2024. But as our time with Captain Kirk and the crew come to an end I want to let you know that the next update will take us out of space and into the wrestling ring as we take a look at George “The Animal” Steele and kick off our year long celebration of Pro Wrestling and WWF WrestleMania! So until next time read a Star Trek comic or three, watch a Star Trek film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update and lets hope that Turnbuckles is not the only snack food offered at the Rotten Ink Arena snack bar!

American Hero: G.I. Zombie

Posted on July 4, 2022 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink, and Happy 4^th of July! And I am sure you are like me and waiting for the fireworks to fill the sky while eating some grilled food and chatting with friends, and as well thinking about American Heroes. Today’s topic is a strange one as he is a zombie, a solider and a hero! I am talking about the DC Horror character Jared Kabe also known as G.I. Zombie who is a member of the U.S. Army in the DC Universe and does what he can to keep our nation safe! So while the burgers are on the grill and the fireworks are still a little while away, let’s take a look at the American Hero: G.I. Zombie. And also keep in mind this is 10 Years of Rotten Ink, and I would like for you readers to take a moment and think about your favorite hero in your life from the past or present and to sit back a relax and as always thank you for spending a small part of your Holiday with Rotten Ink.

Jared Kabe is an American Army Soldier who has been working for the government for many decades and has been involved in many wars for his country, and he as lasted as the nation’s ultimate soldier for so many years because he is in fact dead and is a zombie that is sent into what would be suicide missions for any living soldier! So if there are bio weapons in play, chemical attacks or even good old-fashioned zombie plagues, the man for the job is Jared Kabe who is code-named G.I. Zombie. The powers that Jared has are that he is skilled in military combat, he is stronger than a normal living human, he has great use of his senses, can regenerate after being wounded and more important he is immortal! The character of G.I. Zombie was the created by the creative team of Jimmy Palmiotti, Scott Hampton and Justin Gray in 2014 for DC Comics who was making an attempt to update their universe. And weird enough G.I. Zombie is not really used by DC Comics anymore and for the most part he only lasted the one-year of his release. While not a major player in the world of DC Horror or even DC War Heroes, he is still an interesting character who had his readers that enjoyed his issues.

G.I. Zombie is a character that I just learned about in late 2021, or should I say paid attention too as he was never on my radar as in modern times I have paid very little attention to DC Comics and he just never was a Horror Comic that I picked up at the local comic shops as most of the time I have found most of DC’s Horror Comic work to be a little weak with Swamp Thing, Man-Bat and House Of Mystery being the ones that I find to be really good. And I think really that in 2014 the Zombie comic trained started by Walking Dead from Image Comics has started to be over done and that is also why I paid no attention to G.I. Zombie. Over the years I have found myself being a little less picky about Horror Comics I read when it comes to the big two companies Marvel & DC as sometimes they are the better offerings they have as their main Superhero titles have been very poorly written for many years now in my opinion, and the Horror titles I feel lets the creators have a little more freedom in the stories they are telling. What makes me intrigued about G.I. Zombie is that I know nothing about the character and I am looking forward to seeing if they play more on the spooky aspect of the character or the army hero…or will it be a great blend of the two? Regardless of what angle DC Comics goes with the character I will say that Jared Kabe aka G.I. Zombie is an American Hero in the world of Comic Books and that is why he is getting this American Hero update.

So as you can see, the burgers are almost done on the grill and it’s inching so much closer to firework time so I think we should get into the comic review part of this American Hero update that I have to say is also a DC Horror update for this 10 Year Celebration for Rotten Ink! I want to thank Game Swap Kettering and Lone Star Comics for having these issues in stock and making this update possible. I want to also remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So grab a sparkler and your favorite cold beverage, and let’s make a toast to G.I. Zombie and see what his comic series was all about. Oh and on a side note, this series is called “Star Spangled War Stories G.I. Zombie” but for the sake of this update we will just shorten the title to G.I. Zombie.

G.I. Zombie # 1 ***
Released in 2014 Cover Price $2.99 DC Comics # 1 of 8

At a small bar in the backwoods of Mississippi recent released female prisoner Carmen King meets Duke and his men who have just captured a F.B.I Agent and have him tied up in the back of the bar and worse the Agent have been beaten up and will not spill the beans on how many are with him and were they are based out of. Carmen in order to impress Duke and get a job with his outlaw gang tortures and shoots the Agent in the head killing him when her interrogation does not work. Carmen takes the body of the agent away and Duke sets up a night meeting time for the two. We soon find out that the agent is G.I. Zombie who repairs his body and that Carmen is working with him. The two while having to work together do not know each other and Carmen is a little nervous about having to stay in a motel with a zombie. As Carmen takes a shower and then goes to bed, G.I. Zombie sneaks out of the room and ends up attacking and killing a man who was abusing his wife in front of a gas station, he kills the man to eat him…but sadly he does so in front of the mans wife and child. Later that night Carmen and Zombie head to the farm that is were Duke told Carmen to meet him, and they have a car wreck when Carmen hits a deer and they have to travel by foot. Once they arrive at the farm the notice that Duke and his gang of outlaws have missiles!

The first issue of G.I. Zombie is really good and they drop us right into the story that has our undead solider teaming up with a female agent in order to bring down an outlaw group that is dealing in stolen guns and more. We learn that G.I. Zombie has been around for a very long time and has always survived his country and really loves America, we also see that while he is a good guy he still craves human flesh and feeds on it when he can get it. His uncanny powers of not being able to die and being able to reattach cut off limbs and heal up his wounds is really cool and very useful in his line of work. Carmen King from what we gather is a good solider/agent who is doing her job, but clearly only kind of trust her undead partner, as she knows very little about him and his character. Duke and his gang are a bunch of outlaws who look like they deal in all types of crime from murder to stolen guns and I am sure while he looks like the big fish now, someone else is truly calling the shots. The comic has some blood and gore in it and that was nice to see and some moments are gruesome like when G.I. Zombie is shot in the head by Carmen so she could impress Duke and his gang. The issue also does a great job of ending on a cliffhanger as our heroes see missiles are part of the groups weapons they have stockpiled and this is proof that Duke is working for a bigger threat. The cover for issue one is really good and eye catching and captures both the War and Horror aspects of the series, and the interior art by Scott Hampton is not the style I like in comics but it is really good work. Over all a great start for this series, and I am looking forward to see what happens in issue two.

G.I. Zombie # 2 ***
Released in 2014 Cover Price $2.99 DC Comics # 2 of 8

Carmen arrives alone at the gate and is let in to see Duke after she alerts the guard that she has had a car wreck and that is why she is late. Meanwhile G.I. Zombie is out in the woods and takes out one of Duke’s men and then takes another hostage with the threat of eating him alive he is able to get some info as well as the man’s cellphone in order to hear the communication between the rest of the outlaws. While inside a deadly virus has been delivered to Duke and as the two that dropped it off leave G.I. Zombie is able to snap a picture of them and send it to his bosses via the stolen phone. Carmen is shown by Duke a massive pot field on the farm compound and he then starts talking to her about his distaste for the government and if she has the same dislike he wants to offer her a job with his group. But G.I. Zombie is spotted and the alarm goes off and Duke has Carmen leave with some of his people to go to another secret farm compound while G.I. Zombie has a shootout with the outlaws, and Zombie gets back up when Commander Gravedigger and fellow soldiers show up to help in the fight. Duke has his men fire off one of the missiles that has the virus inside it and its headed toward Washington D.C., but G.I. Zombie jumps on the missile and pulls out wires and causes it to crash into a small town in Tennessee.

This second issue is as good as the first as this story progresses and has me drawn in on what is going to happen next! In this issue Carmen and G.I. Zombie make it to the farm hideout of Duke and his militia outlaw group and while Carmen gets deeper in their ranks, G.I. Zombie finds himself trying to stop a virus carrying missile that will have collateral damage of human life. G.I. Zombie in this issue shows that he is also very skilled in combat as he uses guns as well as his zombie ways to take out many of the outlaws and its clear that he is very hard to stop and those who face him seen see the horror that this solider can inflict on them. Carmen meanwhile has to play it cool and build up trust with Duke who is clearly a very dangerous man who is now also getting bio-weapons from some government agency or maybe its ones made up of former workers, we will have to read more issues to find out. And Duke and his outlaw militia clearly are dangerous and do not care about how many people die in their quest to stick it to the government, and they have all tools and weapons to really be a threat. I like how the officer in charge of this mission is called Gravedigger, a nice touch sense he is in charge of a zombie soldier. The issue has some good blood and gore moments of G.I. Zombie eating some flesh and the story is really good and does a good job of keeping you interested as a reader. The cover for this issue I have is cool and eye catching even though it’s also misleading as G.I. Zombie does not parachute into battle at all. The interior art is done by Scott Hampton and is again really good if you like the more modern style art in comic books. With that the series is staying strong and I want to see what chaos this missile is going to cause and what will Carmen witness next from this outlaw group.

G.I. Zombie # 3 ***
Released in 2014 Cover Price $2.99 DC Comics # 3 of 8

The missile goes down in Tennessee and G.I. Zombie knows that the virus inside it will cause a zombie outbreak and it seems that the animals around are now attacking him in aggression is it cause of the virus or are they just scared. Meanwhile Gravedigger has captured Duke who is not giving up any information on what his group is truly up to and who is the people behind getting them the weapons. Meanwhile Carmen is with some of the outlaws on their way to the farm and she is trying to get as much information out of them as possible. Back in the small town the animals are infected by the virus and when they are biting people its making them infected as well with a sort of rabies that is turning everyone in contract with a bite into a zombie in seconds. G.I. Zombie ties up an infected person and finds the towns doctor when they find that the people who are infected are pretty much brain dead and a cure is unlikely, and then the G.I. Zombie safely gets the doctor and her assistant home safe and then gets the towns exits from the mayor to give to Gravedigger who is on his way with soldiers to try and contain the outbreak. As G.I. Zombie waits on one of the bridges out of town he is attack by a horde of zombies and is fighting them off, as he cannot let one single human or animal that is infected to leave the town.

This poor small town gets infected by a virus that was unleashed by a nut job who is anti government, but all he did was hurt the innocent people in a town by infecting them and the animals with a zombie rabies! We know that the animals are the first to be infected by the virus and that when they bite people the virus passes and they become raging zombies who kill and infect others. G.I. Zombie is not scared of being infected but does hate watching and having to kill the animals and feels bad for the people who are being hunted down by those infected, but when it comes to protecting the innocent people as well as the fellow towns he goes into solider mode and will do what must be done. Meanwhile Carmen is still on her road trip to the other farm and is not getting too much information for her female road buddy. Gravedigger and his soldiers have captured Duke and are now on their way to the infected town to back up G.I. Zombie to contain the virus the best they can. The end also is a nice cliffhanger as G.I. Zombie armed with a knife is being over taken by a massive zombie horde that are on the path of getting out of the town and spreading this infection to a wider population. The issue has some blood and really is doing a great job of keeping me interested in the storyline as well as wondering what is next for the characters. The cover for this issue is really cool and has G.I. Zombie fighting a zombie horde and like before the interior artwork by Scott Hampton is good stuff. DC Comics and the creators behind this series have delivered a good series this far and let’s see if they can keep it up in the fourth issue.

G.I. Zombie # 4 ***
Released in 2015 Cover Price $2.99 DC Comics # 4 of 8

Carmen and her escort who’s named Cat find a motel room and while trying to rest she has a nightmare about a helicopter crash she was the only survivor in during a war, and even when up she can not get any info out of Cat about were they are going. Meanwhile G.I. Zombie breaks free from the zombie horde and finds a safe place on top of a building and watches as Gravedigger and the army show up and blow up the zombies, once G.I. Zombie joins them they find that the infected can drive some what and this adds to the possibility of them leaving the town so Gravedigger and G.I. Zombie must act fast to fully contain this. Meanwhile Cat and Carmen arrive at a massive spa in the middle of nowhere that is the hidden base and Carmen meets Forrest, the money man behind Duke and his movement, and she also notices that he himself has weapons of all types around him.

This issue is very fast paced and we get more information on many of the characters as well as some questions are answered. G.I. Zombie himself goes from being out numbered and fighting off zombies to escaping the attack and spending some time on a flat tar roof of a store and ends the issue alongside the army and Gravedigger as they try and figure out the best way to stop this virus from spreading. While on the other hand, we learn that Carmen was the sole survivor of a helicopter crash and this is what haunts her dreams and drives her to protect her country. We also see that she might be in over her head when she finally arrives at the next hidden base location as it is packed with weapons. Forrest is a rich man who is clearly the moneyman behind this home grown terrorist group and is investing in even more weapons to fight the fight and this includes more of the zombie virus as well as suits that can take bullets and is indestructible! I really think that Forrest and his indestructible suits will be a huge pain for G.I. Zombie in the coming issues, I also hope that Carmen’s cover is not blown as the odds would be against her as her army friends have no clue to were she is even at. The issue has some blood and the story is good as the zombies can drive adds even more drama, horror and stress for the army to deal with! The cover is great and has G.I. Zombie and Carmen backed into a massive tree on a hill and are surrounded by zombies and this is very eye catching. And like a broken record the interior art by Scott Hampton is good stuff, so with that said again I have to say that DC Comics are on a good stretch as this was another great issue and G.I. Zombie is proven to be one of their best modern series for me. So let’s see what issue five has in store for us, and I am going to guess it will be a fun Horror War Comic surrounded by a simple yet entertaining story.

G.I. Zombie # 5 ***
Released in 2015 Cover Price $2.99 DC Comics # 5 of 8

G.I. Zombie is back in the small town and is having issues as his craving for flesh is taking control as he needs to eat and soon before he loses control, so they send for a child killer on death row and is sent into a tent with Zombie who eats him and gets back on track to save America. Meanwhile Carmen is shown around the base by Forrest who alerts her to some of the over all plan that he and his groups have for the world, that includes over throwing the US Government and give the power to the people. Meanwhile a few miles away the this base G.I. Zombie meets up with longtime agent friend Elliot who fills him in on the last sighting of Carmen and tells him of the base that is also acting as a spa for the rich, he also tells him to head to this small motel down the road and he will find his “new” identity as a video game maker who has a treatment set at the spa for the next day. Later as G.I. Zombie sits alone in his room a young woman named Libby enters and is running for her life as she hides in his bathroom as two men are following her, after exchanging some words with them Zombie takes them down only to be shot in the head by Libby who is the true baddie as she works for Forrest and after cleaning the room she is taking the bodies to the spa hideout for disposal.

The plot thickens in the fifth issue as we now know that Forrest and all of those who follow or are apart of his group’s true goal is to take over America as they claim they want the power back to the people, but somehow I feel that Forrest has other true plans and is using these militia groups and ex-criminals to further along his true underline plan that I can not figure out yet. Poor Carmen is truly stuck in a very dangerous situation as she is truly in the hornet’s nest and has seen and heard too much to be figured out as a spy as they would and could easily kill her. Libby and Cat are also two females who work for Forrest and it’s clear that they will also kill for him on his orders and will leave no loose ends. Gravedigger and Elliot are two of the good guys who clearly want to try and stop this group from doing another attack as they have unleashed a virus once that has taken way to many innocent human and animal lives, and they both know that G.I. Zombie is America’s only hope. Speaking of G.I. Zombie we have all seen up to this point how much of a good undead guy he is who is always helpful, respectful and follows orders…but I do love that he does have the urge and craving for human flesh and that the army gives him inmates of the worst kind from near by prisons in order to fill the hunger! A very cool aspect of the character as he could snap and kill if he is not fed after a while. The story is really keeping me intrigued and I like the small turns we get as well as the character development and new characters being added into our story. This issue has some blood and murder and the cover is a strange one as its G.I. Zombie kissing a woman and blood is linking their lips, and you know the interior art is done by Hampton and is good. So with another good issue in the books let’s see what issue six has in store for us.

G.I. Zombie # 6 ***
Released in 2015 Cover Price $2.99 DC Comics # 6 of 8

Forrest is on the phone and is calling Leo, the man who is making the zombie virus in Ecuador and explains that the sample has been used in Tennessee and was a success and that he needs his full shipment sent, Leo is annoyed that Duke used it already and agrees to send more, but it comes with a threat if the virus is linked back to him. Forrest then leaves and creeps around Carmen’s room and half hearted flirts with her before leaving. Meanwhile Carmen tries to sneak around to find a phone to call Gravedigger, but instead runs into Cat and they both go and get a midnight snack from the kitchen. G.I. Zombie who was set to be burned up in a furnace snaps into action and takes down several guards and top officials for Forrest and even finds his gun stockpile room before he himself is caught on a security camera and a red alert goes out to the guards. Forrest recognizes G.I. Zombie and knows that he works for the Government and tells Libby to get the jet ready that they along with a few other including Cat and Carmen are leaving the hideout, and the rest of the people will sadly die as he is dropping a nuke bomb on it as he can not have any information leak out!

The gig is up at the spa hideout of Forrest and his crew of over throwers and his big plan to deal with being caught is for him and few to escape and them bomb and kill all the others who have been loyal to him and the cause, so it shows you that Forrest is a rich a-hole who does not care about anything but himself as I am sure if push comes to shove the likes of Libby and Cat would be sacrificed if it meant saving his own hide. And Carmen is really trapped as she keeps getting deeper into the trust of these people and this makes it so if she is exposed for being an undercover agent, she will be killed and the worst part is her own people are always a few steps behind her in order to save or get the information she has out of her. Also it looks like Leo and his people are surly the ones behind the creation of the virus and this also shows that this network is even bigger and spread out then what it appears in the first few issues. G.I. Zombie snaps into action and goes after the baddies in their own base and uses a knife and a gun to deal death and gets a few before being caught on a security camera, he so wants to get to Carmen and also complete this mission before anymore innocent Americans are hurt. Some blood and death in this one with a gruesome one being a man set on fire and then gets a knife to his skill as he ran around, pretty brutal kill from G.I. Zombie. The cover is our hero being nuked and you all know by now who did the art and that it’s good stuff. Over all a great issue that leaves us on a good cliffhanger of the hideout being blown up and only a few of Forrest closest crew escaping along side him, can G.I. Zombie stop the bomb and save lives or will be apart of the explosion…I guess we have to read issue seven to find out.

G.I. Zombie # 7 ***
Released in 2015 Cover Price $2.99 DC Comics # 7 of 8

Forrest has set the timer for the nuke bomb to go off and he along with a select few have escaped the hideout via a private jet set for California to another secret lab hideout. Meanwhile G.I. Zombie tries to figure out a way to stop the bomb from going off and soon finds that that task is impossible and that everyone inside this hideout is going to die. Gravedigger meanwhile along with a hammer is able to get a little bit of information out of Duke and he learns just how dangerous this group is as they plan to truly unleash a massive attack on America. While stealing a car and trying to get as far away from the explosion as possible G.I. Zombie is able to get a cellphone and call Gravedigger to tell him about what is going to happen and sure enough the bomb goes off and also unleashes more of the zombie virus, the explosion causes G.I. Zombie to wreck and he is even injured cause of this, and he is saved just in time by some Army guys as two civilians who was hit by the virus tried to kill him. Meanwhile at the new hideout Carmen makes a run for it as she thinks Forrest and the others have caught on that she is an agent, and after calling Gravedigger she is surrounded by heavily armed guards. In the end Gravedigger alerts G.I. Zombie that they have to leave now and try and stop this Armageddon style attack that Forrest is about to commit.

That Forrest is one evil man as not only has he killed innocent people and animals with his zombie virus but this time around he used a bomb to blow up his discovered hideout killing hundreds of his own workers in order to cover his own butt. Plus it’s clear that he is more like a rich doomsday cult leader than a give the people the power one. Duke the big bad biker leader of the Mississippi sure does squeal when a hammer is taken to his fingers in order to get questions answered as this also proves Gravedigger will do what he must in order to save America from this threat, and that includes bashing a mans fingers with a hammer. Carmen is was over her head and its clear that by the end of this issue she is spooked by Forrest and his people as she thinks they have made out that she is an agent spy, and when escaping the hideout she also shows that she is a skilled fighter as she takes a gun with only four bullets and makes it work. G.I. Zombie does what he can to try and figure out how to stop the bomb and how to save the workers inside, but sadly time was just not on his side. While he is undead it shows that he still cares about living people even if most fear him. We also see that the end game is near as Forrest is about to set off tons of his zombie virus in order to shake up America, and we have to see in the next issue if G.I. Zombie and this secret branch of the Army can stop it. This issue also is more about building to the final issue and is less about the horror aspects, don’t get me wrong we still get blood and death, it’s just a little more toned down. The stakes feel high coming up as the threat is world changing and the fact that only a small few know and can stop this also adds to the drama. The cover for this issue is eye catching and has G.I. Zombie fighting zombies and you know what I am going to say for the interior art. Over all a great issue that was perfect for setting up the final issue in the mini series.

G.I. Zombie # 8 **1/2
Released in 2015 Cover Price $2.99 DC Comics # 8 of 8

Carmen escapes the ambush and is able to kill all the armed guards that was sent after her, she has a mission to stop this threat and that is just what she is going to do. Meanwhile G.I. Zombie and Gravedigger board a jet and head to the next hidden base of the outlaw terrorist in hope to stop them as well as save Carmen from danger. Back at the hideout Forrest decides that Cat is the one who brought the agent to their doorstep and puts a bullet in her brain for doing so. Once at the location G.I. Zombie, Gravedigger and the team find Carmen and go into the base with orders to stop the bomb and kill anyone inside as they are terrorist and need to be taken down. Carmen and G.I. Zombie enter the base and take out anyone they come across and finally they find Forrest who has set another bomb to go off to let the virus out all over and spread this zombie infection. Forrest has a past with G.I. Zombie as once they see each other they both realize they have a past, and when Carmen decides she has had enough she beats up Forrest as G.I. Zombie alerts Gravedigger to the location of the launch room and as well gets Forrest’s cellphone and calls Leo the creator of the virus and says that they are coming for him as well! Gravedigger lets off a sonic device that not only takes out the terrorist who are not wearing earplugs but also gives them time to find the main power and to stop the bomb from going off. In the end Gravedigger tells G.I. Zombie and Carmen that they make a great team and that they will be placed together from now on.

I am not going to lie I am a little disappointed in the ending of this series as I found the wrap up to be a little weak and not pack a punch like it should. While the good guys do stop the bomb from going off, characters like Forrest just don’t seem to really get what is coming to him, sure he gets shot in the ear and beat up…but his “death” by sonic vibes is a little bland. I also feel that the fact that they call and alert Leo that they know who he is and that they are coming after him also was a strange move as now all he has to do is relocate…why warn him. I do like the team up of Carmen and G.I. Zombie and I would have liked to seen more of them, maybe even at some point teaming alongside the Creature Commandos or even Unknown Soldier. I also feel that the end “battle” was way to easy and quick and all of a sudden Forrest and his men seem less threatening as they fall like a house of cards on a windy day, and it really is disappointing as the creators of this series did such a great job building to this last issue and for this comic reader it fell a little flat. Now I am not saying I didn’t enjoy this issue, it’s just a weak ending to a very solid series. G.I. Zombie is a very interesting character that we have learned lots about in this series as he is an American Army member who even in death tries to protect the land that he loves and is a true warrior and skilled in fighting and strategies, and that a lost body part of his is what helped create the zombie virus being used by the terrorist. We also see that he is a caring man as he looks out for not only his agent friends but also innocent people and animals. Carmen is also a pretty cool character an army vet who survived a terrible crash during war and is using her skills still to help keep America safe and to honor her fallen friends. Gravedigger is pretty cool as well as he clearly is a veteran of situations like this and does not crack under pressure. This mini series really did do a great job of mixing Horror and War Comics with elements of both getting time to shine and the amount of blood used throughout was a nice touch for those readers who loved zombie comics, plus bonus points to them for some of the more gruesome deaths. The cover for this issue is pretty cool and lacks the punch of the covers before it and throughout the series Scott Hampton has really rocked it with his art and won me over as at first I was not a fan of the style, but by the end I really liked and respected it. Over all DC Comics had a good series here and a cool character that they should still be using today! Check out the artwork below to see the style of Scott Hampton used in this series.

But wait there is more! Given that this is July 4^th and Rotten Ink’s 10 Year Anniversary, let’s take a look at G.I. Zombie special that was released in 2014 and was part of the “Future Ends” stories that DC Comics had going at the time. So with that, let’s dive into this one and spend just a little more time with G.I. Zombie.

G.I. Zombie: Special # 1 **
Released in 2014 Cover Price $3.99 DC Comics # 1 of 1

G.I. Zombie is on a ship and his partner Carmen has been infected with the virus and is now a flesh eating zombie and doctors are going to try a treatment that they hope will help her. But things get worse when zombies are parachuting out of the sky and are now attacking the agents and G.I. Zombie is given the orders to attack and get these undead nightmares off the ship. And he does so when he charges into them and turns into a massive deformed zombie that rips many of them to shreds, but he is attacked by the helicopter that dropped the zombies off and is taken down for a few moments before he can comeback together. The scientists deliver the antidote to Carmen and at first it looks as if it didn’t, work but just in time she is cured as G.I. Zombie pulls himself together and they come up with a plan to drop the antidote from a crop duster on the city of Gotham that has been infected by the virus. But the enemy helicopter approaches and shoots down the crop duster, but G.I. Zombie is able to leap into the copter and gets it to crash…and the man behind this attack is Gravedigger who himself is now a zombie that is just like G.I. Zombie and the two fight for a moment when G.I. Zombie removes his head and takes it away causing Gravediggers body to wonder around, after this fight G.I. Zombie gives the order for the antidote to be dropped so that lives can be saved. Later G.I. Zombie and Carmen are having dinner and she has decided to retire as an agent and go live in the mountains, while G.I. Zombie is sad, he understands and the two enjoy one last meal together.

What a strange One-Shot comic as everything we know from the mini series is thrown out of the water and in this one G.I. Zombie is calling the shots, the army has found a cure for the virus, Carmen goes from being a zombie to cure and the most weird change is that now Gravedigger is pro the virus infecting people and is now a bad guy that is as well a super zombie solider who is taken down very easily by G.I. Zombie. And so many questions are not answered in the comic and that’s why this is a very odd read like why is Gravedigger bad now, who is spreading the virus and why, why is Gotham City under attack and why does G.I. Zombie turn into a massive zombie Hulk for a few panels and then its never spoke of again…just so many weird moments in this one that made it slightly less enjoyable of a read as I really do feel that this story kind of disrespects the characters and story that the mini series introduced us to and I dislike the fighting and large changes to personalities of the main three and those of course as G.I. Zombie, Carmen King and Gravedigger. The story also seems very bland and rushed and I hate to say this was a major letdown for me, as I feel that DC had something very cool with G.I. Zombie and this comic makes him and the lore seem like an after thought to just delivering a comic with a cheesy gimmick cover that while cool does not save this issue from being lazy. The interior artwork by Scott Hampton is good and helps bring some of the charm from the mini series into this. Not much to say besides this is just an ok issue and if you like the mini series and have not read this one I say skip it as it does nothing but ruins aspects of the series. Checkout the artwork below, and again art is good sadly this comic story is not.

Well it’s time to go eat some grilled food and enjoy time with family and friends before the fireworks fill the sky, so once more thanks for spending some of your holiday with me here at Rotten Ink and also I need to say that while DC Comics had a few miss fires with G.I. Zombie, I do feel that in 2014 they created a good American Hero character that truly did walk the line between War and Horror. Well for the next update we will be leaving the DC Universe Zombies behind but will be once more visiting the Romero Zombies when we cover Dead Dog Comics series “Night Of The Living Dead: The Barbara Chronicles” as well as take a look at Monster Bash Convention 2022 and Juliet and I’s adventures in Cranberry Township, PA. So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a zombie film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you soon as we are coming to read you Barbara…