Monday Madness CHAMBER OF CHILLS "Delusion for a Dragon Slayer"

The late Harlan Ellison wrote the novella this adaptation was based upon...

...and considering he had already written a couple of scripts for Marvel, I'm not sure why he didn't pen this retelling of his own tale...under this slightly-misleading (though really kool) Gil Kane/Tom Palmer cover...

This cover-featured adaptation of Harlan Ellison's novella "Delusion for a Dragon Slayer" by writer Gerry Conway and artist Syd Shores in Marvel's Chamber of Chills #1 (1972) was part of editor Roy Thomas' attempt to do new comic adaptations of prose tales by big-name sci-fi/fantasy authors in a group of anthology titles.

Sadly, none of the books survived past the first year without going totally-reprint, or switching over to featuring new horror characters like The Living Mummy. 

This particular tale shows the weaknesses of the project all too well, with the art failing to really separate Warren Glazer Griffin's fantasy world from the real one, thereby weakening the whole point of the narrative!

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I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

by Harlan Ellison

(which contains the short story this comic tale is adapted from!)

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder BRAK THE BARBARIAN "Spell of the Dragon!"

In the Bronze Age, Marvel adapted every barbarian/sword and sorcery character they could get...

...often giving the original writers (if they were alive) the chance to script the series themselves!

Author John Jakes commented...

I long ago admitted in print that I created Brak because there were simply no more Conan stories from Robert E. Howard, whose work I admired.

In my adolescent years I wrote – on notebook paper – further adventures of Batman and Superman because I enjoyed them but there weren’t enough of them in comic books to satisfy me. Somehow the other sword and sorcery strong men – Lin Carter’s, Michael Moorcock’s et al. – while deserving of praise in their own right, didn’t do it for me. I needed more Howard.
I invented Brak.

There were only three Brak comic tales, this one plotted and laid out by Dan Adkins and scripted by Jakes himself along with penciling by Val Mayerik and inking by Joe Sinnott.
(It seems to be an original tale, not an adaptation.)
Then a two-part adaptation of the (chronologically) first Brak tale, "The Unspeakable Shrine" by Jakes, Doug Moench, and Steve Gan.
Then...nothing!
No more new comics tales!
No reprints!
Next week, we're presenting an illustrated text feature from Savage Tales featuring background info about the character and author, John Jakes!
After that, the complete, unseen for decades two-part comic story!
Don't miss them!

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The (Complete) Adventures of Brak the Barbarian

Volume One & Volume Two

(includes a never-before-published conclusion to the series!)

Reading Room CHAMBER OF CHILLS MAGAZINE "Walking Dead"

The phrase "Walking Dead" wasn't always synonymous with zombies...

...as this never-reprinted story from Harvey's Chamber of Chills Magazine #3 (1951) demonstrates!

Penciled by Bob Powell, inked by Powell, Howard Nostrand and Martin Epp, this tale was one of the earliest to use the phrase "Walking Dead"...but in connection with ghosts, not zombies!

But don't worry, zombies get equal time this weekend...

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Zombies of Comics and Pulps

2017 12-Month Calendar

And save 25% from the regular price of $19.95!

Reading Room TALES TO ASTONISH "Monstrom! The Dweller in the Black Swamp!"

Last week, a mini-series debuted...

Art by Francesco Francavilla

...featuring Marvel's heroes and heroines vs monsters from the company's pre-superhero "Atlas Comics" days in the 1950s!

So, what we're going to do over the next few Fridays for the run of the title is present the first appearance of the cover-featured monster!

Art Adams

(Yes, the first issue was last week, but we had a different bloated orange swamp monster to deal with that Friday!)

So let's play "catch up" with..."Monstrom!The Dweller in the Black Swamp!

This story from Atlas' Tales to Astonish #11 (1960) by writer Stan Lee, penciler Jack Kirby, and inker Dick Ayers has been reprinted a number of times, almost always as the cover feature...

Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers

Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers, and Marie Severin

Ron Wilson, Mike Esposito, and Frank Giacoia

Monsters Unleashed looks like a lot of fun, so get it at your local comic shop...NOW!

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Monsters Unleashed: Prelude