From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Posted on January 23, 2026 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to another “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update. For this one we will be revisiting a 90’s Horror Film that we have talked about before in 2017, but it was not a themed update like this one, and I feel that it deserves a second look as the film was a phenomenon when it came to horror cinema and was a early trend setter when it came to the “found footage” style that is going strong even to this day. Of course the film is The Blair Witch Project and for this update we will be also looking at the single comic issue released by Image Comics based around it. The Blair Witch Project really is an iconic film that captures the attention of not only horror fans but also that of the mainstream viewer as the film was said at the time to be one of the scariest films ever made and along with the buzz that the film was real made it a must see in the theater event for so many people. So if you are ready, let’s grab our backpacks, our cameras and head into The Black Hill Woods and see what horrors The Blair Witch has in store for us all.

Let’s start by taking a look at Elly Kedward who is also known as The Blair Witch and her ways of dealing death to those she has marked. Elly Kedward was a strange old woman who lived in the town of Blair when she emigrated from Europe in 1800’s and became the town’s creepy old lady. And after she was murdered by the townspeople, she became supernatural and with this came new powers that aid her in her quest for revenge on those who make the mistake of being in the Black Hills Forest and not taking her warnings serious. Elly is said to be able to change her appearance with her always looking like an older woman, but some have reported that she is covered in black horse hair and that just the sight of her is so frightening that it cause terror and panic in those who are unlucky enough to see her. She is also said to be able to get into the minds of people and cause them to commit murders as well as do self-harm, and this is very deadly as she can have another person do her evil deeds and end her prey’s life. Elly is also dead and that means she truly has supernatural powers and makes her an evil spirit that has dark magic. The Blair Witch’s main tools of dealing death are her curses that allows her to mess in the minds of her victims and make them see, hear and feel things that may or may not really be there. She can also mess with nature as well as things like compasses making you lost in her woods and travel in circles never getting close to being able to leave her woods once she has marked you. She can also sound like other people and make you follow it to a location that she wants you to be in. She also uses people’s personal items and body parts in her curses and finding one of her bloody bundles can scare a person to their very core. Plus just her name and story is something that people that live in the area do not like to mention and keeps them out of the woods our of fear. The Blair Witch is very powerful and as of now no weakness or way to defeat her as been found, making her very deadly to those who cross her path.

So now that we have talked about Elly Kedward and her killing ways, I think now we should take a few moments to talk about the film she is from and that is of course The Blair Witch Project. Like always, we will start with the film’s plot that I will be getting from our friends at IMDB, and then after that I will be writing about the film’s production and then my thoughts of the film. So of you are ready, let’s watch out for stick figures in trees and bundle of sticks with human teeth in them and see what The Blair Witch Project is all about.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

“Three film students vanish after traveling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind.”

Florida film students and friends Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick in 1993 decided that they wanted to make a horror movie, but wanted to make it a little different from the others being made at the time, as they wanted it to have a documentary feel that would break the mold of masked slasher killers. The pair would write the screenplay and put out a casting call for the three main roles being the college kids filming a documentary for a class project the actors hired were Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams with other actors hired for minor roles including Patricia DeCou, Ed Swanson, Bob Griffin, Sandra Sanchez and Jim King to name a few. The film had a budget of around $500 thousand with Artisan Entertainment stepping in at the end to distribute the film. The film was shot in Maryland with most taking place in Seneca Creek State Park with even some shots taking place in Burkittsville, the location the film takes place in. Almost all of the film’s dialogue was ad-libbed with the actors only getting left notes for them to talk about key things and move the story in a direction. Once done, the film would have a few reshoots thanks to Artisan and would be scored by Tony Cora and would have a theatrical release starting on July 14, 1999 and was met with mostly positive reviews from both movie goers and critics. The film’s marketing at the time was fantastic and truly built a buzz for the film as it was made to look like the film was really found footage of three real missing students that something supernatural might have happened to them. The film would have coverage also in many main entertainment sources like Rolling Stone Magazine, MTV and Fangoria Magazine to name a few. The film would make around $248.6 million and was a big success for Artisan as well as horror films in general. In 1999, the film was # 10 for the year and many viewers ranked it as the scariest film of the year as well. In 1999 The Blair Witch Project was released alongside such other Horror Films as Sleepy Hollow, Werewolf Of Ohio, The Mummy, Terror Firmer, Wishmaster 2, Candyman 3, Warlock III, The Clown At Midnight, Ragdoll, Virus, The Rage Carrie 2, Stigmata and Retro Puppet Master to name a few. To this day, the film has a massive following as it has spawned two sequels, comic series, tons of merchandise and has influenced indie filmmakers all over the world.

The Blair Witch Project was a horror film that truly was an experience and to be honest was the last film that built so much buzz around itself that many people truly believed that it was real footage from a real spooky event that took place in the woods of Maryland where three college students went missing. When I saw this film opening weekend, young ladies in the theater were crying at the ending believing that they just seen the last moments of peoples lives on the big screen. And after leaving the theater my friends and I all were buzzing about what we had just seen and all of us were fans. Some of them would end up turning on the film once it became cool to hate it…as like with all big hit films The Blair Witch Project started to gain its haters who wanted to complain about how boring it was or how bad the acting was. The one thing that I understood that people disliked about the film was all the shaky camera stuff made some people get motion sickness. The film’s woods and rundown house setting is what helps add the truly creepy nature of the film as do the screams of Heather who at times seems like she is losing her mind from fright. And to me it really is crazy that Heather Donahue did not become a big horror actress throughout the early 2000’s and beyond, but it is said this was also by her choice as she retired from acting in 2008 and in 2020 she even changed her name to Rei Hance, and even at one point in time was a medical weed grower. The film is also one that I have found myself watching once every year or so and this always sparks me to also watch the sequels. When the film was released and beyond I would have the films’ theatrical poster, trading cards, keychain, comics and the Movie Maniac figure from McFarlane Toys, plus owned the film on VHS and later DVD. The cultural impact of this film when released is really hard to explain to those horror Fans who were too young or born after its release, but let’s just say that it helped breath life into horror films in theater as well as kicked off the found footage craze that is still going strong to this day. If you have not seen The Blair Witch Project, watch it one dark and stormy night with the lights all turned off and allow yourself to be taken away to the cursed woods of the Black Hills and allow The Blair Witch to scare you silly! And that is also one thing I want to point out: the film makes you question if The Blair Witch is real or if someone is messing with the students, with one of my favorite theories being that Josh and Mike are the ones who are setting up Heather as they want her dead and they are the ones that lead her around the woods and are tormenting and scare her before they kill her in the old house…think about this theory when you watch the film next.

The Blair Witch in the 1990’s alongside such films as Scream (1996) and The Mummy (1999) really did help keep horror valuable at the box office and is what sparked the 2000’s boom of spooky releases. But now that we have talked about The Blair Witch as well as the first film she is from, I think that it’s time now that we review the one shot issue from Image Comics that was released in 2000. I want to thank Lone Star Comics for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. I also want 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 get a little deeper into the Black Hill Woods as I hear that there are some really good camping sites for those of us that want to be scared silly by strange noises in the night.

BW: Dark Testaments # 1 **1/2
Released in 2000 Cover Price $2.95 Image Comics # 1 of 1

The year is 1986, and Davis Crane was a former school and principal who finds himself in jail after trying to kill two infant twins at the local hospital. His actions puzzle the law and Crane feels that something drove him to attempt this crime. While sitting in jail Crane remembers back to his youth and being friends with the twins Rustin and Dale Parr, and even as kids there was something wrong and dark about Rustin Parr but he watched him as he was kind to animals and skilled with a carving knife. He remembers back when the brothers had a fight over Dale killing a squirrel, and Rustin disowned his brother for the death. And that night as Dale was in bed sad, The Blair Witch came to him and promises that things will be ok. The next day at school The Parr Twins are once more speaking to each other but now refuse to talk to Davis as well as their fellow classmates, that is until Rustin is beaten up by town drunk Matt Patterson and tells Davis that The Blair Witch was real and that he hears her in his mind. As Matt Patterson is taking to jail, things start going wrong for him as he pukes up blood and a small tooth that was not his, his daughter strangely dies and the town is struck with fear as they think something supernatural is at play. And later Dale Parr is show and killed by his father while they went hunting, and while said it was an accident many think it was a way to stop The Witch who had touched the boy as rumor is that The Parr Twins were born thanks to The Blair Witch. Time passes and Rustin Parr never returns to school and when Davis finally see’s him he warns his friend to stay away so that the Witch doesn’t hurt him as Matt Patterson is hit by a truck in front of them and dies. And when Davis Crane grew up he stayed away from Rustin Parr and even moved away from Burkittsville to go to college, joined the army and fought in war. Once injured Davis returns home to become a teacher and even was there when Rustin Parr came out of the woods and the bodies of the kids were found. Back to sitting in jail, Davis knows that it was a shadow ghost of Dale Parr that made it look like he was trying to kill the twins, as he was really trying to save them. As the cops leave for the night Davis Crane sits in his jail cell and he knows that the ghosts of The Parr twins will be coming for him in the shadows and darkness.

This is a pretty interesting comic as while it is about The Blair Witch, it is more about The Parr Twins who at a young age were very odd and were said to be the spawn of the witch herself. One brother grew up to kill kids in the name of The Blair Witch, while the other was shot and killed by his own father while still a youth. And the story is told from the prospective of one of their childhood friends who watched their descent into darkness and is now being dragged into it at his now older age. Davis Crane was a good kid who grew up to be a good man as he went into teaching and even fought in a war protecting our country, and even when at the hospital and the staff thinking he was trying to kill two infants, he was really trying to protect them from an evil spirit. Davis was friends with The Parr Twins growing up and while they were odd, he still watched out for them as well as cared about their well being. And now because of them his life and reputation is ruined and he will rot in jail or even their spirits will take his life away. The Parr Twins Dale and Rustin when younger has very different personalities as they both were very odd and both caring and cruel at the same time. They are said to be the “blessing” of The Blair Witch as their mother was unable to have kids and after giving her an offering, the Witch allowed the two to be born and this also meant that they were connected to her. Dale was the first to show signs of being evil as he cursed a man who did his brother wrong that made the man’s daughter die…but before his evil got to out of hand he was shot and killed by his own father. While Rustin would try to get his under control but he did set up the killing of the man who hurt him and later would kill children in the woods. They were doomed from birth as they were touched by evil and that darkness consumed them. Matt Patterson was the town drunk and after losing his cool one-day and beating up one of the Parr kids, a curse is placed on him and his life goes terribly wrong filled with sadness and death. The Blair Witch is around and wandering the woods as well as talking to The Parr Twins gearing them up to do bad things all for her benefit. The comic is pretty bloodless and really the horror comes from the Blair Witch’s curses and the uneasy feeling that everyone in the town has because of her being around and causing issues for everyone with her thirst for revenge. The cover for this issue is a strange one as I am not sure who that is supposed to be on the cover surrounded by blue light and the stick figures, while weird I would say that it is eye catching for those who like the film. The interior art is done by artist Charlie Adlard and is pretty cool, while not overly detailed, it works as it has a kind of spooky appeal and his drawing of the witch always in shadow is great. Over all this is a pretty entertaining comic based around the legend and lore of The Blair Witch, but I do have to say that I wish it had featured more of her. Check out the artwork below to see the style used by Adlard in this comic book.

The Blair Witch Project was so popular that it had several comic series based around its legend from several publishers with Image being one and Oni Press the other. There are always rumors of new sequels or reboots of the film in the works and who knows, maybe one day we will get another film entry. Lionsgate is now the rights holder as they bought out Artisan Entertainment many years ago, and while the sequels thus far have not captured that lightning in a bottle like the first film did, they are very entertaining in there own way. And for fans of The Blair Witch Project if you have never seen the 1998 film “The Last Broadcast” that as well is a horror found footage film this time about the Jersey Devil and a public access show on the hunt for him, you should check it out as it’s a weird one that has lots of twists and turns. But as you can see, we have found our way out of the woods, and before we end this update I would like to let you know that the next one will take us to the waters of Mexico as we take a look at the film Black Demon and the comic series Black Demon Tales based around it. 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 talk about the Aztec version of Jaws…or is that The Meg?

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: The Crazies (2010)

Posted on July 14, 2023 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to another “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic.” This one will be a little more special as we will also be taking a look at Monsterbash 2023 Convention! Well, kind of as we will be visiting some shooting sites of the film in Evans City, Pennsylvania for the original 1973 film, and I will also showcase some of the cool stuff I bought, but all of that will be at the end of this update. The Crazies is a spooky film about infected humans of a virus that turns them into killers and was part of the big remake boom that was taking part at the time. Now it’s time for us to sit back and talk about this remake film and the world it created.

Before we move too far into our look at The Crazies remake, we should take a look at the infected that make this world so dangerous and deadly. The infected or Crazies in this film get this way from the water supply by a bio weapon called Trixie as well as bites of blood transfusions between those who have come in contact with it. They slowly lose their minds and almost at first seemed confused, but are driven to commit acts of violence on those around them. As the illness takes hold they become more and more filled with rage and become even more dangerous killing machines as they have no remorse for what they are doing. Their appearance changes from being blank to crazed and almost zombie like as the bleed from the face area and this adds terror into the hearts of those victims they are after. While they are human, they will used their fists, feet, weapons, fire and whatever they can get their hands on to slaughter their prey. They cannot be reasoned with and when you come across an infected death is what follows. They can also infect others and this causes their numbers to rise and they will also attack in hordes and they will over whelm you and you will be surly dead. But The Crazies do have a weakness as they are just humans with a disease so they can be killed like any normal person from being stabbed, shot, drowned or set ablaze they will die. Also it is said that the infected will show signs in 48hrs and could possible die in that time from it. So while they are easily killed, they are super dangerous as they spread their sickness as well as murder those they come in contact with. Also we should mention that where The Crazies go, the military follows and they have orders to kill on site making them dangerous as well! So in other words if you live where The Crazies infection breaks out, death is all around.

As you can see, The Infected are very dangerous and want to kill and infect others, and to me their virus spreading make them very scary! But now it’s time to take a look at the film and like always I will be taking the film’s plot from our friends at IMDB and I will then write a little about the films production as well as my thoughts on the film. So if you are ready, put on your hazmat suit and let’s stay out of site of the infected and lets talk about the 2010 remake of The Crazies.

The Crazies (2010)

“As a toxin begins to turn the residents of Ogden Marsh, Iowa into violent psychopaths, sheriff David Dutton tries to make sense of the situation while he, his wife, and two other unaffected townspeople band together in a fight for survival.”

The Crazies was a George Romero film from 1973 that was a big cult classic and like most of Romero’s early work was filmed in the Pittsburgh, Pa area. And in the 2000’s a big trend was for Hollywood to remake every Horror Movie in site and The Crazies got its turn in 2010 when Overture Films with Participant Media along with director Breck Eisner and script writers Scott Kosar and Ray Wright came together to deliver a new take on the classic Romero story. The film was casted with names like Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, Danielle Panabaker and Christie Lynn Smith was brought into big roles in the film that was filmed in Georgia and was given a budget of around $20million, and was your standard lower budget Hollywood production and a fun fact being that the film originally started under Paramount Pictures before going to Rogue Pictures before landing at Overture Films in the end. And they were able to also get Lyn Lowry who was the star of the original film to comeback in a cameo role. The film would be scored by Mark Isham and would be released in theaters on February 26, 2010 and was meet with mixed reviews from critics as well as fans and would bring in $54,806,823.00 worldwide and was # 80 for the year beating out other Horror and Cult Films as Vampires Suck, Devil, Machete, Daybreakers and Piranha 3D. The film would find new life and fans when released on DVD and would make a splash at the video rental stores at the time.

As you longtime readers know, I grew up a Monster Kid and a big fan of Horror Movies and one trend that I was very mixed on was the remake craze that ran through the genre and delivered a very mixed bag of films that ranged from really great to bottom of the barrel. Now keep in mind I do not hate remakes I just prefer sequels and reboots as I like the continuation to stores not retelling of them. And I do understand that remakes are a part of Horror Movie history and are made for the next generation of fans as look how many times over the years say Phantom Of The Opera, Dracula and Frankenstein have been remade. And for me The Crazies remake was one that I waited for DVD instead of seeing in the theater as I was not sure that this Romero filmed needed an update and I also felt that the film looked like it took more inspiration from “28 Days Later” than the original film it’s named after. And after watching it I can say I didn’t mind the film, but it was not one of the better remakes of that era of cinema and I felt that while it retained some of the elements that made the original so good it tried way to hard to mimic the trends of Horror at the time of it’s release and this made it feel just like any other “Zombie” or “Infected” film that flooded video rental shelves and cinemas. The Crazies remake as well as the original now is a little more topical after the Virus Crisis the world has been dealing with and just shows how fast something can spread. Over all this was a alright film that I bought on DVD when released and is one you should check out as you might enjoy it more as it is a little more fast paced.

So as you can see, The Crazies remake was a very mixed bag as it tried to add its own elements to the original film, but sadly it was stuck in the shadow of trying to remake a George A. Romero film. Well it’s that time now to check out the comic series that goes along with this film and first I would like to thank Bell Book And Comic as well as Lone Star Comics for having these issues in stock and making this update possible. I want to also say that this will be a first time read for me on this series so that’s pretty cool as this review will be my first impression to the comics. 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 with that lets get crazy with The Crazies and Top Cow Comics. Oh and these comics also were done as motion comics and can be found on the DVD release of the film.

The Crazies # 1 **1/2
Released in 2010 Cover Price $2.99 Top Cow # 1 of 4

A plane crashes into some water and birds end up killing the pilot who was stuck in a tree by eating his eyes after he becomes infected. Rory Hammil lives on a pig farm and hates people due to his past in the Military and has been facing stop drinking, as he has been an alcoholic. And while looking out his widow he sees some of his neighbors on his land caring guns and goes out to confront them, but they soon are mad that he is being rude and one even has a gun pulled on Rory and to prove a point to him about his manors they threaten to kill his hogs…but the bluff almost turns deadly as the hogs seem to be very aggressive towards the humans even knocking one of them down to the ground. Once the neighbors leave Rory comes back in and his wife Peggy tries to tell him he no longer needs to have so much anger and that they need to throw away the bottle of liquor to stop tempting him to drink again, he tells her he needs it to be there in order to beat his addiction. And when Peggy hears a terrible noise outside Rory grabs his shotgun and heads to the barn to see that his hogs have turned on each other and some are dead while the others attack him forcing him to kill them as his wife enters the barn in horror. After the slaughter Rory sits in his home with his blood-covered shotgun that he takes with him as he walks into town and in anger he threatens people and corners a baseball team.

This is a pretty interesting first issue to kick off a comic series based on the remake of The Crazies as we start with a crazy plane crash and then join a hog farmer whose animals have gotten super aggressive and he soon follows in the anger and with a shotgun heads to town to seek some revenge for his anger. It’s clear that whatever was on the plane that crashed is what is causing this change in peoples and animals behavior and it has to be in the water that people are drinking. The issue does a great job of also showcasing that something is causing people to loose control and also shows that they will turn on themselves as well as will murder things that are in the path of the infected being. The comic has some blood but this issues is not all that gore filled and lacks in the death department as well, but I think that’s fine as this is the first issue that is setting up the world. Rory Hammil is just a down and out farmer whose addiction to alcohol has caused him lots of struggles as has his past that to me seems to be military service, and after drinking some water and having a run in with his neighbors as well as being bitten by one of his hogs snaps and wants to shoot and kill innocent people he now views as his enemy. The Hogs are super mean as they are aggressive and want to kill people and one another all because they are filled with so much anger. The cover for this issue is pretty creepy as it shows a Hog that is blood splattered, with the interior art by Jon Buran and is solid work, not my style but still I find it good. So with that, let’s see what the second issue has in store for us and if the baseball team will survive the rampage of Rory who in the cliffhanger has his shotgun pointed at them.

The Crazies # 2 ***
Released in 2010 Cover Price $2.99 Top Cow # 2 of 4

Billy is a cattle farmer and after sending his son Nick to school he notices that one of the gates has been left open and one of the cows is loose. Billy ends up finding the cow in the creek drinking and he also notices that the animal is bleeding form its nose and mouth, and when Billy tries to get the animal out of the water and back home safe the cow attacks him knocking him into the water and keeps acting aggressive as Billy retreats to his home and informs his wife Deardra of the cows sickness and they both agree it needs to be put down. Billy with his rifle heads to the cow when he starts seeing and hearing things almost as if he is slipping into madness, and after shooting the cow Billy goes crazy on the body beating it with his rife until it breaks. Once back home Billy knows something is wrong as a voice is telling him to do very bad things and his wife even notices and takes him to see a doctor and he acts as if he is fine. That night Billy armed with a knife traps his wife and son in a closet and then sets the house on fire burning them alive while he lays down and laughs in the driveway as their screams fill the air.

Ok now I get it, each issue is its own story that showcases someone from that town that is being infected by the rabies like disease that is in the water and affecting the animals, and I am not going to lie, I like this concept as it showcases how this is affecting different people. This issue’s plot has a cattle farmer who is attacked by one of his cows who ends up hearing voices and seeing a person that keeps telling him to do bad things to his family and sadly in the end he does just that, and this one is a true look into madness and is way more downbeat and scary. Billy is our subject this time. He’s a cattle farmer who has a loving wife and a respectful good son. Billy makes money off the milk from his cows and while trying to save one finds himself getting infected and going more and more insane as the days and hours pass and he decided that burning his family alive is the right thing to do…very cold blooded and shows you how bad this illness is! The issue is very dark in tone and while not super bloody there are moments of murder that are very disturbing as a cow is shot and then beaten and a mom with her child are set on fire. The cover for this issue is great and has a creepy Horror Comic vibe and the interior art for this issue is done by Hugo Petrus and is really great as I think he captures the brooding and dark mood of this subject matter well. This far the comic series based on the 2010 film The Crazies has been a good read and I am shocked that it took me this long to read it! So with that let’s see whose madness we follow next.

The Crazies # 3 **1/2
Released in 2010 Cover Price $2.99 Top Cow # 3 of 4

Charlie Finley works as the town’s mortician and bodies just keep coming in and the Sheriff needs to know the cause of death and as well needs Charlie to keep these murders and deaths hush as he does not want to panic the town. One of the bodies on the slab is Rory Hammil and when working on him he by accident pokes his finger and the wound bleeds causing Rory’s blood to mix with his. That night Charlie has a terrible nightmare of the dead bodies coming to life and visiting him in his room and the bodies are that of the crashed Pilot, Deardra, Nick and Rory and even when awake he sees and hears them! Also that morning the towns Pastor shows up to prey for those who have passed and as Charlie leads him to the morgue the dead taunt him, and once there Charlie attacks the Pastor and sews his mouth and eyes shut and Charlie hides when a bone saw in hand when The Sheriff arrives.

In this issue we follow the towns mortician who by accident cuts his finger when working on the body of Rory Hammil and this causes him to become infected and he is tormented by the voices and visions of the victims of the past two issues who push him to do bad things and he does just that as he kills the towns Pastor and then readies himself to murder the Sheriff by the issues end. Poor Charlie is the one we fallow in this issue and he seems like a good guy who has fallowed in his fathers footsteps of being the towns mortician when in reality he wanted to be a doctor and help the sick. When driven to madness Charlie seems to like to cause more torture before death and once his mind breaks it seems there is no coming back for him. What I dig about this issue is that it ties in the past two and shows that this horrific rabies like illness is ripping through this small town and that no one is safe from it. The issue has a little more blood and some gory moments like it shows the burnt corpses of Nick and Deardra and shows the Pastor with his mouth and eyes sewed shut. The cover for this issue is pretty cool and creepy and has a classic modern Horror Comic look, and the interior art for this issue is done by Vincent Spencer and is a weird mix of drawings and photos and it works well for this issue. So far this comic series for The Crazies is a good read and really does fit in well with the 2010 film, and with that let’s take a look at the final issue in this series.

The Crazies # 4 **1/2
Released in 2010 Cover Price $2.99 Top Cow # 4 of 4

The town is under attack by the infected and the military has been called in with orders to kill everyone and thing to keep this infection from spreading and hidden in the woods are the three neighbors of Rory that are Red, Jesse and Nathan who have to fight for their lives as they kill a few soldiers as well as have to fight off some of the infected all the while they are clearly infected as they are filled with violent anger and have been bitten by those they are killing as they want to find a truck to get out of town and then they also have an idea to take what they want. The three friend drive around killing the infected and for some reason put many of the bodies in the bed of the truck they have stolen, but the are finally pulled over by the army and its now clear that they are infected as they brutally kill the military men and they are proud of doing so.

This is the final issue in The Crazies comic series and follows the three friends and the neighbors of Rory from issue one as they get infected and go on a murder rampage as they kill both the normal and infected people and almost treat this like they are hunting deer as they are having a blast in their rampage and while they are infected the three still have their friendship, and they are very violent in their killing ways. The Three Friends are skilled with guns as well as knives and they blast and slash their way through so many people and this hands down is the most violent and bloodiest comic in the series and one solider even gets his face punched into hamburger meat! And by this final issue the infection or illness has spread so fast that everyone is doomed and are running around in rages and attacking one another as well as anyone they see. The series I have to stress did a great job of feeling like it belonged in the film and I enjoyed this with issue two being my favorite in the series. The cover for this one is pretty great and for some reason reminds me of a cover you would see on something like “30 Day of Night” or “68” and is eye catching for that time. The interior art is done by Rahsan Ekedal and is really cool and is the style of modern Horror Comic art that I have always liked. Over all this is a good comic series based on a Horror Film and proves once more that more companies should team with filmmakers to make these types of comics as they are great reads for fans of the film as well as help promote the film very well. Well checkout some of the artwork below to see some of the styles used in this series and I say if you like The Crazies remake make sure to get these comics and give it a read. And I should note that many of the characters and situations from this comic series is from the film it’s self as it explores more about them that you did not see in the film.

Now let’s talk Monster Bash 2023 and you long time readers know that I love this convention a lot as it is a celebration of classic monsters and also has become a kind of gathering spot for Horror Hosts as you can see such hosts as Mr. Lobo, Son Of Ghoul, Drac & Countess Carita and even one of my favorites Gruesome Graves can be found at guest tables and even just wondering around in the crowd. But in 2023 we only did one day at the convention and then spent the rest of the time eating at the amazing restaurants, shopping at local businesses and visiting classic shooting locations of George A. Romero films! And we ended up going the last day of the convention on June 18 and went as soon as the doors opened and after paying to get in we walk around and seen all types of amazing stuff all connected to Classic Horror Movies as well as other things that fans would enjoy like Superheroes and Classic TV. The statues this time around were a mix of things like Universal Dracula and Hammer Horror Frankenstein Monster. And there were lots to look at from Horror DVDs, Shirts, Toys, Books, Model Kits, Books, Comics, Posters, Night Lights, Artwork and much more. While our time was short at Monster Bash this year it still was a great time and lots of fun to spend time with the classic Monsters.

So for those wondering what my Monster Bash 2023 haul was it was the following I got a 1976 King Kong plush doll for $20.00, two paperback novels one being Island Of Dr. Moreau the other The Mummy: Dark Restriction for $7.00 each, I got a wood burn plaque of Horror Host Bowman Body for $25.00, The Mummy # 1 by Dark Horse Comics for $8.00 and three magnets (Phantom Of Paradise, Planet Of The Apes and Night Of The Howling Beast) for $12.00 for the set. And I have to say this is a good haul and I am really happy to have the King Kong Doll as I have wanted one since I was a kid!

On June 19 is when we traveled to Evans City to soak in the place were many scenes of The Crazies was filmed in and is also the town that the film takes place in! When getting there the town has a very small town feel, but also it is very busy as the main street has lots of semi trucks and traffic passing through. We walked up and down the street stopping into some local owned shops and while on the sidewalk talked to each other about The Crazies and it’s impact on the Horror Genre as well as looking around the town thinking about what if the events of the film was real. It was a nice day and a great walk around the town and if you like the 1973 classic film The Crazies make sure to check out Evans City as it’s a fun small town that has micro brew bars, ice cream shops, candy, spices and more.

As always Monster Bash was a fun time and I was able to find some pretty cool stuff for my collection and also let’s not forget just how good the comic series based on The Crazies was! But I think we have spent to much time here in this restricted area and we should probably head out before gas masked hazmat wearing weirdo’s come looking for us! But before we do let me tell you that out next update will take us away from comic books and will take us back to the world of Silent Cinema as we will take a look at the 1922 film called The 3^rd Alarm and you guessed it we will be meeting back up at the Rotten Ink Theater! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host! Before we meet again make sure to check out both the original and remake of The Crazies as they are both worth a watch.

Blah Blah True Blood Comics Blah

Posted on July 24, 2020 by Juliet Fromholt

Greetings, Inkers! Juliet here, with a look at a show and one of its comics that combines several of my favorite things. Zombies have dominated horror-centric pop culture for the past decade, and while fans’ appetites were already primed for the arrival of the Walking Dead television show in 2010, the years prior to that were devoted to another undead creature: the vampire. The bloodsuckers had already enjoyed quite the pop culture run in the mid to late 1990s with the film versions of Interview With a Vampire and Queen of the Damned and TV’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, among fan favorites. But after Buffy ended in 2003 and spin-off show Angel in 2004, it seemed that the vampire’s time in the film and television limelight was done. But several series of books were already waiting for readers and waiting to be adapted by Hollywood, and 2008 and 2009 brought viewers the first film in the Twilight saga, the Vampire Diaries TV show, and the focus of today’s update, True Blood. So warm up a bottle of your favorite blood type, and get ready to travel to Bon Temps, Louisiana as we talk about the TV show and its prequel comic.

In 2001, author Charlaine Harris began her Southern Vampire Mysteries series (also called The Sookie Stackhouse Novels) with the book Dead Until Dark. The series, which would go on to have 12 novels total, was narrated by Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress in the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps who has telepathic abilities and falls in love with a vampire. The series was set around the same time each book was published, but in this near-reality world, a synthetic blood beverage called Tru Blood made it possible for vampires to become part of mainstream society. As the books progressed, werewolves, shapeshifters, faeries, and even a maenad also emerged, among other supernatural creatures.

The series had been optioned for television twice before 2005, when producer Alan Ball, fresh off Six Feet Under (another of my favorite HBO shows), was embarking on a new deal with HBO to develop new content. Having read the series thus far, the Southern Vampire Mysteries was his first project under the deal, and production on the television show True Blood began.

Like the novels, True Blood takes place by and large, in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana and begins by focusing on telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse, played Anna Paquin, who falls in love with vampire Bill Compton in a world where vampires are “out of the coffin,” and many other supernatural beings emerge. That’s the simplest possible description I can give for the kickoff of a show that gets very complicated very quickly and stretches for seven (HBO-length) seasons. As in the books, we meet werewolves, shapeshifters, faeries, a vampire hating mega-church-esque cult, witches, and yes, a maenad. The show is, however, a loose adaptation of the books with some big changes at the start and, like many books turned shows, True Blood’s plot definitely veers completely away from the plot of the book series at a certain point.

In contrast to its teenage contemporary Twilight, True Blood is overtly sexy and puts sexuality in all of its forms at the forefront. (Funny enough though, just as Twilight had Team Edward and Team Jacob, True Blood had Team Bill, Team Eric, and eventually Team Alcide.) Some people have chosen to interpret the vampires’ struggle for equality throughout the show as an allegory for the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights, though Alan Ball, who is gay himself, disputes that interpretation as being reductive.

When True Blood premiered in 2008, a service like HBO Go was merely a dream for fans like myself who had been hooked by the premium network’s still relatively new slate of dramas that came to prominence with The Sopranos and the aforementioned Six Feet Under. So that meant that viewers either had to have both cable and HBO to watch a show or wait for each season to come out on DVD. And so it was on DVD that I first saw True Blood. Admittedly, I was a little uncertain about whether I was even interested; as a lifelong Anne Rice fan, I wasn’t sure anyone could do a Louisiana vampire story to my satisfaction other than her. It took a combination of Matt buying me the first season on DVD as a gift, and the endorsement of several of my fellow Six Feet Under devotee friends for me to take the plunge. And of course, it was love at first bite.

I was initially drawn in by the fictional world of Bon Temps, along with the idea of vampires and the world adjusting to each other. But what kept me coming back season after season was in Shreveport: Eric Northman, Pamela Swynford De Beaufort, and their vampire bar Fangtasia. I was honestly more invested in them than the main Sookie Stackhouse story, especially after the reveal about Sookie’s origin, which remains for me one of the weakest plot points in the show, and to that end, I should clarify that I was not at all interested in (translation = pretty adamantly against) Eric and Sookie’s romantic storyline. While at first I loved the slightly kitschy atmosphere of Fangtasia and Pam and Eric’s delightfully snarky banter, it was their unique relationship as century long companions that kept me watching until the very end.

Eric and Pam are also the reason I chose not to read the Southern Vampire Mystery books. After watching the few seasons of True Blood, I strongly considered reading the books, but in doing a little research and finding out that their characters and storylines, among others I enjoyed, were very different than those portrayed on the show, I decided, to stick with the TV versions. I typically don’t have this luxury as I usually end up watching shows based on books I already love and sometimes being disappointed at the translation. Funny enough, as I was working on this update, AMC announced that they had acquired the TV rights to both the Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair Witches properties. So I’ll end up having the book to TV experience with a different set of vampires at some point.

But back to Eric and Pam, or more specifically, back to Pam. I mentioned before that there became different camps of viewers, and while I suppose I could be Team Eric, I am most definitely Team Pam. When I start watching a show I really enjoy, there’s usually one character that from their first appearance I can instantly claim as my favorite, and Pamela Swynford De Beaufort is most definitely that character on True Blood. It’s not a huge surprise as I have a “type” when it comes to favorite characters: sassy, in charge, but still complex and exploring their place in the world. For me, Pam was also often a sounding board for the viewer (okay, maybe just this viewer), dryly commenting on some of the more ridiculous aspects of the story. And she’s got some of the most memorable lines (and outfits) from the show.

Before we move on, I should note that while Eric and Pam are my favorite characters/progeny-maker pair/otp/imaginary vampire best friends, in contrast Matt is firmly on Team Bill Compton and Jessica Hamby. I actually really like Jessica too, but the Bill vs. Eric debate raged on hilariously in our house through the entire run of the show.

Another memorable thing about True Blood was the show’s use of music. In addition to the sexy, swampy theme song “Bad Things” performed by Jace Everett, the show is beautifully scored by Nathan Barr. Also, notably, each episode is named for a song that describes something about the story and appears as part of it, usually as punctuation right as the end credits roll. These are often classic and new classic songs from the likes of Dr. John, Neko Case and the Talking Heads. Some of these, along with notable other songs from within the episodes appear on 4 soundtrack albums that are still available on CD.

During the height of its popularity, True Blood was known for a ton of merch and some really great marketing, and sometimes those two would go hand in hand. Shortly after the show began, HBO began marketing bottles of actual, drinkable Tru Blood. Okay, so it was blood orange soda, but the look and feel of the packaging was authentic to the show making it great for watch parties and collectors. On the more traditional marketing front, the billboard and print ads for the show were always super distinctive and clever, opting for an attention grabbing image or phrase with the show’s signature red, black and white color scheme. In the online/tv realm, there were several runs of “minisodes” used to bridge gaps between seasons. The first was called A Drop of Blood and took place between seasons 2 and 3. These 3 to 5 minute videos helped give viewers a look at smaller moments between the seasons. In Eric and Pam’s, which was the first one released, we see them audition new dancers for Fangtastia and land on Yvetta, who we’d meet in season 3. There was also an ongoing series of short videos that began in 2010 after season 3 and lasted until 2014 featuring Jessica. These were vlog style videos in which our favorite redhead learned more about life as a vampire with Pam, Tara, Bill, and Ginger among her guests.

Along with the soundtrack albums, the soda and of course DVDs of the seasons, fans of True Blood could take their pick from a slew of official and unofficial merchandise including more shirt designs than I can count, drinking and shots glasses, coffee mugs, a cookbook (which I own), a makeup line from Tarte cosmetics (which I wish I owned), and a line of Funko Pops. Fun fact: I held off buying Pop figures for quite a long time until they made Eric and Pam, and then the floodgates opened up and I now have entirely too many.

True Blood also inspired several comic series. In both 2010 and 2012 IDW published comic series simply called True Blood, which were six and 14 issues respectively. In 2011, there were two miniseries, also from IDW, True Blood: French Quarter and True Blood: Tainted Love, all of which spun off the TV show and used familiar characters. But before all of that, there was True Blood: The Great Revelation. This Top Cow comic was released in 2008 at ComicCon as a part of the pre-promotion for the show. It’s a prequel to the show, and it’s the comic we’re going to look at here on Rotten Ink.

As a reminder, we comics on a scale of 1 to 4 and are looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So get a refill on your Tru Blood (or maybe some New Blood), and get ready to do some bad things.

True Blood: The Great Revelation # 1 ***
Released in 2008 Cover Price: Free Top Cow # 1 of 1

A centuries old vampire named Lamar is flying through the night sky on an airplane. As his journey begins, he reflects on how strange it is for vampires to be out in the open and how Tru Blood is making that happen. Lamar arrives in the Shinjuku District of Tokyo, recalling his first visit to Japan ages ago as he makes his way to his hotel. There he tells us more about the emergence of Tru Blood that led to the Great Revelation: when a group of Japanese vampires found out that human scientists were close to developing synthetic blood, they bought up the patents, invested in the company, and began to spread the word to vampires around the world. Even now, however, Lamar isn’t sure that humanity is ready for vampires, and he recalls that his friend Samson was eager for integration between vampires and humans and paid for it with a stake through his heart. Lamar finally arrives at the headquarters for the Yakonomo Corporation where he’s eager to show them a secret of his own.

The first thing I should tell you about this comic is that the story ends on a cliffhanger that was continued digitally as pre-promotion for the show. Comic Con attendees in 2008 got the first read, and eventually these pages and the rest of the story were released weekly on HBO’s website to gear up for the show’s premiere. Unfortunately, after lots of searching and several Wayback Machine fails, I was unable to find the rest of the pages beyond what’s in the physical comic, which is disappointing, but is also worth noting because some of the questions I have about the story may have been answered in those extra pages. That said, I thought this was a really nice introduction to the larger mythos of True Blood. I thought it was really smart to create a character that exists outside of the world of the show and to make the setting someplace other than Bon Temps because it didn’t fall into the clumsy trap of some prequel promo comics where the comic and show aren’t being written in sync so the characters feel off. Lamar is a compelling character and the little glimpses of his backstory we got made me want to spend more time with him, and I definitely want to know more about the weapon he revealed in the last panel. The backstory about the Great Revelation and origin of Tru Blood also felt really well in line with the show, albeit with a few elements missing – the vampire Kings and Queens are mentioned but the authority isn’t mentioned by name, likewise we only see vampires at the Yakonomo Corporation with no sign of Mr. Gus (or perhaps his father). It is interesting that we get the name Yakonomo this early in the show’s history, however, as it’s only referred to as “a Japanese Corporation” onscreen until season six.

The story is primarily told in “voiceover” style, which works nicely for this shorter story, especially since the whole point is to give a lot of background in only a few pages. Jason Badower’s art is great, and the colors by Blond were particularly great because they captured the mood of the show and all of the early marketing materials ahead of the premiere. Speaking of, there are several bonus pages that include a two-page interview with Alan Ball and several “ads” that tie into entities in the show and had accompanying web buildouts (some of which you can find on the Wayback Machine – yay!) like the American Vampire League and the Fellowship of the Sun. All told, this is a really great addition to the True Blood story, and fans of the show should have this in their collection.

It’s almost dawn, when, unless you’re Billith, all vampires need to find a place to hide from the sun. And it’s about time that I hand Rotten Ink back to Matt. For his next update, he’ll be revisiting the world of horror fan films with another batch of movies to tell you about. In the meantime, read a comic or two, support your local comic shop and bank blood, and avoid any and all vampire emergencies.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: I Sell The Dead (2008)

Posted on September 2, 2018 by bloodlinematt

Not all Horror Movies have to be scary; many are laced with humor, and Horror Comedies have been very popular with viewers many of years now. One of these Horror Comedies is called I Sell The Dead and was released in 2008. While I Sell The Dead never reached the popularity of other Horror Comedies like Shaun Of The Dead or Zombieland, it has built a cult following and even spawned an Image Comic book one shot that we will review here on this From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update! So grab a shovel and pick a cemetery, it’s time to become a ghoul and dig up the graves of the undead for some quick cash as we dive into the world of I Sell The Dead.

Before we get into the movie, lets take a look at the monsters that make up I Sell The Dead as it’s filled with many different types. We will start with the weakest of the batch, the Alien Corpse that is freezing cold to the touch and even freezes the land it’s buried under. The thing about the dead Alien is once he is unearthed, he will be beamed up by a U.F.O and taken back to space. The threat of the Alien Corpse is not high as it will cause cold chills and once beamed up to the mother ship it will blind you for a moment and deliver a wicked headache to humans around. We next have the female vampire. This bloodsucker is killing machines who want to suck the blood of the living. She is super fast and strong. The harm she can do to humans is drain them of their blood and kill them. Her weaknesses are crosses, garlic and a stake to the heart! We also have zombies; these flesh eaters are primed to kill the living around them and will do so with their teeth and their hands with which they try to rip and tear flesh. Also their bite can turn humans into one of them, the walking dead. The zombies are not shown to have any weakness in this film so I’m not sure if head trauma would work to stop them. While this film is filled with many ghouls and monsters, none of them are major killing machines but each have their own threats to mankind to make them all a thorn in our collective side. The major baddy hands down would be the female vampire as she is quick, strong and deadly. Below are some pictures of some of the zombies and the female vampire from the film.

So as you can see, this small town in Ireland used to be crawling with all types of monsters who were undead and thirsty to kill the living. I should also note that while the monsters are indeed just that, the true evil is the rival gang of grave robbers called The House Of Murphy…but we will get into them during the comic review. We are now at the point where we need to chat a little about the film. As always we will take our film write up from our pals at IMDB and following that I will talk about the production of the film as well as my first time viewing and thoughts. So let’s not delay and take a quick look at I Sell The Dead, the movie.

I Sell The Dead (2008)

“18th century justice catches up with a pair of grave robbers. With only a few hours to go before his date with the guillotine, Arthur Blake tells his life story to Father Francis Duffy. Before long, Arthur spills the beans on how he got started in the grim corpse peddling business with seasoned ghoul Willie Grimes.”

I Sell The Dead was an independent horror comedy film that was written and directed by Glenn McQuaid. It was based on a short film he made in 2005 called “The Resurrection Apprentice” and was a film production that was filled with love and allowed McQuaid to work with friends and crew members and actors he had worked with before. The film cast iconic horror actor Angus Scrimm as well Ron Perlman, Dominic Monaghan, Larry Fessenden and Heather Bullock. The film was filmed with no major set backs and when done, IFC picked up the film for distribution in the USA in 2009 and released in on DVD and Blu-Ray. The film was met with pretty good reviews from critics and fans and built itself a very good cult following.

I first saw I Sell The Dead in 2018 as I found out about it via Ebay when looking for comic books that were based on Horror Films and found the Image Comic based on the film listed. I ordered the comic and the movie from Amazon and both got to me around the same time. Before I read the comic I wanted to watch the movie and chose a very cold late night in January to do so, and as the rain storm outside raged on I turned off all the lights and started to watch the film to see if it chilled my blood or tickled my funny bone….and I have to say that while it was not all that scary, it did have some goofy moments that made me chuckle. The acting was well done and seeing Angus “Tall Man” Scrimm in the role of an evil doctor was very cool as he was a very underrated actor. The film was not that bloody, but they use blood well when it does come into play as the effects are really solid for an independent film. My favorite side character in the film was Valentine Kelly, a white mask wearing female who was set on fire by an ex-lover who now works for The House Of Murphy as a grave robber and enforcer, but sadly I think she is down played really bad in the film. Over all I really enjoyed the film and even watched all the extras on the disc before going to bed that night. I would say if you like Horror Comedies, you should check this film out.

So now that we have taken a look at the film as well as the monsters that dwell in the universe of I Sell The Dead, we are at the point where we will be taking a look at the comic book based on it put out by Image Comics and see if it holds up the charm and fun spooky nature of the film. I want to thank an Amazon seller for having this comic in stock for this review and would like to remind you all that I grade these 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 we are in the graveyard and it’s time for us to read this comic based on a Horror Comedy.

I Sell The Dead # 1 **1/2
Released in 2009 Cover Price $4.99 Image Comics # 1 of 1

Our tale starts with the beheading of grave robber Willie Grimes. His friend and helper of selling the dead Arthur Blake is in his cell being visited by Father Francis Duffy who is there to get the young man’s life story of crime. Over some wine Arthur shares his story that starts with him at a young age helping Willie get bodies from the cemeteries all for the super wicked Dr. Quint who pays the pair poorly for the bodies and also is always threatening them with the law and death! One night Arthur and Willie find the body of a young woman with a stake in her heart, and after removing it, they find out she is a vampire. After she attacks, they stake her again with some luck and deliver her to Quint who removes the stake and meets his fate…and this frees our grave robbers from his evil grip. Once free, they start stealing bodies for all types of clients and making more money than before. When stealing the body of an Alien, they have a run in with a UFO that steals the body. They also start hearing rumors of crates that have zombies in them that the owners of the crates have lost some during a ship crash that have washed up on an island and they are paying to get them back! And while the money is good, the pair get a little scared when they hear that The House Of Murphy has been hired to get the boxes back. The house of Murphy is lead by the father Samuel Murphy and his gang includes his son Cornelius, burnt faced Valentine Murphy and brute Bulger. But they decide to take the job before them thanks to Fanny, a call girl who is their friend and wants a cut of the money. Once at the island Fanny sneaks up on Bulger and cuts his head off and as they start to remove the crates, a zombie escapes and bits Willie in the arm before they can force it into a cage. As they celebrate and before they can get another zombie crate, a knife is thrown and kills Fanny as Cornelius and Valentine are there, and they are pissed! But things go south as the zombies escape and kill Cornelius and Valentine as Willie and Author escape the island and are later arrested. As the story comes to an end, Father Francis Duffy shows that he is really Samuel Murphy and he is there to kill Author for leaving his gang on the island to die, but before Samuel can kill Author, the decapitated Willie, now a zombie, comes in and saves the day and the pair escape the jail cell. In the end Cornelius now as a zombie is coming from the water and wants revenge.

This adaptation does a great job of capturing the horror comedy aspects of the film and delivering it onto the pages of this comic. The main plot of this comic follows two goofy grave robbers who over their adventures have run into all types of strange creatures from aliens to zombies. Upon being caught, they are to be executed for their crimes and besides the law they are also wanted dead by a rival gang of body snatchers who some of their actions have left members of that faction dead. Our main hero is Author Blake, a young man who from a young age has had to steal bodies in order to survive and always avoid danger and the law. While he has done bad things he really is not a bad person and has never killed in order to get money or to survive, but he also is not one to go out of his way to help others in need unless you’re in his inner friend circle. Willie Grimes is a gruff life long criminal who as well is not 100% a good guy nor bad guy and is driven by greed. But with him, he is willing to kill and even when a zombie he still remains his own goofy gruff selfish person. The comic is filled with lots of ghouls like a female Vampire who is hungry for blood and is pure evil. We also have aliens who just want the body of their dead friend back and of course zombies who want to eat some flesh. But our main baddies in this comic are the House Of Murphy who are cold blooded killers who hate those who stand in their way and will do whatever it takes to get their job done. Samuel Murphy is the leader of this group and calls the shots, but when his son and “daughter” are killed, he finds a way to try and get revenge by acting as a Father! Cornelius Murphy is a mean man who is a master of knives and does like to kill! Valentine Murphy is a woman who was burned in a fire and must wear a mask to hide her disfigured face; she as well is a cold blooded killer. Lastly we have the super strong brute Bulger who is the muscle of the group. While they don’t get to really shine in this comic as being badass bad guys, the way the other characters fear them show that they are terrible people. Also Dr. Quint is a terrible person who clearly does not value life or death and uses people and bodies for his own causes. The comic follows the film pretty well, but does add its own touches in order to keep it feeling a little fresh and make it feel slightly like something new. The cover is okay and looks like a cheap independent zombie comic and does a poor job of letting you know it’s based on a film. Brahm Revel does the interior art and while it’s good and has it’s own style, it at times does not fit the mood of the comic. Over all this is a pretty good Horror Comic based on a Horror Movie and fans of the film will really enjoy it as well fans of fun natured zombie comics. Check out the artwork below to see the style used in this comic.

I Sell The Dead is one of those Horror Movies that many people do not know about and has slipped under the radar of many horror comedy fans and even I feel slipped past many readers of Horror Comics based on films as I only even found out about it this year. So while this comic and movie are not ground breaking, I do think that it should have a cult following and people should give them both a chance. For our next update we are leaving the world of the dead behind and will be taking a look at a Horror Host as we do an Icon update on Tennessee-based short lived host, Benedictine The Mad Monk! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update for some quality time with a mad monk!

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: The Legend Of Diablo (2003)

Posted on August 25, 2017 by bloodlinematt

The Aztec culture has contributed many great monsters to films based around their ancient legends and practices including The Aztec Mummy and the evil demon Azar, who is the main movie monster from today’s film and comic, The Legend Of Diablo! In the last 10 years Hollywood has filled the cinemas with films about ghosts and possessions, and independent labels have flooded the DVD, Blu-Ray and streaming market with lower budget films of the same kind filling the horror genre with lots of films that carry a PG-13 rating and deal with the spirits of evil. The Legend Of Diablo is a possession film that pre-dates the big boom and was, instead, riding the coattails of The Exorcist, Stigmata and The Blair Witch Project making it a low budget clone of its own time. Also The Legend Of Diablo shows that no matter how big or small your horror film is, it could be made into a comic book and people will buy it as one things for sure, Horror Comic readers love what they love! So get ready to open the box and free the evil Azar and learn about the film and the comic and enjoy another “From Horror Film To Horror Comic” update.

So let’s take a look at what Azar is and what it’s capable of! Back in the time when the Aztec’s were still sacrificing humans and ruled the land an evil demon was among them that had the ability to raise the dead as well as brainwash the living. It was up to the Aztec Chief to defeat the demon who had claimed many lives and with this defeat he was imprisoned in a box for centuries. When in 2003 he is freed from the box thanks to a noisy researcher, he once more is on the prowl, this time in California, and possesses innocent people and have them kill one another and this is his mission as death and destruction is what it craves. Azar’s main power comes from creating zombies who will do his evil will and allowing his followers to defend him and cause their victims to become slaves as well. He craves human flesh and by consuming it his powers become greater. He also seems to enjoy playing mind games with his intended victims by using possessed loved ones against them as well as speaking to them via their mind. He can also teleport and jump from body to body when needed in order to avoid being defeated. The main body he takes in the film is that of a preacher who was trying to stop him and his spirit form has the view of seeing red. While in his ancient times he looks like a huge demon with horns and even a long sinister tongue. His weakness is the box and artifact that his being was trapped in for years, as he fears being trapped again and loosing his grip on his plan to infest the world with his slaves. He also has an ego and is on a power trip that leaves him open for defeat as spreading his work of possession clouds his judgment to truly win. While only a spirit, his evil body jumping ways makes his a true evil demon who can cause major havoc and destruction to any one and place that he sets his sight on.

So as you can see, Azar is pure evil and if unleashed could easily bring the world as we know it to an end! Plus besides the change in appearance as far as the eyes and voice, the demon Azar could be walking among us. But now that we understand who and what Azar is, I think we now should learn a little about the movie. As always, the description will be taken from our pals at IMDB and after I will share my memories and thoughts about the movie, so let’s see what this Horror flick is all about.

The Legend Of Diablo (2003)

“The small California town of Diablo is plagued with mysterious deaths after Sheriff Roberts Lopez unearths an ancient box. Legend has it that the box holds the sixteenth-century Mexican demon named Azar.”

This is a movie that I can remember being on the shelves at Blockbuster Video when I worked for them. It was what was commonly called shelf filler by my manager who would always laugh at the cheesy horror films that filled our new release wall. I never rented The Legend Of Diablo from work which is kind of shocking as I watched all the horror films I could get my hands on. Plus I have always been into Latina Women and this flick has its share of them. Many years had passed and this film slipped from my mind and I forgot it even was made until one day working at Game Swap in 2017 it crossed my path again when a regular customer named Steve who loves horror films as much as I do thought about buying it but didn’t. This lead to me seeing that it had a comic based on it and made it a perfect fit for a “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update. On a cold February in 2017 via a new DVD I bought for only $1.67 on Amazon. I watched this film for the first time and was amazed at just how low budget yet kind of charming it was, but while charming it is by no means a good. Azar for most of the film is just the POV of the camera with a red filter and when taking over bodies, the effects are nothing more than contacts and make-up and this is slightly disappointing as seeing a creature/demon version would have been pretty cool! The plus to the film was actress Calvi Pabon who played Mary Lopez who dressed in alternative Goth cloths, and this rocked! The film was released on DVD and VHS on March 2, 2004 and was lost in the shuffle for most horror fans as other films released that year were Seed Of Chucky, Dawn Of The Dead, Ginger Snaps 2-3, Tremors 4, Bone Sickness, Dracula 3000 and Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys to name a few and they all gained their cult status over this film. The Legend Of Diablo was directed by Robert Napton and stars Fred Estrada, Lindsey Lofaso, Mario Soto and Calvi Padon all who try their best with what they had to work with and that’s a very small budget with the DVD I have being released by Trinity. Over all this film may not be an amazing piece of horror cinema but no matter how small it still added to the genre as a whole.

So now that we have an understanding of Azar and the film that spawned him, The Legend Of Diablo, I think it’s time to go from the movie to the comic book that was released by Image Comics. The only reason I knew this comic book was made was again thanks to Game Swap and the customer who brought up the DVD that boldly states “based on the popular comic character!” And that sparked a hunt for what comic this film was based on and with the help of Todd The Fox we found it, but only after asking many comic reading friends of mine if they knew like Jason Young and Jeremy Hoyt and none of them knew…so Azar must not have been that popular of a comic character. I want to thank Lone Star Comics for having this issue in stock as that made this update possible. The Aztec spirits are wanting me to remind you all that I grade these on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So beware of the stalking red light that lurks outside as it could be Azar, and let’s dive right into this comic that helped spawn the film or is that they spawned each other!

Knights Of The Jaguar # 1 **
Released in 2004 Cover Price $0.00 Image Comics # 1 of 1

The year is 1819, and the Aztec’s have called upon their warriors called Knights Of The Jaguar who, when wearing their helmets, become Jaguar men who’s main goal is to fight the evil of demons like Azar who tried to take over their land. With their tribe’s chief they tried their best to defeat the evil demon and were able to trap him but not fully defeat him. Now in modern times Agent Vega takes the trial of the Jaguar and becomes a modern member of this secret order of warriors and heads to the city of Diablo in order to try and bring the war back to Azar and end his evil ways once and for all.

This short ashcan comic acts as a way to try and explain the legend and lore of Azar and the men who spend their lives trying to stop his evil rampage known as the Knights Of The Jaguar. The plot goes back in time when the Aztec people fought against the demon Azar who would corrupt many and that only brave warriors who would dawn the jaguar helmets are the ones who can save mankind form the evil. We then show modern times and a good Agent takes the trial to become a member of the order of the Jaguar and when he passes, he heads to a town that is rumored to house the spirit of Azar. Really the plot is that faced paced and really just acts as a tool for readers to rent or buy the film The Legend Of Diablo. The downside is besides the fact you know the Knights Of The Jaguar and Agent Vega are good guys and that Azar is an evil demon so you get no real time to bond with the characters or fully get to know them, and that’s the weakness of this comic as you really don’t get to care about any of them! The comic has little amounts of blood and is not really all that scary making it feel like it’s a horror comic that’s spinning its wheels and not living up to the demon possessed comic it could be. The art is pretty good and has a true 90’s feel to it and is done by Mike Choi who does a good job of making the story seem more epic. The cover is cool but really does not represent the film and the characters in it at all and that’s odd as this comic was meant to be a tool to get readers to become viewers. Over all not much can be said about this comic besides Aazar is evil, the art is good and its way to short for its own good. Fans of the film might want to give this a read as it gives more back history to the demon Azar as well as Agent Vega. Your average horror comic reader who has zero clues that the movie was even made will probably want to stay clear, as it offers nothing for you besides more questions than entertainment. Below is art from this mini comic and shows Azar in all his glory.

So as you can see The Legend Of Diablo might not have set the horror movie world on fire it still got the comic book treatment, and I wish more smaller horror films and companies producing and releasing these films would take note and make comics based on their films as there are readers out there like me. While we leave Azar behind, we are starting our countdown to Halloween with out next update and I feel like we should take a look at another “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” so I decided to take a look at the comic and slasher film The Orphan Killer! What better way to kick off a Halloween countdown than with a gory slasher comic and film…am I right? Well until next time, read a comic or three, watch a Horror film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next update for a very bloody good time!

Kevin Nash The Master Of The Jackknife Powerbomb

Posted on March 23, 2017 by bloodlinematt

Here on Rotten Ink we have covered some big men of the squared circle of Pro Wrestling like Andre The Giant and King Kong Bundy, and now I think it’s time we take a look at another as we step into the ring with Kevin Nash who hands down was one of the most popular wrestlers of the late 1990’s and through out the 2000’s in both WWF and WCW and even made his mark in TNA as being a main-eventer and a wrestler who put asses in the seats. Nash has been a very topical wrestler as some fans, critics and fellow wrestlers don’t like him and claim that when he was WWE World Heavyweight Champion, he was not a draw and that he was lazy and only knew a limited move set. Others put him at the top of their favorite wrestlers and find his matches entertaining. Here on this update I will try and cover it all from his biggest match as Wrestlemania XI, to the Finger Poke Of Doom and even ending Goldbreg’s winning streak, it will all be covered! So once more lace up your boots and step over the top rope as we take a look at another big man of Pro Wrestling and the Image Comic based on him.

Kevin Scott Nash was born on July 9^th, 1959 in Detroit Michigan and had a pretty normal life besides sadly losing his father in 1968 from a heart attacks. Kevin was only 8 years old. Nash was a great student and went to the University Of Tennessee where played center for the basketball team from 1977-1980 even making it to the NCAA Sweet 16, but his prankster attitude and clashes with authority took him out from playing for a fourth year. After moving to Europe and playing pro basketball for many years, he tore his anterior ligament, and this caused him to have to retire. He took many other odd jobs overseas like 202^nd Military Police Company where he guarded a NATO facility, and back in the US he managed a strip club and worked for a Ford factory. Nash eventually decided to try and become a Pro Wrestler and was trained by Jody Hamilton aka Assassin # 2, and in 1990 Nash was able to get a job with WCW.

With grease paint on his face and an orange Mohawk, he became Steel and teamed with his partner Iron to become The Master Blasters that would spend a few months feuding with Mike Rotundo and Tim Horner. But Iron was not working out and was replaced by Blade, and the team was undefeated for a time making them a tag team to watch as they had the power and look. Their first loss came by the hands of Tom Zenk and Brian Pillman. Even after the loss, they ended up getting a tag team title shot against The Steiner Brothers and would not be able to take the straps from the champs. By 1991, their push as a tag team came to a end and so did the tag team as Steel would now just be called Master Blaster and would have single matches against the likes of Brian Pillman and Junkyard Dog only to lose.

Master Blaster was gone by February 1991, and Nash would get the second gimmick of his career as he became Oz! As Oz he had a weird old man Halloween mask, silver hair, dressed in green, was managed for a short time by The Great Wizard and was based on the book/movie The Wizard Of Oz. He was a powerhouse of power and made his debut at the 1991 Clash Of The Champions where he started his short undefeated streak…that was until The Great American Bash 1991 when he faced Ron Simmons, and after this loss he became a jobber for the wrestling stars like Dustin Rhodes, Rick Steiner, Bobby Eaton and Bill Kazmaier. And 1991 went that way for Oz, as what was supposed to be a big grand gimmick turned into a cheesy one that was used as enhancement talent. Rumor has it that Oz’s push came to an end over money, and it was also said that the whole gimmick was a rib (prank) on Nash to try to get him to quite WCW. I can remember watching that Clash Of The Champions when Oz premiered and thinking just how amazing his entrance theme was…while the gimmick was lame, it still is one I remember.

At the start of 1992, after Oz was sent packing back to the Emerald City, Nash got yet another change this time becoming a wise ass gambling mobster type named Vinnie Vegas who was quickly placed in the A Half-Ton Of Holy Hell stable along side Vader and Mr. Hughes and was managed by Harley Race. But as fast as this stable was created it was also disbanded a month later. Vegas ended up going to the stable The Diamond Mine along with The Diamond Studd (Scott Hall) and Scotty Flamingo (Raven), and their leader was Diamond Dallas Page! This stable lasted for a short while, and after they broke up, DDP and Vegas formed a tag team named The Vegas Connection. This lasted until Page was fired. Vinnie Vegas floated around for a while longer losing matches and being forced into teams with such wrestlers as Big Sky. But his luck was about to change as he had some powerful friends in the WWF, namely Jim Ross and Shawn “HBK” Michaels, and they pulled some strings so Nash was able to get out of his contract and his wrestling career was about to blow up! Kevin Nash’s first run for WCW saw him as an orange Mohawked goon named Steel, then the silver haired Oz and ended it being a parody of a mobster named Vinnie Vegas…say what you will about his first run characters, but they are what makes wrestling fun with their cheesy outlandish appearances. Check out below for pictures to see the evolution of Kevin Nash in WCW wave one.

Kevin Nash entered the WWF in 1993. He grew out his hair and dawned black leather and became “Big Daddy Cool” Diesel, the bodyguard for Shawn Michaels. The pair became Two Dudes With Attitudes, and he helped Michaels deal with good guy wrestlers who were looking to beat up on the Heart Break Kid. In the 1994 Royal Rumble, Diesel entered the Rumble at # 7 and lasted for 18 minutes and tossed out seven men that included Owen Hart, Rick Steiner, Bob Backlund and Billy Gunn. Over the months Diesel would win the Intercontinental Championship from Razor Ramon and with Shawn Michaels captured the Tag Team Titles from The Headshrinkers, making Diesel a double champion!! This was a short feat as he would lose the IC belt back to Razor, and after a tag match his partner, HBK landed a super kick to his chin, breaking them up. They forfeited the belts and Disel was no longer his bodyguard. This marked his turn from heel to face as the crowd began cheering Big Daddy Cool. Things were going great for Diesel as he would go on to win the WWF World Heavyweight Champion from Bob Backlund in 8 seconds at Madison Square Garden only three days after breaking away from Shawn Michaels. He would defend his belt and retain it via a draw against Bret “Hitman” Hart at the 1995 Royal Rumble that would see Shawn Michaels winning the Rumble and getting a title match at Wrestlemania XI that we will go more in detail about a little later in this update. Diesel would hold the belt for a little while and would defend it against the likes of Sycho Sid and Mabel. He would also reform his friendship with Shawn Michaels, and they would go on to capture the tag team titles again and with HBK also being the intercontinental champ, the pair held all of the major titles! But this time at the top was coming to an end as he and HBK lost the tag titles to Owen Hart and Yokozuna on a technicality and Diesel would lose the WWF World Heavyweight Champion on November 19 1995 to Bret “The Hitman” Hart as Survivor Series. With this loss, Diesel turned heel again and had matches against the likes of The Undertaker and Bret Hart and would leave the WWF after WrestleMania XII losing to The Undertaker and jobbing at house shows before his contract expired. Kevin Nash’s first WWF run lasts from 1993-1996, and while many would say he was a low drawing champion, he certainly made his mark in the promotion’s history with multiple title wins and some classic matches as both a face and a heel.

With WWF owning the rights to the in ring name Diesel and not wanting to return as Vinnie Vegas or Oz, Nash made his return to WCW on the June 10, 1996 episode of WCW Monday Night Nitro when he joined his pal Scott Hall (formally Razor Ramon) to form the invading tag team known as The Outsiders and simply went by his real name Kevin Nash! You see WCW was now going head to head with WWF on Monday Nights, and the storyline at first acted as if WWF had sent the pair over to cause chaos and to bully their talent. But after the WWF threatened to sue them, the storyline changed that they were just there to take over WCW and they had a mystery partner waiting to come out and help with the takeover. At the PPV Bash At The Beach, Kevin Nash along with Scott Hall teamed with a mystery partner to take on Sting, Macho Man Randy Savage and Lex Luger, and it was soon revealed that Hulk Hogan was the mystery partner. The world of pro wrestling’s biggest face turned heel, and so began The New World Order (n.W.o). Kevin Nash would become one of the biggest draws for the company winning the Tag Team Title as well as the World Heavy Weight Title and would have feuds with the likes of The Giant, Lex Luger, Rey Mysterio Jr., Goldberg. Nash became one of the company’s biggest draws and flipped many times from being heel to face and back again. Not only was he a part of The Outsiders and n.W.o but also was the leader of the n.W.o Wolfpac, which had such members as Sting, Lex Luger, Macho Man Randy Savage and Konnan. Nash was a staple of WCW Nitro and Pay Per Views and was always a main event attraction. And unlike his first run with the company, he held the cards and was able to control the creative control of his character and was making the most money of his whole pro wrestling career. But also during this time WCW was beating WWE in the ratings and almost put them out of business. Kevin Nash was one of the pro wrestlers leading the charge of bringing in the ratings, but when the tide turned and the end started to come crashing down on WCW, they ended up the ones being closed and bought out by their rivals, and Nash sat out his contract instead of jumping onboard and joining the WWE for the Invasion storyline. Kevin Nash’s second run for WCW was a major success and lasted from 1996-2001. And while this tiny history lesson on his second run for World Championship Wrestling might not be 100% in detail, I suggest you do yourself a favor and get the WWE Network and watch old WCW events and live or in most cases relive the history of his run.

After WCW closed in 2001 and was bought out by WWE, many wrestlers who had long-term contracts with Time Warner had decided to stay home and not sign new contracts to wrestle for WWE during the WCW Invasion angle. Nash decided to stay home and collect his guaranteed money for the remainder of his contract and made his return to WWE in 2002 as part of the n.W.o alongside Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall who were also making their return to the company as part of Vince McMahon’s plan to poison his own company because he had to share the power of running it with Ric Flair…or so the storyline went. The n.W.o stayed around for a short time feuding with the likes of The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin and even Hulk Hogan as Nash and Hall turned on him after he lost his match at Wrestlemania X8 to The Rock. But a string of injuries left Nash out of action, and by this time Hall was let go from WWE. The n.W.o was no more when he returned, and instead he was put into an angle that had two of his best friends Triple H and Shawn Michaels at odds with each other. This lead to a feud with Triple H that gave him title shots that he was unsuccessful at capturing. His next major feud was with Chris Jericho, and his final match was in an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship against Goldberg, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton and Chris Jericho. Nash was the first to be eliminated, and after neck surgery, the WWE did not renew is contract making his second run with the company lasting from 2002- 2004.

After being let go and healing from his surgery, he went to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and made his debut along side Scott Hall to help Champion Jeff Jarrett retain his title at the 2004 PPV called Victory Road. Nash, Hall and Jarrett called themselves “Kings Of Wrestling” which lasted a short time until Hall left in 2005, and Nash wanted his shot at the title and turned on Jarrett to feud for the title. And just like before, Kevin Nash became a major draw for TNA and had matches against some of the company’s top talents like AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, Monty Brown and Randy Savage. Nash also not only wrestled for them but also acted as an on-air character delivering comedy bits and showing his joker side. Nash had some solid matches, and his fans stood beside him during his time with the company that seen him as a member of such groups as The Band and Main Event Mafia and would have him in the spotlight in main events as well as helping push younger talent. Kevin Nash’s run for TNA was not as iconic as his time with WWE or WCW but it was entertaining and him being with them helped make them seem like a major player in the world of Pro Wrestling. Nash worked for TNA from 2004-2011 and from what Nash has said in interviews, his time there was just not a highlight of his career.

Kevin Nash as Diesel made his return to WWE on January 30, 2011 at the Royal Rumble as a surprise entrant and did not win. Nash was given a WWE Legends Contract and made appearances for the company off and on and had a few matches during his return most notably against Triple H who was feuding with CM Punk at the time. Nash interfered in a match causing Triple H to turn on his friend who was trying to help him win. He would induct Shawn Michaels into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2011, helped in NXT as a guest match commissioner from late 2012 to early 2013, entered the 2014 Royal Rumble and lost again as well as inducted his long time friend Scott Hall as Razor Ramon into the Hall Of Fame and made many more appearances on Monday Night Raw as well as WrestleMania. Kevin Nash himself was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2015, and he still is under a Legends deal with the company as of this update. While his return to WWE might not have had him as a main eventer and had him in very little matches, it is nice that he is home in WWE, a company they he belongs in and who helped make him a household name.

Over his long career as a top draw in the world of Pro Wrestling, Nash has had his share of drama and moments that live on that anger some and entertains others. The first being that he was a member of a backstage group called The Kliq in WWF alongside Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, Triple H and 1.2.3 Kid who are said to have bullied talent and manipulated Vince McMahon into big contracts, screwing over other wrestlers like Vader, The Patriot and Shane Douglas, to name a few, from getting their proper pushes. When he left WWF on May 19 1996 at Madison Square Garden, Nash as Diesel on his last match in a steel cage against Shawn Michaels broke character at the end of the match when Diesel and Triple H who were “heels” hugged Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon who were “faces,” and this allowed people to see that Pro Wrestling was….you know the F word….I don’t want to say it as I have respect for what all wresters do to entertain and much like Horror Hosts I like to have the veil over my eyes. Lots of wrestlers would go on record and claim that he held them back from getting bigger pushes as he was worried about his spot at the top. He is said to have smacked Rowdy Roddy Piper in the face backstage in WCW in front of management and talent causing the legend to back down, breaking his tough guy image…or so Nash says. He is the man who many claim pulled strings to be the first to beat Goldberg in WCW, who was on the worlds longest winning streak in pro wrestling. Nash is the man who in WCW de-masked the luchador legend Rey Mysterio Jr.! Nash was considered to be very lazy by many dirt sheet writers who claimed Nash would put no effort in his matches in WCW and was handed titles due to his high-end contract. Many wrestlers and managers behind the scenes have had very harsh words about Nash and his attitude and ability like Jim Cornette, Matt Bourne, Ricky Morton, Ultimate Warrior and Bob Holly to name a few. But one thing he did in his career has been said to have been the final nail in WCW is the “Finger Poke of Doom” where Kevin Nash oversold a finger poke to the chest by Hulk Hogan to put the belt back on the Hulkster and start up their n.W.o friendship once again. People saw this as once more being a lazy move and storytelling by Nash and the bookers. But say what you want about Nash and his mixed bag of popularity with fellow workers and critics, but this Pro Wrestling fan was always entertained by his matches and gimmicks, below is a gif of the infamous Finger Poke of Doom.

The build up to Kevin Nash’s biggest WrestleMania match was played out for almost a year before it happened. It was between him and HBK, and their on and off again friendship had to come to a massive end and this match was to be it. Kevin Nash, as Diesel, had Pamela Anderson in his corner taking on Shawn “HBK” Michaels with Jenny McCarthy and Psycho Sid in his for the WWF World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania XI that took place on April 2, 1995 at the Hartford Civic Center in Connecticut. The match’s set up was Diesel was the champion, and he had to defend against his one time best friend Shawn for the final match of the feud as HBK had become jealous of the way the crowd was more behind Diesel. He felt that it took the spotlight off him during their friendship. The match was the second main event of the PPV and was a back and fourth match that showcased Diesel as a powerhouse as well as made it clear that Michaels could hang with the bigger wrestlers in top main event matches. The matched ended with Diesel using his finisher the Jackknife power after about a 20 minute match that in the end had Diesel leaving with both Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy and locked in as a true world champion. While this match would never be on anyone’s top 5 list of best WrestleMania matches, it still was a good solid match and was Kevin Nash’s best at the worlds biggest pro wrestling event.

Besides Pro Wrestling Kevin Nash has also found his calling in acting and has been in a number of TV shows as well as movies. His first movie role came in 1991 when he played Super Shredder in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze”, with the next playing Quixo in the 1992 episode This Old House Of Mayan for USA Network show “Swamp Thing”! 1992 also saw him act in the TV show “Super Force” playing the characters Lau and Iau in two episodes. And 1995 saw him play a Male Phone Caller in the made for TV Film “The Weinerville Chanukah Special”. In 1997, he had a cameo in a TV Show playing The Giant in the episode The Crucible on “Sabrina, The Teenage Witch” and later that year would play Jackhammer Guy in the film “Family Plan” and be an unaccredited character in the Indian film “Aar Ya Paar”. Nash played a character named Rocky Williams on a 1998 episode of “Love Boat: The Next Wave” and would follow that up with starring as The Big Easy in two episodes of the show “Nikki” from 2000-2001. One of his biggest roles in a film came in 2004 as The Russian in the comic book flick “The Punisher,” and this helped mark him as a true actor as he was praised by fans and critics for this role. This lead to roles in films like “The Longest Yard” 2005 remake, “Grandma’s Boy” the 2006 comedy, “DOA: Dead Or Alive” as Bass Armstrong that was as well released in 2006, 2011’s “Monster Brawl” and “Rock Of Ages” in 2012 to name a few. His next big role was as well in 2012 as he played the male stripper character Tarzan in the film “Magic Mike” and would reprise the role for its 2015 sequel. And these titles are just a drop in the hat as he has been in many other films as cameos and through out this year of 2017 is also on tap to act in all types of flicks. So not only did Nash conquer the squared circle he also made his mark in acting.

Kevin Nash as well as his ring name Diesel has had much merchandise made in his image and had made it into his fans and collectors hands. He has graced the covers of many magazines from WWF Magazine all the way to Pro Wrestling Illustrated. He has had VHS and DVD’s made about him, showcasing his “best” matches. He has had action figures made in his image by such companies as Toy Biz, Mattel and Jakks Pacific as well as has been on Pogs and Slammers, posters, t-shirts, video games and so much more! Growing up, my favorite Nash merchandise I owned was a long sleeve n.W.o Wolfpac shirt that I wore for years until bleach and age caught up to it. So of you’re a fan of Nash’s lots of great stuff is out in the world to add to your collection.

For as long as I have owned a video game system, some of the must-buy releases for me are wrestling games, and Kevin Nash has made many appearances in them with many companies from WWE all the way to TNA. The first game I can remember him in was “WWF Raw” that came out for Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and a number of handheld systems, all made by Acclaim. I can remember him in two WCW games for the N64 “WCW vs. n.W.o: World Tour” that was released in 1997 and “WCW/n.W.o Revenge” that was released in 1998 and both released by THQ. For the Sony Playstation, I remember him in the 1998 game “WCW Nitro” as well as “WCW Thunder” that was released in 1998 as well, both made by THQ. Later on for Playstation and N64 I remember him in the EA games “WCW Mayhem” from 1999 and “WCW: Backstage Assault” released in 2000. From here Nash would show up in WWE games on the PS2 for the Smackdown series and has made many appearances in the WWE games made by THQ and 2K and has been on systems like Game Cube, WII, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. And he’s even in the most modern game WWE 2K17! Nash also was a part of the “TNA Impact!” game made by Midway and released on PS2, PS3, WII and Xbox 360. So as you can see, if you’re a gamer and a Nash fan, you can have him in your modern storylines in WWE 2K’s Universe Mode and maybe just maybe make him take a fall by the finger poke of doom!

As you can see, Kevin Nash has made his impact in Pro Wrestling, acting, video games and merchandise and even made his leap to comic books, thanks to Image Comics! Back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, the wrestling boom caught the eyes of comic companies big and small, and many titles were made based on wrestlers like The Rock, The Road Warriors, King Kong Bundy, The Undertaker and more so why not give Kevin Nash his own comic series that had him act as a vigilante. I want to thank Dark Star and Lobe Star Comics for having these issues in stock, and the referee is wanting me to remind you all that I grade these 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 let’s climb into the ring with the man who named himself Big Sexy and see if he can jackknife powerbomb himself into having a solid comic series. I want to also note that Image Comics released a preview issue for Nash that was nothing more than a write up and unfinished pages from issue # 1 so I decided to skip it for this review.

Nash # 1 **1/2
Released in 1999 Cover Price $2.95 Image Comics #1 of 2

The world is coming to an end all thanks for a secret Cabal called The Citadel run by the evil Cyrus Storm who has made the worlds food supply run short and he and his goons are keeping the poor down and wanting them to die off! Citadel driver Seventeen is on a run when he finds some poor starving people and kills off the old woman and is about to kill her grandchild when Nash comes to the youngsters aid and makes a bloody mess of the driver. But even for the rich things are not all that well as Storm is in a power struggle with Minister Parch who’s food truck has gone missing! Storms daughter Tara takes the message that Parch and his men are going after the truck and are going to kill Nash who is out in the wasteland with the poor starving people. The Minister sends his right hand man Trax and a fleet of airships and soldiers to kill Nash and this legend of the wasteland fights them all off and just when he thinks he has won the fight someone shoots him several times in the back, ending out first issue on a cliffhanger as the shooter is in the shadows and Nash has been wounded bad.

The first issue of Nash will take you by surprise as not once is it said that he was once a Pro Wrestler and in the comic he is more like Mad Max as he wanders the wasteland and wants to help the weak and poor while sticking it to The Citadel. The underline plot of the comic is a statues war as the rich who are all members of a church have all the water and food while the normal low income people are forced to live in the wasteland a place were no food will grow and water is contaminated. The only hope for the poor is Nash a man whom the powerful fear and the weak idolize. Nash in the comic is a man who is trying to do the right thing but his macho ego still makes it hard for him to connect to those he is helping, he also loves the ladies and seems to 100% knows how to defend himself and will get as brutal as he needs to be. The Citadel clearly are people who crave the power over others and use their God as a way to justify their terrible deeds of killing and looking at the poor not as humans but as bugs that need to be exterminated. I kind of like the fact that they have not touched on the fact Nash is Kevin Nash from WCW and superstar of Pro Wrestling as this makes Nash’s violent acts more believable as well as fitting in the world the story has created. Another thing I like about this issue is that it has some bloody moments from an old woman taking a shotgun blast to her guts all the way to Nash blowing up the head of one of his enemies and each kill shows blood and slight gore! The things that don’t work for me as a reader is the fact the story seems very cookie cutter and seems like writers Kevin Nash himself and Marat Mychaels rented a bunch of Post Apocalyptic movies from Blockbuster Video and took elements they liked and mashed them together like potatoes on Thanksgiving. The art done by Marat Mychaels is ok but has that 90’s dated look and is in the style of early Image Comics. Over all this issue was a fun way to kick off the series and makes me wonder how they are going to wrap it up in one more issue? So with that lets see what they have in store for us in issue # 2 and who the man is that shot Nash in the back.

Nash # 2 **1/2
Released in 1999 Cover Price $2.95 Image Comics #2 of 2

Nash has a few slugs in his back and it was Trax who shot him and as Nash is about to embrace death his enemy turns on his own men and kills them! Trax tells Nash that he can only die when he allows it and that he himself is trying to gain power and will take down Minister Parch when he is ready. As Trax returns back to the city Nash and the poor come together to become an army and try and fight back against The Citadel and as they are on the move Tara Storm in a warship beams Nash up and informs him that he can end all this fighting and killing if he would just forget about the poor and join them once more and be a warrior for Storm! Nash turns down her offer and once placed back down with the poor people he decides that he needs to have sex with many of the women in the group, only to wake up and find almost all of them dead besides one who is an assassin for Minister Parch and has been hired to kill him! Nash and the female killer fight back and fourth and this leads to the young boy he saved in issue one being killed and Nash in a rage kills the female killer and promises that he is going to bring Minister Parch down once and fore all.

This second issue was suppose to lead to an issue three that never came to the light and left the story of Nash vs. The Citadel unfinished and questions never answered. The story this time around has Nash learning that Trax wants to be a player in ruling this new world as well as finds out that Tara Storm loves him and wants him to rejoin The Citadel and ends the issue having to kill a female killer who has been hired to kill him off in the name of The Minister. Nash in this issue is filled with even more ego and spends more time wanting to bang women than to protect and fight alongside the poor. It’s great as Kevin Nash once more was the co-writer and he in both issues has it that he is scoring with women and even that he has made it with Tara Storm the daughter of the series main bad guy! But while this is laughable bad that he would make himself a ladies man, it also is fitting for Nash and his style of humor. The female assassin is cold blooded and not only kills a few women but also kills a young kid all the while doing these acts in a tank top and panties, silly! Trax as well is cold as ice as he guns down his own men in order to fail on his mission on purpose so that he can use Nash as a tool to upset Minister Parch who he wants to overthrow. One odd thing is that Nash is spoken about as if he is a legend and savior but in both issue people die around him and again he seems more interested in scoring than defending. The art is once more done by Marat Mychaels and looks just like last issue with that pure 90’s Image cheese look. It’s a shame that this series just ended before the full story could have been told as I wonder what Marat Mychaels and Kevin Nash had planned to bring The Citadel down….I am guessing that it just would have had Nash bedding ladies till he finally could power bomb Minister Parch through a table all the while Tara Storm and random women giggled about Nash being a legend in bed. I am sure I am not to far off on my guess, but it really would have been nice for Image and Next Entertainment to have finished the story. This issue as well has some bloody moments and to sum it all up “Mad Nash: Beyond Wasteland Food Shortage Dome” as I have dubbed it was a fun read and took a Pro Wrestler and turned him into a comic book hero. Check out the art below to see the style this comic has to offer, and I would say if you’re a fan of Nash and cheesy end of the world comics you might want to give these two issues a read.

So while Kevin Nash might not have taken the comic shelves by storm like he did the world of Pro Wrestling, it’s still very cool that he added his touch to series based on wrestlers. But it’s time to leave the wrestling ring and step back into the world of Horror Hosts as out next update is one I am super hyped to bring to you. It will be about The Creeper, who hosted Moraine Playhouse Theater here in Dayton, Ohio via public access in the late 80’s! Until next time make sure to read a comic or three, watch a movie or two and support your local pro wrestling federation! Next update prepare to meet The Creeper as he is a true favorite Horror Host for this monster kid.