Number 1965: A right-on Halloween!

A few days ago I recalled how we comics fans of the era were impressed by the artwork of Neal Adams. We were also very impressed when Berni (now Bernie) Wrightson came on the scene. Some of the wags in fanzines were calling him "Berni Right-On."

Here are two complete stories from scans of Wrightson’s right-on original art sold by Heritage Auctions. My deep appreciation goes to Heritage.

The original Swamp Thing story was written and drawn for House of Secrets #92 (1971). The artwork was sold by Heritage in 2002 for $31,050.00. "The Monster Jar" was an unpublished story done for Web of Horror #4. It was never published because publisher Robert Sproul gave up on the title after issue #3. The 7-page story artwork was sold by Heritage in 2015 for $19,120.00.

Happy Halloween, everyone! No tricks, just treats from Pappy’s Golden Age.

Number 1215: Reese's piece of the Web

I believe these two stories were some of the first work by Ralph Reese I ever saw, when they appeared in Web of Horror in 1970. The magazine was published by Cracked “mazagine” publisher Bob Sproul.

Reese had worked with Wally Wood, and had picked up on the use of toning sheets including Grafix (formerly Craftint), a chemically treated drawing paper. The artist applied a chemical with a brush and the tones appeared. It was widely used for black line reproduction, and even some four-color work at times, but is no longer being manufactured. In the Yeti story Reese used an ink wash. Reese's use of such techniques complements his dramatic illustrations. Web of Horror featured some seasoned pros like Syd Shores and Norman Nodel, as well as a new breed of dynamic younger artists like Bernie Wrightson, Mike Kaluta and Ralph Reese. I wish it would have continued past three issues.

A few years later these stories, among others by Reese, were colored and published in a two-issue mini-series, Reese's Pieces, by Eclipse Comics.

These stories were written by longtime author and comic book scripter Otto Binder. They're from issues #2 and #3:

Number 746


Mr. Nodel and Mr. Norman


Don Norman, who did these well-illustrated strips for Web of Horror #1, in 1969, was actually artist Norman Nodel. Nodel, who had an elegant pen line, had a long career in comics beginning in the Golden Age. He was at the height of his illustrative abilities with Classics Illustrated #167, Faust.

Here are a couple of pages of Faust, from the original art I found on the internet.


According to the short Lambiek bio, he also did work under the Don Norman name in Creepy and Eerie, as well as at Charlton under his Nodel name. Norman Nodel was yet another pseudonym. He was born Nochem Yeshaya. The last ten years of his life were spent illustrating books and magazines for Jewish children. As the Lambiek bio also says, he worked up until the last day of his life, which was in February, 2000, at age 78.

Web Of Horror was a short-lived Creepy imitation from Major Magazines, which also published Cracked. During Web's three issues there was early work by young artists like Bernie Wrightson, Ralph Reese, and Mike Kaluta, among others, as well as by comic book veterans like Syd Shores and Nodel.