From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Farmer Joe (2003)

Posted on June 13, 2026 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to another spooky “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update that will this time take us to the world of shot-on-video horror and the haunted barn and cursed land of Farmer Joe, a classic cult short film that is from Ohio that was released in 2003 on VHS and entertained and spooked viewers around the state of Ohio. In the late 90’s, a group of friends created a film production group called Independent B Movie and made horror, action and dark comedy films and did so for many years and released many amazing films like Werewolf Of Ohio, Who Keeps Feeding Grandpa, Teen Suicide, One Second To Late and Farmer Joe, to name a few. And with this update we will be talking about Farmer Joe and the Blood Scream Comic based on it, and like always due to my connection with both Blood Scream Comics and Farmer Joe I will not be giving this comic a star rating, as that would just be silly. So if you are ready, let’s make our way to the cursed land and barn of Farmer Joe and see what horrors await us.

Before we head too far into this update we need to take a look at the evil killing spirit of Farmer Joe, a farmer who was sold bad seeds that ruined his crop and poisoned his land and then who slaughtered his own cattle in a fit of rage before mysteriously dying and placing a curse on the land and those who trespass on it. Farmer Joe was a normal man who was sold bad seeds by a dealer that made his land toxic, and this made him snap and kill all his cattle and placed a curse on his farm, barn and land. Once dead, he became an urban legend in his small town and his evil ghostly spirit now wonders his curse land looking to kill, torture and haunt those living people that wonder on his land and scream his name and promise new seeds for him. Farmer Joe’s massive appearance as well as his booming voice puts fear into the hearts of his victims and cause them to panic and leave themselves open for the kill. He also has control of the weather around his land making night time sunny and even creating storms if he chooses. His main means of dealing death is his hoe that he swings into the skulls of his victims causing them a very quick, bloody and painful death. Being a ghost, Farmer Joe does not have many weaknesses as its only rumored that he will break his curse on you if you make a deal and plant seeds that come from the relatives of the dealer who sold him the toxic ones. The one main weakness for Farmer Joe is that he is stuck roaming his land and cannot leave it making it hard for him to rack up a body count as he has to wait for people that are foolish enough to enter his land. Over all while Farmer Joe might not be the deadliest killer ghost spirit we have covered here on a “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update, he still is one mean and evil being that loves to kill.

Now that we have chatted about the sinister Ghost of Farmer Joe, I think it is time we take a look at the shot on video short film he is from! And like always I will be getting the film’s write up from our friends at IMDB and after that I will write about the film’s production and then will also write a little about my thoughts on the film. So if you are ready, let’s grab some seeds for Joe the plant and chat about this cult SOV film from Ohio.

Farmer Joe (2003)

“Danny is a young boy who is looking to fit in and the local bullies dare him to go to the haunted farm of Farmer Joe and call on his evil spirit in order to join their gang, but what was suppose to be a prank goes wrong when the spirit of the killer farmer comes back from the grave and is looking for blood and revenge on those who did him wrong and spoke his name. Now Danny’s Dad must find a way to save his son and the bullies from becoming victims to the curse of Farmer Joe.”

Farmer Joe was a short horror film from 2003 that was the brain child of writer Mike Ritchie who wrote a short story about a haunted farm and a murderous farmer after being inspired when reading books like “Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark & “Haunted Ohio” and a short time latter Mike would start developing the story to be made into a film and would do so with Independent B Movie, a small production company based out of Dayton, Ohio under the Dark Soul Productions banner that had released the Werewolf Of Ohio films as well as Wolf Hunter. The film went from being a short story to a script in a very short amount of time and then location scouting started to take place with Beavercreek, Ohio being the main location for the run down barn and haunted field that sat beside a church, and other shots being filmed around the Kettering and Dayton area. When casting the film names like Henrique Couto, Matt Hoffman, Josh Weinberg, Misty Altick and Zac Prater were brought on and John Phaneuf would be hired to play the part of Farmer Joe. The film would take around a month to film as this was the first film Mike ever directed so some issues would come up on set with one actor even leaving the production over Mike’s inexperience. The film would be released on VHS in 2003 and make its debut at the October Cinema Wasteland Convention and would be a good seller for Independent B Movie at the time as Mike Ritchie and Misty Altick were on hand to sign copies. The short film would make it rounds at several conventions over the years both being sold on physical media as well as being shown in screenings. It would later also be released on DVD by both Independent B Movie and later SOV Horror and its mirco-cult statues is still growing to this day. The film would also get a comic book in 2017 and would be hosted by both Baron Von Porkchop and The Creeper on their shows respectively. The short film was meet with mixed reviews from critics and fans with most of the reviews being positive, but the one thing people would say is that they wanted more Farmer Joe and wanted more kills from him. The film in 2003 was released alongside such other films as Bloody Giblets: The Legend Of Lady Vandalay, Mummy Sleepover Massacre, Escape From The Dead, The Bonesetter, Black Sun, Hatchetman, Killer Rats, Beyond Re-Animator and Darkness Falls to name a few.

Farmer Joe is one of those short horror films that I was involved in that was a nightmare while filming and acting in as Mike was very new to film and was making many mistakes and causing delay, but once done became one of my favorites as I have lots of great memories of hanging with the cast and crew who were all my friends with one of them even being my fiancé at the time as she played the first victim in the film. And I can remember the world premiere of the film being done at a big meeting that was being held at a friend’s house and we had many friends over to check it out as later the film was slated to play at some conventions. I have always been a fan of this film from the old Independent B Movie days as while it has lots of flaws, it has a spooky charm that takes me back to the old days of telling ghost stories with friends late nights as well as the stories of ghosts, killers and monsters that were spoken about in the small village I am from. What also works for this film is that actor Matt Hoffman was known for playing two types of rolls in these indie films at the time with one being Matt a bullied kid who was beat up all the time and even when trying to fight back still was on the losing end of life and the other was The Wolf Hunter a macho hero who hunted and killed werewolves…so he had the two extremes a weak hero to a macho hero. But Hoffman’s role in Farmer Joe allowed him to be Bart a snarky leader of a gang who used his standing in the small town to push around those he looked at as weaker than him, and I have to say Hoffman really shines in the role. The other standout would be John Phaneuf who played Farmer Joe as his voice was booming and he looked like a crazy man as we filmed his rage scene. Farmer Joe was slated to get a sequel and had many different scripts and started filming twice, but always seemed to get cancelled by Mike Ritchie who had lots of going on in his personal life at the times. The sequels would have seen names like Plexi Starr and Bob Hinton (A. Ghastlee Ghoul) joining the cast with names like Matt Hoffman, Henrique Couto, Zach Prater and Josh Weinberg returning from the original. While Farmer Joe us a very small micro budgeted film that is mostly known for being a cult short film in Ohio it has made it mark on horror Ohio cinema.

I am sure many of you readers have never heard of Farmer Joe, but I do hope that this update has made you want to see it as if you like micro budget backyard style horror films with some actors that went on to star, direct and produce bigger well known films and shows this is one for you. And now we are at the part of the update that we talk about the comic book and like others that we have covered that were released by Blood Scream Comics we will not be doing any kind of star rating do to my connection to that publisher as well as my connection to the film Farmer Joe, so keep that in mind no stars will be given. I would like to thank Blood Scream Comics as well as the creative team of Juliet Fromholt, Jeff Potter and Jason Gilmore who made this comic and update possible. I would like to also thank Mike Ritchie for being the creator, director, writer and actor in the film Farmer Joe that this comic is based off of. So with that, let’s head into the barn of Farmer Joe and see what terrors he has in store for us.

Farmer Joe # 0
Released in 2017 Cover Price $1.99 Blood Scream # 0 of 0

Danny’s Dad is speaking into an old tape recorder as he is driving to a cursed barn alongside two of his sons bullies about the legend of Farmer Joe that had him being sold bad seeds that ruined his crops and drove him mad as he slaughtered all his livestock, plus even in death as his evil spirit haunts his old land and how he was after his son Danny and his bullies Bart, Gunner and Sam after they taunted the spirit of Joe on his own land. He tells of how the bully Bart has been chosen by Farmer Joe to help spread his curse outside his land and sends him to kidnap Danny and his mother, bringing them to Farmer Joe to lure Danny’s Dad to them. And that is why now Danny’s Dad is with Gunner and Sam heading toward the cursed barn in order to get them back. But as they get there and close to the barn Gunner is killed by a ghost bull that gores him with its massive horns and once inside they find the dead and rotted body of Bart as Farmer Joe had no need for him now! Sam is killed next as Farmer Joe uses his hoe to take off his head, and Danny’s Dad soon is shocked when he finds the bodies of his wife and son as they have as well be murdered! And after falling down in fright and shock he himself is killed and Farmer Joe has now got his revenge on them all and yet his evil spirit wants more bloodshed as he drags the body of Danny’s Dad away.

I first have to say that Farmer Joe makes for a very spooky horror comic book and this 12-page comic is able to bring the reader a quick look at the events from the short film and them bring its own twisted tale of supernatural murder and mayhem. The plot has Farmer Joe luring a father to his cursed barn by taking his wife and son hostage, only for the father to find it was a trap all along and that he and his family have been selected to be slaughtered for daring to cross the path of the evil spirit of Farmer Joe and his cursed land. Our hero of the comic is Danny’s Dad, a father who loves his family and who is willing to once more cross into the unknown in order to save the lives of his family and hopeful end the curse once and for all. But while Danny’s Dad is a hero, he also makes big mistakes as he allow his anger and fear to cause himself to rush in and find himself just another number in the body count of Farmer Joe. Danny himself is defenseless in this one as he finds himself being kidnapped and done away with all caused by a dare he took years back. The Bullies as well this time do not do well as Bart is used and then slaughtered and Sam and Gunner who are forced to return to the barn get their lives snuffed out. The evil spirit of Farmer Joe showcases why he and his cursed land are feared as he seems to truly have control over the land and the weather around it, has a heard of ghost cattle protecting his land and like always has his trusty hoe in order to end lives and send souls to the great beyond. And it’s clear that Farmer Joe is taking great pleasure in this issue of killing people as well as ending his feud with Danny’s family once and for all. The comic is filled with lots of spooky atmosphere as well as has its share of blood, gore and violence with the best kill for me being the death of Gunner as being killed by a ghost bull is pretty cool. The cover is very cool and super eye catching for fans of Indie Horror Comics as it shows a woman on the ground as coming out of the barn doors is Farmer Joe with his hoe in hand, and I have to say I think Jason Gilmore did a great job on the colors and making it pop. The interior artwork was done by Jeff Potter and is really cool as the characters look like the actors who played them and he truly captures the nature of the short film its based on. This issue zero of Farmer Joe is a really fun read and fans of the short horror film will truly enjoy this one as it feels like an urban legend story mixed with a slasher film wrapped together to deliver one heck of a spooky read. Check out the artwork below to see the style used by Jeff Potter for this comic.

I truly think that Farmer Joe made for a great comic book series and that creators Juliet and Potter did a great job of bringing horror comic readers a very spooky and bloody good read. And a few things I need to also say is that Farmer Joe was part of a fan vote event that Blood Scream Comics held in 2017 where three issue 0 comics were made by different creators all based around the Horror Movies of Independent B Movie and Farmer Joe was one of them as was the werewolf Scars from Bark At The Moon: Scars and The Sadness Killer from The Sadness who ended up winning the vote. And for those also wondering, the haunted barn location from the film has been torn down many, many years ago, making it impossible to revisit the filming location for those of you interested in doing so. And speaking of old barns I think out time here with Farmer Joe is over and with all that said, it’s time for this update to come to an end and for me to say that our next update of course will be another From Horror Movie To Horror Comic one as we take a look at the 1986 film The Abomination and the promo comic adaptation. So until next time, read a horror comic of three, watch a horror movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update for a gross blood splattered good time.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Two On A Guillotine (1965)

Posted on April 12, 2026 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to another from Horror Movie To Horror Comic” updates. This time around, we will be taking a look at a classic 60’s film that featured a crazed magician who is a master of illusions and tries to bring fear to those he has decided to torment and I am of course talking about the film Two On A Guillotine! And what a cool and strange film to get the comic book treatment, but that was the thing about Dell Comics, they made some very interesting and cool comics based on all types of horror and sci-fi films, and I for one miss them as who knows what kind of cool comic adaptations we could have gotten over the years if they would have lasted past 1974. But if you guys are ready, let’s head to the update show as the great John Harley Duquesne is performing, and I heard that tonight he is going to o one killer guillotine trick!

Let’s start by taking a look at John “Duke” Harley Duquesne who was driven mad after a performance act gone wrong. The Great Duquesne was a masterful illusionist and magician who was well loved by his fans and who made lots of money performing alongside his wife, but after an accident that killed his wife, he stepped away from it all even gave up his own daughter, and after seeing a picture of his daughter grown up his mind snapped as she looked just like his dead wife that he lied to the world about saying she ran away. The Great Duquesne is a charming looking man in appearance, but his mental break makes him very dangerous as he is unstable and will do whatever it takes to prove his guillotine act will work and his wife’s death was truly an accident. But The Great Duquesne can shock people who see him after he faked his own death as they think he is a ghost and this can chill people to the bone. He is also very skilled with his illusions and the help him pull off his grand plan of faking his death to lure his daughter back home. Because he is mentally broken, this makes him unpredictable in nature as who knows what he is capable of all to make amends with the spirit of his wife. One of his main ways of getting into the minds of his “victims” is making it seem like he will rise from the grave and leaving little spooky tricks all around making you scared and feeding into your nightmares. He is also a skilled fighter when it comes to throwing fists and can handle himself in a fight. The Great Duquesne is not a violent man as his attacks are more mental and are not coming from a vicious place but more from madness. The Great Duquesne is a living person who can be killed like any normal person so being stabbed, shot, poisoned, crushed, burnt and all other manners of death can end his life. While The Great Duquesne has claimed one life due to accident, he is still a dangerous man as his mental break and illusions make him delusional and insane.

Now that we have talked about John Harley Duquesne and his way of dealing death and fright to those who find themselves apart of his crazed plans, I think that we should now take a look at the 1965 film that he is from and that is Two On A Guillotine. I will be taking the film’s plot from our pals at IMDB and then will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts. So if you are ready, the house show lights are dimming so that means it must be show time!

Two On A Guillotine (1965)

“The daughter of a psychotic magician must stay in his mansion for seven nights in order to inherit his fortune.”

In the 1960’s Warner Brothers decided to make movies that would have directors brought in who mostly worked on TV Shows as they worked cheaper, and they wanted to see if they could find the next big movie maker. And Two On A Guillotine was one of those films as William Conrad was brought in to direct. He had worked directing such shows as The Rifleman, The Rough Riders, Bat Masterson, Route 66 and Gunsmoke to name a few, Conrad would also produce the film. The script was written by John Kneubuhi & Henry Slesar and was given a lower budget with such actors as Cesar Romero, Connie Stevens, Dean Jones, John Hoyt, Parley Baer and Virginia Gregg making up the main cast. The film would only have a three-week shoot time and once done the legendary composer Max Steiner would score it. For those who don’t know, Max is the one who did the music for the 1933 classic King Kong as well as Son Of Kong, Gone With The Wind and Casablanca and these are just a small amount of examples of his work. The film would be released to theaters on January 13, 1965 and it is unknown how well the film did at the box office. The film was met with very mixed reviews from both critics and viewers, but it was actress Connie Stevens and composer Max Steiner who both let it be known that they thought the movie was a stinker. The film was released in 1965 along side such other Horror Films as Color Me Blood Red, Die Monster Die!, The Embalmer, Monster A Go-Go, Orgy Of The Dead, Planet Of The Vampires, The Skull, Gamera The Giant Monster and War Gods Of The Deep to name a few.

So “Two On A Guillotine” is a film that I am not sure if I had seen before watching the DVD in 2023, as it seems like something I would have watched but I remember nothing about it…so maybe watching it for this update was my first time seeing it….but I am not sure. The first thing I want to say is that Cesar Romero is fantastic as John Harley Duquesne as I truly think he is such a underrated actor, most of you readers will remember Romero from the 1966 TV show Batman where he played The Joker and a small amount of you will remember him from the horror films such as The Specture Of Edgar Allan Poe (1974), Judgment Day (1988) as well as playing Count Dracula on an episode of Night Gallery. The film is often looked at as being a low budget throwaway film but when watching it again (maybe first time) I have to say that I found the film to be pretty dang entertaining as it is a mix of haunted house terror as well as crazed killer thrills. Also I have to point out that actress Connie Stevens is absolutely beautiful and is a great actress as she does a great job as Cassie in the film. The film while a slow burn does a great job of making you bond with both Cassie and Val as they stay in this haunted mansion, fall in love and uncover her family’s dark secret. Also for fans of rabbits this film has a white rabbit that runs around the mansion and is a character all it’s self, he even has his own theme song! I am not sure why this film over the years has gotten harsh words from viewers and critics as I found it to be a very fun watch and hope that someday it builds a bigger cult following than it has now. If you enjoy 60’s style Horror and have not seen this one track down the DVD from Warner Archive as well as the Dell Comics adaptation and give them a watch and a read as who knows you might just find yourself drawn into the world of Two On A Guillotine and find the breakdown of The Great Duquesne interesting as I did.

Now that we have taken a look at the crazed magician John Harley Duquesne as well as the film he is from Two On A Guillotine I think now that we should look at the comic adaptation of the film that was done by Dell Comics a classic comic publisher that made so many amazing comics based on Horror and Sci-Fi films. And when it comes to these adaptation comics in modern time I feel that Dell is often over looked but they really shouldn’t be as they made so many great spooky reads with many of them being based on films that starred Vincent Price. I would like to thank a Ebay seller for having this comic in stock and making this update possible, I would also like to thank Warner Brothers for releasing the film on DVD as apart of there Archive collection. I would like to also remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s head to the mansion and see if we can last for the seven nights with this psycho magician.

Two On A Guillotine # 1 ***
Released in 1965 Cover Price .12 Dell Comics # 1 of 1

Magician and Illusionist John Harley Duquesne along with his wife Melinda Duquesne are a big hit as their magic show is the talk of the town, and after a show John Harley Duquesne brings his press manager Buzz into a room to show him a new trick he is working on that would involve his wife being “beheaded” by a guillotine as he thinks this will take them to the next level for their tour of Europe. Many years have passed and John Harley Duquesne has passed away and his daughter Cassie shows up to watch her fathers coffin to be locked up with chains as his final words is that he will return! At the funeral she also meets many people including Dolly, a woman who has been a helper to the family for decades, Carl Vickers her fathers lawyer and Val Henderson, a fan of her father’s work who is also a member of the press. And with Cassie’s mother missing his estate is turned over to her, but only if she stays seven nights in his old mansion as he claims he will come back and speak to her…if she fails to, all will go do Dolly and other people who have helped him through his career. Cassie heads to the mansion and Val is waiting for her and the pair walk through the spooky mansion that has been rigged with all types of tricks that are sure to scare from plastic skeletons to weird plants the two wonder around as Cassie remembers back to growing up not known either of her parents. Days pass and Cassie and Val are becoming close and keep find more spooky tricks throughout the house, Val also in private confronts Dolly and Buzz as the pair are trying to spook Cassie to leave so that they can collect the estate. But when Cassie finds out that Val is a reporter she kicks him out of the mansion and that night has bad nightmares and wakes up to find her father is alive and is crazy as his guillotine trick back in the day killed his wife and now he thinks his daughter is his wife as they look alike! Dolly returns to the mansion and tries to save Cassie but fails and calls Val to hurry back to the mansion as John Harley Duquesne is going to try his beheading trick again this time with his daughter as his assistant. Val is able to get there in time and even after the trick works, John Harley Duquesne breaks down in tears as the police enter and arrest him for the murder of his wife those many years ago.

This is such a fun read that does justice to the film it is based on as the moments of the haunted mansion works as does the suspense of John Harley Duquesne being alive and well…not to bring up the fact that the shocking truth about John Harley Duquesne comes to light with perfection on these panels. The plot is very simple and has a daughter coming to town for her fathers funeral as she grew up not knowing her parents and now must stay in the families old haunted mansion in order to receive her fathers money and estate…but there is a trick as her father claims he will come back from the grave in seven days! Our main character in this story is Cassie Duquesne a young woman who was raised by her aunt after her mother went missing and her father became a recluse and leaving his illusionist act behind. You have to feel for her as the press is harassing her, her father fakes his own death and thinks she is his dead wife and she grew up with a strict aunt…plus she is almost killed by her father who is trying to pull off his guillotine act. Val Henderson is also kind of a hero here as while he first starts off as a pressman looking for a story, soon finds himself in love with Cassie and wants to protect her from anyone or thing he thinks is out to get her. Plus I feel in the comic he is more likable of a guy than he is in the film. Plus he does try his best to save Cassie even if he is the one who bumps into the guillotine and causes the blade to fall. Buzz and Molly are good people and while it looks like they are trying to scare off Cassie they are really just trying to watch out for her. John “Duke” Harley Duquesne was a master of magic and illusions who set the world on fire with his act, but after by accident killing his wife and hiding her body he was become a crazed person who wants to fake his own death, lure his daughter back to him as he thinks she is his wife returned in order to pull off his trick to prove it would work…he is a broken man. The comic’s horror comes from the suspense of the haunted mansion and if John Harley Duquesne would truly return from the grave and for those wondering the comic is bloodless. I really like how it has a classic horror feel to it and it really is a fast read that does have a few spooky moments. The cover is great and features John Harley Duquesne grabbing Cassie who is over taken with fear. The interior artwork is done by Unknown Artist and its really good as you have to love that classic Dell Comics style where the characters kind of look like the actors who play them and while the style is simple its prefect. Over all if you enjoy the film and or like classic style horror stories, make sure to check this one out. Check out the art below to see the style that is used by Unknown Artist for this comic adaptation of a classic 60’s horror film.

Two On A Guillotine is a spooky film and comic, and once more I have to give credit to Dell Comics for making some of the 60’s best horror comic adaptations made for comic readers to chill their blood to. While both the film and comic are not for everyone, if you like classic style horror from the 60’s that is a mix of haunted house, mystery, crime and even a possible deranged killer make sure to check it out. But as you can see The Great Duquesne’s show has ended and that leaves us having to leave the theater and as we make our way out I would like to take a moment to let you know that our next update will about that 1973 cult classic film Don’t Look In The Basement and the Blood Scream Comics adaptation of 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 for a crazy good time with the patients at the Stephen’s Sanitarium.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Nightbreed (1990)

Posted on March 23, 2026 by bloodlinematt

Welcome to Rotten Ink and to a “From Horror Movie To horror Comic” update. This time around we will be talking about a film made by Clive Barker based on one of his novels that has had a very strange history of being released and would end up becoming a big cult favorite for many horror fans. That film of course is Nightbreed! And what is really cool is that Marvel Comics via their Epic Comics line released not only an adaptation of the film but also turned it into a ongoing series that ran alongside their Hellraiser series as for a time Clive Barker was a big part of Marvel Comics as he would also end up doing his own superhero style comics for them. Really Nightbreed has been on my list for way too long, as this is a film that I love as well as a comic series I truly enjoyed as a youngster. So if you are ready, let’s head to Midian where the monsters are as this is going to be one Epic Comic update!

Let’s start by taking a look at The Nightbreed also called The Tribes Of The Moon a group of the monsters, freaks and killers of the world that live together in Midian and who follow the laws of their God called Baphomet who offers them protection and guidance. There are many different types of Nightbreed and each have their different ways of dealing death! Some have sharp claws and teeth that can rip through flesh! Others have strength and can rip a person in pieces or even punch through their bodies! Others have horns that can impale while others can turn into a smoke or mist and can choke out or even explode a person. Some others uses knives or sharp objects to end lives while some even have poisoned quills that enter your blood stream and induce death. Many of The Nightbreed also have very strange and monstrous appearances and this makes humans afraid of them and can chill their blood and bones. Boone is the leader of The Nightbreed and has been chosen to be Cabal and lead the Breed to a new home, when around blood and death he turns into a beast that is violent. Kinski has a half moon face and is very skilled with knives. Peloquin looks like a monster with dreadlocks that has sharp teeth and claws, and a very bad attitude. Shuna Sassi is a porcupine woman who is covered in poisonous quills. Leroy Gomm is a breed member that has tentacles that come from his belly and have claws and eyeballs on the end of them. Lude is a devil with blue skin and Lyesberg has cuts on his face and is the one who speaks the laws of their God. Narcisse has part of the skin on his head removed and is skilled with thumb blades. Ohnaka is a normal looking man with some tattoos and has a pet dog. Rachel and her young daughter Babette are shape shifters. Kushnir Day is a hog faced man who plays drums on the walls to warn others. Mexico is a creature with arms coming out of his long neck. Otis And Clay have two faces and share the same body. The Berserkers are uncontrollable monsters who love to kill. Those are just some of The Nightbreed that make up the Tribe and live in Midian. But while they are monsters and are “undead,” they do have weaknesses as many can be killed by sun light while others can die like any normal living thing as they can be shot, stabbed, burned, drowned, crushed and so on. They all also have a craving to eat human flesh, and this can cause them to make mistakes and lead to their own deaths. Many are also very peaceful and people’s fear and hatred make them targets for deadly attacks. They are also bound to the law of Baphomet and this at times does not allow them to fight back. While The Nightbreed are monsters and can be very dangerous, they are not the true killers of this film as they just want to be left alone and live in Midian.

The main killer is Dr. Decker, a psychiatrist who uses his status as well as own thoughts to kill and ruin people’s lives. When at work Dr. Decker is a kind acting man who seems to have his patients best wishes in heart, but really he is learning about your fears and darkest thoughts in order to use them against you and make you think you’re insane and his crimes are ones you did. He also makes his own hallucination drugs and passes them off as real medication to once more get into the minds of his patients. He also seems to be able to talk his way into making law enforcement believe his words that he spews in order to set people up for his crimes. But really Dr. Decker is a masked serial killer who kills whole families as he thinks that mankind is just filth creating filth and that bloodlines and procreation needs to end. His mask is very freaky in nature as it has buttons for eyes and a zipper for a mouth, and this alone is terrifying for his victims. His main tools of killing are his knives that he uses to slash, cut, stab and slit his victims skin until they are dead. He is very cold blooded and gets joy in killing the families as well as placing fear into his victims before they die. But Dr. Decker is just a man so that means he can be killed like any normal person so that means being stabbed, shot, burnt, crushed and all other manor of death will end his life. He is also a coward as when he is about to face death he begs for his life to be spared, and then will try and sneak attack you. He also is the type that will get others to do some of his dirty work. Dr. Decker is a true scumbag and is a killer that loves what he does to his victims and this makes him very deadly.

Now that we have talked about both The Nightbreed as well as Dr. Decker and all their ways of dealing death, we should now take a look at the film they are from! And like always I will be taking the film’s plot from our friends at IMDB and then I will write about the film’s production and then my thoughts. So if you are ready, let’s travel deeper into Midian and see what The Nightbreed are all about.

Nightbreed (1990)

“A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.”

Through the 1980’s writer Clive Barker was one of the biggest faces in horror as he had written many books that became major hits with fans and in films he had hits with Hellriaser (1987) (which he directed) as well as its sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) not to even mention Rawhead Rex from 1986. And after these films the next story on his list to get the film treatment was Cabal that in film world would be called Nightbreed. At first Barker had the idea that it would be three films before settling on just one, and originally Mark Frost would write the film’s first screenplay and then Clive Barker would step in and do it himself as well as he would direct. The film would get an $11 million budget with Morgan Creek Productions coming on board and being the ones who wanted Nightbreed as the film’s title. Clive Barker had big plans for this film and truly thought that it would be a mega hit and would spark a full franchise! So when it came to hiring such names as David Cronenberg, Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby, Doug Bradley, Hugh Ross, Oliver Parker, Nicholas Vince, Christine McCorkindale, Catherine Chevalier and many more made up the large cast. The film would be a crazy one filmed on soundstages and on location with lots of effects being used for The Nightbreed themselves with even the film’s cinematographer having some issues with Cronenberg. Once done the film would have some test screenings that issued re-shoots and then the film’s cut was way to long and had to have lots of stuff cut and removed causing issues as Barker was upset by this as was the film’s original editor who quit in protest. Once set Danny Elfman would come in and score the film and after several release changes the film finally hit theaters on February 16, 1990, and the film had a terrible promotion behind it as they sold it more as a slasher film in trailers and TV ads and released a lackluster poster not to even mention that they would not allow critics to see the film before its release as they insulted horror film viewers saying they never read reviews. The film was meet with mixed reviews from critics and mostly positive from moviegoers and sadly the film would not do great at the box office as it would only make around $16 million worldwide. And over the years the fans would want to see the “Cabal” and “Directors” cuts of the film, and after bootleg versions floating around on the grey market it would be released by Scream Factory on Blu-Ray. The film has a big cult following and even spawned comic series and video games. In 1990 Nightbreed was released alongside such other horror films as Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Child’s Play 2, Tremors, Arachnophobia, Tales From The Dark Side, Frankenhooker, Gremlins 2, Troll 2, The Willies, Predator 2, Demon Wind, Blood Salvage and Misery to name a few. And this was just a quick crash course of the making of this film as it is way deeper and weirder than I can explain!

My first memory of Nightbreed was seeing the film’s poster hanging in a video rental store and seeing all the different Breed on it and knowing I had to see this film and know more about them all! It would be a short while before I finally got to see the film. It was thanks to my brother who got it for me on VHS one year for my birthday that I was finally able to see it and I was a fan from the start as I loved the world of Midian. All the different characters captured my imagination, and I was a big fan of Peloquin as he was a Breed who seemed to be a rebel and not truly care about the law set for them and was just kind of an a-hole to everyone. I also really liked Shuna Sassi as she was both spooky and sexy and her powers of being like a porcupine and shooting poisonous quills at her victims was awesome. Not to mention that The Berserkers were awesome and killing machines that I wish they would have shown more of. The part that surprised me the most was that the film also very much had a slasher element to it as Dr. Decker under his button eyed mask truly was a cold blooded killer who would massacre whole families in his quest to stop the filth from populating. And while I know many fans enjoy the Cabel cut, I like the theatrical cut as it was the one I grew up watching and I find it to have a faster pace, and yes, the cuts in this version do make some parts confusing and I get that is why people dislike this cut of the film. And much like many of the horror films I had seen, I can remember drawing The Nightbreed in art class and getting good remarks not just from the teacher, but also my fellow classmates. During my youth and teen years Clive Baker was one of my favorite writers and creators as his films based on his writings like Hellraiser, Nightbreed, Lord Of Illusions and Rawhead Rex were always being watched by me and my friends when we would be hanging out. Over the years I have watched this film many times and I have always stayed a fan as I find even after all these years, this film just holds up both in the special effects as well as the story over all. If you have never seen this film, make sure to do so, as I am sure you will very much enjoy it.

Nightbreed is one of those films that might have suffered from the studio sticking their fingers into filming and production, but to be honest I really do like the theatrical version! We are now at the point of this update that we take a look at the comic series that was made by Epic Comics, and I would first like to thank Bell Book And Comic, Lone Star Comics and Game Swap Kettering for having these comics in stock and making this update possible. I would also like to thank Hal and The Bookie Parlor for introducing me to this comic series in my younger years. I would also like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s enter Midian and see what The Monsters are up to.

Nightbreed # 1 ***
Released in 1990 Cover Price $1.95 Epic Comics # 1 of 25

Boone and Lori are in love, and for Boone she changed his life as at one point he wanted to commit suicide and almost did so. Now he has here a good job and only has to meet with his doctor one last time! That night a masked man enters a family of four’s house and kills them all with a big knife, the killer likes feeding off the victims fear and he feels like he is making a difference in his own twisted way. The cops are frustrated when these bodies are found and want to find who the killer is, while Boone calls Lori to say sorry for not coming to her concert that night as she is a singer. Boone goes to his last appointment with Dr. Decker and is told that he might be blacking out and committing these murders…he then decides to kill himself by jumping in front of a truck. Boone wakes up in the hospital and finds that the pills his Doctor gave him were illegal drugs, and he also meets Narcisse who speaks of Midian, the place that is said to be were the monsters go, where your sins are forgiven…a place that has haunted Boone’s thoughts for years! Narcisse to prove that he should be in Midian removes part of his face, and in the chaos Boone escapes the hospital as Decker and the cops now think Boone is the killer and Narcisse is questioned on his deathbed. Boone drives for a very long time and is drawn to a ghost town’s massive cemetery as this has to be Midian and while looking around he meets Peloquin and Kinski, and they alert him that he has not killed anyone and he is not welcomed there. Peloquin ends up attacking Boone as he wants to eat him! As Boone makes it out of the cemetery, he, the police and Decker are there and he is being arrested for the killings that he did not commit, and Decker gets the cops to shoot and kill Boone when he claims he has a gun…that he doesn’t.

This is such a great start for the Nightbreed comic series from Epic Comics as this of course is an adaptation of the film, well the first part of the adaptation that follows Boone, a man who had some mental issues who has gotten better all because of finding true love as well as getting help from his doctor, but soon he is blamed for a series of killings and now wants to die again and go to a place called Midian where the monsters go and all the sins of killers and criminals are forgiven…but soon Boone finds that his Doctor does not want to truly help him but is using him by giving him harmful mind altering drugs and even sets him up to be shot and killed by the cops! Aaron Boone is a good man who has clearly had a rough life growing up as he went into foster care, had mental issues, tried to take his own life and now is being set up for murders that he did not commit. And worse, it’s clear that his very own Doctor is the one setting him up with the cops and is trying to ruin his life and break his mind even more. Lori is his loving girlfriend who is a singer at clubs and tries her best to let Boone know that she is there for him. Dr. Decker is a very sneaky man as he is “caring” to law enforcement as well as his patients, but really he is a cold blooded killer who is playing a sick game to find the place called Midian, a city that is for monsters, killers and criminals. We get to meet two of the Nightbreed in this issue and that’s the half moon faced Kinski who carries a knife and tries to save Boone, and Peloquin, a monster with sharp teeth, claws who craves meat and wants to kill Boone who was foolish enough to stumble into their city. The issue ends with a big cliffhanger as Boone is shoot dead by the police and it was Decker who caused this event. The comic is really doing justice to the film it’s based on and even adds a little more story to the relationship between Boone and Lori. The comic has blood and violence and some of the kills will please fans of the red stuff in their comics. The cover art is really cool and eye catching as it shows Dr. Decker with his massive knife and behind him is flesh with a Nightbreed citizen looking at him via a hole. The interior art is good and done by Jim Baikie who has a creepy dark nature to his style. I also think he does a pretty good job of very loosely making the characters look like the actors who played them…I will say that his Peloquin is a little odd. Over all a great first issue and I enjoyed reading this again after all these years.

Nightbreed # 2 ***
Released in 1990 Cover Price $1.95 Epic Comics # 2 of 25

Boone’s body is taken to the morgue as Lori is called in and interviewed by the cops and Dr. Decker and she does not believe their story that he was a killer…and like that, Boone’s body is taken and now missing from the morgue to everyone’s horror. Lori heads to a local bar and meets Sheryl and the two quickly become friends with Lori telling her all about Boone and Midian, and Sheryl agrees to drive Lori there the next morning. As the two ladies arrive at Midian, they are both puzzled why Boone would have visited a ghost town like this and as Lori heads to the old cemetery, Sheryl stays by the car in the rundown town and that is when Dr. Decker appears. Meanwhile in the cemetery Lori finds a creature in pain from the sun and takes the creature to a woman who is inside a crypt and she watches as the creature turns into a little girl and that is when she meets Rachel and her daughter Babette as well as Lyesberg, the lawgiver of the Nightbreed and Ohnaka who all are grateful but also warn her that she must not share what she as seen as it would be very dangerous for The Nightbreed…and she tries to follow them back into their underground world but is chased off and once back at the car she finds the mutilated body of Sheryl and the masked killer is there now and wants to kill Lori as the masked killer is Dr. Decker and he wants to find Midian as well as Boone! Lori runs to the cemetery, and just as Decker is about to kill her, she is saved by both Boone and Narcisse as they are both Nightbreed now and both have issues with Decker who blames the mask for his killing ways. And worse they allow Decker to escape and he now knows the location of Midian, and Boone and Lori leeave but the Nightbreed in danger. Boone is banned from Midian on the words of Lyesberg, but he decides to speak to Baphomet, a demon who is the creator of this underground city and who is the most powerful of Nightbreed, and foolishly Lori tries to follow and meets many of the different “people” that make up the city…and with that Boone and Lori are kicked out of Midian and Decker sets them up at a near by hotel by killing people and then making the cops come and Boone is arrested by the police and Lori is able to escape.

The adaptation continues with issue two as we now follow Boone who comes back from the dead and ends up being accepted as a Nightbreed and into Midian, but when Lori comes to find him they put them all in danger as she was followed by Decker who has now got the law to come with him to kill attack the underground city. And because all of this Boone and Lori have been banned from Midian and are set up in a hotel by the crazed doctor for more murders, and Boone is now arrested and Lori has to be on the run. Boone comes back from the dead and is now something more as the smell and sight of blood turns him into a monster of sorts as he has a hunger for both blood and human meat! But while Boone is now a proud civilian of Midian, he puts them all in great danger over Lori and even allows Decker to escape the cemetery all because of once more Lori…she is kind of the key that brings down this safe city for the monsters of the world, plus she is the one who leads Decker to Midian as well as gets her new friend Sheryl killed. Dr. Decker is once more up to his killing ways as he slaughters those in his way and he is using their deaths as traps to get his true targets to do what he wants. Decker as well again uses his smooth nature to trick those in law into thinking he is good and then showing his true evil nature to those he wants to torment. The Nightbreed we meet this issue are Lyesberg, the strike law giver of Midian, shape shifter mother and daughter Rachel and Babette, tattooed nice guy Ohnaka, the removed faced Narcisse, the crazed monsters that have to be kept locked up The Berserkers and lastly Baphomet the demon and creator of Midian. The issue’s cliffhanger ending is Boone being arrested, Lori on the run and Decker getting police offers ready to attack Midian! The issue has some blood as well as violence and the cover is pretty cool and has the Berserkers trying to grab Lori. The interior art is done by Jim Baikie and is pretty good stuff as once more I like the way he draws the kills as well as The Nightbreed! Another great issue and let’s see what issue three has in store for us.

Nightbreed # 3 ***
Released in 1990 Cover Price $1.95 Epic Comics # 3 of 25

Boone is beaten up in jail and when a doctor checks on him, they are all puzzled as he should be dead as he has no pulse but is walking and talking. Officers are also on their way to look around the cemetery as Lori has a mind visit from Babette who warns her that she feels something very bad is about to happen. Meanwhile in the cemetery the cops find Ohnaka and drag him out into the sun where they beat him, but sadly the sun also makes him burn and explode killing him and giving the cops the message that there are monsters living under this cemetery, and when the cops return to their cars they find them on fire as Rachel and Narcisse are heading to the jail to save Boone. The cops in town have also got locals armed up with all types of guns, knives, flame throwers, holy water and even bring Reverend Ashberry with them just in case they need the word of God on their side and they head out to start a slaughter at Midian. Meanwhile Narcisse and Rachel find Lori, and they get to the jail and save Boone from his cell and they all head back to Midian to help their fellow Nightbreed. While at the cemetery Reverend Ashberry tries to stop the attack as he feels that the land is holy ground and that they might be angels after he sees a flying Nightbreed. The cops ignore him as they have gas and bombs set all around. Boone arrives in time and tells The Nightbreed that they must fight in order to survive and that they will also leave this place once this fight is over, as the women and children are being taken to safety they also start getting ready to move the massive, powerful demon Baphomet. The bombs are set off and many Nightbreed are injured and killed as their pain fills the air Reverend Ashberry is shocked with horror as he sees the chaos and pain all around him. Meanwhile Dr. Decker is getting his mask and knife ready for this slaughter.

The adaptation continues as this issue’s plot has Boone getting rescued from jail and having to return to Midian to try and get the Nightbreed ready to fight as they are under attack from cops as well as town people, and worse many of the Nightbreed are killed in the first attack that is bombs being set off all around the cemetery. In jail, Boone is a broken man as he feels terrible about eating some flesh at the hotel and its only the love of Lori is what drives to him to fight and lead The Nightbreed into a war with those humans that want to kill them all. And Lori herself learns to deal with the fact Boone is a monster now and even has a deeper bond with young Babette who she shares vision and thoughts with. Dr. Decker in this issue is stirring the pot as he wants Midian and all The Nightbreed to be killed off, we also find that he truly is crazy and that the mask talks to him and is the side of his personality that wants to spill lots of blood. We also meet Reverend Ashberry in this issue, a drunk man who once at Midian and knows what the law is doing is wrong, but is powerless to stop them as he is tossed around by the rude police chief. Rachel and Narcisse are heroes as they are the ones that risk their own lives to go into the city, attack police and save Boone for him jail cell as they know that they are going to need him in this fight with the humans. And poor old Ohnaka is killed by the cops as they drag him into the sunlight and watch him explode, and seem fine with what they did to a man who did nothing to them. We do know that The Nightbreed are going to fight back against the humans and many have been sent away to hide as this battle is going to get very bloody and many will die, they even are thinking about freeing the Berserkers to help even though they are uncontrollable. And in this issue I really found myself cheering for The Nightbreed as the 99% of the human characters are just such terrible people and all they want is to be left alone and not hated, hunted and be killed because they are different. The issue has some blood and kills with many of The Nightbreed being killed during the bomb explosions. One thing that is puzzling me is that many of the classic characters of Midian have been downplayed or are just missing all together with both Peloquin and Kinski being around just for a few panels in issue 1 and favorites like Shuna Sassi, Leroy Gomm, Lude, Kushnir Day, Otis & Clay, Annastasjia and so many other not even appearing yet making it puzzling why so many are missing from these comics as they could even at least appear in the background…maybe some of them are in the background and I just missed them, possible I guess. The cover is cool and has Narcisse attacking a cop and like before, Jim Baikie did the interior art and did a good job of bringing the feel and look of these characters to these comic pages. So with that, let’s see how issue four wraps up the adaptation part of this series.

Nightbreed # 4 ***
Released in 1990 Cover Price $1.95 Epic Comics # 4 of 25

As Narcisse gets the kids out of the city and to safety, Boone tries to get the others to fight back as Peloquin goes on the attack and brings down a whole police car filled with cops. Others are not doing so well as the are being gunned down by the cops and the redneck posse there to kill anyone from Midian! Lyesberg is hurt and has his leg broken, but makes his way to set free The Berserkers as Lori is being stalked and even stabbed by Dr. Decker who has put on his mask and wants to kill her so badly. In the underground city many of the Nightbreed are being killed including Lyesberg before he can free The Berserkers while above Boone drops the sheriff and Reverend Ashberry follows him as he see what is going on is wrong and just plain murder. Boone gets to the cell and sets The Berserkers free who end up killing the invaders in brutal ways, meanwhile Dr. Decker kills Narcisse by cutting his head off and is still chasing down Lori. Boone finds out where she is thanks to Babette, and he and Decker finally have a showdown to the death…and it’s Decker who dies by one of his own blades. Boone then is called by a dying Baphomet who tells him that he must make his wrongs right and that is to rebuild Midian and bring back together the remaining Nightbreed as he his no longer Boone but is now called Cabal. As the underground city of Midian crumbles it’s Nightbreed like Kinski and Mexico that are saving the parts of Baphomet so that they can reform him in their new home. Lori and Boone stand on a hill watching as Midian burns and when Boone alerts her she can not come with him and The Nightbreed, she uses one of Deckers knives to try and end her life, and Boone is forced to bite her and turn her into one of The Nightbreed and now they can be together forever. While a now burned and crazed Reverend Ashberry who became this way at the hands of Baphomet wants revenge of The Nightbreed and even chokes and kills the injured sheriff before laughing like a madman. While the moon is still in the sky Rachel, Babette, Kinski and the remaining Nightbreed hide out in a barn waiting for Boone who is Cabal to come to them and lead them to their next city.

This is the action packed final issue in the adaptation of Nightbreed, and it is one heck of a fun read as the plot of this issue is the war between The Law and their posse of redneck locals against Boone and The Nightbreed! And along this battle Boone becomes the chosen one and his named is changed to Cabal; he is also finally able to kill Decker and The Nightbreed get a new enemy in Reverend Ashberry who was burnt and disfigured by Baphomet who is having himself dismantled in order to come back to the next version of Midian. Boone in this issue truly embraces his inner Nightbreed as he goes full monster and even leads the fellow Nightbreed into fighting as well as saves the lives of many of the women and children. Boone is truly the hero of the story even if he is also the cause of all these deaths as well as the destruction of Midian because of Lori and allowing Decker to escape the cemetery. Lori tries to help The Nightbreed as she is the one who truly gets Boone fired up and to become the leader he needed to be, but she is also the drama queen who stabs herself in order to become a Nightbreed as well as takes a few minutes of Boone’s time in jail by having sex with him while The Nightbreed are in trouble. Dr. Decker truly is a crazed slasher serial killer who once he puts on the mask becomes hungry to spill human blood, but his ego and insane mind is also what does him in as Boone kills him with his own knife. Decker is also the scumbag who alerts the local law about the people of Midian and the monsters that live there and leads to many of their deaths. Speaking of The Nightbreed, we do see many of them fighting and trying to save others as well as many die with Narcisse losing his life fighting Decker while trying to protect Lori. Peloquin and Rachel also fight the attackers with The Berserkers being the game changer as they massacre many and scare off the remaining. And in this issue the other Nightbreed we see are Baphomet, Mexico, Lyesberg and Kinski among a few others that are in the background. I will say that while much of this comic adaptation is different from the film version, I found myself being a fan of it as it feels the same and yet also like a new “what if” version of events. I still very much am disappointed in the lack of many of the classic Nightbreed characters, as they seem to have been cut out of the comic totally in order to make more room for the love story of Boone and Lori. The comic does have blood and violence with heads being cut off and lots of people being shot. The cover for the issue is cool as it showcases one of The Berserkers so fans of monsters will dig it. Jim Baikie did the comic’s interior artwork, and again I really did like his style, while some of the characters don’t look like they should his art does capture some of the dark tones and mood of this subject. Well the adaptation aspect of this series is over and now it will start original stories with The Nightbreed characters, so if you are ready, let’s see what Boone and the others have in store for us.

Nightbreed # 5 ***
Released in 1990 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 5 of 25

Mulciber is leading a band of Nightbreed (Dagon, Piglet, Oral and Aello) around a small town robbing gas stations and stealing money as well as people’s IDs. But at one gas station the old man who is making chili for the hotdogs tomorrow is able to get the police after the band has robbed him, and the Sheriff and his deputy head out in to the woods after them…big mistake. The bird man creature Mulciber takes out the sheriff easily and begins to eat him while the beautiful Aello uses her charms to trick the deputy in to making love to her before she shows she has wings and lifts him into the sky and drops him to his death as the group eat him. They also head back to the police car and end up killing the old gas station worker. While at a farmhouse a female Nightbreed with purple hair lures the farmer into a barn where the head of Baphomet pours into his mind all the wrong doing that has happened to them in the Midian attacks, and after the farmer breaks, the two Nightbreed set off for a new location. Meanwhile Boone, Lori and Kinski give chase and bring down a group of drug sellers as one is wearing a necklace that was made by Nickneven, an old witch Nightbreed that Boone wants to talk to as she might have a location that could be the new Midian.

There is a lot going on in this fifth issue as we are now setting up what is to come as Boone and the Nightbreed with him are looking for a new home so that they can all live in peace, while Mulciber and his Nightbreed are running wild robbing and eating people as they are sick of having to hide. All the while it seems that Baphomet’s head is being carried around and he as well wants to find a new home for them all but is also teaching humans what they have done to his kind over the centuries is just not right. Boone in the issue seems to not like his new name of Cabal as he does not want to be called that and it appears that he has built a close friendship up with Kinski as the two work well together in order to bring down some drug pushers as well as get the information from them that they need to find the witch. Mulciber, the bird like humanoid is more about eating human flesh and no longer living in fear and it is clear that he and most of his followers do not have any respect for Boone as they are on a path of truly breaking the rules of Baphomet and doing what they want to do in the world. And this makes you wonder just how long will it be before we get a clash between Boone and his Nightbreed friends against Mulciber and his Nightbreed! The issue has some blood and violence and this will please fans of horror comics that like the red stuff. I like that the story of this issue really does keep the idea that a new Midian has to be found and Boone who is a hero is still very new to being one and wants to do right, but also seems a little annoyed about all the pressure he is under to do so. The cover for this issue is pretty dang cool as it shows Mulciber so for those of you wondering what he looks like just take a look at the cover. The art in this issue is really good and is done by two artists, Jackson Guice and Alfred Ramirez, and I really like how they draw Mulciber as he looks really cool. Over all another great issue in the series and really makes you look forward to seeing what happens in the next issue.

Nightbreed # 6 ***
Released in 1990 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 6 of 25

Frederick Oakaley is an escaped killer and sexual predator who meets his fate at the hands of young girl Tatar who is the niece of the witch Nickneven as she waits for Boone and Lori who finally show up and are taken to see the witch. As they make their way to her house, Boone has a flashback to the words that Baphomet told him about being the chosen one and being Cabal the one that will bring The Nightbreed into the world that they will no longer have to hide in. Boone and Nickneven have a heated chat as the old witch seems to be playing with the mood of Boone before telling him that she will work on getting him a lead on a new promised land for The Nightbreed, and with that Lori and Boone stay at a sleazy motel while they wait for the lead. Meanwhile Mulciber and his group arrive at a small diner and decide that it’s dinnertime and attack, kill and eat the men inside. And after this slaughter Mulciber decides that he needs to kill Boone to prevent the return of Baphomet as he is having too much fun running wild and slaughtering humans for their meat. And back at the hotel as Boone and Lori are in bed, they get visited by Kinski, Guido and Narcisse and this angers Boone who turns full monster on them and is looking for a fight!

The saga of Boone fighting the label of Cabal and trying to find a new home for The Nightbreed continues as he goes to talk to an old witch about a possible lead on a land that they can live, plus he also gets fired up and wants to fight Kinski over coming to his hotel room to warn him of trouble. While Boone is clearly the hero for The Nightbreed, at times he acts like a teenager who has an attitude and wants to be a smart ass to anyone who even remotely makes him frustrated. Plus it’s kind of odd as he has really stepped away from wanting to be a hero for The Nightbreed as before he is the one that lead many to safety and even fought to protect them during the massacre, and he also seems to forget that all of this is Lori’s and his fault. The old witch Nickneven and her granddaughter Tater seem very wise, but are also very much the type to purposely get under your skin, we will have to see if she comes up with a place for them to checkout. Meanwhile Mulciber and his crew are becoming more and more blood thirsty as they keep killing and eating people and his hatred for both Boone and Baphomet seems to keep growing. Kinski, the half moon faced Nightbreed member, is clearly trying to keep Boone focused, but by doing so it seems he is also making the “Cabal” mad. Narcisse has some how returned from the dead as the last time we had seen him is when Dr. Decker chopped off his head…how did he come back, no explanation is given. The issue is also a clear build to the showdown between Boone and Mulciber and also acts as a way to show the building tension between Boone and The Nightbreed over all. The one thing about this series so far that is puzzling is that almost every issue has a different creative team working on them so that means characters are drawn and colored different, their attitudes oddly change as does the pacing…and while a little distracting, I am still finding myself enjoy each issue this far. Plus while it makes zero sense, I am glad to see Narcisse return to the comics as he is a super weird character. The cover is good and shows Piglet, and the interior artwork is done by Brett Blevins this time around and is pretty good stuff. Over all another good issue that furthers the plot of Boone on his quest to find the promise land for The Nightbreed after his selfish actions caused their old cities downfall.

Nightbreed # 7 ***
Released in 1991 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 7 of 25

After a quick fight between Boone and Kinski, cooler heads prevail when Lori steps in and Narcisse turns on the TV and they watch a news report about the massacre at the diner, and Boone is told this is the work of members of The Nightbreed and they must be stopped as they broke the law of Baphomet. Meanwhile Mulciber and his men have arrived at the motel and taken out the manager with the idea of asking Boone to join then and if he says no, then they will kill him. The bad Nightbreed break into Boone’s room and take Lori hostage, and once they all go outside Mulciber tries to get Boone to eat human meat and become one of them, but he refuses and fights Muliciber and this allows Kinski, Narcisse, Lori and Guido to as well fight back, and on the losing end Muliciber makes an escape but leaves his crew behind to get beat up for a bit before as well rescuing them for the retreat. All the while a man named Allen watches The Nightbreed fight and is drawn to them as he sees The Nightbreed as Gods. As Boone and his Nightbreed leave the motel, the police show up as does the Sheriff who lead the massacre at Midian, Eigerman, and with him is Reverend Ashberry as they are hunting down Boone for their revenge. While Mulciber and his crew hideout in an abandoned movie theater, they are visited by Allen who tells them if they make him a member of The Nightbreed he will help them kill Boone!

Boone is loosing control of himself as the Cabal side of him is lashing out and is filled with a beast like anger that causes him to lash out at even those Nightbreed that are on his side. And the plot of this issue is Boone finding out that Muliciber and his crew are going around killing and eating people and this brings lots of bad vibes for The Nightbreed as if they are discovered they will think they are all man eaters and this will cause so many of them to be killed once more just because of the way they look. Boone also in this issue is able to fight off the temptation of eating human meat and really puts a butt kicking on Muliciber who has to retreat during their big fight. But this fight also spells bad news for Boone and The Nightbreed as their fight not only creates a new enemy in Allen, a man who wants to become a monster, it also brings Reverend Ashberry & Sheriff Eigerman back on their trail as they truly both want revenge. And Lori at this point shows that she is more loyal to trying to help The Nightbreed than Boone as she fights alongside them, stops the inner fighting between them and is always along for the ride to try and find them the promised land. It also shows that Narcisse, Guido and Kinski are good fighters as well as they bring down Muliciber’s crew pretty easily. Guido is a Nightbreed that is created just for this comic series and has the weird power of removing his spine and using it as a weapon…strange stuff. I am not going to lie I am a little disappointed that characters like Shuna Sassi, Leroy Gomm, Lude and the others still have not appeared…it’s just weird as they are such cool characters from the film series that are all also very interesting looking and should be in these comics. In this issue as well Dagon is blinded as in the motel fight Lori rips out his eyes! The cover of this issue shows Dagon, who is a crab like monster and is pretty cool looking. The comic’s interior art is once more done by a team as it’s Bret Blevins and Mike Manley and they both do a pretty great job here. The story keeps growing as we add more and more baddies and things in Boone’s way of truly being Cabal and bringing a new world to The Nightbreed.

Nightbreed # 8 ***
Released in 1991 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 8 of 25

In a small town church the Father kicks out Reverend Ashberry & Sheriff Eigerman, who have done some sort of weird ritual at the alter that they hope will help them track down The Nightbreed. Meanwhile Allen is buying lots of guns from a local gun smuggler and heads back to the old movie theater and breaks down each of Boone’s friends to Muliciber and his Breed…and he tells them that he has the weapons to kill their enemies as long as they promise to make him one of them. Muliciber and his crew slaughter Stanley the weapons dealer and talk over letting Allen be one of them as well as what killing Boone could cause for them all. Meanwhile Boone, Lori, Kinski, Narcisse and Guido all head to stay at the old cabin of Nickneven and Tater in order to avoid the law, and Narcisse and Guido head out for a food run at the local grocery, and after a good meal Boone finds out from his crew why they do not eat human meat and follow the law of Baphomet and learns that The Nightbreed are good people with morals. But as Narcisse and Nickneven go into the woods to drink some moonshine they are attacked by Allen and the rogue Nightbreed who are armed with lots of guns and are wanting to kill Boone and his Breed followers.

In this issue Muliciber and his crew are truly torn as their taste for meat has gotten out of control and they are wanting to stop the promised land being found as they do not want Baphomet to be rebuilt so that he can judge them for their sins. It also seems like just maybe they hate Boone for being the chosen one. Allen is truly a crazed man as his goal is to become a monster like Muliciber and his followers and is willing to kill Boone and all his Breed in order to achieve it. Boone in this issue seems to be taking his role a little more serious and is even getting to know some of his fellow Nightbreed a little better as they sit and talk over a meal in the woods. We also truly see that Nickneven is loyal to Baphomet and opens her home to hide Boone and the others after the big fight at the motel, and in turn puts herself and her granddaughter in danger as Muliciber and his men come hunting. At this point I really do want to see Allen get his ass kicked as this scumbag is just looking for his next big thrill and is will to kill and join with evil in order to gain what he wants. And out next issue will clearly be a showdown in the woods between the two feuding Nightbreed groups, and it’s clear that there will be some deaths on both sides. We also learn that Lori who is also a Nightbreed has not even shown her powers yet and this makes her unpredictable on all accounts. The mood of this issue is all over the place as we have chaos with Muliciber and his crew and with Boone and his crew it’s more like a family bonding. The cover for this issue is a more demonic looking version of Aello and is pretty eye catching as it has a 90’s indie horror comic look to it. The interior art for this issue is once more done by a team as it’s Mike Manley and Ricardo Villagran and they both do a good job as I like the styles in this issue. So with that, let’s see what is next in store for the war between Boone and Muliciber.

Nightbreed # 9 ***
Released in 1991 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 9 of 25

Nickneven and Narcisse escape the trap as the old witch tosses a firebomb she makes from the moonshine at them in order for them to be able to make a run for it. The sound of the explosion alerts Boone, Lori, Kinski, Tater and Guido that something is wrong and they are all warned of the attack by the returning Nickneven and Narcisse about the incoming Nightbreed with guns. As the bad guys approach its clear that Muliciber has no plans of turning Allen into a Nightbreed and is only using him in order to bring down Boone. And worse, Boone and the others are having to run as the bullets are flying all around the cabin as their lives are in danger. At one moment Boone and Muliciber comes face to face and he almost reaches him to welcome him back to The Nightbreed, but Allen breaks up the talking and this has Boone and all his friends having to hide out in a chicken coop as their enemies surrounding them with their guns in hand. As Muliciber and his friends eat, Allen remembers back to being a kid and killing his father after he found the body of his mother buried in the backyard, where his father put her after he murdered her…this is why he wants to be Nightbreed. While in the chicken coop Nickneven with the help of Tater they crack strange looking eggs and this gives Kinski, Narcisse, Guido and Lori a look back to their past, all with their sad endings while Boone’s shows him his future…but things get bad as Muliciber and his crew charge the coop. But Lori finds her power and that’s music that she can raise the dead with and Guido makes a run for Nickneven broken down truck to get it up and running so that they can truly escape this attack.

In this issue Boone and his friends are pinned down and force to hide in a chicken coop that house strange eggs that shows people their sad pasts, and this is suppose to help them in their future as they need to come up with some ideas in order to escape this trap…and it works as Lori learns her own Nightbreed powers that involve music and Guido uses his mechanics knowledge to try and fix an old broken down truck. Meanwhile Allen is pushing his limits with Muliciber and the others as he has become way too pushy and is barking orders at them, feeling like he has to be in control in order to get his wish of becoming a Nightbreed to come true. We learn a little about the pasts of many characters from Kinski being an odd looking man who drank a serum that deformed him to Narcisse being a actor who was dumped by his agent who was once his best friend…and each of these sad moments is what lead them to be Nightbreed in some way. I am not sure if Boone, who is Cabal, the savior of the Nightbreed, is very wise for hiding in a chicken coop and not standing his ground and finding a way to save his friends as well as bring down his enemies or at least try and make them see the errors in their ways as the are as well Nightbreed. The issue is a little slower paced than the others as it’s clear that this was a way to bring out a little more backstory for the characters as well as build to the final battle that is coming up in the next issue. I should also say that the baddies in the issue have also taken the body of Nickneven so she is now just a talking witches head! The issue is also pretty bloodless, but does have some violence in the flashbacks. One thing that I should also talk about is the members of Muliciber’s gang as I have told you that Dagon is a giant crab, Aello has wings and can fly but the others like Pigglet is a small pig looking creature who loves to kill and eat, Fachan is a small one eyed creature who is being the eye for Dagon now and Oral is a older man who has no teeth and can open his mouth very wide and uses things likes knives, sharp stones and other objects as his teeth he is also the cover star for this issue with his weird big knifey grin. Oral also is clearly in love with Aello, who is kind of dimwitted. The interior art is done by the team of Brett Blevins and Ricardo Villagran, and both artists do a good job as once more like many artist that have worked on the book before them they understood the mood and style needed to bring these characters and stories to comics. Over all this is another good issue, and again while slower, it did its job of building to this final showdown between The Nightbreed.

Nightbreed # 10 ***
Released in 1991 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 10 of 25

Lori keeps playing as the dead are coming from the Earth and are attacking Allen and the others giving Boone and his crew time to get to the truck and try and getting it running…even using the spine of Guido as a fan belt to do some of the repairs. But when Lori’s guitar strings break, she finds her army of the dead not moving and surrounded by the enemy who all have guns aimed at her. But Boone rushes to her aid and with some well placed fists he brings down Allen and the others and gets Lori and himself back to the truck, and Boone and the others drive to the near by mall and try and find a place for quick shelter around a bunch of normal people, and they do what they can to try and just blend in. But when Muliciber and his crew show up, the mall turns into a battleground as they go on the attack and cause panic and fear from the normal people who make a run for it as their lives are in danger. But when Lori finds a electric guitar and a amp she plugs in and starts playing and from the ground comes a massive skeleton of a dinosaur and this knocks Muliciber’s group through a loop…but also its clear that Muliciber and his people were starting to have a change of heart as their lust for meat was dying and they started to see it was Allen who was pushing them into this Nightbreed war. As Boone and Muliciber fight, one of the special eggs comes into play as its smashed in the bird mans face and he remembers back to the days of being young and fighting with his mom, and sneaking out to see a late night horror movie at the theater and being turned into a Nightbreed by the new girl at his school who was also at the theater…he remembers that night turning into the monster and leaving his home never to return as he was a Nightbreed now…not by his choice. Muliciber returns to the side of Cabal as does his crew, but Allen is angry and kills Aello with a knife to try and drink her blood to become one of them, this angers Muliciber who goes after Allen while still on the dinosaur bones and like that Allen turns into a hulking monster but is life is cut short when the dinosaur chomps down on him! As the bones are out of control due to feedback from the amp they sadly crush Muliciber as everyone else is able to escape the mall. A short times passes and at the old cabin of Nickneven there is a gathering as Boone, Lori, Tater, Guido, Kinski and Narcisse are joined by the reformed meat eater Nightbreed Oral, Pigglet, Dagon and Fachan as all but Boone and Lori are going to stay with the witch who’s head is now on the body of Aello.

The fight between the two Nightbreed sides has came to an end in this issue with the ones that follow the laws of Baphomet being the ones who come out on top as Boone is even able to change the attitudes of the rogue Nightbreed and brings them back into the family. The final fight takes place inside of a mall and thanks to the power of music and dusty old dinosaur bones it ends with only a few deaths taking place. Boone has finally embraced that he is Cabal and the chosen one to find The Nightbreed a new and safe place to live and has learned that he can be a leader and still have a personal life with Lori. He also shows that he understands that he does not have to use violence in every situation as sometimes words as just as powerful as fists, claws and teeth. Lori finds that her Nightbreed power is music as if she plays a guitar she can make the dead rise to attack those who wish to do her and her friends harm. Allen who has a terrible childhood who seen the body of his dead mother and took the life of his father who was responsible really was a crazed man who wanted to become Nightbreed in order to be more powerful to prove his father wrong and to always show that bigger is better, he however gets his new powers and quickly is killed before he can ever use them. Muliciber was shown to be a young kid who was into monster movies, toys and such who was turned into a Nightbreed against his will…and this is why he acted out like he did. It’s a shame that he as well as Aello had to die in this fight as both had found their way back to the law of Baphomet as they were both being welcomed back and forgiven for their sins of eating human meat. The issue also leaves us with Boone and Lori setting off into the world to try and find this promise land for The Nightbreed, and with Boone’s crew telling him that they will be their whenever he needs them. The cover for this issue shows Muliciber all geared up with his guns and once more Brett Blevins and Ricardo Villagran team up to do the interior artwork. So far I am ten issues into the series and it really has held up for me as I enjoyed them this time around just as much as I did in the 90’s when I first read them.

Nightbreed # 11 ***
Released in 1991 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 11 of 25

Lady Izpapolotl and Lord Tezcatlipoca are Nightbreed and they live in the jungles and are brought the hearts of dead animals from the jungles by their servant insect in order to please them…but Tezcatlipoca misses the day the humans worshipped them and wants to reclaim that before Boone calls them all back home when Midian is reformed. Meanwhile Boone and Lori have to kill a crazed transient that tries to rob them and take shelter in a train car in order to get out of the rays of the sun. While in the jungle a boat full of tourist and some shady people are going down the river when Tezcatlipoca smells them and wants them to bow to him when they get near, Izpapolotl begs him not to…but he feels he must as he misses that worship. But the tourist boat is soon attacked by a local heavily armed raider group and after a fight the tourist are forced off the boat and into the jungle after the boat crashes in order to survive. The Tourist and the crew make camp for the night and are attacked by Tezcatlipoca who rips one of the tourist apart in front of the others sending them a message that he is to be feared, and after killing one more from the camp he leaves them scared and sharing stories of what they think they saw.

This issue is not so much about Boone and Lori as it is about one time Gods that are Nightbreed who live together in the jungle in a long forgotten temple with Izpapolotl being a grub like in appearance and who is fine with the fact that she is no longer being worshiped. While Tezcatlipoca looks like a sabretooth tiger with fins on his back who wants to once more be feared by mankind and worshipped, he also wants to kill again and possibly even taste human flesh and blood once more. Izpapolotl is tying her best to warn him not to do this as it goes against the law of Baphomet, but he seems to not care and while they are all not called to this new promise land he wants to do what he wants. The poor tourist are in deep trouble as not only have they angered a bunch of raiders who could possibly be hunting them but they also have Tezcatlipoca hot on their tails who has already killed two of them to show his power as well as to bring them fear. This issue really feels different from the past issues and yet still very much has the Nightbreed feel that Epic Comics was creating around this world of Clive Barker. The cover for this issue showcases Tezcatlipoca in all his glory and is pretty eye catching while the interior art is done by Mark Nelson and his style is pretty good and I like the way he drew Tezcatlipoca as well as the violence. I really like the set up for this story arch as I really and wondering if Boone is going to be the one who has to stop Tezcatlipoca and his reign of terror or if this will be worked out without Boone and the rest of the Nightbreed, and with that let’s checkout the next issue.

Nightbreed # 12 ***
Released in 1991 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 12 of 25

It starts to rain in the jungle and the tourist and crew are terrified as Tezcatlipoca disappears into the storm, leaving behind two dead bodies. As Tezcatlipoca returns to the temple he is questioned by Izpapolotl about what he has done, and he tells her that he has started their return and she is not happy and the two exchange heated words and Tezcatlipoca storms out after threating that he will taste human meat this day. Meanwhile the group moves through the jungle to try and find safety, but one of the members leads them to the temples and they have to camp near them that night right were Tezcatlipoca lives. As night falls one of the tourist finds Tezcatlipoca who speaks with her and shares his knowledge and once out of the temple she kills her husband and other members of the group turn on others as they want to worship and follow Tezcatlipoca and his teaching. They take the youngest of the tourist to the top of the temple and his own mother is going to sacrifice him to Tezcatlipoca, but Izpapolotl with the help of one of the tourist is able to be bathed in one of the murdered tourists blood and it turns her into a massive dragon fly and goes to the top of the temple before the child can be killed. Izpapolotl grabs Tezcatlipoca and flies up into the sky as the sun comes out and burns them both up killing them both in a ball of flames. And in the end only three humans from the group make it out of the jungle alive as many are also killed in the fight between the two Gods.

The story of Tezcatlipoca and Izpapolotl comes to an end in this issue as they clash as each have their own vision of what they want to do with their lives as Izpapolotl wants to wait for Boone to find the promised land so that she can live under the law and rules of Baphomet while Tezcatlipoca wants to live in the promise land but also before he is called home wants to once more be feared and worshiped by humans and this means killing some of them. And even at one point Tezcatlipoca even hints that he wants to once more eat human flesh and even makes love to one of the female tourist and makes her even want to kill her husband and child to please him. And Izpapolotl goes from being a grub to becoming a massive badass dragon fly in order to stop her one time lover once and for all as she flies them up to the sun to burn to a crisp in it’s rays. This comic shows two things really and that’s: one, how people can be turned into helping commit terrible crimes and kills by fear, control and false promises and two, that once Midian has fallen that many of The Nightbreed are out of control and Tezcatlipoca much like Muliciber has started to turn almost wild in his quest to regain his past glories as well as kill humans. I do like Tezcatlipoca as he is a very cool looking Nightbreed and I also like that he is very violent but also very wise and has lots of knowledge to share. The issue has blood, gore and violence and the best kill is to the Mom when Tezcatlipoca during his battle with Izpapolotl claws half of her face off and causes her to fall from a great height. The cover is pretty cool as well as shows Izpapolotl in her grub form with Mark Nelson once more returning to do the interior art. The last two issues were a very interesting story arch that was about Nightbreed and did not focus on Boone at all and was more about the chaos he and Lori have caused The Nightbreed and those who are now displaced cause of the fall of Midian.

Nightbreed # 13 ***
Released in 1992 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 13 of 25

Mr. Algernon Kinder is having Terry and Janey over for diner as he wants to bring him into The Temple Of The Risen King and claims with it will come lots of wealth, but his oddness and gross nature makes Terry cut the meeting short. Meanwhile Peloquin along with Kinski and Gallows are at the mall and Peloquin acts out and causes a big scene when he steals a tuxedo as well as a pink Cadillac car and the Breed escape into the night. Algernon Kinder is on his way to the Temple and after being questioned by some of his followers he kills them almost as a sacrifice as he causes them to fall to their death. The Nightbreed have a gathering and they are welcoming Bloodybones and Sathan’s child into their tribe, all the while we are treated to Leah Qlipoth having a vision of Rawhead Rex the massive “God” who eats human flesh and wants to bring down mankind and what happened to him in the past, and we learn that she is with Kinder who wants to have Rawhead be reborn and sends some of his goons after the baby of Sathan and attack her while she is in a store getting dippers and baby food as they want her child to help bring Rawhead Rex back to life!

The Nightbreed vs. Rawhead Rex starts with this issue and as I have said before this is the arch that had me hooked on The Nightbreed comic series by Epic Comics and I really again have to thank Hal from the Bookie Parlor for having selling these comics and introducing me to them. The plot of this issue has a weird cultist by the name of Algernon Kinder who along with his mate Leah Qlipoth wanting to bring back Rawhead Rex while many of The Nightbreed are gathering to welcome a child of two of the tribe, but the child has also been selected by Kinder to be used to help the rebirth of Rex! And it ends on a cliffhanger of Kinder’s people having taken the baby from the mother. The Nightbreed characters that are clearly the heroes are the half mooned face Kinski, the rebel and demonic looking Peloquin and Gallows a pale faced female Nightbreed who can use her powers to make things invisible. They are also clearly going to be the three Nightbreed who will stand in the way of the return of Rawhead Rex, and man will they have their hands full. Algernon Kinder is a cold blooded man who tricks rich people into given him money with the idea that they will be apart of some secret cult society when in reality he is using their money to live on as well as bring his “son” Rawhead Rex back to life. Kinder is also very gross as he is crude and even uses the restroom on peoples floor! And at this point we have only seen Rawhead Rex in the past alive and in the present his body…but we all know he is coming back soon! The cover is pretty cool and has Rawhead Rex showing off his razor sharp teeth. Mark Texeira is the interior artist, and he has kind of a painting look to his style. While it’s not what I like in comic,s it is still very much good work. I do also have to say that I like that at least Texeira made Peloquin look like he does in the film so that’s a big thumbs up, and I do wish they could have made Rawhead Rex look like the movie version as that would have been epic. With that, let’s see what the next issue has in store for us as The Nightbreed clashing with Rawhead Rex.

Nightbreed # 14 ***
Released in 1992 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 14 of 25

The two followers of Kinder end up cutting out the tongue of Sathan as she tries to protect her infant son Max…but they are able to get the baby away from her. Bloodybones sees his wife dying as she falls on the stores window and he along with Gallows and Kinski the rush to her aid. While at The Nightbreed gathering Peloquin smells the spilt blood of Sathan and rushes to the scene to help. As the followers are able to get past Kinski and Gallows, it’s Peloquin that stops them and is able to save Max. But things turn around fast when Kinder and Leah show up and cause a big distraction and grab Max and make a get away with him…this does not set well with Peloquin who is now raged filled. While Kinder and his followers use Max as well as the blood of a cat to bring back Rawhead Rex, but Kinder was not truly ready for the sight of Rawhead and panics and this leads to him shooting Leah as the bullets pass through Rawhead who is un-phased. While at the convenient store the worker is killed after telling his story to Sheriff Eigerman who has Reverend Ashberry waiting in the car as they are getting closer to finding The Nightbreed and getting their revenge, and worse Ashberry holds the idol that can be used to bring down Rawhead Rex.

In this issue The Nightbreed try and save the child Max from being taken by Kinder and his cult followers, but sadly they fail and Max is taken and is used to bring Rawhead Rex back to life and this foul creature is looking to bring mankind down to their knees, and worse for everyone Reverend Ashberry & Sheriff Eigerman have also entered town and are looking to kill The Nightbreed and also are holding the one thing that can stop Rawhead Rex as well! The Nightbreed truly try and watch out for one another and Peloquin, Kinski, Gallows and Bloodybones all do what they can to save Max and all take the death of Sathan to heart…and clearly Kinder has started a war with them as they will want to avenge the death and the kidnapping of the child. Speaking of Kinder, he and Leah soon learn that they may have made a big mistake when it comes to bringing back Rawhead Rex as the beast is clearly doing to try and rule once more…but is it too late for them to stop what they have caused…well Leah’s time is up as she takes leg full of bullets. The issue has some blood spilled as well as death as Sathan, a store worker and a cat all die in the comic, and its sad that Sathan dies as she does not get to see her child grow up. And for me I really like the build for the Rawhead Rex and Nightbreed showdown as we all know that it’s coming and we all know that its going to be a bloodbath. The cover for this issue showcases Peloquin and is very cool and eye catching as he is one of the films most popular characters. The issue’s interior art is done by the artist team of Dan Lawlis and John Rheaume, and it’s really great stuff as I like the way they draw not only The Nightbreed but also Rawhead Rex. And I have to say that this series and this story arch are holding up for me, and it really is giving me flashbacks to being a youngster and reading these comics.

Nightbreed # 15 ***
Released in 1992 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 15 of 25

The Nightbreed have tracked down Kinder and his group as Rawhead Rex is now showing pain, Kinder kicks Leah out the bus after she alerts him that she has always been able to have kids and has just blocked him from having one of his own! The Nightbreed go on the attack as Kinksi attends to Leah, Gallows and Bloodybones attack the followers and Peloquin comes face to face with Kinder and Rawhead Rex! And before things get out of hand, Reverend Ashberry appears a praises Rawhead Rex as his true God and to honor him he destroys the idol and this allows Rawhead to be unleashed and as he rages out, Peloquin calls for backup as Kinski and Gallows comes to his side but they are quickly defeated with even Kinder setting Peloquin on fire. Kinder leads his followers and Rawhead Rex away as The Nightbreed also retreat as the bus is about to explode. Kinder and his followers break into a business and kill and eat the workers as Reverend Ashberry asks for Rawhead to accept him as a follower, and the creature agrees to by peeing on him. And with that Rawhead Rex is the God for Kinder and his followers and they will do whatever it takes to keep him safe. Meanwhile The Nightbreed find that Leah has passed away but she has a baby growing inside her as when Rawhead Rex was shot by Kinder it was in the testicles and some of his seamen has gotten into her!

This issue has Rawhead Rex growing to full power after the one thing that could stop him the idol is destroyed and this allows him to become fearless and as mean and evil as he wants to be! Rawhead also has Max still alive and living inside his stomach, he also has spawn being born inside a deceased woman, his followers are growing and he as proved that he can stand claw to claw with The Nightbreed…so as you can see, Rawhead Rex is one bad force of nature. Kinder is so confused as he goes back and fourth between hating and fearing Rawhead to wanting to follow and learn from him. Kinder’s major heart break comes from learning that he could have had a child all these years and that it was Leah, his Lady In Red, that has lied to him and hide the truth that she could have kids, and worse he cast her out of his life and now she is dead and is pregnant with the child of Rawhead. Reverend Ashberry seems to have forgotten his past religion as well as his hatred for The Nightbreed as he has found his new God and obsession with Rawhead, and he even knowingly destroyed the one thing that could be used to stop him. With The Nightbreed Kinski, Gallows and Bloodybones try and help in the fight with Kinder and Rawhead Rex, but they just cannot bring the creature down and even Peloquin fails to hurt Rawhead in their first fight! The issue has some blood and gore with workers being ripped apart and being eaten the most gruesome. The cover for this issue is cool and shows Max being placed into the mouth of Rawhead Rex and the interior art is done by an army of artist that include Dan Lawlis, Jennifer Lui, John Rheaume, T. Fine and James Hoston, with some of the art being really good and some being very sloppy and distracting as I am not sure why this many artists worked on this issue. Another great issue filled with Nightbreed action and the next issue brings an end to the Rawhead Rex story, so let’s see how it ends.

Nightbreed # 16 ***
Released in 1992 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 16 of 25

The Nightbreed trick an ambulance to come to the scene of Leah’s body and then they proceed to steal the vehicle and even take one of the paramedics with them leaving the other behind who is killed by Sheriff Eigerman when the crazed lawman stumbles on him walking home at the side of the road for not answering his questions. Meanwhile Kinder is flashing back to his youth and the day he killed his own father as well as sees visions of a time when Rawhead Rex was a race that would kill and eat humans as well as forcefully mate with human women. The Nightbreed arrive and leave a trap for Kinder and his group as they alert them that Rawhead Rex is soon to be a father, and The Nightbreed themselves are waiting at a rundown alligator farm with the hope that Leah’s yet to be born child can be used against Rawhead Rex and let them save Max. As Kinder brings Rawhead and his followers to the location, Bloodybones tricks Rawhead into eating him and once in his stomach he starts looking for Max, while Gallows attacks the two followers getting nooses around their necks and the crazed Sheriff Eigerman arrives and kills the two followers with his shotgun. The kidnapped paramedic is given the cue to try and force a labor from the body of Leah as Peloquin goes out to fight with Rawhead Rex as during this fight Eigerman and Ashberry fall into the ponds and are attacked by alligators. Leah gives birth and the child is a female and it rushes to attack her father Rawhead who is forced to puke up everything he has eaten over the centuries, thanks to Bloodybones and Max who are puked up and grabbed and taken to safety by Kinski. The rotten bodies in the puke grab and pull Rawhead Rex in ending his reign of terror for good. And Kinder himself is also killed when alligators rip him apart. Leah has returned as a zombie and her creature daughter along with the female paramedic end up joining The Nightbreed.

This was the final issue in The Nightbreed vs. Rawhead Rex story and it all comes to an end at a gator farm that leaves Kinder and all his followers dead as well as brings an end to Rawhead Rex as well as the Reverand and Sheriff that has been hunting them as they all have their lives snuffed out. The Nightbreed that are Kinski, Peloquin, Gallows, Bloodybones and Max truly all work together and they bring down Rawhead Rex by using his own spawn against him as well as the rotting corpses of those he had killed over the years. It was also very cool to see Leah return from the dead and help her creature daughter make the right choice of being good and fighting against her evil father. And it is crazy that Sheriff Eigerman and Reverend Ashberry both meet their end in this issue and neither get their revenge against The Nightbreed and instead end up in the belly of alligators. While I love this story arc I will say that for those wanting to see a big fight between Peloquin and Rawhead Rex will be disappointed and even as a youngster I always said that they should have gotten The Berserkers to fight Rawhead as that would have been a awesome fight! This issue does have some blood, guts and gross moments and that will very much please horror comic readers who like lots of gruesome moments in their comics. I should say that I wish that Rawhead Rex would have had a bigger fight in the end before being taken down, but I am fine with the idea of his daughter and his past victims being the ones that bring him down. The cover for this issue is awesome as it shows Peloquin showing down with Rawhead Rex and this time around the art team of Dan Lawlis and Ricardo Villagran did the interiors, and I really liked both of their styles even though their version of Peloquin was a little weird looking. And really this story arc is what made me a full reader of The Nightbreed series and after all these years I still love it and this was a great time revisiting. With that, let’s get to the next issue and see if it keeps up the three star ratings!

Nightbreed # 17 ***
Released in 1992 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 17 of 25

Ignatius is a very heavyset, blind man who is also Nightbreed as he comes from a family of shape shifters and he is living in the city in a rundown station. He fights the hunger of eating human flesh as he walks among them with many people being very kind to him. Ignatius eats lots of junk food and also eats very weird things that he finds in the trashcans and dumpsters and that’s clipped human hair and nails from both fingers and toes. But when Ignatius comes across the scene of a bad auto accident he drinks some of the blood that is on the street and also finds and takes home a finger for one of the crash victims…he makes the mistake of eating it and gets a taste for it, he even sneaks himself into the morgue and tries to eat the flesh of a dead person, but it just makes him sick. Ignatius heads out and finds a lone man and attacks him to eat him and does so by becoming a giant rat, but he is caught in the act by Boone who tries to save him by once more telling him the law, Ignatius knows that he has broken it and for him there is no going back so he jumps in front of a train and kills himself to stop the hunger.

This is such a strange and great issue in The Nightbreed series from Epic as we follow Ignatius a Nightbreed who lives among humans who tries to fight off the hunger of eating human flesh, but when he makes the mistake of tasting it he becomes a crazed killer who is looking for that meat to stop the hunger…and in the end when he is caught by Boone who is Cabal the chosen one, he chooses to die for his sins. Ignatius is a interesting character as he is blind, weighs well over 400 pounds and is a shape shifter who likes to eat junk food and being around humans as he likes their smells as well as fighting that temptation of eating them! And it’s clear that he also loved his family who are also Nightbreed and can change their appearances. It was also nice to see Boone return as he has been missing for many issues now and it’s clear he showed up to try and help Ignatius and bring him back to the laws of Baphomet. The issue does have some blood with it mostly coming from accident victims as well as the body of a dead woman at the morgue. The cover is cool and shows Ignatius on the train tracks eating human flesh. The interior art work is really well done and is very fitting for this story, and the two artist who worked on this issue was Andy Paquette and Ron McCain. A very cool stand-alone issue that brings Boone back into the story and briefly introduced us to Ignatius, a Nightbreed who could not control his hunger. I also want to point out we are seventeen issues into this series an we still have no Shuna Sassi, Leroy Gomm, Lude or any of the others that were missing since issue one.

Nightbreed # 18 ***
Released in 1992 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 18 of 25

A werewolf is roaming the snow-covered woods and is killing off locals and this has caused them to want to fight back! Meanwhile Boone as sent Peloquin, Narcisse, Nickneven, Oral, Mae, Mexico and Ghost to track it down as it is causing issues for The Nightbreed as the werewolf is breaking the laws of Baphomet. And during the tracking Mae is killed by the werewolf who rips her apart, and Peloquin is too late to save her as she was his lover and now he wants to track and kill this werewolf. Meanwhile in town is hunter Benjamin Sweeney who tells them that he will flush out their werewolf and kill it, and later that night he finds one of the local females is a werewolf and stabs her and then chases her into the woods as she is bleeding badly, and is able to kill her. Aas the female werewolf is dying, Benjamin cuts off her foot for a trophy as well as starts eating part of her…he also finds some strange looking bones and knows that it means Nightbreed are around! We join The Nightbreed who are in a cave and around a fire when another werewolf comes into the cave and warns them that trouble is coming for them.

In this issue some of The Nightbreed lead by Peloquin are sent to a small town during the cold winter to find a rogue werewolf that has been killing people, and worse while they are looking for this monster Mae is killed and this sets Peloquin off as she was his lover and he wants to get revenge for her. But unknown to The Nightbreed the town is the home of three werewolves and one has been killed by a crazed hunter named Benjamin Sweeney who kills for sport and fun and gets off slaughtering man, beast and monsters as he is just truly a cold blooded cruel killer. Benjamin even likes to use a knife to kill his prey as he likes to make things die slowly and even more weird he likes to eat parts of his victims. And all of us readers know that we are going to see a showdown between Benjamin Sweeney and Peloquin ,and it will be bloody! We also learn that The Nightbreed are looking for someone named McDougal, and we are not sure why just yet. The poor female werewolf is brutally killed and her mate can do nothing to save her and must listen to her screams of pain, and you know that he as well is going to want to kill Benjamin. The issue has some good kills and has lots of blood spilt from both humans and monsters. The cover is awesome and shows a werewolf and is very eye catching for fans of werewolves, and the interior art is well done and artist Tony Harris is the one who did it. Over all another good issue that this time around introduces werewolves into the world of The Nightbreed. Oh it was also nice seeing Mexico in this issue even if he does look very different from how he appears in the film.

Nightbreed # 19 ***
Released in 1992 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 19 of 25

Peloquin goes on the attack and tries to kill the werewolf (Jonathan) who fights back and tries to tell the angered Nightbreed that it was not him who killed his lady Mae, and after fighting back and forth it’s Oral who gets everyone to calm down and talk. He tells them that McDougal who was a werewolf that turned them all into one was killed by a werewolf named Erik who has gone crazy as he craves the meat of humans as well as fellow Nightbreed, and Erik is also the one who killed Mae. Back in town another person is killed and Benjamin Sweeney returns to town and tells some of the locals about the werewolf as well as about The Nightbreed being near and how they need to die as well as they are monsters and freaks. The locals do not believe him and head to the cave to see the dead werewolf just to find her turned back into her human form, and worse her husband is one of them that find her…they think Benjamin killed her and is mocking them all. The Nightbreed sneak into town and Narcisse goes into the local bar looking for Erik as he is the only one who can pass as a normal human as he explains his half missing face as skin cancer. But things go wrong when the locals spot Peloquin and Jonathan who is still a werewolf and start shooting at them, causing Peloquin to have to steal a car and get them all to a safe spot. Meanwhile Erik who is in his human form leads Benjamin into the woods as he tells him he knows were The Nightbreed are, and as they are deep in the woods Erik turns into the werewolf to have a showdown with Benjamin as Oral, Mexico, Ghost and Nickneven hear the howl they know that the odds are against them to survive.

In this issue we learn that only one of the werewolves is a killer who enjoys the flesh of man and beast and he is tricking the crazed hunter Benjamin Sweeney into going into the woods with him to hunt down The Nightbreed, and Erik is a true crazed werewolf who enjoys killing and it’s clear that he as well is looking forward to having a fight to the death with both Benjamin Sweeney as well as The Nightbreed. While Benjamin Sweeney is just as scummy as he was in the last issue as he truly likes taking lives, but now he might find himself on the other side of a slaughter. We also see that Jonathan who is another of the werewolves in that town is a follower of the law of Baphomet and is trying to help The Nightbreed get out of town as well as get revenge on Erik for killing one of their own. Peloquin is pissed off at the world over the death of Mae and will not leave the town until he stops Erik for good, and that means even leaving some of his fellow Nightbreed into some dangerous areas. Meanwhile it also seems that Narcisse is helping feeding the crazed nature of Peloquin as he even enters the town with him to find out information and is ready to kill if he has to. Mexico is around hanging back at the fire with the other Nightbreed, and while he is not doing much it still is very cool seeing him on these pages. I am a big fan of werewolves in films, comics, novels and games so this story arch is another that I have been a fan of since I was a kid…and in fact, I think that it’s a better read now that I am older! The cover is cool and has Peloquin jumping through a car window, and once more Tony Harris does a great job on the issues interior art. Over all like all before it this issue is a fun and great read and the werewolf story comes to an end with the next issue.

Nightbreed # 20 ***
Released in 1992 Cover Price $2.25 Epic Comics # 20 of 25

In the dark of night some of the locals armed with guns head into the night looking for Benjamin Sweeney as they think he is a serial killer and the one who has been killing the townspeople. Meanwhile Benjamin with his trusty knife is fight with the werewolf Erik as both are landing slashes the blood is starting to flow and each have a respect for one another’s bloodlust. Peloquin along with Jonathan and Narcisse get ride of some locals in a truck trying to follow them and head to the battle that is taking place in the woods. Jonathan runs ahead of his fellow Nightbreed and breaks up the fight and tries to warn Erik that they are coming to kill them, but instead Erik slashes Jonathan open leaving him to die in the snow as Benjamin heads off to kill The Nightbreed by the fire. As Peloquin and Narcisse arrive Jonathan tells them that he had to warn Erik of their attack as they are friends…but now he knows that Erik is a lost cause and as Narcisse stays with the dying werewolf it is Peloquin that heads off to stop and kill both Erik and Benjamin this night. Benjamin finds The Nightbreed camp and goes after them, but it’s Peloquin that stops him from killing any of them and roughs up the hunter and gives him a five-minute head start to run before he kills him. Meanwhile the locals find Jonathan as a werewolf as well as Narcisse and they are not afraid of them as they know that the werewolf is their friend and drinking pal when human…so they decide to help him and get him the medical help he needs to live. While in the woods it turns into a fight between Peloquin, Werewolf Erik and Benjamin and all three want to see the others die a horrible death. As the locals show up along with Jonathan and Narcisse they watch as Erik takes down Benjiman and then Peloquin goes after Erik as they all have reasons for wanting revenge against the other. And after a quick fight Peloquin kills Erik, and Benjamin who is dying starts to turn into a werewolf and gets shot and killed by the husband of the female werewolf he killed…and now everyone has gotten their revenge. The Nightbreed burn their dead and head home to meet with Boone and Jonathan has joined them.

In this issue the small town becomes more safe as the killer werewolf Erik as well as crazed killer hunter Benjamin Sweeney as they both are shown to be guilty of killing people in the town and both have a thrill on trying to kill each other as they find the other as a good hunt and a trophy for their kill count. Benjamin Sweeney is such a scumbag as he gloats about his kills and seems to truly get off on killing, and it great when he is turned into a werewolf and gets his head blown off by the human husband of the female werewolf he killed. Erik is just as crazy as he does kill and eat humans and fellow Nightbreed, but he is also after Benjamin who has killed town people and blamed the werewolves for his crimes. Jonathan tries to warn his friend that The Breed is coming for him only to be attacked and left for dead and for the Breed to be the ones who watch over him and help him heal…seems like he should have stayed on the side of the true good guys instead of helping his crazed werewolf buddy who would like to see him dead. Peloquin is in a rage and wants nothing but revenge for his mate that was murdered and is able to do just that as he kills the werewolf who took her life, he also helps a human who lost his wife during this madness by giving him words to try and heal by. The issue of course has lots of blood spilled and it really is a good werewolf story. While it was cool that we seen Mexico, I do wish he had a little more of a part and would have helped in the fight against the hunter and the werewolf. Also the issue ends with all The Nightbreed being called home as Boone as been acting strange lately and something is up. The cover for this issue is cool and shows Benjamin and Peloquin with the team of Tony Harris and Max Douglas doing the issues interior art, and I liked both but do have to say that their styles clash slightly. It is cool that the werewolf Jonathan is going back with The Nightbreed as it will be interesting to see if he comes back into play in any later issues.

Nightbreed # 21 ***
Released in 1992 Cover Price $2.50 Epic Comics # 21 of 25

Lori is having nightmares about one of the saviors of the Tribes Of The Moon named Ozymandias who wants her to be his and to rule over The Nightbreed! She is awaken from her night terror by Kinski, Peloquin and Narcisse who are looking for Boone as they inform her that she has been asleep for three days and that the area has now been a gathering place for The Nightbreed as hundreds of them have started to show up. They also tell her that Boone as been acting weird and speaking in different voices and that even Breed member Shuna Sassi has gone missing and they soon find her as Guido tells them that Baphomet has her in a cave…they go to find that he is attacking her as he is really Ozymandias who is trying to take over the body and soul of Cabal and can make the other Gods do what he wants as they are sharing the same mind and body that of Boone. Lori along with Kinski, Peloquin and Narcisse save Shuna Sassi from his evil grip and get away knowing that their God is in danger as is all The Nightbreed if he goes fully bad and Ozymandias takes over fully. The return to camp to find that a young human as been slaughtered and that Kushnir Day (a hog faced Nightbreed who appears in the film) is trying to get his fellow Breed to feed on the human meat, and this causes a fight between Kinski and Peloquin as the winner will lead The Nightbreed as their God has been compromised, as Peloquin wants to just eat meat and Kinski wants to rebuild Midian…the two work it out and Lori reminds them of the story of Baphomet and Ozymandias and how they helped lead The Nightbreed centuries back and are the ones who helped them all to continue to live, created Midian and made the law of not eating human meat. And that Ozymandias and Baphomet had a falling out that lead to them not having any respect for each other as each had their own vision of what The Nightbreed should be. As Lori is telling her story looking for a clue on how to defeat Ozymandias he appears and is having the moon eclipsed and threatens to kill all The Nightbreed if they do not give Lori to him!

The Nightbreed are all in trouble as their God Baphomet is being taken over by the evil Ozymandias, a one time friend of their God who has turned his back on his law and teachings as he wants to rule the world and allow The Nightbreed to once more take over by killing the normal humans, eating their meat as well as taking out any Nightbreed that stands in their way. And he is demanding that Lori be given to him and rule by his twisted side. And with Boone aka Cabal and Baphomet sharing the same body now that took place in the two issue mini series called “Jihad” that was a crossover of Nightbreed and Hellraiser. Ozymandias is a terrible creature as he clearly does not care about others and just wants his fellow Nightbreed to break their old laws and follow him blindly. We are treated to many of The Nightbreed in this issue as returning faces like Lori, Kinski, Peloquin, Narcisse, Gudio and Baphomet appear and we finally get to see Shuna Sassi and Kushnir Day! And it only took 21 issues before Shuna Sassi appeared and that’s a shame as she should have been one of the comic’s big stars. But it’s clear that in this issue many of The Nightbreed are confused as Kushnir Day seems to be following the rule of Ozymandias and is trying to get his fellow Breed members to eat human flesh. And it clear that we are heading to a showdown between Ozymandias and his followers and Baphomet and his. And here is hopping that we will also see more faces from the film appear and be involved in this inner fighting of The Nightbreed…it would also be nice to see returning original characters from this series like Oral, Jonathan and so on and see what side they choose. A very interesting concept here as it is clear that Lori and her friends in The Breed are going to have to be the heroes. The cover is very cool and eye catching as it shows many of The Nightbreed members and those being Kinski, Shuna Sassi, Peloquin and Gallows. The interior art is done by Colleen Doran and is good stuff as Doran captures the look and moods of The Nightbreed. With that said I am very happy to finally have Shuna Sassi in the comic series and am looking forward to reliving how this story plays out on these comic pages.

Nightbreed # 22 ***
Released in 1992 Cover Price $2.50 Epic Comics # 22 of 25

Lori is being hunted down by the followers of Ozymandias and when one captures her Kinski and Peloquin come to her aid as Narcisse creates a diversion by setting the tent homes of the Breed on fire! While inside his newly built temple Ozymandias eats on human meat and demands that his followers bring him Lori, even taking his anger out on Kushnir Day and we also see that he has taken Guido and Shuna Sassi prisoner. Meanwhile trapped inside his own mind is Boone alongside other failed saviors of The Nightbreed who tell him that Ozymandias has taken over the body and that Baphomet’s spirit is imprisoned so that he can not use his powers to take over, Boone hopes that Lori can remember in her dream how to defeat Ozymandias or he is doomed forever. Meanwhile Lori remembers back to her dream that involved the history of Ozymandias as Kinski, Peloquin and Narcisse listen trying to help find that one clue. She tells of the day Ozymandias became a God and Baphomet returned and created Sekhmet who went and killed all those of The Breed who followed Ozymandias and his laws, and with that they find the answer it’s the poison quills of Shuna Sassi that can kill Ozymandias…and they also know that it will kill Boone…but they must do it for the sake of The Nightbreed as well as the normal humans of the world. Ozymandias leads his followers to a small town and has the idea to kill everyone and for all of them to eat meat tonight, while Lori and her friends find Shuna Sassi and get her ready to kill this false God while Boone inside his own mind gets the failed saviors who are also all trapped there to join in his quest to free the spirit of Baphomet with the promise of forgiveness and a second chance. They are able to free Baphomet and with that Ozymandias is defeated as he is distracted by Shuna Sassi leaving him open for the attack and allowing Boone to be in control of his mind and body and he calls The Nightbreed back and tells them the New Midian is about to happen.

This battle between Ozymandias and Baphomet ends as Boone and Lori in two different places work together unknowingly to bring down this false God down and reunite The Nightbreed under the one true law of Baphomet. Lori is the key who keeps many of the Nightbreed sane as they stand by her side and want to try and save Boone as well as rid themselves of Ozymandias who cares about ruling and consume lots of human meat in order to gain control and rule with fear. This issue also really does show that Lori is a strong character as she might not be a powerful Nightbreed, she is a smart one who stands by her man as well as friends and will do what she thinks is right. And Boone aka Cabal is shown that while he is powerful he does have a weak side and is bullied in this issue as Ozymandias liked to enter their shared mind and shove him around and even almost kill him just for his own humor. Kinski, Peloquin and Narcisse are The Nightbreed who stay loyal to Boone and risk their own lives in order to help Lori in her quest to stop the false God who is trying to corrupt their fellow Breed family. And I am super happy that Shuna Sassi has finally arrived in this comic series and after being attacked and injured, she finds that her poisoned quills can kill Ozymandias and this makes her a threat to his quest to rule, and it also shows Shuna Sassi as being a strong member of The Breed who sticks by Boone and the others. Guido is around again in this issue but does not get to show off any of his power, nor does he even get to help in the final fight. The Nightbreed member Kushnir Day who in the film is the one that plays the drums on the side of the walls to warn the others, in this issue and last has turned on Boone and is following Ozymandias as he tries to help corrupt his fellow Breed into eating meat and also acts as the law giver for this false God. It’s a shame that Kushnir Day turned rogue and lets hope in the next issues he returns to redeem himself. The cover is really cool as it shows Boone along with the failed saviors fighting Ozymandias inside the head of Baphomet, and like the last issue Colleen Doran does the interior art and its great stuff. While this struggle between Ozymandias and Baphomet could have lasted a few more issues, the good Nightbreed showed that the true law is that of Baphomet.

Nightbreed # 23 ***
Released in 1993 Cover Price $2.50 Epic Comics # 23 of 25

Boone is at the table with Nickneven as well as Kinski, Narcisse, Lori and Oral as they discuss that Peloquin is missing and it seems to be tied into The Berserkers as she tells them a story of how when those uncontrollable beast first got to Midian they attacked Peloquin and his lady, and this attack left him injured and her dead and that lately he has been acting very weird. Narcisse has heard enough and wants to go out and find his missing friend, while out in the wild Peloquin has found dead bodies that have been eaten and is on the trail of The Berserker the same one that killed his lady all those years back so this is personal, and not just a hunt for a Breed that has broken the law of Baphomet. The Berserker is on a full rampage as he can only remember small parts of his past life before he became this mindless killing machine, when he was a normal Nightbreed who as experimented on during World War I and turned into this thing. Peloquin and The Berserker finally meet up and the two start fighting with The Berserker having the upper hand, but when Narcisse shows up and distracts the crazed monster, Peloquin is able to strike and beat The Berserker to death with a tree branch and then set the body on fire…end this quest for revenge. He and Narcisse then head out to a local bar be beat up on some cowboys and then make it with the ladies in order to get rid of all their stress.

This issue is all about Peloquin and his hunt for a Berserker that way back in the day killed his lady when these crazed beasts were brought to Midian, and how he bottled up his anger for years…but now he can get his revenge as The Berserker goes on a rampage of killing and eating people. The Berserker was once a normal Nightbreed who back in the time of World War I was turned into The Berserker by a madman, and only for small glimpses does he remember his past…but most of his life now he is driven by rage, the urge to kill and eat the flesh of mankind. Plus all his fellow Berserkers were killed off in the Jihad mini-series by Pinhead and the Cenobites, making him the last of his kind. Peloquin has been waiting years for this moment to get his revenge on this this Berserker for killing one of his lovers, when you think about it so many of Peloquin’s mates have died and he goes on lots of quests for revenge in this series. Some of the other Nightbreed that make appearances here are Boone, Kinski, Narcisse, Oral, Nickneven and Lori who are the ones who set up the story by talking around the table about the history between the two. The fight between the two is a little short but it does go back and fourth and Peloquin is able to squeak out the win and then brutally kills The Berserker and goes over board in the killing. The issue does have some blood and gore but is not over the top. The cover features Peloquin and is good with Max Douglas being the interior artist and his style is good in this issue. Over all a good issue with a fun story for fans of the character Peloquin, and with that lest see what the next issue has in store for us.

Nightbreed # 24 ***
Released in 1993 Cover Price $2.50 Epic Comics # 24 of 25

A man’s car has broken down in the woods and is scared when a van comes speeding by and Kinski, Peloquin and Leroy Gomm are in this van and this scares him to his core! And as the man turns he sees Babette and follows here into the woods and around a camp fire Boone, Lori, Narcisse, Shuna Sassi, Guido and Rachel stand and have to take him prisoner for seeing them, and after knocking him out they leave the area. During all this Lori lets Boone know that she does not like Shuna Sassi who is very sexual in nature. And the next day as Guido is driving them out of town Lori sits up front with him and tells him a story about the first time she meet Boone and how he saved her from a drug dealer at a carnival, and how they fell in love and his time with Doctor Decker and how she still loves him. Guido tells her of his past how he was born in Midian but felt he didn’t fit in and how he lived and worked among the normal people, and how he got good at fixing cars. And how Boone saved his life during the attack on Midian, but his boyfriend was killed. Lori then tells Guido that Boone still dreams about Shuna Sassi and this makes her so mad as she feels he does not love her anymore. Guido gives his worries that Boone as sent Kinski, Peloquin and Leroy Gomm away and on a different path to find the new Midian. Meanwhile a group of kids are messing with a Ouija board and it creeps them out, so they make the owner of the board run into the waters of a alligator farm and as he gets close to the water Ishmael The God Of The Lonely appears and this creature is a mix of Rawhead Rex, Kinder, Reverend Ashberry and Sheriff Eigerman! And then the young man who they knocked out and left behind is Steve a reporter who is now on the hunt to expose The Nightbreed to the world.

This issue is really playing up the drama among The Nightbreed and add more baddies for them to over come as Steve is a reporter who can cause the world to think that monsters live among them and this will cause fear and even attacks of Nightbreed, they kind of made the mistake of letting him live when he first stumbled on them. And the other major threat is the formation of their past enemies now in one body calling it’s self Ishmael The God Of The Lonely and we at this point have zero clue what it is capable of and what its true goal will be. The main story here is that Boone and Lori are having issues in their relationship as they are arguing and fighting, as Lori is very jealous of Shuna Sassi due to Boone dreaming about her at night. Shuna Sassi is very sexual and this also adds to Lori’s hatred for her. We also get to know Guido a little better, the Breed member who can remove his spine and find out that he had a boyfriend who died during the attacks on Midian and that Boone is the one who saved him. In the issue we also get to see the returning Breed of Kinski, Peloquin, Narcisse, Shuna Sassi, Rachel and Babette and we finally get appearances by Leroy Gomm and Lude! And with only one issue left it will be very interesting to see how this story arch as well as the series comes to an end. The issue is pretty bloodless and is more of a set up for the new enemy characters as well as the story of how Lori meet Boone. The cover once more showcases Peloquin as it’s clear they looked at him as the star of the comic series. The interior art is great and done by Derek Yaniger as he like many before him captures the mood of the subject matter. With that let’s see how this series ends and if Boone finds that New Midian that he has promised to find.

Nightbreed # 25 ***
Released in 1993 Cover Price $2.50 Epic Comics # 25 of 25

Steve has written and gotten his article printed in the newspaper all about The Nightbreed and this is a very bad thing for them. Boone wonders if The Nightbreed could like among the normal heroes and that is when Shuna Sassi tells her back story of having to kill a senator as well a officer of the law as she use to be a call girl and both were in love with her and this lead to the killing of her daughter, so she made them both pay. Boone decides that New York will become the New Midian and as called everyone home to help take the city over. And they all come as its Halloween night and the city is filled with people in costumes and this will make it a perfect time to strike! And in the city many of The Nightbreed come to do their part of the plan and this includes Shuna Sassi, Kinski, Peloquin, Narcisse, Nickneven among other causing panic in the city as The Nightbreed go into the subway system and even rebuild Baphomet, but Lori was not suppose to be in the subway but she comes anyway and watches as Ishmael The God Of The Lonely appears and attacks killing Boone in the process as Shuna Sassi has to use her poison quills in order to kill Ishmael and her quills as well is what helps seal the fate of Boone…as this has been his dream and he ordered Shuna Sassi to do her action during the fight. But Baphomet uses his powers to bring Boone back to life and the Nightbreed try and get their new underground home safe, and even Shuna Sassi uses her quills to kill the reporter Steve in order for him to not write anymore stories, and The Breed place drugs in the water to make the towns people think that the monster they seen were just apart of the hallucinations. It ends with Shuna Sassi dancing in the moonlight.

The Nightbreed comic series from Epic Comics comes to an end and The New Midian is in New York City in the subways underground and they must find a way to bring peace and safety to all The Nightbreed as the normal people of the world are still very much a threat. This issue does a very good job of trying to cram so much story into the pages as its clear that the series was suppose to last longer than it did, so they did the newspaper part to fill in some of the storyline and while it is a letdown it at least works to help wrap up the story. Boone is once more the hero of The Nightbreed as he himself leads them to their new home, he is willing to sacrifice his own self in order to protect them all and even tries his best to spare Lori the heartbreak…but in the end of course Baphomet restores his life. Lori learns that Boone loves her and that his dreams about Shuna Sassi are just about the events that will take place to bring down Ishmael, and not dreams of love and passion. And we see that Boone and Lori have found a new place for The Nightbreed to live and for Baphomet to be rebuilt. Shuna Sassi is shown to be a powerful member of The Nightbreed as her poisoned quills in this series is what brings down powerful enemies like Ishmael The God Of The Lonely and Ozymandias, and to me it is so odd that she did not show up in the series until towards the end of its run. Besides Boone the comics main Nightbreed stars are clearly Kinski, Narcisse and Peloquin as they are featured in almost every issue and are the ones who seem the most loyal to Boone and Baphomet. I do have to say that I wish throughout this series we had gotten more from characters like Lude, Leroy Gomm and Kushnir Day and that at times we would not have such harsh changes in the art as it seemed almost every issue was done by a different person and sometimes one issue would have multiple artist, as at times it was very distracting as some of their styles were very much different and that would mean characters would look very different from issue to issue. The series as well had its fare share of blood, guts, gore and nudity and over all the comic really did feel like it could be apart of the film it was based on and that is what is important, but while the feel was there some of the changing creative team issues does cause moments of being disjointed. I also hate that Epic Comics ended the series with a quick wrap up issues as I wish they had allowed them to fully let the story play out. The cover for this issue has Shuna Sassi with the interior art done this time by Phil Hester and his style is pretty good and he draws the characters well. Over all I really like the Nightbreed comic series from Epic and it is one that has held up for me over all these years, and it was great revisiting it after all these years. Check out the artwork below to see the styles used in this series.

Nightbreed is such a great film that features amazing looking characters and shows that mankind can be so cruel to those who are different even those who just want to be left alone. I also think that the film is often overlooked when people talk about the horror films of the early 1990’s, and it deserves a lot more praise than it gets. I also think that the comic series for me is the best thing that Epic Comics released, and that’s saying something as they had many great releases! But I think that it’s time for us to step away from Midian and the Nightbreed as our next update will take us to space and to a planet filled with prisoners and one pissed off Xenomorph that acts like a dog…and I am of course talking about Alien 3 and the Dark Horse Comics adaptation series of the film. So until next time read a horror comic of three, watch a horror film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update as I hear that they can’t hear you scream in space.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968)

Posted on November 27, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. One thing that I have been thinking about a lot lately is the films that I loved loved as a kid that had Horror elements to them, and while many had very small amount of “Horror” in them, they were a gateway of sorts for many to get into the world of the genre. For instance, such films as “The Ghost And Mr. Chicken (1966)”, “Frankenweeinie (1984)”, “The Blair Thumb (2001)” and “Escape To Witch Mountain (1975)” all brought humorous chills to viewers (with us already talking about Escape To Witch Mountain that you can read here if you missed it). For this update I have chosen the Disney made supernatural family comedy film “Blackbeard’s Ghost” as the topic as it was one I enjoyed as a kid, and I think that it fits the mold of what I am talking about as a gateway film into horror. So if you are ready, let’s head to Blackbeard’s Inn and see what this silly ghost has in store for us, and also Happy Thanksgiving 2025!

Let’s start off by taking a look at Blackbeard’s Ghost and his ways of scaring the hell out of the living! Back in the 18^th century Edward Teach aka Blackbeard was a pirate that tormented the waters of the West Indies before he was killed in 1718 during a battle. But in 1968, his spirit is brought back by a newly hired track coach after he accidentally says a spell out loud. The two are now bonded together in mischief and trying to right the wrongs that are going on in the town of Godolphin. Blackbeard’s Ghost is unseen by everyone besides the one who summoned him but his appearance has him in full pirate clothing, a black beard and at times he looks annoyed and mean…and this can scare those people who do set their eyes on him. Blackbeard’s Ghost who cannot be seen by normal people is able to also move items/objects around as well as cause extreme and sometime playful scares to those he has targeted. Not to mention that he carries a very sharp sword that could cut and go through the flesh of those he uses it against. This supernatural ghost is also very annoying and will use his playful ways to cause chaos and accidents as he does not care for the most part about other people’s safety as his enjoyment is more important, and really his messing with such things as guns, motorcycles and cars makes him very dangerous to the living. One other thing that Blackbeard’s Ghost has that frightens people is the legend of his cut throat ways while living as he was a truly bad person. But while Blackbeard’s Ghost is from the supernatural world, he does have some weakness, as his ego is so big that it leaves him into making terrible mistakes and even almost chase off his own “friends”. He is also a cheat and a drinker, as he smells of rum making it very easy to detect when he is around. He can easily get his feelings hurt and this as well causes him to go away and leave people alone. He also starts to build a soft spot for his newly made friends and also wants the curse of being a ghost lifted so this turns the once feared pirate into a friendly ghost who wants to help others to rejoin his crew in the afterlife. And once Blackbeard’s Ghost does a good deed and more ancient magical words are said, he is free from this mortal world and his chaos is over. While Blackbeard’s Ghost is not that deadly nor scary he does do his job of haunting the living.

So while Blackbeard’s Ghost might not be the scariest or deadliest supernatural entity, we have ever covered here… but he just might be the silliest one, so that’s something right? And now that we have chatted about him, I think that it’s time we take a look at the film he is from. And like always, I will be taking the film’s write up from our pals at IMDB and then after that I will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts on the film. So with that, let’s see what this kids silly comedy, family film with a pinch of “Horror” has in store for us.

Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968)

“An unassuming track coach accidentally invokes the spirit of a notorious pirate long believed dead, and who must now team up to lay the pirate to rest, and save a local hotel from a mobster.”

In the 1960’s Disney was locking itself to be the biggest studio to make family friendly entertainment and they were releasing many films to theaters as young moviegoers seemed to not be able to get enough! And when looking for their next film, they decided to adapt the 1965 novel “Blackbeard’s Ghost” by Ben Stahl into a film as many think that a big part of them choosing to do a Supernatural Ghost Pirate film was all due to the huge success of the Pirates Of The Caribbean attraction that had opened in Disneyland in 1967. The film’s screenplay was done by the team of Don DaGradi and Bill Walsh and Disney would hire Robert Stevenson to direct who had made many other popular films for Disney before hand including Old Yeller, The Absent-Minded Professor, Son Of Flubber, Mary Poppins and That Darn Cat! to name a few, showing that he was truly one director that the studio could turn to in order to have a hit film. When casting the film, they would hire Peter Ustinov to play Blackbeard and other actors in the main cast include Dean Jones, Suzanne Pleshette, Joby Baker, Richard Deacon and in very cool casting The Bride Of Frankenstein herself Elsa Lanchester would play the part of Emily Stowecroft. The film was shot at Walt Disney Studios and was your normal production for them at the time and once done the score would be done by Robert F. Brunner and it would be released in theaters on February 8, 1968 and was meet with mostly positive reviews from critics and moviegoers alike who all enjoyed the performance of Peter Ustinov as well as the supernatural comedy elements of the story. The film would be a success for Disney as it did great at the box office for them doing over $21,540,050.00 and also was being considered one of their best films in from the past years. While this is not considered a horror film, it is truly a gateway film for young viewers to ease their way into that genre as it really is a supernatural, comedy, fantasy film whose main character is the ghost of a deadly pirate…and in 1968 it was released alongside such Horror Films as Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, Night Of The Living Dead, Rosemary’s Baby, Astro-Zombies, The Green Slime, Kong Island, Mark Of The Werewolf and Spider Baby to name a few.

Growing up a kid of the 80’s and 90’s, the animated films of Disney were all the rage among kids and man we had some great ones like Lion King, Aladdin and Hercules to name a small few. But in the village I grew up in, many times during the school year we would be able to have a class that would let us watch a movie and many of the time they would be the classic 50’s and 60’s live action Disney films and that is were I first seen the film Blackbeard’s Ghost and man when the teacher first said the title and I knew nothing about it my mind jumped to a classic style Universal Monster film about a pirate ghost scaring people to death…instead the film was a comedy were the ghost helps a man out…was I disappointed it was not a fright flick yes….but did I end up liking the movie… also yes! Something about the goofy nature of the film and the delightful performance of Peter Ustinov drew me in as he is really good in the role of Blackbeard as he gives the character charm and makes him very likable even if he was a blood thirsty pirate in real life. I also geeked out seeing Elsa Lanchester as what classic monster kid doesn’t geekout when they see her in films as she is truly an icon of Universal Monsters as The Bride Of Frankenstein is truly a legendary monster character. And after seeing the film I would also end up finding the film’s novel adaptation at a local second hand book store and had to buy it, and I can remember reading the book in my room right before bed for a couple of weeks. And I know what you are all thinking ,that Blackbeard’s Ghost is not a horror film, but it really does have many elements and here are just a few of those that make this film spooky as it has a ghost, pirates tales, a witch, a curse and even a eerie atmosphere. And again I truly think that films like Blackbeard’s Ghost act as a good way for youngsters to get into the world of Horror Cinema. I also have to say actress Suzanne Pleshette who plays the main character Professor Jo-Anne Baker is absolutely stunning and many of your Horror fans will know her also from her roles in the spooky films “The Birds (1963)” and “The Power (1968)”. Over all if you have not seen this film but do like your Disney films with a dash of supernatural spookiness make sure to give this a watch as you might just find yourself enjoying it.

So as you can see, Blackbeard’s Ghost is a friendly one, but he does have a little of mean streak that makes him a pain in the butt to those he decides to annoy. And now that we have talked about him as well as the film based around him, I think we should move on and take a look at the comic adaptation that was released by Gold Key Comics back in 1968. I would first like to thank Lone Star Comics for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. I would also like to thank the teacher who showed this film to us students in Waynesville! And I would also like to dedicate this update to my Aunt Theresa who sadly is no longer with us, but who loved these classic old school live action Disney films. I would like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready like I am, let’s have a spooky, fun time with the one an only Blackbeards Ghost.

Blackbeard’s Ghost # 1 **1/2
Released in 1968 Cover Price .12 Gold Key Comics # 1 of 1

Steve Walker has arrived in town as he has been hired to be the new track coach at the local college and meets fellow school workers as Professor Jo Anne Baker, Dean Roland Wheaton and football coach Pinetop Purvis at the hotel called Blackbeard Inn that is holding a fund raiser to raise money to pay off a bank loan that the local mobster Silky Seymour is trying to get as he wants the land the hotel sits on. That night Steve goes to his room that was the one the pirate Blackbeard use to stay in, and while getting ready to wind down for the night he gets a visit from the Ghost of Blackbeard who tells Steve he needs his help to break a curse that placed on him by one of his own ex-wives! But Steve is freaked out and wants nothing to do with the ghost and leaves the motel only for Blackbeard’s Ghost to follow and get him into trouble with the law when he takes control of the cars wheel and then messes with a cop that pulls them over, but unlucky for Steve no one else can see Blackbeard’s Ghost so he is thought to be drunk or crazy. Once out of jail, word spreads of his arrest and Jo Anne tells the Dean she will try and figure out what is going on with their new track couch, and the two even have dinner to chat at one of Silky’s restaurants and gambling places. But while there Blackbeard’s Ghost steals $900 that was raised for the old ladies who owns the inn from Jo Anne’s purse and sneaks and places a bet that the college’s track team will win the big meet, and after dinner she finds the slip and thinks Steve did this and is furious. And then at the track meet Blackbeard’s Ghost starts helping the team win and this makes Steve super mad as he don’t want to cheat to win, but it also will help the ghost do a good deed by helping the team win and get the old ladies enough money to save the inn! And the team does win with Blackbeard’s help but only after he and Steve have a verbal fight and feelings are hurt, but the good cause becomes more important. But when Jo Anne and Steve go to collect the money from Silky, he rejects the beat and gives them the $900 back and tells them to try and win it big on the roulette wheel and they do with the help of Blackbeard’s Ghost! As Jo Anne and Steve now with the money to save the end make their way to the inn where the banker and old ladies are waiting Blackbeard’s Ghost ends up beating up Silky and his men who try to stop the couple. In the end the bank is paid, the inn is safe, Steve and Jo Anne are in love and the curse is lifted from Blackbeard whose spirit heads off to sea with his old crew.

This adaptation is very strange and yet also entertaining as many changes are made from the film with one of the biggest is Blackbeard’s Ghost’s first appearance as in the film he appears after Steve by accident reads the magic words of a witch and in the comic the ghost has always just been hanging around his old room at the hotel looking for someone to help him break the curse that is forcing him to walk the world between the living and the dead. Another change is that Blackbeard is over all a nice ghost who wants to do the right thing and almost every element of the films slight horror is missing in these pages as Blackbeard’s mean side, the curse, witch and atmosphere is cut down to nothing. The plot is still pretty much the same as it has Steve Walker being new to town after taking the job with the local collage and then getting mixed up with Blackbeard’s Ghost, helping the little old ladies who own the hotel to keep it, falling in love with one of his co-workers and lastly stopping the towns no good mobsters from taking the hotel. The main star of the comic is Blackbeard’s Ghost who is looking for a good deed to do so that he can be free of his supernatural shackles, and he is able to set his site on helping the old ladies who run the inn he haunts be able to keep the place safe from the bank as well as the local mobster. And while he is a ghost he spends most of his time helping in this comic and less time annoying and scaring. Track coach Steve Walker is kind of the pawn in this comic as Blackbeard’s Ghost attaches himself to him and uses his personal life and job in order to do his good deed, but mostly he just makes him look like he is crazy as Steve is the only one who can see him and the two argue a lot. But while Steve is being driven crazy by his new ghost friend its clear that he really does want to do the right thing even if that is allowing cheating to go on. Professor Jo Anne Baker is a good person who wants to do what she can to save the old inn from falling into the hands of the local mobster and by trusting and following Steve and unknown to her Blackbeard’s Ghost and this helps her get the money needed and for the inn to be saved. And of course the comic’s main bad guy is Silky Seymour who is just a sleazy scumbag who along with his goons bully people and run all the towns gambling, and he wants the old inn for the land to build a big casino. So when he losses lots of money and Blackbeard’s Ghost punches him in the face is a good time. The comic has some silly humor and if you like the film I am sure you would enjoy this comic as its very similar but does play out a little different as much is cut out and other things and smashed together in order to fit in the comics page count. The cover for this issue is just a still of Blackbeard on his ship and the comics interior art is done by Dan Spiegle and has that classic Gold Key Comic look, so that means the characters only sort of look like the actors who played them in the film. Over all if you like the film Blackbeard’s Ghost make sure to get yourself a copy for a read, but those who are looking for a kid friendly scare this one is not for you as the spooky elements are pretty much removed. Checkout the artwork below to see the style used in this comic.

Well it looks like Blackbeard’s Ghost has found his way back to his crew and they are now out on the seven seas roaming around, and I know many of you are still saying that this film is NOT a Horror Film, and again I will say I agree but I still say that it is a film that is a gateway for younger fans to discover the joys of Supernatural Horror! Plus it was a fun one to write and I hope that you all enjoyed reading it! Plus it was cool to read this comic for the first time plus it gave me a reason to watch the film again after all these years. But don’t worry, our next update will take us to the world of The Snailiens, a mostly forgotten 90’s toyline that will surly bring a smile to your face. So until next tim,e read a comic or three, eat a turkey leg or two and as always visit your loved ones. See you next update for a Snail of a good time!

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Screaming Skull (1958)

Posted on January 23, 2024 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. As you can see, you find yourself reading another “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update here on my little slice of the internet, and for this one we will be taking a look at the 1958 fright flick Screaming Skull that got the comic book treatment thanks to Blood Scream Comics in 2017. Screaming Skull is one of those horror films that was a drive-n theater favorite for many, and now that it is in the public domain can be found on all types of home media as well as many uploads on sites like YouTube. This update will be different as we will not be giving the comic a star rating as my connection to Blood Scream Comics makes it very silly for me to do so, but I really want to talk about The Screaming Skull plus these “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” updates are a great way to showcase just how cool Blood Scream Comics is and just how cool our comics based on films are! So if you are ready, I can hear the skull screaming so let’s get spooky!

Let’s start by taking a look at The Skull, a cursed and haunted piece of a murdered woman’s body that has its own way of dealing death. Marion Whitlock was a woman who died after slipping on some water and cracking her skull open on the concrete base of a fountain pond found her estate, and then falling into the water and drowning. And now as her husband has taken a new wife, a Skull starts to appear around the home and estate making noises as well as seeming to move objects, and that trio is something that can truly be scary and haunting to the living as the skull’s look, noises and seeming supernatural powers could frighten someone too death as well as drive them mad. The Skull’s other power seems to be to freak someone out so badly that they are plagued with nightmares and are jumpy to every sound they hear, and make such items as paintings seem haunting and scary when they can be connected to Marion. The Skull also seems to be able to move on its own and the shriek it can give off is ear piercing and spooky. It seems to only have the purpose of driving its victim insane with the hopes of death. The spirit of Marion Whitlock is in the Skull and it is seeking justice for her death as it was no accident, and she wants those around to pay. The Skull can also appear as a headless ghost and give chase to its intended victim or for those it wants to warn of danger. And as a Skull, it can also fly and shriek through the air causing pure panic for its victim, and cause them to flee in madness. The Skull will also fly up and use its teeth to bite at your neck causing you extreme pain and in some cases death. The Skull does have weaknesses as it really is just a “haunted” skull and seems to be bound to the Whitlock Estate, as it is the scene of the crime of Marion Whitlock’s death. One would also have to guess that if The Skull was crushed the curse might be broken and this freeing the victim from its wrath. And this is if you truly thank that The Skull is real as many think it was all part of Eric Whitlock’s idea to cover up his first wife’s murder and drive his second wife crazy. But real or fake, The Skull of Marion Whitlock has the ability to drive a person crazy and that is why it’s so dangerous. And if you ask me, while in some moments was fake a tool used by Eric I think most of the time The Skull is real and acted as a way to get ride of Eric and warn his new bride of the danger.

So now that we have taken a look at The Skull, we should take a brief moment to also take a look at the film it’s from and that’s The Screaming Skull from 1958. I will be taking the film’s plot from our friends at IMDB, and then I will write about the films production as well as my thoughts on the film. So if you are ready, let’s take a walk around the Whitlock Estate, but let’s avoid that concrete pond as it has bad vibes around it.

Screaming Skull (1958)

“A newly married couple arrives at the home of the husband’s late wife, where the gardens have been maintained by a gardener faithful to the dead woman’s memory. Soon, eerie events lead the new wife to think she’s losing her mind.”

In the late 1950’s cheaply shot horror and sci-fi films were very popular at theaters and drive-in’s. Supporting film actor and Broadway actor Alex Nicol wanted to try his hand at directing one, and Screaming Skull is what he choose to be his test as the film was based on a real urban legend of a cursed skull that once belonged to a slave that is said to make screaming noises. A story that was written by Francis Marion Crawford, and the script would be written by the films producer John Kneubuhl, who had written the film “Hart Of Honolulu” before this. The film would cast Peggy Webber, John Hudson, Alex Nicol, Russ Conway and Tony Johnson and would take about six weeks to film and would be filmed on the Huntington Hartford Estates and would have a very small crew to pull it off. When the film was finished, Ernest Gold would come in to do the score and American International Pictures would be its distributor. The film would be released in August 1958 and would have a disclaimer that would promise a free burial if a moviegoer died of fright watching this film. Over the years, the film was met with very mix reviews as many fans and critics found it to be very cheap and cheesy while others find the simple spooky story to be a frightful watch. The film would end up falling into the public domain and over the years would be hosted by many horror hosts that include the likes of Halloween Jack, Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Sammy Terry. In 1958, the film was released alongside such other films as Horror Of Dracula, The Fly, The Blob, IT! Terror From Beyond Space, I Bury The Living and The Revenge Of Frankenstein to name a few, so as you can see it was released alongside some true classics.

I can remember seeing Screaming Skull for the first time when I was a teenager as the film was in the public domain and was being released by many different companies. My brother had bought a DVD that had it and “Werewolf Vs. The Vampire Women” together, and we got some snack food and watched the double feature and had a blast with both films. After that, I saw the film a few more times being hosted by Horror Hosts during the Horror Host Underground boom on Public Access. What has always stood out about this film for me is that it does a good job of making the viewer wonder if The Skull is real or if it was always just terrible husband Eric Whitlock being a scumbag and trying to push his new bride into madness. The film also has a great cast as actors John Hudson, Russ Conway, Alex Nicol and Peggy Webber all do fantastic in their roles. Plus you cannot go wrong with a film that makes a normal everyday Skull the main villain of a horror film, and they are able to mix in great supernatural elements to show that The Screaming Skull’s reign of terror was real, and the highlight of the film is when The Skull of Marion is able to get revenge on her husband who clearly is the one who murdered her and made it look like an accident showing crime does not pay. In fact the film works for me as when you see it for the first time you think that all the spooky events and noises from The Skull were just a set up from Eric, but by the end you see that most of the terror truly was this cursed Skull on a rampage. The final moments of the film that have the ghost version of Marion running around and then her ghostly skull flying through the air screaming is pure cheesy horror goodness. Over the years, thanks to such shows as Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Screaming Skull has gotten a reputation of being a bad film, and while it’s not the best film from the 50’s, I can say that the film is not nearly as bad as people say it is. So if you have not seen Screaming Skull, make sure to give it a chance and a watch, and Hell even watch the MST3K or another horror hosted version as it’s a fun watch and is a perfect late night watch.

So I had to share this: as I was working on this update my brother was getting rid of some of his DVD’s as he had upgraded many of his films to Blu-Ray and in the stuff he was getting rid of was the copy of The Screaming Skull on which I saw the film for the first time that I had just written about so I had to take a picture of it and add it to this update as seeing the copy again brought a smile to my face and made me feel like a youngster again. So checkout the picture below to see the DVD in all its glory!

The Screaming Skull is a very strange supernatural horror crime thriller film that does a great job of entertaining the viewer. Now is the time when we do the review, and I would like to thank Theresa Daniels and Stephen Alexander, the creative team behind this comic for making this comic for Blood Scream Comics and making this update possible! I would then also like to say a big THANK YOU to all those who have read this comic or any other Blood Scream or Sparkle Comics over the years as because of you readers of these comics is why our company is around and is able to make comics like this to entertain and frighten you. I would also like to once more remind you that I will not be giving this comic a star rating due to my connection to the company that released it. So if you are ready, let’s scream out loud with The Screaming Skull in the year 1888!

Screaming Skull: 1888 # 1
Released in 2017 Cover Price $4.99 Blood Scream # 1 of 1

In 1888 Victoria Brown is walking home alone when she is attacked by a killer who slits her throat and guts her in a back ally. The police think it was another killing for Jack The Ripper. A year later her husband Reginald Brown is running a hat shop to honor the memory of his late wife, and while working one day he meets Edith Springdale, a woman who is wanting to get a new hat, and once she finds out his tragic story, the two become friends that quickly turns into a relationship and shortly they get married. Shortly after the marriage, Reginald is visited by Inspector Peter McNally who is investigating the Ripper killings and finds the death of Victoria a little off from the other killings in the Ripper case. This causes Reginald to get nervous and usher the Inspector out of the shop. From there Reginald starts to hear a screaming and even starts to see a Skull, and it’s driving him mad. His strange behavior is noticed by not just by the Inspector but also Edith who notices that he also seems to get angered very quickly when asked about the crime and the law looking to ask him questions about his wife’s death. More and more Reginald is seeing and hearing things and goes insane at one point beating Inspector McNally to death when thinking he was his dead wife! Later after covering up the murder he just committed, Reginald snaps again and tries to kill Edith but the Screaming Skull that is possessed by Victoria’s vengeful spirit comes to her rescue and causes him to fall backwards and impale himself. In the end Edith has had enough of all the bad things she lived through in England and is now heading to America for a fresh start and in her bag is The Screaming Skull!

The Scream Skull 1888 is a comic that acts almost as a prequel to the 1958 film and shows another cursed skull that belonged to a murdered woman who gets revenge on her husband who was the cause of her death. And this time around our setting is in England and during the time of the Jack The Ripper murders adding more horror to our already supernatural tale of terror. Reginald Brown is a man who owns and works in a hat shop, who appears to be a grieving widower that tries to keep doing his best after his wife’s murdered, but in reality he is very evil as he is the one who killed his wife brutally and weirdly enough we never find out his motivation. The best thing is that Reginald gets what he deserves and pays for his crime with his life. Inspector Peter McNally is clearly a good officer who is looking to solve the rash of murder cases in the Whitechapel area, and to him Victoria’s case just doesn’t seem right and not like a Jack The Ripper victim, but while his hunch is right, he ends up being brutally killed when his head is bashed in! Edith Springdale is a caring woman who is worried about her new husband’s mental health, and lucky for her while being attacked by her crazed husband the spirit of his deceased wife comes to her aid as a screaming skull and saves her and causes Reginald to finally meet his maker. The comic has that creepy classic horror feel to it and plays up on mood building and a downbeat atmosphere all the while given us some bloody moments of carnage. It’s a good mix of horror, thriller and even slight crime making for a solid quick read that will make you wonder what is next for The Screaming Skull as in the end of the issue the cursed thing is making its way to America. The cover for this issue is great and has a kind of indie comic gothic look to it, with Theresa Daniels doing the interior art and her style is very cool as to me it has a Rick Geary feel to it. For those who don’t know, he is an artist who does graphic novels about killers and crime from the past. And I have to also point out that the story for this comic was written by Stephen Alexander, who is also known as horror host Baron Von Porkchop and is also an indie actor who was in films like Bark At The Moon: Scars, Amityville No Escape and Wolf Hunter 2.5 to name a few. This is a really cool take on the Screaming Skull legacy and was supposed to be the start of a series that would have taken place over the years with the final issue being an adaptation of the film. Will this ever happen? Only time will tell. Checkout the artwork bellow to see the style that Theresa used when making this comic, and make sure to get your copy from the Blood Scream Comics online store.

The Screaming Skull is one of those films that I think made for a great comic book as I think Theresa and Stephen did a great job of adding to the film’s story by showcasing another tale of a murdered wife getting her revenge. And once more I have to say, who knows if more issues are coming, but one thing is for sure we have this one entertaining one to keep the Screaming Skull alive…or is that undead? With this From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update coming to an end, I think it’s time for me to tell you about our next update as it will be the start of Dog Month here at Rotten Ink with the first K-9 to take the spotlight being Top Dog, the amazing original character created for Star Comics! 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 you go, I have to say I am very much looking forward to talking about Top Dog!

The Second Richest Kid In Comic History: Royal Roy

Posted on February 2, 2023 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink! As you can see, we have found ourselves in the kingdom of Cashelot, a place that has the old world and modern mixed over the watchful eye of King Regal and Queen Regalia as well as their son Price Royal Roy, who love those who live on their land! But I guess I should say that it’s time once more to step into the world of Star Comics and talk about one of their original characters that tried to make Star the place for young readers to go when it came to kid’s comics! And for those wondering, Royal Roy was Stars answer for Ritchie Rich and caused the company a little bit of a headache, but we will get into that a little later in this update so if you are ready, let’s enter Cashelot and see what the Royal Family is up to.

Royal Roy is a young prince of the Kingdom of Cashelot, and he is loved by the people and is a well-behaved and noble kid who will do what he can to make things right to all he rules over. His parents are King Regal and Queen Regalia, and they are as well good people with King Regal being a little silly and Queen Regalia being sweet natured. Roy’s pet is a toothless crocodile named Gummy that acts like a dog and is as well friendly and protective of Roy. Speaking of protection, Roy also has a bodyguard named Ascott who watches after him as well as his parents. The castle also has some butlers including the older gentleman named Shuffles and the snooty Lord Proper who are also around and both watch after and help Roy. The creator of Royal Roy was Lennie Herman who was a longtime veteran of comic art and stories for Harvey Comics who sadly passed away in 1983, or so it is reported. The series of Royal Roy would only last six issues and almost got Marvel Comics, the parents company of Star Comics, into a lawsuit with Harvey Comics who claimed the character was too close to theirs…you guessed it, Ritchie Rich…nothing came of the lawsuit. And strangely enough in the early 1980’s, Harvey Comics was having money issues and Marvel was in talks to publish many of their classic characters, that is until two of the Harvey Brothers clashed over this and the deal was void. But really thanks to Harvey as Star become something better than just publishing comics based on dated characters for the then modern kids. Give me Royal Roy over Ritchie Rich and give me Star Comics over Harvey Comics any day! And with that said, I do enjoy some of Harvey comic series and characters.

I know this sounds like a broken record for you long time readers, but I have to stress that I truly think that Marvel pulled the plug on Star way too fast as some of the comics clearly found their readers as Top Dog, Thundercats, Care Bears, Heathcliff, Muppet Babies and Spider-Ham all lasted for pretty long runs, and I knew many kids from school that were reading them with Muppet Babies and Thundercats being very popular among my classmates. But also comics like Masters Of The Universe, SilverHawks and Ewoks were also read and discussed in the halls and on the playground. The part of the history of Star Comics that I find really weird is when Marvel decided to remove the Star brand from the covers of releases new and old but left the Star Comics Presents on the first interior page and ones that come to mind are Camp Candy and Police Academy both of whom started with issue one having Marvel on the cover and Star on the inside…just odd. And with it being 2023, I still would love to see Marvel Comics bring back the Star Comic line as younger readers right now are not being reached and it’s a big missed opportunity as the comic readership market is shrinking, and while I think bringing back Star would be a great idea, you know as well as I do that Disney will not invest any more money into the comics as they are way too busy flooding the market with the similar plotted and brand fatigued Marvel Movies and Streaming Shows to the masses. I miss the classic Marvel Comics Universe that for me defined the 1960’s-1990’s as I felt like the comics had great stories and that the company in general took more risks and the creators put more passion into the issues. The modern Marvel Comics seems to be more concerned with getting social media fans that are non-comic readers to be excited about social topics that they are shoehorning into the Marvel Universe in comics as well as all media. While I doubt this ever will happen, I hope that Marvel Comics one day can break away from Disney and become the leader in comic book industry and masters of creativity that they used to be.

When I was a kid, one of the things that I loved to get in the mail next to my comic subscriptions was the Del Monte Country Yumkins Plush Dolls, very cool plushes based on vegetables, fruit and even other things you would find on a farm like Scarecrow and a Black Bird. If I remember, you would have to send some proof of purchases and a little cash to Del Monte and they would then send you the plush you chose. Now I had a ton of these growing up as my Mom seemed to really enjoy ordering them for me as well and my top three favorite ones were Cobbie Corn, Cocky Crow and Sweetie Pea. They were made by Trudy and to me these little guys were great promo items to promote Del Monte canned & frozen fruits and veggies and as well was a great way to get kids to eat these types of foods. The County Yumkins started in 1982 and ran through around the early 1990’s and really was the company’s most popular promo items of all time and to say that the promotion was a hit would be an understatement. And in 2022 I was chatting with Juliet about them, and we decided that we were going to order four of them and display them in our upstairs workspace. And the first one I was able to get was Sweetie Pea from Etsy and then I got Cobbie Corn & Reddie Tomato from Ebay and finally we got Cocky Crow from Ebay to make up our shelf. And I broke down and had to get Snappy Bean that I picked up on Ebay and also got Country Stawberry off Etsy as they both had to join the collection as they were some of my favorites as well as a kid. Now I am not saying that all the other fellow Country Yumkins plush will not be bought to join the collection in the future, just not anytime soon. Check out the pictures below for the plush we bought as these are the pictures that the sellers used at the time of them being for sale.

So as you can see, Royal Roy was truly Star Comics attempt to capture the readership of Ritchie Rich and also I think was a “slap” to the face of Harvey Comics for not allowing Marvel to publish their characters and this was a way of saying see we can just create our own and compete for that kids comic market. And now it’s time for me to reread the Royal Roy series and see if it not only holds up to what I remember but also if it was a good alternative to Ritchie Rich. I would like to thank Lone Star Comics and Bell Book And Comic for having these issues in stock and making this update possible. So before we dive into the money pit, I would 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, let’s see is Royal Roy holds up from what I remember as a kid reading.

Royal Roy # 1 **1/2
Released in 1985 Cover Price .65 Star Comics # 1 of 6

“Mystery Of The Missing Crown” in the Kingdom of Cashelot the people are happy to celebrate the birthday of their Prince Royal Roy and his father and mother (King Regal & Queen Regalia) are very proud of him as well, as he is kind and an over all great kid. But when King Regal and their bodyguard Ascott go to the royal vault in order to fetch the royal crown for the prince they find that it’s missing! King Regal gets all his men to search the castle and even his sister the Duchess Of Muchess shows up and lend her time to try and help. Meanwhile Roy and his toothless crocodile pet Gummy also start looking around and find that the missing crown is in a picture of their ancestor William The Warhorse and he was not wearing it earlier, but before Roy can show his dad, the crown is gone again. That night Roy gets a visit from the ghost of William The Warhorse who tells him that he stole the crown as a test and that he is proud of him and returns the crown and Roy wears it for the ceremony before all his people. The second story is called “Crocadog” and has Royal Roy and his toothless pet Gummy capture some bad poachers that have been hunting in the kingdom.

The first issue of Royal Roy really is a good standard 80’s Kids Comic that really would have been at home at Archie or Harvey Comics showing that Star Comics really was a competitor in that market at the time. The first story’s plot has a the ghost of a multiple-great grandfather of Roy stealing the youngster’s crown in order to test him to see if he would look for it himself, and after Roy does that The Ghost is proud of him and gives the crown back and all ends well as the people of Cashelot get to see their Prince get his crown. The second story is a quick one and has Gummy and Roy stopping some animal killers. Royal Roy, while rich and the Prince of a whole kingdom, is very caring and well behaved and is well loved by all that meet him. His pet Gummy is also very good and acts like a dog. Because he is missing his teeth, he is harmless and Roy also has parents that care and watch after him as well as a whole staff that works for his family that also seem to adore him. This issue has two stories with the first one being the best as I like the idea of a Ghost from his bloodline testing him to make sure Roy is worthy of caring on the families legacy. The stories do have a touch of Ritchie Rich, but has its own touch to the kid comic trope of a sweet rich kid whose money does not affect him being a good person. And best of all, I feel that they stories are charming and hold a very magical feel for young readers who wanted something more than just superheroes. The cover is eye catching for the time fit right at home in layout and design for kid’s comics. The interior art by Warren Kremer is great stuff and you can tell he was a veteran of Harvey Comics. Over all a good start to this series and let’s see what Roy has in store for us next.

Royal Roy # 2 **1/2
Released in 1985 Cover Price .65 Star Comics # 2 of 6

“The Grand Ball” Royal Roy is giving a tour of the castle and after the last one The King shows up and says he is happy it’s over as it makes him nervous having hundreds of tourists in the castle, and with that he runs into a young girl named Crystal Clear who he ends up giving a late tour to and then asks her to be his date for the ball that night, but this annoys Lorna Loot who has a crush on Roy as she wants to be a princess and is very rich and does not understand why Roy would choose a commoner girl over her. And she gets an idea after seeing the book Cinderella on her bookshelf. “Strangest Stranger” the night of the ball Roy and Crystal are having a great time when Lorna now dressed as Cinderella shows up complete with glass slippers annoys everyone trying to get Roy to notice her, and of course this does not work and Lorna leaves without Roy’s attention. The next day Roy calls Lorna to invite her to go on a hike with Crystal and him only for Lorna to yell at him cause her feet are swollen from the slippers. “Maneuvers” Royal Roy is woke up early in the morning by General Battlescar as it’s the day that Roy must attending the maneuver drills for the kingdom’s army, and Roy soon finds out the drills are just he and the General as Cashelot does not have a full army as they have not been in a war for over 900 years and all their weapons are made of cardboard! After playing along for a bit the drills are over, and Roy and the General head back to the castle and Roy is praised for his skills.

This second issue is just as fun as the first issue and has two tales of Royal Roy and his kingdom with one story being told in two parts. And I have to say all the stories in this one is lots of fun and I would say the two part story is the better of the two and that is barely as both are silly fun. Royal Roy once more in this issue shows that he is a caring young man who loves the people that make up his kingdom as well cares about the feelings of everyone, even people who annoy him. It’s also cool to see him fall in love in this issue and also shows that he kind of has a stalker who wants to be with him in order to become royalty. Crystal Clear is a young blonde girl who is very nice an captures the heart of Roy who clearly is crushing on her, and while she is from the common side of town, the Royal Family seem not to care as they see she is a good person. Lorna Loot is a very rich dark haired girl who is mean, pushy and has a crush on Roy’s power as she wants to become a Princess so bad, and will do whatever she can to get his attention. General Battlescar is crazy and seems to want a bigger army with weapons as he so wants to be in charge of soldiers, plus I love that he acts as if the cardboard weapons have real effects. This issue also has cameos by King Regal, Ascott and Shuffles all help add to the fun of the issue. The cover for this issue is pretty fun and showcases Roy pushing a crown that has a massive diamond on the top of it an the interior art by Warren Kremer is great as always. Another fun read an was just as entertaining as I remember it being as a kid, so let’s see if issue three holds up.

Royal Roy # 3 **1/2
Released in 1985 Cover Price .65 Star Comics # 3 of 6

“Curse Of The Prince Roy Dollar Bill” King Regal & Queen Regalia have decided to make a new dollar bill for the kingdom that will feature the face of Royal Roy who is a little embarrassed by this act. Meanwhile Archduke Kraven Von Krunch, the second cousin of the King wants to take over the kingdom and adds itching powder to the ink of the bills that way everyone who handles it will have a bad case of being itchy! And as this spreads all over the kingdom Roy along with Crystal Clear head to the creepy castle of Von Krunch to get answers as Roy knows his relative is to blame. “Into The Kreepy Kastle” Roy gets Ascott to drive him to the castle and tricks Von Krunch into touching the itchy dollar bills and finds that he has a cure for the itching that Roy takes to his kingdom, and also even though he did a bad thing Roy gives Von Krunch a gift of a box of coal and that makes him happy. In the end new Royal Roy bills are printed this time featuring the back of his head in order for people to tell the difference between the good and bad ones. “Driving Him Crazy” Royal Roy wears a mask in order to take his driving test and Ascott goes along for the ride, the tester is in a bad mood and makes the test super hard for the youngster who ends up passing due to the car having some hidden features. “What’s In A Name” a world famous mapmaker named G.O. Graffic gets a tour of the land by Royal Roy so that he can make a map of the kingdom and finds that the land is filled with pearls, oil, gold and silver and that the shape of the kingdom makes a dollar sign, hence the name of the kingdom being Cashelot.

This third issue delivers three tales of adventure for Royal Roy with one being told in two parts. And I would say that the best story has to be the one featuring the itchy dollar bills as its classic kid comic stuff and even features Archduke Kraven Von Krunch who has a castle that is protected by robotic skeletons as well as werewolves and masked henchman and this adds a kids horror comic feel to the tale. And this issue takes Roy from a haunted castle to getting a diver’s license to finally giving a tour of his land, and all are silly tales that deliver some cheesy entertainment for readers. Royal Roy shows that he also has the skills of a detective as he cracks a case that is affecting all the kingdom as well as knows how to drive like a stuntman and once more proves he is a good tour guide. Archduke Kraven Von Krunch is a jerk who wants to bring down his second cousin all because he wants to be the King, and he puts the townspeople through itchy pain in order to try and bring chaos, plus he also surrounds himself with monsters and ghouls. This issue also has many cameos from past issues including Crystal Clear, King Regal, Queen Regalia, Ascott, Lorna Loot, General Battlescar, Duchess Of Muchess, Lord Proper and added a new character to the lineup of sidekicks with that being G.O. Graffic. One thing that is odd is that Gummy, Roy’s pet toothless alligato,r disappeared for many issues and is not even mentioned after the first issue. The cover is pretty cool and has Roy standing being a giant cardboard cutout of a dollar bill and the interior art by Warren Kremer is as always great stuff and is what comes to mind when you think of classic kids comic artwork. The third issue is another good one and keeps the fun nature of the series going as well as keeps building on the world of Royal Roy by showing more people who live in the kingdom as well as landmarks in it. I will also say that this issue is just as fun as I remember it being when I first read it as a kid and I do love that they added some spooky stuff in the issue to add a truly amusement park haunted house feel.

Royal Roy # 4 **1/2
Released in 1985 Cover Price .65 Star Comics # 4 of 6

“The Curse Of The GoldEngaged Bridge” Royal Roy and Crystal Clear are hosting a TV Show about the sites and legends of Cashelot and all the while hiding and watching is Lorna Loot who is mad that Crystal is on TV and not her. But when Roy tells the legend and law of the GoldEngaged Bridge that is if a man is captured by a woman on the bridge they are set to be married in three days, it’s Lorna that rushes the bridge and captures Roy and now the two are set to be married so Lorna can be The Princess of Cashelot! Roy is upset by this law and tries to talk sense into Lorna only to find her to be a Bridezilla ordering massive cakes, rings and being just a spoiled brat. While on the bridge Roy and Crystal are talking and something she says gives him an idea to get out of this wedding. “Practice Makes Prefect” Roy has a great idea and with the help of his friends they are setting up Lorna for a tiring Princess training! She first is woke up super early to run war drills with General Battlescar, she then has to take Gummy, the toothless crocodile, for a wild walk, Lord Proper makes her wear over sized and heavy robes and crowns, the ghost of William The Warhorse tries to scare her away and the final straw is when she had to mix with the common people and she calls off the wedding and Roy is single once more. “Space Race Ace” General Battlescar is behind on time and wants for Cashelot to send a person to space and join the space race, but he only has around $24.00 to make the rocket ship! And he makes the ship from weird parts including a rowboat and a hot air balloon and quickly forces Royal Roy into a suit of armor and then onto his ship, and unknown to them all Gummy is asleep on top of the balloon! But things get scary when the balloon gets a hole in it via a hawk, Roy crashes into a river and it’s Gummy who gets him safely to shore! And in the end Gummy gets a medal for being Cashelot’s first every astronaut.

This is another fun issue that has two stories as well as a single page joke that is at the expense of Lord Proper. The main story has Royal Roy being forced to marry Lorna Loot because of an old legend and law and has to find away to break up the engagement as he wants nothing to do with her as she is a brat! The second story has Roy and his pet Gummy being forced into a make shift rocket ship that when crashing could have lead to Roy drowning if not for the help of his loyal crocodile pet. Both stories are really good but if I had to choose one, I would say the best is the Rocket Ship but only slightly as both adventures are really good! This issue also show cases many of the classic characters we have seen in past issues and is the return of Gummy who has been missing for many issues up to this point. I also like that the ghost of William The Warhorse makes a return as well and tries his best to scare away the would be Princess. We also now get a clear view that Royal Roy is in love with Crystal Clear and even thinks about making her his bride, and that they are now also co-hosts of a TV show. Lord Proper also shows a side of himself as he is helpful in the quest to break off the wedding of Roy and Lorna, showing that while he is a snob, he still does care about the Royal family he serves. The cover is pretty fun and has Royal Roy and Lorna Loot in the middle of her massive engagement ring and the interior art by Warren Kremer is as always great kid comic stuff! I am also very much looking forward to what the next issue has in store for me.

Royal Roy # 5 **1/2
Released in 1986 Cover Price .65 Star Comics # 5 of 6

“The Royal Olympics” The Kingdom of Cashelot has been selected to be the place to hold the Royal Olympics and Roy is selected to enter the games and has to be run through Royal training by the likes of Lord Proper, General Battlescar and his aunt Duchess Of Muchess and is all about things like eating soup right, pinning medals as well as proper hand writing. This goes on for days and Roy finally snaps under the pressure and is upset that he will let his parents down, but of course his father calms his nerves and assures him that they will love him no matter what. The next day is the Olympics and the first event is the soup eating, but before it can begin, a massive thunderstorm breaks out and the crowd starts to panic and almost riot to get away from the rain and lightning, and it’s Roy who ends up grabbing a microphone and getting them all to calm down and to get to shelter and out of the rain, and due to this behavior and the events getting rained out that Royal Roy is given the gold medal. “Ship Shapes” Royal Roy takes Crystal Clear to the family’s yacht that is something very special as he plans to race it that weekend in a contest, but also in the water is Archduke Kraven Von Krunch is wants to sink the boat so that he can save Roy and he thinks the King will give him whatever he likes for doing so, but every time he tries he fails as the yacht can turn into a submarine, a helicopter as well as an off road vehicle. In the end it’s Archduke Kraven Von Krunch who is saved by Royal Roy as he almost goes over a waterfall and to show his gratefulness he becomes the janitor of the yacht during the big race that Roy of course wins.

We get two Royal Roy adventures in this issue and both a very different in nature with the big connection is both are about competition with one being how to be Royalty and the other being ready for a boat race! The first story is about the Royal Olympics and that Roy is feeling the stress of it all do to all his training that is all about being perfect, and this makes him feel like if he screws up that he will be letting his parents down. The second story has Roy on his super yacht sailing around and he is trying to show off to his crush Crystal, all the while his relative is trying to sink the ship in order to be a “hero” that saves him. Both stories are entertaining in their own way but the better of the two is the Royal Olympics that has Roy learn how to eat soup and even has cameos from many of the characters we have meet along the way in previous issues. Also I have to mention that the Archduke Kraven Von Krunch who is a blood relative to Roy so badly craves power and riches that he is willing to put his own family in danger in order to try and gain them both…like he uses bombs and such to try and sink a ship…the explosions could have also killed Roy! The cover on this issue is okay and has Roy running a race to get to a crown finish line, The Royal Olympics art is done by Warren Kremer and is great and the interior art done by Ship Shapes was done by Steve Stiles and is as well good stuff. The fifth issue keeps up the entertaining value of this Star Comic series and let’s see if the sixth and final issue has in store for us.

Royal Roy # 6 **1/2
Released in 1986 Cover Price .65 Star Comics # 6 of 6

“The Secret Power Of Cashelot” while in the Royal Library in the castle Roy and his friend Crystal Clear find an old map in one of the books that leads to the power of the kingdom! And of course Archduke Kraven Von Krunch who was visiting the King over hears the kids talking about the map and decides that if he can find this power than he can be in charge of the Kingdom! Royal Roy, Crystal Clear as well as Ascott head down a secret passage deep into the basement of the castle and all the while behind them is Von Krunch who ends up getting lost and is so mad that he jumps up and down in a fit of anger. Roy and friends end up finding that the power that is spoke about on the map is just a big fuse box! And in the end the floor under the silly Von Krunch gives way and he falls into the fuse box and gets burnt up and has to make up a lie in order to explain why we was following them. “Great Scout” in this adventure Roy wants to become a Royal Scout and learn about nature and camping, but sadly he is shutdown when Lord Proper gets involved and takes the fun out of all things camping. But after a bear scares Proper and he and Roy get lost in the woods, it’s really like scouting that gets them back home and causes Royal Roy and Lord Proper to come up with a new club called Roy Scouts.

Well we are at the final issue of Royal Roy and it has been a six-issue adventure that really was a fun and silly read and showcased why younger readers in the mid 80’s enjoyed this comic series as for me Royal Roy was way better than Ritchie Rich who I did read when I was a kid as well. The two stories in this issue are pretty good with the first one being a mystery map that is said to lead to the power of the kingdom that of course is just a big fuse box and then the second one is all about Lord Proper taking the fun out of scouting and learning a lesson that learning about the land and nature is better than royal rules. The first story called The Secret Power Of Cashelot is the better story of the two as it has a mystery feel and even a hint of spooky haunted house as Roy and his friends travel down a dark staircase with only a candle to light the way. While I feel that the story Great Scout is good is also is slightly bland compared to the other stories we have had in the past issues. In the final issue we also get two small gag pages and one of them allow Gummy to have his final appearance in the series. Speaking of other characters, besides of course Royal Roy the other characters that appear in this swan song issue includes Crystal Clear, Lord Proper, Archduke Kraven Von Krunch, Ascott and King Regal. And I have to say that sadly this does not feel like a final issue and it’s clear that the creative team was not aware that the series was coming to an end as it seems like the characters as well as the readers just did not get closure and that’s a real shame as for an original character like this for Star Comics he should have gotten a true final issue. The thing about Royal Roy is that at first glance to really do get that Ritchie Rich knock off vibe, but when you read his issues you see that he truly is a different character and the only real connection between the two is that they are young and rich. It would be interesting if Marvel Comics would revisit the classic Star Comics characters and set them in modern time so characters like Royal Roy, Planet Terry, Wally The Wizard would all be older and we could then follow the relative of Top Dog! For me that would be an interesting idea, and I think they make them for the ages for the readers who grew up with these characters so we see what their lives are now like. The cover for this issue is cool and has Roy opening a glowing door and the interior art by Warren Kremer is as good as always and his kid comic work is top notch. Over all Royal Roy is a great kids comic and a great Star Comics original characters and if you have not read this series you should check it out and I would also say it could be a good comic series to get younger readers into comics that are not superheroes. Check out the artwork below to see the style of Warren Kremer used in this series.

Royal Roy and the people of Cashelot sadly have been long forgotten at Marvel Comics and with Disney in control I fear that they never will see the light of print again in new stories and adventures, and we will be lucky to get them in reprint paperback novels and digital comics (Yuck!). But while I feel Marvel Comics has been a shell of itself for decades now I hope some day the House Of Ideas returns to it’s full glory, and we get the amazing stories and characters back as the focus away from pleasing social media none comic readers with “topical” tales that lack heart. Well for your next update heart and muscles is what you would have to have in order to win as we will be heading to a “Made For TV” update and cover the 1977 World’s Strongest Man contest! So until next time, read a Star Comic or three, watch a movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host! Oh and make sure to lift those weights and drink that protein shake as this Strongest Man contest is all about the power.