Reading Room VLAD THE IMPALER "I am Dracula" Part 2

We hope you went to see...

...this past weekend, so you can compare its' version of Dracula's "origin" to this one.

When last we left our future Lord of Vampires, he and his family were beginning a diplomatic journey to visit their Moslem overlords...

Be Here Tomorrow for the Birth of...the Impaler!

Written by Roy Thomas, illustrated by Estaban Maroto.

BTW, for other comic book versions of the legendary vampire, check out...

Dracula the 1960s SuperHero!

and

The first comic adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel!

Halloween Goodies for Young (and Young-At-Heart)!

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have told you about our Horror Comics of the 1950s™ and Seduction of the Innocent™ sections, PLUS the Martians, Martians, Martians™ category of The Future WAS Fantastic™, all of which have kool retro horror-oriented goodies year-round for the older kids.But what about something Halloween-themed for the younger crowd, the tweens and pre-teens, the toddlers and babies?
Well, never let it be said we ignored a target demographic!
We have a kool Haunted Halloween collection specifically-for those little ones who want a slightly-scary take on the spectral and spooky, as well as one for the 7-13 category who want a bit more meat on the bone (as it were).
We're offering Yard Signs and Banners, plus; invitation cards, and greeting cards!
Note to the older crowd, sorry, but the shirts 'n stuff are kid-sized only!
Have a look and order now, before the late-October rush!

I Love Zombies!

ZOMBIES!

Call them the undead, the unliving, reanimated corpses, or even the ultimate carnivores, zombies are HOT, HOT, HOT!

With The Walking Dead returning to tv screens tomorrow, zombies have never been more popular!
But it, as well as all the other films and tv series currently featuring zombies owe a debt to the visual depictions of the shambling undead from the horror pulps and comics of the Golden Age (1930s-1950s)!

Like video games today, those periodicals were deemed so harmful to the psyches of impressionable youths that the government held hearings about possibly banning them altogether! 
The comics industry barely survived, but ended up toning down horror comics to a mere shadow of their blood-dripping selves, only recently, in the 1990s,  returning in all their gruesome glory!

Even with modern technology, today's zombie flix are hard pressed to match these classic comics for visceral visual thrills.
So, it's with pardonable pride that Atomic Kommie Comics™ re-presents some of the creepiest and koolest covers from those bygone days, digitally-restored and remastered, on a line of collectibles including mugs, hoodies, iPad/Kindle/messenger bags, and a 2015 12-month calendar!

If you're looking for a birthday or holiday present for a fan of the life-impaired (or a Halloween treat for yourself), why not combine one of our kool kollectibles with one of the books or DVDs available on-line or at brick-and-mortar stores?
(We'd provide links, except Amazon cut us as an affiliate due to our home state forcing tax collection for Internet sales)

Reading Room VLAD THE IMPALER "I am Dracula" Part 1

Dracula Untold, opening today, tells one version of how Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, went from "Impaler" to vampire...

...this mini-series, not seen for almost two decades, tells another version...

Be here Monday, when things really go bad.

Roy Thomas' penchant for combining history and fiction served him well, using many rarely-told facts (such as Vlad's being a middle child with two brothers) and emphasizing the Christian/Moslem (Muslim) conflict that tore Europe apart in the 15th Century, to create drama and conflict within the story.
Of course, the always-superb storytelling and rendering of Esteban Maroto certainly didn't hurt, either.
Topps' Vlad the Impaler #1 (1992) came out shortly after the company released a mini-series adapting the movie Bram Stoker's Dracula, featuring art by the movie's production designer and noted comic artist Mike (Hellboy) Mignola.
Vlad was reprinted in 1995 as The Dracula Chronicles when Marvel went on a vampire binge with their Midnight Sons line including NightStalkers, Morbius, a new Blade mini-series as well as one-shot reprints of all of Dracula's previous crossovers with the X-Men, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, and Dr Strange, among others.
BTW, for other comic book versions of the legendary vampire, check out...

Dracula the 1960s SuperHero!

and

The first comic adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel!

Exit WeirdWorld, Enter Vlad the Impaler

When we first decided to re-present WeirdWorld as our Countdown to Halloween 2014 feature...

Art by John Buscema, Rudy Nebres and Peter Ledger

...it had been untouched since its' intitial publication over three decades ago, and a generation of fans knew nothing about it.

So we felt comfortable running an all-but lost chapter of fantasy comics history for historical purposes.

However, we learned this week that Marvel will be doing a hardcover compiliation of all the prevously-published WeirdWorld stories in April 2015 (check out Amazon.com for details), so we will not be continuing our re-presentation.

This left us with a big gap in our schedule.

Luckily, we have something equally-kool on hand...

Art by Estaban Maroto

With Dracula Untold opening this week, we decided to re-present another "lost" series from the past, Topps' 1992 mini-series Vlad the Impaler, which like the new movie, is about how the "historical Dracula" became the "vampiric Dracula".

(Ironically, the Vlad mini-series was done to capitalize on the revived interest in Dracula created by the movie Bram Stoker's Dracula, which Topps did the comic adaptation and trading cards for!)

So, go see the movie this weekend, then compare how it handles the juxtposition between "historical" and "vampiric" Draculas with the comic by Roy Thomas and Estaban Maroto!

Vlad begins tomorrow!

Don't miss it!