Book Review: HORROR COMICS IN BLACK AND WHITE: A HISTORY AND CATALOG, 1964-2004

HORROR COMICS IN BLACK AND WHITE:  A HISTORY AND CATALOG,  1964-2004
By Richard J. Arndt
Foreword by Stephen R. Bissette
Published by McFarland &Company, Inc.

I am a huge fan of horror comics, but I didn't really get into them until back in the early 2000's when a friend introduced me to Steve Niles great comic book, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT.  Ever since then I have been a huge fan of horror comics, especially zombie comics which there are tons of.   I've collected almost all of the horror related comics since then, but there is no telling how many great horror comics I missed out on before then. 

Along comes the great reference book, HORROR COMICS IN BLACK AND WHITE:  A HISTORY AND CATALOG,  1964- 2004 by Richard J. Arndt.   This is a very in-depth and informative book that has been a blast to look through.  Here is a description of the book from the McFarland website:

In 1954, the comic book industry instituted the Comics Code, a set of self-regulatory guidelines imposed to placate public concern over gory and horrific comic book content, effectively banning genuine horror comics. Because the Code applied only to color comics, many artists and writers turned to black and white to circumvent the Code’s narrow confines.

With the 1964 Creepy #1 from Warren Publishing, black-and-white horror comics experienced a revival continuing into the early 21st century, an important step in the maturation of the horror genre within the comics field as a whole.

This generously illustrated work offers a comprehensive history and retrospective of the black-and-white horror comics that flourished on the newsstands from 1964 to 2004. With a catalog of original magazines, complete credits and insightful analysis, it highlights an important but overlooked period in the history of comics.

The book starts off with in-depth descriptions of CREEPY and EERIE magazines, including info about the cover art and each story that is in each issue of the magazine.  From there it jumps to the VAMPIRELLA comic magazines of the 1970's and then all the rest of the horror comics up until 2004. Each entry about a comic contains great info including the titles of the stories contained in each book, the cover art info, and notes containing interesting facts and info about the comics.

If you are a fan of horror comics, you will definitely want to get your hands on a copy of this book.  This is a great reference to have.  You can use the book as a checklist to look for all these great old comics and magazines.  I highly recommend this to all my blog readers.

You can call McFarland's toll free order line at 1-800-253-2187 to purchase this book or order directly from McFarland's website by CLICKING HERE.

http://www.mcfarlandpub.com

Spotlight: Horror comic artist ANTHONY RUGGIERO

Today's spotlight is on horror comic artist/illustrator, Anthony Ruggiero.
I had my first introduction to Mr. Ruggiero's work when I did a review of some comics from Virus Comix, one of which was called BLOKE'S TOMB OF HORROR  (see that original review HERE).  One of my favorite things about that comic was the artwork on one particular story which was done by Anthony Ruggiero. I have like horror comics as long as I can remember and my favorite part, of course, is the artwork.  Ever since the days of the old EC comics like THE VAULT OF HORROR and TALES FROM THE CRYPT (bought by me as a kid when they re-printed the comics and sold them in stores back in the 80's) I have loved horror comic art. 


I wasn't sure what it was about Mr. Ruggiero's work that really stuck with me, but there was definitely something about it.....it was different than the rest of the artists and illustrators I was used to.  It was raw and gory and nothing was held back.  The more I looked at it the more I realized just how detailed it all was.  It looked like simple comic drawings at first glance, until you look further and see all the amazing details in his work.   Take a look at the cover to Mr. Ruggiero's ONE NATION UNDEAD for a perfect example of the detail that goes into his artwork....I mean, just look at those rotting guts!! You can almost smell the stench of decaying flesh just by looking at that pic!!

The ONE NATION UNDEAD cover and many other of  Mr. Ruggiero's cover art can be found in one comic book called, NOBLE ROT:  THE EXTREME ART OF ANTHONY RUGGIERO from Mad Cow Comics.   I suggest buying this as a great example and way of getting a sample of all of his work.  Then you can look for some of the other comics he has worked on including HILLARD DIARIES from Slaughterhouse Comics and an extremely cool comic adaptation of the 1983 film, THE DEADLY SPAWN.

If you are a fan of horror comics, do yourself a favor and check out the work of Anthony Ruggiero!



CLICK HERE to visit Comixpress.com to purchase NOBLE ROT #1
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CLICK HERE to visit the Facebook page of Mad Cow Comics