Skull Comics
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1970-1972 / Rip Off Comix - Last Gasp Eco-Funnies
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Of all the pop culture reference points that influenced underground comic creators and publishers, none were greater than EC Comics, which flourished during the childhoods of the forefathers of the underground. It seemed inevitable that underground artists would pay tribute to EC Comics, especially the horror and crime titles that broke new ground in depictions of terror and gore. Sure enough, Rip Off Comix launched Skull Comics just two years after Zap Comix enabled the type of content that EC once revelled in.
Though horror and violence had already surfaced in some undergrounds (e.g., Bogeyman), nothing compared to Skull Comix #1, which featured the decapitation of a naked woman and zombies on peyote, and those were mere harbingers of what was to come. Skull explored all manner of the horror genre, from interpreting the classic writings of Edgar Allan Poe to modern elucidations and hallucinations.
Skull didn't venture quite so extensively as its spiritual compatriot Slow Death, so it might not be considered as broadly entertaining, but it mined the traditional horror genre unlike any other anthology in the underground. The macabre tales of H.P. Lovecraft were prominently featured in the fourth and fifth issues of the series. The series finale in issue #6 featured a gruesome, marvelous full-length epic of horror by Tom Veitch, illustrated in two parts by Greg Irons and Richard Corben.
Skull published its last four issues in a flurry of productivity over the course of twelve months spanning 1971 and '72. Then, after sales suddenly flagged for the title (from 80,000 copies for #3 to 10,000 copies for #5), Last Gasp put out the final issue. The brilliant story in #6 forced a second printing, but the title was laid to rest anyway.
If it had to end, it had to end, but Skull Comics produced six little gems of comic book horror and (for an underground comic) had a successful run. You can't go wrong with any of the issues, but if you want to start with the most pungently horrific, get the third and sixth issues. Keep a paper bag handy for retching!
Skull Comics #1
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Back Cover
Back Cover
(click for larger image)
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AVERAGE SCORE 8
1st Printing / March 1970 / 36 pages / Rip Off Press
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Legendary underground series inspired by the EC horror comics of the '50s. Features great contributions from Greg Irons, Dave Sheridan, Jack Jackson, Fred Schrier and Rory Hayes.
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keyline
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HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES:
Legend has it that there are three printings of this comic book, all by Rip Off Press and all with 50-cent cover prices. The first two printings both have a printing glitch on page 17, where the word "decadence" is partially blocked out. The 1st and 2nd printings are differentiated by the horizontal alignment of printed images on the interior pages. The alignment of the 1st printing is bad, with artwork bleeding off the edges of the paper on several pages in the 20-29 page range. The 2nd printing alignment is much better, with no artwork being close to bleeding off the edges.
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There is also supposed to be a height difference between the 1st and 2nd printing, but I have not found the traditional measurements reliable. All of my 1st printings are 10 1/4 inches tall, exactly half way between the 10 1/8 inches and the 10 3/8 inches that are supposed to differentiate the 1st and 2nd printings, according to Fogel. Meanwhile, I have 2nd printings that are either 10 1/8 or 10 3/8 inches tall. It appears to me that the print alignment issue is the best way to determine whether it's a 1st or a 2nd.
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The 3rd printing does not have the printing glitch on page 17 (the word "decadence" is not partially blocked out). Unfortunately, I have since sold my 3rd printing, so I can't show the fixed glitch, but I do still have the cover scan.
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COMIC CREATORS:
Greg Irons - 1-10
Dave Sheridan - 11-18
Jack Jackson - 19-26
Fred Schrier - 27-34
Rory Hayes - 35-36
Skull Comics #2
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Variations Page
Print Variations
Back Cover
Indicia Page
(click for larger image)
Back Cover
Back Cover
(click for larger image)
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slow death
Slow Death
AVERAGE SCORE 8
1st Printing / September 1970 / 36 pages / Last Gasp Eco-Funnies
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Legendary underground series inspired by the EC horror comics of the '50s. Features three extended stories from Greg Irons (who also edited the book), Richard Corben and Jack Jackson. Gilbert Shelton provided the motorcycling skull-head art on the front cover, while Dave Sheridan also makes a couple cameo appearances.
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keyline
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HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES:
There are reportedly six printings of this comic book, all by Last Gasp and all with 50-cent cover prices. I have reason to believe there are at least seven printings. Determining the printings is currently done by differentiating between the addresses printed in the indicia on the inside front cover and the addresses on the back cover. I have seen seven different combinations of these addresses.
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Fortunately, there's little doubt about the first three printings of the book. The new version that I've found is most likely the 4th printing, and what was previously thought to be the 4th printing is actually the 6th printing.
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The "Print Variations" link in the right sidebar shows all seven of the printings with the different address variations. I personally own three 1sts, one 3rd, two "new" printings and one of the last printings (previously identified as the 6th, now believed to be the 7th). Rather than spell out each of the printings here, it's much easier to let the "Print Variations" page visually show the variations as I describe them.
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One of the rules of printing is that it's possible to add or subtract information on existing printing plates by blocking or scratching, but when the artwork itself changes in a significant way, it requires a new plate. Most of the changes that occured in the various print editions could have been accomplished without making a brand new plate, but I expect it became necessary to make some new plates along the way. By studying the progression of partial changes, it is possible to determine the order of the printings. Through this analysis, it seems clear that the new printing I've discovered (and many people own) is the 4th printing, and that the currently accepted 4th printing had to have taken place after the 5th printing.
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To some degree, all of this detailed analysis is making a mountain out of a molehill, since all of the later printings would have approximately the same historical and collectible value. And the first three printings, originally identified in Kennedy's Price Guide, remain the same. The 1st printing had 20,000 copies and all subsequent printings had 10,000 copies.
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COMIC CREATORS:
Greg Irons - editor, 11-23, 36
Gilbert Shelton - 1
Dave Sheridan - 2, 35
Richard V. Corben - 3-10
Jack Jackson - 24-34
Skull Comics #3
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Back Cover
Back Cover
(click for larger image)
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AVERAGE SCORE 8
1st Printing / November 1971 / 36 pages / Last Gasp Eco-Funnies
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Skull Comics #3 features a rare horror illustration from Spain Rodriguez on the front cover and four stories from Greg Irons and Tom Veitch, Richard Corben, Jack Jackson and Dave Sheridan. The issue leads off with chapter one of Sheridan's lovely "Tales of the Leather Nun," which still manages to be the most wholesome story in this issue (it was reprinted two years later in Tales from the Leather Nun). Jackson gives us a bloody (and quick) yarn with "Testicles the Tautologist," followed by a pleasant Richard Corben romp, "Horrible Harvey's House."
Greg Irons and Tom Veitch close the book with the grotesque, necrophilic tale, "Cleanup Crew." This solid third issue is highly recommmended for those with strong stomachs.
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keyline
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HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES:
There are reportedly six printings of this comic book, all by Last Gasp and all with 50-cent cover prices. The printings are differentiated by small marks on the back cover and the color of the star on the hooded character on the front cover. The variations of these markings are oddly sequenced and so minor that it makes me think that some of the changes might have taken place within one print run. The print identifications presented below are the most accepted definitions available, but just about everyone (including Kennedy) has some doubt about identifying the middle printings.
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1st - Back cover has a registration mark inside a dark red pentagon near the spine.
2nd - Back cover has the registration mark, but the pentagon is gone.
3rd - Back cover has the pentagon, but there is no registration mark.
4th - Back cover doesn't have either the registration mark or the pentagon. The front cover has a blue-green star on the hooded character's hand (the star was cyan blue in previous printings).
5th - Back cover doesn't have either the registration mark or the pentagon. The front cover has a cyan blue star on the hooded character's hand.
6th - Back cover doesn't have either the registration mark or the pentagon. The front cover has a cyan blue star on the hooded character's hand. For the first time, the front cover includes the phrase "Adults Only."
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I have a printing that appears to have a "blue-green" star on the front cover, but it also has the "Adults Only" phrase on the front cover. This could potentially cause me to rearrange the 4th through 6th printings while adding a 7th printing, but the evidence just isn't strong enough to make that declaration. Suffice to say that there is no way to know exactly the number of printings of this book or the sequence of printings, especially after the 1st printing. The 4th and 5th printings could easily have taken place in reverse order.
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The 1st printing had 20,000 copies and all subsequent printings are presumed to be 10,000 copies, like the previous issue.
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COMIC CREATORS:
Spain Rodriguez - 1
Jack Jackson - 2, 9-12
Dave Sheridan - 3-8
Richard V. Corben - 13-23
Tom Veitch - 24-35 (script)
Greg Irons - 24-35 (art), 36
Skull #4
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Back Cover
Back Cover
(click for larger image)
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Slow Death
AVERAGE SCORE 8
Only Printing / May 1972 / 36 pages / Last Gasp Eco-Funnies
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Skull Comics officially shortened its title to just Skull with the fourth issue, which it would retain for the remaining issues in the run. This issue also has a theme of all H.P. Lovecraft stories. Among the featured stories are Dave Sheridan's "The Hound," Charles Dallas' "The Hairy Claw of Tolen," Michael C. Smith's "Cool Air" and Herb Arnold's "Pickman's Model."
The stories are all faithful adaptations of Lovecraft that should satisfy just about any Lovecraft fanatic. They are a bit too clinical for me, but since I wasn't a huge Lovecraft fan they were a good introduction to some stories I had not read before. Larry Todd provides a sweet back cover to make up for the lack of salacious content inside the book.
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keyline
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HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES:
After producing several printings of the previous three issues, Last Gasp got wise and printed 40,000 copies of this comic book. That large number alleviated the need for another printing.
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COMIC CREATORS:
Jack Jackson - 1
Simon Deitch - 2, 13, 35
Dave Sheridan - 3-12
Charles Dallas - 14-20
Michael C. Smith 21-26
Herb Arnold - 27-34
Larry S. Todd - 36
Skull #5
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Back Cover
Back Cover
(click for larger image)
If you like this comic,
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Slow Death
AVERAGE SCORE 8
Only Printing / August 1972 / 36 pages / Last Gasp Eco-Funnies
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This is another H.P. Lovecraft issue, though Spain Rodriguez does a story of his own instead of one of Lovecraft's. Richard Corben illustrates the first story, Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls," which is about a man who returns to his ancestral home only to be driven mad by his family's curse. Charles Dallas illustrates a waking nightmare in Lovecraft's poem, "To a Dreamer," while Larry Todd takes on Lovecraft's "The Shadow from the Abyss," in which a man's mind is transposed with another mind from an ancient, mythical race, which slowly leads to a horrific discovery.
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keyline
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HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES:
Last Gasp produced approximately 10,000 copies of this comic book. It has not been reprinted.
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COMIC CREATORS:
Spain Rodriguez - 1, 13-21
Jack Jackson - 2
Richard Corben - 3-12
Charles Dallas - 22-23
Larry S. Todd - 24-35
Dave Sheridan - 36
Skull #6
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Back Cover
Back Cover
(click for larger image)
If you like this comic,
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Slow Death
AVERAGE SCORE 8
1st/2nd Printing / November 1972 / 36 pages / Last Gasp Eco-Funnies
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I don't know if Last Gasp knew that this would be the last issue of the series when they commissioned its content, but they couldn't have chosen a better way to go out with a bang. Skull #6 features one full-length story written by Tom Veitch and illustrated by long-time partner Greg Irons and by the supremely talented Richard Corben.
"A Gothic Tale" is told in two parts, the first half drawn by Irons and the second half by Corben. The story begins in 1860 in a small coastal village in Maine, where a mad doctor/scientist named Lucius Rodin is rumored to be "up to something blasphemous!" Dr. Rodin manages to enchant the beautiful Heather Dufresne, the virginal belle of the village, but he gets killed in an explosion before their romance can be consummated. But due to the mysterious, supernatural powers of the "Oriental" sorcerers he was working with, Dr. Rodin is brought back to life just long enough to make love to Heather and impregnate her.
To say that Heather's pregnancy is wrought with complications would be an understatement, but as we learn in the last page of part one, the baby is born healthy (we can't say as much for Heather's "delivery").
The story picks up 210 years later, with Corben at the helm of the brush and inkwell. Lucious Rodin's great-grandson, Hector, begins to explore his notorious great-grandfather after his father dies. Hector begins making regular visits to his ancestral home in Maine, where he frequents a Roman Catholic convent. During his last visit, he is ambushed by monstrous creatures and must face the curse that Dr. Rodin and his cult invoked over two centuries ago. I've already spoiled too much of the plot, so I'll leave the culmination to you, but the story ends with the spirit of a vintage EC Comics denouement, only laden with gore.
Veitch's story is truly a horrific classic, and only the slightest glitches and missteps leave it short of pure brilliance. Irons and Corben, however, have virtually no flaws in their depiction of the narrative. Their compositions and character portrayals are at times ominous, raunchy, solemn and gruesome. It is some of Irons' best work and some of Corben's best early work in black and white. To my knowledge, this is the only time they collaborated on a project together, and the results make you wish it had been a common occurence. Irons, who died almost 30 years ago, more than holds his own with the legendary Corben.
So Skull Comics comes to an end, but it is indeed in glorious fashion that meets the high standards of the EC Comics tradition.
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keyline
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HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES:
There are two printings of this comic book, both by Last Gasp and both with 50-cent cover prices. It is believed that the two printings are indistinguishable from one another. There were approximately 10,000 copies produced in each printing.
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COMIC CREATORS:
Greg Irons - 1, 2, 3-19 (art), 35
Herman Hesse - 2 (quote)
Tom Veitch - 3-34 (script)
Richard Corben - 20-34 (art), 36
unknown contributor - 35 (photo)
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