Showing posts with label Mike Friedrich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike Friedrich. Show all posts

Thursday, April 22, 2021

Earth Day Reading Room NIGHTMARE "Pollution Monsters!"

"The Devil made it do it!" is given new meaning...
...in this never-reprinted tale from 51 years ago (the year Earth Day was first celebrated) which reads like one of Atlas' (pre-Marvel Comics) late 1950s-early 1960s monster stories!
Before we continue, two points:
1) Penciler Don Heck was one of the primary artists of both Atlas era and Silver Age Marvel comics stories, including numerous giant monster tales.
(Inker Mike Esposito, though he entered the field at the same time as Heck, didn't do much work for Atlas or Marvel until the late 1960s.)
2) The story is broken into two parts, even though it's only 10 pages, much like those Atlas Comics stories.
Is it a deliberate homage?
Writer Mike Freidrich was one of the first generation of comic fanboys turned professional creatives, so he was very familiar with the inherent tropes...





One big difference between this story and those Atlas-era giant monster stories...we don't win!
We might, but there's no guarantee in this cover-featured tale from Skywald's Nightmare #1 (1970)!
It's over 50 years later...and it's still frightening!
Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!
Visit Amazon and Order...

Monday, October 19, 2020

Monday Madness / Halloween Horror THE SPECTRE "Footsteps of Disaster"

Return with us to the Swinging Sixties...

...when one of DC's most powerful characters was reduced to being a CryptKeeper-type host for PG-rated tales of "horror" as shown HERE...

Scripted by Mike Friedrich, penciled by Jerry Grandenetti, and inked by George Roussos, this intro to the final issue of the Ghostly Guardian's Silver Age series (#10 from 1970) is a combination of Golden Age and Silver Age talents quite common during the era.
Friedrich was one of the second wave of fans-turned pros, which also included Berni Wrightson, Jim Starlin, Rich Buckler, Mike Ploog, and Steve Englehart.
He founded Star*Reach, initially a publisher of creator-owned projects, which evolved into an agency packaging stories for various publishers.
Both Grandinetti and Roussos were Golden Agers who stayed in the comics field literally until the day they died, thanks to their unique storytelling and technical skills.

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!
Visit Amazon and Order...
The Spectre
(which reprints this tale...but in black-and-white!)