Night Of The Living Monster Bash 2022 Vacation in 2-D

It’s that time of the year again, that time when Juliet and I pack up and load our bags into the trusty Mazda CX5 and head to Cranberry Township for another Monster Bash Convention Vacation! This year I was very much looking forward to it as the crazy Virus Crisis of 2020 to present day has ruined so much for everyone and seemed to just blanket the world with fear, anger and depression and I needed a most relaxing time away from it all and needed to get to the classic monsters that bring me joy and of course Evan City Cemetery to recharge my creative batteries! Plus I needed my Wing King Fix and not to even mention the best part of these vacations spending a few days with my lady who works a stressful job, and it’s nice for her to get a little bit of relaxing time as well. And like always we will be taking a look at a comic series based on a George Romero film series and this is one series that I have saved for an anniversary year of the blog as it was a comic series that got me back into collecting modern Horror comics when they were released back in 2004. I am talking about the Dead Dog Comics miniseries Night Of The Living Dead: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles! So let’s climb into the Mazda and hit the highway as we have a date with some zombies and some classic monsters.

We woke up early on June 24^th and went to Dorothy Lane Market and got ourselves some drinks for the trip as we have a little over four hours on the road and along with our bags and some road snacks, our journey to the bash begin. We got a late start so making it to Monster Bash the first night was not possible. I was a little bummed but it was ok. As we drove along Juliet and I talked about comics, wrestling, Horror Hosts, Horror movies, baseball, podcasts and everything in-between as nothing beats a good conversation while on a road trip. I also accidentally exploded a small bag of Animal Crackers all over the car, but I was able to at least save a few. We stopped in for lunch at Ruby Tuesdays and I had a good meal of Blackened Salmon with rice and a baked potato as Juliet had a bacon cheeseburger, a tasty meal and a great way to truly kick off this vacation. We then checked into our room at the Hilton, and we ran to New Dimension Comics were I found a ton of cool indie comics in the $1.00 bins. That night we relaxed in the hotel and watched some of the Pittsburgh Pirates game as well as WWE Friday Night Smackdown and had Eat N’ Park for dinner. And I was really looking forward to getting to Monster Bash the next day to grab some spooky goodies and spend time with The Monsters and the fans of them.

On the morning of June 25 we woke up early and got ready and I also quickly read Action Comics # 572 a comic I got for $1.00 from New Dimension Comics. And right before 10am we made our way to Monster Bash I was wondering what monster statues awaited us as well as if a fancy monster themed car would be pulled up front, these past few years they have not had a car that I have seen and I miss them as they add to the event. And when walking into Monster Bash that this year took place at a different event I did not see the Monster statues but did notice that they had multiple rooms filled with guests and venders. Right off the bat the Horror Hosts in attendance you could see with those being Son Of Ghoul, Mr. Lobo and Drac & Countess Cartia! Sadly I did not get to chat with many of them as they had people at their table, and Juliet and I were on a schedule that day…but later I did get to quickly chat with Drac. Many cool stuff to look at from the vendors including movies, posters, toys, posters, comics, art and magazines. Also got to chat with my filmmaker friend David “The Rock” Nelson and we chatted classic TV, events from his youth and of course his films! It was a fast day at the Bash for us but a very fun one.

We ended up having lunch at Max & Erma’s and we chatted about all types of stuff over a good meal. After a while we headed to Mars where Juliet had a coffee from the Mars Brew House and we enjoyed the small town feel for a few moments. This is such a cool town that embraces their name and plays up on the planet Mars as well as UFO’s and aliens as many of the small businesses even have alien figures in their windows. We will visit the Mars Brew House one last time before we head home as this is a must stop place for us every year.

And for those wondering what was the haul for our first day at Monster Bash is: I got two wood plaques, one featuring Indiana Horror Host Sammy Terry and the other being Godzilla and they were $25.00 each! And then I got two films of David Nelson’s with those being “Pumpkinman” and “Werewolf & The Witch” and they were $20.00 each! A great batch of stuff for such a short time at the event and tomorrow we will spend a little more time and I will find those monster statues!

That night after hanging around the hotel room we decided to get Wing King for dinner and we also decided to have a movie night and picked Pumpkinman for the spooky feature! As the weather was hot outside and what a cool way to end the day then to eat some wings, munch on some fires, drink some Coke and watch a shot on video fright flick. I ordered 12 Garlic Wing and a order of cheese fries and as always the wings from Wing King were amazing and this is my favorite wing place I have every tried as they have the best Garlic Wings ever and the event was a fun watch on a very hot day and a great way to end Monster Bash Day 2. We also watched episodes of The Simpsons, Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers that night, as you cannot beat classic Fox cartoons.

June 26 started our third day of Monster Bash 2022 and it was a cool cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms kind of day, but for me that is the perfect weather to spend time with the classic monsters! And Juliet and I knew we had to find those statues and we also thought that on Saturday we missed a vender room, and it’s always fun to make that one last sweep through the convention to grab the stuff you might have missed before. And I felt really silly when the monster statues was right in front of us, and man they had some great ones from The Wolf Man, Phantom Of The Opera, The Fly, Gillman and many more and as always they looked great and added to the experience. Sadly there no horror themed car that we saw. We walked around and ended up seeing some cool stuff and the two shirts we wanted the venders did not have in our sizes so no She-Ra shirt for Juliet and no Chilly Billy Cardille for me. We walked around for a while and then headed to Starbucks for coffees, then checked out the small cemetery in Mars before eating lunch at Moes! We then headed to the hotel to cool down as the temperature was down but the humidity was high. A fun final day at Monster Bash that sadly I left empty handed as I did not find anything that screamed to me take me home besides a very cool The Craving Poster that I just don’t have room for.

The night of Monster Bash Day 3 we decided to order AEW & New Japan Pro Wrestling “Forbidden Door” event and watched it on our laptop. I wanted to see the Thunder Rosa vs. Toni Storm match, the icon Sting in action and as well see El Desperado in action! While Juliet was looking forward to Chris Jericho’s match as she is a big fan of Y2J! We ended up having Eat N’ Park and had the Mile High Meatloaf with Mini Potato Pancakes and a slice of Strawberry Pie for dessert. And what was nice a thunderstorm ragged outside as we watch a history-making event that was really good and showcased the talents of both companies. Once the event was over we hit the sack and tried to figure out our plan for the next day.

On June 27 we woke up and had breakfast from Einstein Brothers as a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich with an orange juice to drink was a great way to kick off the day! After we ate we headed out to Evan City Cemetery the filming location for Night Of The Living Dead and walked around awhile and then Juliet headed to Target to pick some things up for the trip back home, and then we had lunch at Burgatory where I had a Oreo Peanut Butter Pie Milkshake and had a Triple B Burger that was made of Bison meat and had beer cheese an bacon on it, and I have to say it was a very tasty meal. We then hung around for awhile and ended up eating Wing Kings again for dinner as I had to have those Garlic Wings again and we ended the night watching WWE Monday Night Raw.

On June 28 Juliet and I woke up and had breakfast at Starbucks and then headed out to Pottersville Bible Church Cemetery to try and find a grave for someone on the website “Find A Grave”, and we walked the whole cemetery and was unable to find the grave as we think it might be unmarked. We then headed to Moraine State Park a very cool massive park near Pottersville that had lots of trails, wildlife, and lakes. It was a great day to walk around the lake and see snakes and fish. This was a very cool place and if you are visiting that area make sure to give this place a visit. After that we headed to the Snowman and I was craving a Yeti Shake and when we got there I was very happy to see that they brought the horses back as they always make a visit to the Snowman even more awesome. After that we set out to enjoy the rest of our vacation that included movie-watching, site seeing and relaxing!

On July 4^th Juliet and I decided to get some snacks make a breakfast casserole and have ourselves a Horror Movie Marathon to bring a end to our vacation and this time around we had lots of films to catch up on and we both were looking forward to spending a quite evening with the monsters an killers of the films so we selected 12 films to watch. We kicked off the day with “Revenge Of The Devil Bat” a sequel to the 1940 Bela Lugosi film The Devil Bat that is about the grandson of the original mad scientist wanting revenge on those who he feels wronged his family. “Dark Night Of The Scarecrow 2” was the next film on our list and was about a mom and her son having to locate to a new town and find themselves in the sites of Bubba The Scarecrow who has returned to right wrongs. The third fright film was “Female Mercenaries On Zombie Island” about a female mad scientist who is turning all the men of the island into flesh eating zombies and killing any females that stand in her way. “Zombie Army” was up next and was about army soldiers who are being turned into zombies by a crazed mental patient when they are forced to train at a run down mental asylum. The Horror Comedy “Gingerweed” man was next and had the Gingerweed man having to save his female human love interest and a small living pot bud named Buddy from an evil corporation. The sixth film was a Kaiju one called “God Raiga vs. King Ohga” and had the two monsters clashing as well as fighting the defense force in Japan. Next we kept up with the giant theme as we watched “Attack Of The 50ft Cam Girl” about a famous camgirl who eats experimental food and grows to 50ft only to have to face her rival who does the same to get famous. The Demonic Toys spin off film “ Baby Oopsie” was next and had the doll coming back to life thanks to Satan and tricking a lonely YouTube show host into restoring it back to life to collect souls. The first slasher film of the night was the indie film “Beware The Woods” that has a group of friends staying in a cabin being hunted down and killed by a mean old woman. The deformed killer in the woods film “Freak” was up next and had a group of friends being killed by a deformed cannibal killer. The slashing continued with “Children Of Camp Blood” that brought the clown masked killer back and this time he was going after the relatives of past victims who go to the camp for help in order to get over the trauma of their lives. And the final film of the night was the remake of “Slumber Party Massacre” that has a group of girls being stalked by a driller killer who has killed in the past, but this time these girls are ready…or are they? And those were the spooky, silly and creepy films that made up this marathon.

This was a great Horror Movie marathon as it’s always a great time watching spooky films with my gal and enjoying some tasty food and snacks! The Golden Turkey of the Marathon was one that Juliet and I both agreed on as it was Female Mercenaries On Zombie Island as it was a little over long, had plot holes the size of the grand canyon and was just kind of silly…but I myself have to say I am a Tina Krause fan so it was awesome seeing her as the lead of the film and I liked the masked zombie named Luke who wore a flannel shirt. And here is my Top 3 films of the marathon, coming in at # 3 was Beware The Woods as I really enjoyed this indie slasher film and feel that it had a cool and creepy killer and was paced really well and had some good kills. # 2 for me was Slumber Party Massacre as this was a pretty fun remake that had some fun and creepy moments and also has a nice twist and cool kills. Juliet’s top films was # 3 Freak, # 2 Baby Oopsie and # 1 Slumber Party Massacre as she really got a kick out of this remake! And I have to say I miss having these Horror Movie Marathon’s and am going to try and have more in 2023!

The Golden Massacre Award for this marathon goes to The Devil Bat with around 8 confirmed kills in his return to the world of cinema! And while none of them are super bloody it does goes for the throat and tries to deal death with its fangs and makes it slow as it chews on neck flesh. The best kill of the film has The Devil Bat attacking his own creator (played by John Link) as it attacks his neck the two fall off a cliff. So here is to you Devil Bat for making the body count a little higher for this marathon.

Dead Dog Comics was an indie publisher that I became a fan of the first time I read one of their comics and the first one I read was “Night Of The Living Dead: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles # 1” in 2004 that I bought from the Horror Convention Cinema Wasteland where I got to meet many of the creators and owners of the company who all spent time talking to me about Horror Comics as well as comics based on films that they had in the works. Every year after that I would set up the table for Independent B Movie or Night Crew Video and would make my way over to the Dead Dog Comics table and grab whatever new issues they had out and would chat with them about upcoming releases, and once the long day of selling movies to the shoppers was over and then grabbing some dinner with friends I would read the comics I bought from them the first night at the hotel. I can remember how amped I was when they told me they would be doing comics based on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Howling, Day Of The Dead and ones based on classic monsters like Frankenstein’s Monster and Dracula. But like all good things Dead Dog Comics came to an end as they closed shop in 2006 before they even wrapped up mini series and stories going on in their issues, and something seemed very odd leading up to the closer as The Howling comic series before released was turned into “Curse Of The Blood Cult” and many of their planned comics like a series based on Texas Chainsaw Massacre went to another comic company (Avatar) and the Creature From The Black Lagoon inspired Classic Monster comic being published by Image Comics and many of the artist separated and started working for other indie publishers and creators. Dead Dog Comics was much like Topps Comics and Fangoria Comics for me as they brought my love for comics back to life as they delivered comics based on things I was interested in and didn’t just flood the market with generic superhero comics with head scratching storylines, they brought readers well thought out Horror Titles that delivered the bloody terror. Over the years I have chatted with some of the minds behind Dead Dog Comics and always try and spark a rebirth of the company, but sadly I think that the company truly is over as many of them have their own things going now. But while Dead Dog Comics was short lived for those Horror Comic readers like myself who read their issues they made a mark on the industry and are very much missed by readers worldwide.

Before we start too far into the review part of this Monster Bash update and take a look at the series Night Of The Living Dead: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles, I want to once more talk and reflect about just how important and iconic George A. Romero was to the world of Horror Cinema! While walking the Evans City Cemetery its like hallowed ground as you can feel so much more creative and you really realize just how important Night Of The Living Dead and George Romero is to the Horror Genre. Growing up a Monster Kid I have so many great memories of seeing the films of Romero from the network broadcast of Night Of The Living Dead that aired in October when I was a kid, to seeing Day Of The Dead on the USA Network for the first time and being total taken into it’s world and heck even getting free preview tickets from a friend of mine to see Land Of The Dead in the theater two days before its release to the masses. And no matter what it was I also was so excited when a new film was being released that had his name attached to it. The name George Romero has always meant something to me and has always brought the feeling of Horror Cinema to me, like it makes me go back to the days of my youth when Horror was a big topic on the playground and even to the days of picking up a old VHS Camera and filming no budget horror movies like “Werewolf Of Ohio”…in other words George Romero and his work has been one of the factors in my life that has made me creative and want to entertain fellow Horror lovers with creative projects from SOV Horror Movies, Horror Comic Books, Horror Blog Updates, Horror Short Stories and of course Horror Host Shows! So once more thank you George Romero for all you have done to not only inspire me but thousands of others who have went on to be creative forces in the Horror Genre. This update is for you Mr. Romero may you Rest In Peace.

So now that we have chatted about Monster Bash as well as the legend George A. Romero and the comic company that released the series that we are reviewing in a few moments I want you all to sit back and thank a few moments about your favorite Romero film…go on I will wait. And with that lets head to the Dead Dog Comics series “Night Of The Living Dead: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles” and I would like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So with that lets head back to the graveyard and see the Romero undead rise once more on the pages of these comics.

NOTLD: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles # 0  ***
Released in 2004   Cover Price NA   Dead Dog Comics   # 0 of 3

Barbara Cole survived the zombie attack on the farmhouse and is now apart of a group’s salvage team that goes out heavily armed and brings back food and supplies when needed. While at a grocery store looking for canned food they are attacked by a horde of zombies and blast the undead the pieces. But Nicotero and Alex two members of the team do not get along because Nicotero is sloppy at what he does, and because of this he gets the group attacked by another zombie horde! And as they fight them all off, Alex and Nicotero have a major clash that ends up them threatening each other and storming off, but unlucky for Nicotero he is bitten by a zombie and as his fellow group walks away Barbara puts a bullet in his brain.

This Promo Comic is a little taste of what Night Of The Living Dead: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles was going to be about and follows Barbara who now is apart of a group that stick together and while some members are at odds they look out for each other. And that’s the cool thing Barbara went from being a comatose style victim to a gun shooting, coldblooded zombie ass-kicking machine! And this mini comic also lets us into her mind set of not remembering so much the past, when the world have no zombies and the main topics was who won The World Series. As a reader this baits you into wondering how Barbara survived the zombie attack in 1968 and how she has ended up with this group. Alex seems to somewhat in this issue be the lead of this supply run group and also seems to have respect for Barbara and her gun skills, while Nicotero seems like he is cocky and does what he wants when he wants and the safety of others as well as his own takes a backseat in his mind. The zombies are more rotted in appearance and seem to be way more hungry for human flesh, and that makes them super dangerous to our survivors. Over all this short look at the mini series was a great way to get readers hooked and is a must read for fans of this series as well as the film that sparked it. The cover is great and eye catching and the interior art done by Mark Kidwell is great. This was a great way to kick off my relook at this amazing Horror Comic Mini Series. Oh and for those wondering this is an ashcan-sized comic.

NOTLD: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles # 1  ***
Released in 2004   Cover Price $4.95   Dead Dog Comics    # 1 of 3

Barbara is having a terrible nightmare as she relives that night in the farmhouse that had zombies surround her and the strangers inside, and just as she is pulled outside by the undead she wakes up and finds herself in a safe place with her new “family” a rag tag bunch of people who are apart of the living who are fighting back against the zombies that have started to take over the world. The group is Alexander Quinn an older man who was once a printer, Laura Martin an angry woman, Rufus Porter who was an inspiring writer, Sara a young girl who likes to draw and Derek Moran a punk young man who is cocky. Barbara and her crew head to S-Mart in their school bus to try and look for supplies to bring back to the survivors compound they are living at, but while looking for goods they also find a man named Peter Cooke who claims he is from D.C and was apart of a research group that all passed when their helicopter ran out of gas, they take Peter with them and along the way he talks about how he and others in his field gathered pieces of a satellite that fell from space in 1968 and that they tried to create a gas that was suppose to turn the zombies against each other, it didn’t work and just made them more aggressive and slaughter the humans around more brutally! As Barbara and her crew return to the compound they find that it’s under attack and looks like there might be no survivors.

What a great read and a great way to kick off this series as the plot follows Barbra a woman who survived the events of Night Of The Living Dead and is now living in a compound with other survivors and while she has PTSD from the zombie attack she survived, she powers up and leads groups into the city in order to get supplies for all she can. Barbra started out as a scared woman whose shock leads her to almost be a shell of a person (as seen in the film) but by the time she is pulled out and is among the zombies something clicks inside her head and she becomes a fighter and a survivor as she fights back against the zombies and lives through the attack. Now while she does have terrible memories and nightmares, she is able to lead her friends into the over ran cities in order to gather supplies that would help her fellow man. Her group Alexander, Laura, Rufus and Derek are loyal to Barbara’s words and will stand by her side even when the odds are not looking good, it’s clear that Alexander is the one who watches out for Barbara the most and she respects the hell out of him for doing so. Peter Cooke is a small man who claims to be a researcher for the government who tried to crack the code of why the dead have returned and if space debris had anything to do with it, I don’t trust him as I don’t think he is telling the whole truth. The zombies are many and they want to eat the living and its clear that they are now out numbering the living, plus I would guess the ones who were infected with the gas that Peter and his people sprayed on them will become more and more dangerous. I like the Idea that Barbra was able to escape and live and now has went on to become a tough woman who can take care of herself and is a born leader. The issue has some blood and kills but nothing over the top and has a more modern horror feel to the over all story, but that’s a good thing as it’s not just a retelling of the film. The cover is pure late 90’s through early 2000’s indie horror comic stuff and is very well done and eye catching. The interior art by Mark Kidwell is really great and I for one am a fan of his style as I think his zombies look fantastic! A solid horror comic that had me hooked on this series as well as this company sense 2004 and in 2021 is still holding up! Lets get to issue # 2 and how the story goes forward and see if it holds up like this first issue did for me.

NOTLD: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles # 2  ***
Released in 2004   Cover Price $4.95   Dead Dog Comics   # 2 of 3

Barbara and Alexander are arguing at their camp outside of the compound as Alexander gave the order for them to flee the area and not help, save nor search for survivors as it was being attacked by zombies…while Barbara wants to go in guns blazing and save anyone and everyone that is still alive as they are family and friends. The night ends with Barbara blaming Peter Cooke for making the zombies smarter and states that now matter what at Dawn she is going in to save people with or without her crew! The Next morning they go in and see nothing but death all around, all their friends and the people they helped feed and protect are now dead…all besides Sara who has been bitten, but not eaten as she hide on a statue and this saved her life. The group decide to head to D.C in order to see of any medicine that Peter Cooke and the government created will help cure Sara from the bite, Derek is not happy about this as he thinks that the young girl will turn and cause more issues for the group…but he is out voted and they start their quest. The highways are blocked with abandon cars so they must leave the bus behind and set out on foot, when Peter suggest they head to the water ways and take a boat as it would be more safe…they all agree. Derek finds the boat as Laura goes around to the boathouses to find supplies…but she pays with her life when a zombie stabs her with a harpoon and Barbra is forced to shoot her friend before she changes. Once out in the water Peter keeps hinting that the D.C lab has a surprise and to their horror they spot a massive boat that is filled with tons of zombies on board as well as in the water all around one even clogs the motor of Barbra’s boat and this leads to her being grabbed by a zombie and Rufus dies saving her when the zombies rip him apart in the water. The group is now way smaller when they arrive at the D.C lab as Peter leads Barbra, Alexander, Sara and Derek that is hidden in Arlington National Cemetery and once inside they lab they see a massive U.F.O. and Peter says that it could be what has caused the dead to rise.

This second spooky issue ends with a big question of did aliens cause this undead plague on us living on the planet Earth? This issue has Barbara and her friends heading to the compound and finding that all but one person is dead and the only survivor has been bitten and is getting more and more sick. They make a plan to get to the lab that Peter worked in and along the way loose two members and find that zombies are also in the water…so there is no safe place away from them. Barbra is a woman on a mission and is the one who fights with Alexander in order to go back to the compound and tries to rescue anyone that was left alive. And she is the one who is leading the way and taking issues into her own hands that includes even having to shoot one of her dying friends in the head, but after watching a friend get ripped in half she sadly breaks back down and turns into the shell of a person. Derek and Alexander are the only two group members left who are doing what they can as well to protect not only themselves but others, I do think that Derek could have been right about this being a big risk all to try and save an infected young girl who could turn at any time. Peter Cooke while I still do not trust him, does seem to lead them to a safe place with the lab and does also show them they U.F.O that could be what is causing all this, but he also seems to have a sinister grin on his face while doing so…I just don’t trust him. The zombies are everywhere and are coming in all shape and sizes and are super deadly as they are getting smarter and are using weapons as well as are going to the kill more violently. This issue has lots of blood and even some guts and has a true feeling of dread with only a dash of hope and the characters you are going for the ride with are dropping off like flies and this helps add to the over all horror feel. The cover is great and the interior art by Mark Kidwell is great and is they style I love for indie Horror Comics. With only one more issue left it’s a shame that this was only a mini series as this series I will go on record saying is the best comic series based on Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead film! So with that in mind let’s get to the third and final issue in the Dead Dog Comic and Mark Kidwell spooky horror comic series.

NOTLD: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles # 3  ***
Released in 2004   Cover Price $4.95   Dead Dog Comics   # 3 of 3

Barbra once more wakes from a terrible nightmare that has all her friends now zombies eating themselves, and when she wakes up she is back to normal and out of her breakdown and finds herself in the lab. The group remain quite and find the room with the medication and Peter injects Sara with a “cure” that might be able to help her live and not turn, he also throws in that is if they caught the infection in time. Alexander and Derek do not trust Peter and notice that he looks at Barbra very weird and force him to give them a tour of the next room so they can try and see who and what he is about and once inside the other room they see the body of an alien Peter calls Horsemen # 4 as well as body parts of other aliens from a crash. Peter opens up the door to were Horsemen # 4 is and tells Alexander and Derek that the virus started in the blood and later was airborne and could only spread to the dead, as they look at the body of Horsemen # 4 Peter quickly locks them into the lab room with the creature that wakes up and is hungry and violent! Peter goes back to Barbra and its clear Sara is dying and then Peter shows his true colors as he informs Barbra at gun point that he is the one who set up the fall of this lab that killed all his co-workers and he did it all cause he loves a woman who didn’t love him back, he then tells Barbra to get naked as she will be his Eve! As Barbra strips down Horsemen # 4 busts in as he has gotten out of the lab and he has the body parts of Derek and Alexander and Barbra gets a gun and kills Horsemen # 4 with two shots to his head as Sara turns into a zombie and bites and kills Peter our hero Barbra is all alone in the lab. She finds a door that has a bullet train and climbs aboard and uses it, the stop brings her to the White House were she finds that cult leader Charles Manson had made a new home and has a new family.

The long asked question for Horror Movie fans of why the zombie outbreak happened in Night Of The Living Dead is answered here by Mark Kidwell and Dead Dog Comics as they alert us readers that this virus was caused by infected Aliens who crashed here on Earth all over the world and they were like the Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse, keep in mind that is their story for their created NOTLD universe. This issue has Barbra loosing everything besides her life as she sees her final two closest friends die at the hands of an infected alien, the young girl she risked it all for ends up still turning into a zombie, the safe place of the lab turns into a nightmare as the government man she trusted turned out to be a psycho pervert and in the end once away from the horrors of the lab she finds herself in the company of nut job criminal and killer Charles Manson and his new version of The Manson Family! But the thing about Barbra throughout this mini series is no matter how many times she is rattled and on the verge of being broken, you just cannot keep her down nor count her out. Barbra in this series is a fantastic strong and flawed hero that you find yourself cheering for. Alexander, Derek and Sara who all stick together sadly all die together inside the lab that is more like a tomb, as Peter Cooke is a crazy man who wants to find a mate and will kill in order to do so and is in fact the doctor of death for all of Barbra’s friends that make it back to the lab. Dr. Cooke really is a terrible person who does not value human life and is partly to blame for unleashing the gas that helped make the zombies a little smarter. Disease caring Horsemen # 4 is a alien who helped spread the virus and I would guess is undead himself and was sent here from an alien planet to either wipe us out or to get ride of the infected from their planet, or I guess they could as well just be aliens and this is just a side effect from their world to ours. The zombies are few and far in this issue and while not overly around their creepy presence is felt throughout. Charles Manson being around during this time is very well thought out as his Manson Family cult was started in 1967 and he was not jailed until 1969 for the murders he sent his members out to do, imagine if the zombie outbreak did happen at this time cult leaders like Manson would have somehow gotten followers with their doomsday talk. The issue is filled with blood, kills, partial nudity, creatures and all types of other stuff that makes for a good Horror Comic. Mark Kidwell not only did the amazing artwork for this mini series he also was the writer and he does a pretty good job of making this all feel like its apart of the movie universe that was created by the iconic George A. Romero, but yet also feel very much like his own with Manson and Aliens and even taking Barbra and making her the zombie butt kicking machine. The cover for this issue is great just like all the others in the series and is very eye catching. I have been a major fan of Night Of The Living Dead: Barbra’s Zombie Chronicles sense it was released in 2004 and after reading it again it really holds up and remains one of the better indie Horror Comics from that time. Check out the artwork bellow and see the style of Kidwell in this issue.

I really miss the creative teamwork that made Dead Dog Comics so special and I can say that Night Of The Living Dead: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles was just a great series that helped spark my love for comics again back in 2004 and showed that Horror Comics will never die for readers and will always be what keeps me loving and reading comics. And while Dead Dog Comics is long gone companies like Eibon Press, Blood Moon Comics, HorrorHound Comics and Blood Scream Comics are keeping the tradition of delivering original and licensed spooky Horror Comics to reader’s hands. And I also have to throw in that I really do love attending the Monsterbash Convention and truly enjoy spending time in the Cranberry Township area of Pennsylvania! And with that I am going to six back and relax a little and before I wrap this one up I should let you know that the next update will take us to the streets that will be laced with poison as we take a look at Captain America and his war on drugs…or should I say those few issues were he himself becomes a drug addict! So until next time read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next update as you know for Rotten Ink’s 10 Year Anniversary that we had to at least spend one update with Cap.

Day Of The Monster Bash Vacation (2017)

Welcome back to Rotten Ink!  Once more, it’s time for Juliet and I to take a long overdue vacation, and once more we decided to spend it in Cranberry, PA to attend the best classic monster convention of all time, Monster Bash! It’s a special year as this is the 20^th year of the convention and there are lots of great guests like Ricou Browning who played Gillman in Creature From The Black Lagoon, Larry Storch from The Ghostbusters and F-Troop as well as Hammer Horror actress Veronica Carlson to name a few. Plus I am pretty hyped to see what statues they have awaiting us attendees and whether there will be a fancy monster car up front besides The Munsters Drag-U-La! It will also be great to see David “The Rock” Nelson as well as Horror Hosts Son Of Ghoul, Mr. Lobo and Penny Dreadful as they are all great people and help add to this wonderful weekend getaway. I for one have been looking forward to this vacation for a while.  After moving and the stresses of work and the creative stuff I do, getting away and relaxing with classic monster fans sounded like bliss as well as just hanging out in the hotel and chatting with Juliet who is not only my girlfriend but also one of my best friends in the world as she is truly my soul mate. So on this update, we will also be taking a look at the third Romero film, Day Of The Dead as well as the one and only issue based on the film from Dead Dog Comics. So pack your bag and jump into the car as you friends and readers are going on a trip to Monster Bash!

Our quest for Monster Bash began on Thursday June 22, 2017 at around noon.  The weather was warm and muggy as Juliet and I climbed into the Mazda 3 and hit the highway. While driving we talked about Sparkle Comics and ideas for future issues that we would love to see be released by our comic family. We also chatted about Pro Wrestling from WWE all the way to Rockstar Pro and mostly chatted about wrestlers I remember watching when I was a youngster. For our listening pleasure, we listened to the podcast The Real Short Box that has three friends Kevin, Donald and Jarred talking about comic books with the best episode of the day being them talking about their favorite 80’s comic storylines with all three having good choices and all three so different.  If you have not listened to these guys and enjoy comics, you should check em out. For lunch we stopped at Ruby Tuesday’s on the Ohio and West Virginia border again where I enjoyed grilled salmon with rice and a baked potato, and Juliet dined on a crispy chicken cob salad. It was a very good meal, and this is the same one we ate at last trip to the Bash. Once in town we checked into the Comfort Inn in Cranberry and went to New Dimension Comics where I bought a stack of comics to read at night including issues of Action Comics, Avengers and Boris Karloff Tales Of Mystery.  We spent the rest of the night in and ate dinner at Eat N Park and went to bed with visions of monsters and horror films in our heads.

Friday, day one of Monster Bash kicked off with Juliet and I waiting for the convention to open at 3pm so we decided to get some brunch at Max & Erma’s and had a good and solid meal.  From there we decided to get some coffee in Mars at the Mars Brew House, a very cool family owned coffee house that serves very good variety of coffee. After getting our order and chatting with the owner about Monster Bash and Baron Von Porkchop, Juliet and I sat outside and enjoyed the cool and rainy weather under the porch while listening to the church bells and enjoying the feel of this small town. Also while there I had to get my picture with the UFO in my Space Monkey T-Shirt, and for you readers who don’t know who Space Monkey is shame on you as he is a very cool independent wrestler who is a monkey who was sent to space! After hanging in Mars for a little while, we decided that it was time to head back to the hotel and wait for the doors of Monster Bash to be open as we both love this convention! On a side note I also want to say that I really dig the small town feel of Mars as it reminds me of Mayberry as everyone is always so nice and train tracks run through downtown and churches are all around…just a very cool small town.

When 3pm hit Juliet and I made our way down to Monster Bash.  The Drag-U-La was out front, and I was happy to see it again! Once inside we noticed that this was the most busy we had ever seen Monster Bash since we began going, and it was great to see so many people at an event that is celebrating classic movie monsters. After waiting in line for a short time, we entered the convention and saw the statues that were all fantastic! This time they were Gillman from Creature Walks Among Us, The Monster from The Bride, Dracula from Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and lastly the Hammer Horror version of The Phantom Of The Opera that was my clear cut favorite! We walked around and saw lots of amazing things and seen lots of great people. But after about an hour, the place was really hot and people started to forget manners so we decided to head to the hotel and relax and plan our Wing King and a movie night! As always this was a great first day, and we returned with some great items for our collections to fill our new home together.

So I am sure you’re wondering what my first day haul of goods from Monster Bash was, right? Well it was a good day even if it was over crowded and people kept bumping into and cutting in front of Juliet and I! So here is what I got comic book wise: Night Of The Living Dead: Back From The Grave # 1 comic for $2.50, El Toro Azul’s Monster Movie A Go-Go # 1- 2 for $10.00 and The Defenders # 70 for only $1.50! Paperback Book wise, I got Elvira: Camp Vamp for $3.75, King Kong for $4.75, Nosferatu The Vampire for $2.75 and Young Frankenstein for only $2.75! Music CD wise, I found a bootleg copy of The Cool Ghoul and his Phantasmagorical Funny Fonograf Record for $10.00, a true fun Horror Host release. And in DVD’s I got The Leech Woman for $20.00 and DVD-R’s of the films IT and Cry Of The Werewolf for $10.00 each! Over all a really great first day with lots of great items bought. The one I am most happy about finding is the paperback book of Young Frankenstein written by Gilbert Pearlman as I used to own this in my youth and am looking forward to reading it again. So check out the picture below for the cool haul from day 1.

For dinner the first night of Monster Bash we decided to eat Wing Kings and watch a movie on the old laptop.  The film we picked was Cry Of The Werewolf, a classic black and white film from 1944 as a classic monster movie seemed like the right choice for the evening. Cry Of The Werewolf stars Nina Foch, Stephen Crane and Osa Massen and was directed by Henry Levin who also did such films as “The Devil’s Mask” and “Honeymoon Hotel” and this would be my first time watching it! The plot of the movie is a princess who has the curse of the werewolf trying to keep quiet those she thinks are getting to close to her secret. And from Wing Kings I ordered 12 Garlic Wings and an order of Cheese Fries plus drank a small cup of Coke, and both the meal and the film were good and made for a perfect time for this evening. After dinner Juliet and I worked a little on some Sparkle Comics printing prep and later I read The Defenders # 70 that I bought from Monster Bash and watched some TV before going to bed and gearing up for the second day of one of my all time favorite conventions.

The second day of Monster Bash was way less busy and had less unaware people as Juliet and I were able to walk around and enjoy the world of classic movie monsters! Just being around fellow fans of classic monsters, comic books and vintage action figures is super relaxing plus seeing all the smiling faces as they are looking at DVD, VHS and comic books is really cool and feeds your inner nerd. Walking around I found a giant poster that show cased all the Marvel Comics Heroes and Villains from 1988, and I was having a blast finding all the characters and even found Man-Thing who was hiding and after talking to Juliet we decided to walk away from it, but if its still there on Day 3, it will be coming home with me as it was only $15.00 and would be amazing to hang up near my comic book collection. So after wandering around for a little while and saying hi to some of our horror host friends, we decided it was time to explore outside the convention.

After leaving the Bash, we headed to get some lunch at Moe’s and I had a really tasty chicken burrito with a lime coke to drink! Juliet and I sat in the restaurant and chatted about geeky stuff and decided from there to head back to New Dimension Comics who was having a store wide sale and we got 30% off our order! Juliet found a Star Trek: Next Generation issue she wanted to read, and I found handful of comics I wanted with such heroes as Wonder Woman, Thor and Lomax and after our brief shopping spree we decided to just drive around and check out the land and the local business in the area. After a nice and fun drive we decided to get some frozen yogurt from TCBY as Juliet cannot ever come to Cranberry and not eat there. After we had our nice midday snack we decided to go back to Monster Bash where I chatted with David “The Rock” Nelson and we once more soaked in the world of monsters, and once done headed back to the hotel to plan the night of Day 2 of Monster Bash.

Day 2’s haul at Monster Bash was also a good one as I found some really cool stuff! In comics I found Captain America Annual # 2 for only $2.00! I got a great Dr. Creep art print for free from the artist and it will be hung with pride in my editing room! I got two wood art plaques that will be hung in our horror movie room of Phantom Of The Opera and Waldemar Daninsky, and I must say having a Paul Naschy wood art piece for that room is pretty badass; they cost $25.00 each! I bought Devil Ant 1-3 on DVD-R from The Rock for $20.00 each, and I truly love supporting the world of shot on video directors. I also got the DVD of the zombie flick Sugar Hill for $20.00 and a DVD-R of the film The Dead Don’t Die for $10.00! And I got the paperback books of The Addams Family for $3.00 and Return Of The Living Dead signed by John Russo who chatted with me about finding the stock of this old book in the UK! So as you can see, I got some great stuff and I think my top purchase of the day had to be the Paul Naschy wood art…as it’s truly amazing!

For dinner, we decided to once more get some Eat N Park where I chomped down on some liver and onions with some rice, mashed potatoes & gravy as well as some hash browns and water to drink. The meal was good as always as Eat N Park has always delivered a good meal to Juliet and I when here in Cranberry! To finish off the meal, I ate a smile cookie, and I still really think it has a Monster Candy taste to them and for the rest of the night I read some comics and watched some TV before finally going to bed with the third and final day of Monster Bash to follow.

The third and final day of Monster Bash was on Sunday, and Juliet and I started our day getting breakfast at the Pig Iron right next door and I had an amazing dish called Chorizo Hash and a Pepsi to drink. Once done we walked around Monster Bash one last time and soaked in all the classic monsters and briefly chatted with vendors and said our goodbyes till next year. I must also note that the cool giant 1988 Marvel Comics character poster was gone so it just was not meant to be. After walking back to the hotel I really do think that Sparkle Comics and Baron Von Porkchop should vend one year at Monster Bash as I think that we would fit it so well and could spread our comics and Horror Host to the attendees. While we are still here in Cranberry, Pa for another two days, it’s very sad that another Monster Bash has come to an end and that I will have to wait another year to return! So as always I must praise Monster Bash for being one of the best Horror Cons that I attend and look forward to coming to it more in the future.

The third and final haul of goods from Monster Bash was pretty good as I picked up DVD’s of Monster Movie A Go-Go, a Horror Host show that has them hosting Plan 9 From Outer Space and Santa Claus Conquers The Martians as well as two independent horror films they made called Nail Biter and Children Of The Way plus a cool CD of a radio drama they made called Anton Rook The Mummy Express and I got all this for only $40.00! Plus I picked up a made for TV movie on DVD-R called Death Moon for $15.00! One cool thing about Death Moon is that it could be covered here on Rotten Ink as a “Made For TV” update! So as always another great day of cool stuff gotten and all stuff I am looking forward to watching.

After Monster Bash, it was time for Juliet and I to go on a little drive and go to The Snowman in Portersville as we love to get a cool snack and enjoy the farm land around us. On the drive over Juliet and I chatted about what is next for her to write in the world of Sparkle Comics, and while we did not lock a project many possibilities were discussed and by the end of our vacation I will have a project for her to work on! When we arrived at The Snowman, we noticed that it was the busiest it has been since we have been going, and this made me happy as I really love this little shaved ice shop. I ordered my Yeti Shake and Juliet got chocolate shaved ice and we chilled at a table and soaked in the sun and before leaving had to see the horses again with my favorite being Cookie who is the brown female horse who is 33 years old. Another great visit to The Snowman and if you’re in the Cranberry area make sure to stop by and enjoy a Yeti Shake or a shaved ice!

While leaving the Snowman and before hitting the highway again, I spotted a small cemetery near a church and had to stop and see it! The cemetery was behind Portersville Bible Church and was very tiny and surrounded by corn fields and sat on a hill with a great view! The parking lot had a very old a cool crypt that was turned into a shed and looked straight out of a classic black and white horror film and this was what really caught by eye as it was the perfect mix of classic and creepy. Many of the graves was very old and lots of the dates could not be read from wear, and the mood of the cemetery was very peaceful. As Juliet walked among the tombstones I stood on a patch of bare land and looked around the land around and breathed in the fresh air.  After a while we decided to leave and Juliet would not go to the abandon school across the street so we headed back out into the world of Pennsylvania!

After a great day of exploring and relaxing, we decided that we were once more going to have a night of Wing Kings and a movie! I was craving some wings and spending the evening watching a Horror Film and before bed reading Captain America Annual # 6 sounded like a perfect way to end the night. So I ordered 12 garlic wings and some cheese sticks and the film of the night was Devil Ant, the shot on video masterpiece from independent filmmaker pioneer David “The Rock” Nelson! The films that The Rock makes are so much fun and have so much heart and entertainment value to them and capture the true nature of shot on video backyard films. Plus The Devil Ant is packed with tons of cameos from such people as Roger Corman, Hilary Clinton, Son Of Ghoul and Svengoolie to name a few. Plus eating tasty chicken wings and watching a zero budget film is something I think every Horror movie fan should do on Sunday nights! So after dinner and the movie I climbed into bed and read the Captain America comic and went to bed ending the third and final day of Monster Bash.

Day five of being in Cranberry, Juliet and I decided to get some breakfast at Einstein Bros and after went to the Cranberry Cinema to see Transformers: The Last Knight on the big screen! We both really like the Cranberry Cinema as its a great independently owned first run theater with a great staff and on Mondays tickets are cheaper and they give you a free small popcorn! After the movie we hung out again at the hotel and I read some comics and took a nap, and once back up we ate lunch at Max And Erma’s and had desert at TCBY making it the second time we had frozen yogurt on this trip. After we had a good frozen treat, we went back to New Dimension Comics and loaded up on great $1.00 books where I found such cool comics like Night Of The Living Dead: Aftermath, Captain America and many more. Once back at the hotel and when evening came we watched WWE Monday Night Raw and had diner at Bob Evans via carry out. Before bed I read the first issue of Night Of The Living Dead: Aftermath and an issue of Action Comics. And so ended another great day of our vacation.

On the six and final day of our vacation in Cranberry we decided to head to Mars Brew House and get some coffee before we headed to what is always one of my must stops the place that for me helps get my creative juices flowing, Evans City Cemetery, the shooting location for one of the most iconic zombie and horror films of all time Night Of The Living Dead! I have been to this place many times and its charm and just beautiful atmosphere is refreshing to a guy like we who likes small town life, but has to live in the city as well as work in it. Juliet and I walked around for a long while chatting about Sparkle Comics, zombie films, graves and Monster Bash. One thing we noticed this year is that the cemetery was over run by chipmunks that darted around like little fuzzy wildmen.  This of course made us joke about doing a comic called “Night Of The Living Chipmunks”! Even at one point as we were walking the isles of tombstones we both had to dodge a crazed bird that was flying right toward us! This is such a peaceful place and if you find yourself in the area and just need a quite place to relax and maybe read a book or comic make sure to stop here and soak it all in.

While in Cranberry I sent a message to Wampum Underground to see if Juliet and I could take a tour of the main filming spot of my favorite zombie film of all time and the main topic of this update Day Of The Dead…but sadly they would not allow us, and while it was a letdown, I understand why they don’t let fans of the film in as it would be nonstop plus they store people’s personal items as well as companies. So while we could not go inside Juliet and I still decided to at least drive to it and see it from the outside, and man when we arrived I just imagined the whole area being swarmed with zombies and this made me smile. We drove past it a few times and I snapped a few pictures as we pulled over so that I could at least soak in the filming spot. Once done Juliet and I headed back home and chatted about comics, movies, life and wrestling while we listened to more Real Short Box Podcasts. I always hate when this vacation to Monster Bash comes to an end as I really do enjoy being there and just love the fact that classic monsters are being honored by the staff of the Bash as well as fans who attended the event. Once home I had a few more days off before I had to return to work and spent it working on the new house, working on Sparkle Comics and found some old movie scripts that might be finally shot for the possible rebirth of Independent B Movie. So that was the vacation part of this update and now its time for us to talk about…..DAY OF THE DEAD!

George A. Romero created the modern zombie film with his 1968 classic “Night Of The Living Dead” that I covered twice here on Rotten Ink.  One was the Prolougue & Aftermath and then I did the Adaptation of the film both done by Fantaco Comics. Then in 1978, he returned to the zombie world and made the masterpiece “Dawn Of The Dead” with last year me taking a look at the IDW Adaptation of the film, and now this year’s Monster Bash leads me to my favorite in the series hands down “Day Of The Dead”! So if you’re ready to go underground to hide from the living dead, we will start our journey into the third Romero film and enter the world of when the dead ruled the day and the dawn was over!

Let’s begin our trip to the underground world were the dead has taken over topside by breaking down the film itself. While I could babble on about this film for ever I will make it brief as I also think that those who want to really get the inside story of the film should buy the Scream Factory DVD or Blu-Ray and watch the fantastic extras that goes into the full history of the film.

Day Of The Dead was part of a three film deal that George A. Romero signed with Laurel Entertainment who wanted the third film in his dead series to be made and as part of the deal, both Creepshow and Knightriders were made and unleashed onto the horror watching masses. The idea for Day of The Dead started out big as the original budget was set at $7 million, and it was supposed to be the “Gone With The Wind” of zombie films! The original idea was to have it be high action with the army fighting zombies with boats and explosions in Florida with lots of the budget going into the effects. But after the budget was cut down to only $3.5 million, the big ideas had to be cut down to a more practical story.  The film ended up being mostly shot in Pennsylvania with some still being filmed in Florida, and they took lots of the action out of the script and added more drama. Casting was perfect and went as following Lori Cardille as Sarah Bowman, Terry Alexander as John, Jarlath Conroy as Bill, Joseph Pilato as Captain Rhodes, Gary Howard as Pvt. Steel and Sherman Horard as Bub to name a few. He hired Tom Savini and his crew to do the FX including Gregory Nicotero who would go on to do FX on the hit AMC show The Walking Dead. The film needed lots of zombies, and extras were brought in and did it for free or made a $1.00 and got a hat that said “I Was A Zombie In Day Of The Dead”. The production was grueling as they filmed under ground in Wampum, and the air down there made many actors and crew sick. When done Laurel Entertainment released it to limited theaters on July 19, 1985 and was meet with mix reviews by fans and critics and only brought in $5,000,000.00 at the US Box Office making the film not a major hit, but it did do better overseas bringing in $28 million to help the film become a minor hit. In 1985 Day of the Dead was # 115 at the box office and beat out such classic genre films as “Godzilla 1985”, “Rainbow Brite And The Star Stealer”, “The Bride”, “Re-Animator”, “Def-Con 4” and “The Company Of Wolves” to name a few. What hurt Day Of The Dead at the cinema was the fact it had a limited release and was up against other horror films like “A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Dead”, “Fright Night”, “Friday The 13^th V: A New Beginning”, “Silver Bullet” and “Return Of The Living Dead,” a film that updated the the zombie genre that Romero created with faster, smarter and more threatening undead. But while for the longest time it was viewed as the weaker of the Romero Dead Trilogy, it has gained the respect and fanfare that it has been due since it was released. Again while I love many zombie films like Zombi 2, Return Of The Living Dead, White Zombie, Night of The Living Dead and Dawn Of The Dead, it’s Day of The Dead that remains my favorite.

So as you can see hands down my favorite zombie film of all time is Day Of The Dead and many of you long time readers remember that I first saw this film on USA Network when I was a kid and it captured my imagination and was a hot talk topic at school when it first aired on that iconic network. I spent sometime as well drawing pictures of Bub and wondering if he would show up in the 4^th Romero Dead film. Once we got a VCR and I found the VHS tape of the movie, I of course bought it and watched the hell out of it! When playing Resident Evil 3: Nemesis on the Sony Playstation and near death I would limp around and scream “Come On” just like Captain Rhodes did in the film as it always made me and others laugh. The home video market is what helped Day Of The Dead gain fans and would also be what helped it make more money to build it up to being profitable. I also really like the fact that in Walking Dead season 4 in the episode called Us, characters Glenn and Tara are in a tunnel and are being attacked by zombies and clearly one of the zombies is Bub!! I watch this film on DVD all the time and even watch the USA Network print that my pal Jason Young gave me that he recorded when he was a youngster! So do yourself a favor and make sure to watch this film this Halloween as it’s worth the view.

I also want to note that with a heavy heart as I was working on this update, George A. Romero passed away from lung cancer, and this was a major blow to me as I have been a longtime fan of his work and even visit his filming locations as his films mean that much to me. I want to dedicate this blog update to Mr. Romero and want to think him for all the scares he has delivered to all us Horror Fans and my thoughts are with his family, friends and fans during this very sad and hard time.

The score soundtrack for Day of The Dead is done by John Harrison and mixes eerie horror with an island sound delivering a very interesting and in my opinion very memorable score. That’s one thing that drives me crazy is when people try and compare the Harrison score for Day Of The Dead against the Goblin score for Dawn Of The Dead as they are two different styles for two different styles and mood of films and each do their respective film justice. Harrison’s score music is very moody and captures the dread as well as the hope that members of the underground group have, as the dark sounds really represent the zombies and the army both who are the the real threats to the group of scientist as the more island sound represents our heroes and John the pilot who has a thought that they should take over an island and restart mankind and leave the past behind us. I have played this soundtrack many times on Alpha Rhythms on WYSO, and my favorite track is “Breakdown” as I truly think its an amazing track and sums up the feel and mood of the film. This soundtrack has been released on Vinyl and CD, and the first time I owned it was on a CD called “Dead Trilogy” that had it paired with Night and Dawn and was made by Roger’s Basement a cool old website that use to offer hard to find and never released soundtracks to Horror and Science Fiction films that would also have dialogue from the films, very cool stuff and I wish Roger would comeback to the web and start this back up again. Now I also own the soundtrack on an official CD release put out by Taurus, and on the vinyl reissue from Waxwork. If you’re a lover of Horror Film score music, do yourself a favor and pick this one up as it’s really is a great listen.

Like “Night Of The Living Dead” and “Dawn Of The Dead” before it, “Day Of The Dead” has had its share of some amazing merchandise! Like a very cool Prism Sticker that was in vending machines back in the late 80’s. Movie posters for theaters and video stores that would also find their way to being reproductions for home décor. The soundtrack made its way to vinyl and CD and has been played many times on Alpha Rhythms on WYSO. Halloween masks based on the likeness of Bub and Dr. Tongue have been made for fans to dress as their favorite zombie of the film. Plus Amok Time has made some amazing action figures based on Day Of The Dead of Dr. Tongue and Bub and these figures are a must have for fans of the film. Also fan art, shirts and comics have been made as well at the film has been released on many home media like VHS and DVD. Also Day of The Dead has been released on Blu-Ray and in the Arrow limited edition release a cool mini comic book came inside called “Day of The Dead: Desertion” that was about everyone’s favorite zombie Bub…before he was a zombie! So if you are a fan of this film like me, I am sure you own many of these cool items and here is hoping for more items to be made as I will for sure buy them to add to my collection.

So while Bub and Dr. Tongue are the two zombies from the film that get most of the attention from horror fans, I want to focus on one who in my opinion is over looked but is all the same a very cool zombie, and I am talking about Beef Treats! I am sure some of you readers are asking yourself who is Beef Treats, and I am here to tell you he is the male zombie that is captured and refuses to eat the beef in a can that the doctors are trying to feed him that is supplied by the army. Beef Treats, while not a major zombie in the film, has built up a fan following and was played by actor Mark Tierno whom I have had the honor of going to dinner with along side my pal Geoff Burkman who played a zombie in Day Of The Dead, Juliet, my pal David J. Getz and fans of writers of this iconic third film in the Romero Dead series at a Brown Derby restaurant after the Cinema Wasteland Convention in Strongsville, Ohio area. The dinner was lots of fun as it was great to hear Mark talk about his time on set and the motivation behind playing Beef Treats, I also think it was humorous that during dinner he ordered brussel sprouts, and in my mind I pictured a zombie eating those vegetables and it made me chuckle. It was also great seeing the fans and such asking Geoff about his time as a zombie as he is very proud of the fact he was in that film, and as he should be. So while he is not as iconic as Bub, I must say Beef Treats is a great zombie who added his own blood stain in the world of Day Of The Dead! So here is to you Beef Treats and actor Mark Tierno, who made this zombie come undead on the silver screen.

On April 11, 2015 Juliet and I decided to take our pal Geoff Burkman to Cinema Wasteland Convention as they had a big Day Of The Dead reunion.  Geoff played a zombie in the film and wanted to chat with the star.  This is also my favorite zombie film of all time, and I wanted to meet such stars as Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Sherman Howard, Gary Howard and all the others attending.  The main person I wanted to meet was Joe Pilato who plays Captain Rhodes, one of the best characters in Horror Cinema! The drive up to Wasteland was lots of fun and we all chatted about movies, The Walking Dead and even ideas for a Babysitter Massacre 2! Once at the event Geoff went his separate way as did Juliet and I, and after walking around for a few minutes and catching up with the old Cinema Wasteland Family, I got the honor of meeting Joe Pilato, and man, was he one kick ass dude! He cracked me up as when coming up to his table he screamed out to the crowd “Oh My God It’s Billy Romero, George’s Son!” as he told me that I reminded him of a young George Romero and that was one heck of a great compliment coming from him. The people around all looked at me when he screamed this, and I think some of them really did think I was Romero’s son! While at the table I chatted with Joe for a short time and told him all the same things all fans do about how he played one of my favorite characters of all time and got his autograph as well as a photo with him. Before we left his table he asked Juliet and I if we were going to the Day Of The Dead Q & A that was happing later on in the day and we of course said yes! Lucky for us when the time came we all got good seats and listened to the cast and crew chat about the making of the film as well as shout out famous lines from the film….it was amazing to hear all this in person! As we left the convention was when we were able to go out to dinner with Beef Treats Zombie and chat with fellow lovers of this film. I must say that Cinema Wasteland does it right when it comes to showcasing amazing cult actors and directors and don’t fill their guest list with B-List cameo actors from mainstream modern cable TV series. So I want to thank Ken and Pam for making this convention rock as much as it does as they have the heart and soul of true Horror fans! Below is the pic of Joe and I from Wasteland.

My pal Geoff, as you know by now, was a zombie extra in Day of The Dead. I have known Geoff since I was five years old as he owned a record store called Renaissance Music that my dad would shop at and I would as well once as I got older. Geoff is a cool guy and has been in a ton of plays in and around the Dayton area as well as has been in lots of great locally made films like The Manson Family, The Wolf Hunter 1-2, Babysitter Massacre, Depression The Movie, Atrocity Circle and many more. So it’s my pleasure and honor to sit with Geoff Burkman, zombie extra for Day Of The Dead and ask him a few questions!

Matt: How Did You Hear About The Casting Of Zombie Extras For Day Of The Dead?

Geoff: I was friends with a WSU film student, Bill Laxson, who was a customer at the shop. A year or so after he graduated, I think, I got a call from him out of the blue, telling me he’d gotten a job as a PA on the film. Either he mentioned the possibility, or I geeked out, or whatever, but one thing led to another, and soon I was in touch with the ladies running extras casting, and the rest is history.

Matt: When Selected Who Picked That You Would Be The Baseball Catcher Zombie?

Geoff: He was an umpire, actually. That was likely the choice of costuming, based on my measurements. I had no idea what I would be until I got there.

Matt: What Was The Process Like Getting Into The Makeup? And Who Did Your Makeup?

Geoff: Day One was the umpire zombie, part of the assembly line. Sadly, I don’t recall the name of the lady who did mine. I want to say there were 4-6 stations for making up the extras that morning. Took maybe an hour or so, iirc. Overall, we were on site by 730am and fully costumed, made up and ready to rock by 10am. We didn’t get called to shoot until at least 10pm that night. So, a whole bunch of waiting around.

Day Two I played a different zombie, one of the collar gang, presumably from the depths of the walled-off cavern. For that one I’d been shown through Saviniland by Bill and intro’ed to Tom himself as a possible head-shot zombie. No such luck, my hair was deemed not thick enough to mask the squib. Still, it was either Tom or one of his assistants (not Nicotero that I can remember, although I did meet him) who did me up, complete with several facial wounds off the “Zombies’R’Us” prosthetic molds.

Matt: Tell Us About The Scenes You Were In And Did You Get To Share The Screen With The Stars?

Geoff: Nope, no screen-shares for me. Day One umpire zombie shot scenes of the devouring of Steele, which show up late in the film. Umpire dude appears in the back right of two quick floor level shots with action in center frame. Of course, a lot more takes and angles were shot than appear in the film, including a close-up of me trying to jam a bloody bone through my mask. Boy, I’d love to have the raw footage from that night’s shoot!

Day Two was scenes of the break-in to the complex after Steele shoots open the door, so my guy shows up in the panning shot of the horde swarming in. I also did background for the sequence with Rhodes slamming a zombie off his golf cart, but I’ve never found him onscreen, even with careful freeze-framing. I was there, nonetheless. I was also a part of the crowd entering Steele’s death room, but didn’t make the final cut, despite another close-up in which Romero directed me to create a momentary bottleneck in the doorway. Such is the fate of an extra, even dead ones. So, I never got to work with any of the leads, although I was privileged to watch Joe Pilato, Gary Klar, and Taso Stavrakis (as a stunt zombie) do their thing. I don’t recall seeing any of the other actors while I was there, though I could just be forgetting that, since it’s not like they go around being introduced to the extras, and I would have been far too reserved/shy to approach them.

Matt: What Do You See The Fate Of Your Zombie Being After The Events Of The Film?

Geoff: Ha, ha! Pretty sad for them, eh? Stuck in that underground facility with the only way out going up the ladder after the escaping humans. And given that umpire dude was busy chowing down while Sara’s group was busy escaping, it’s not likely he ever made his way back into the cavern and up that ladder. I figure he just ended up wandering around until maybe he found a baseball somewhere and then sat down and bounced it off a wall until he rotted away. Same fate for my collar zombie, too, minus the baseball entertainment. I’d have to say that most if not the entirety of that horde eventually just fell apart, likely in pitch black after the power went out. Good thing they were already dead; what a way to go!

Matt: Thanks Geoff for sharing your memories with me again and my readers!

Geoff Burkman is a class act and has and always will be a great friend to me. I also really like the fact that Geoff enjoys horror films as well as comic books and music, and this is why I think we get along so well. Looking at all my friends I must say I have some very creative people in my life from movie makers, Actors, Comic Artists, Pro Wrestlers, Musicians, Painters, Models, Freakshow Performers, Horror Hosts, Tattoo Artist, Radio DJs, Book Authors, Clothing Designers, Beard Competition Winners, Craft Makers, Store Owners, Photographers and so many others who all do creative things! And I must say I value each of my friendships as each person makes my life better. So thanks again Geoff for taking your time and to answer 5 Questions for my readers and me. Below is a picture of the icon George A. Romero and tons of zombie extras.

As a longtime comic book reader, I was super hyped when I discovered a cool comic book company called Dead Dog Comics in around 2004 that kept showing up at Cinema Wasteland when I was a vendor there with Independent B Movie and later Andy Copp as this company was making high quality horror comics that were original and others based on movies, I would buy first thing and read them once back at the hotel and after dinner. The first comic I got from them was Night Of The Living Dead: Barbara’s Zombie Chronicles # 1 and I was hooked and even when returning home added all their comics I could to my Mavericks Cards and Comics pull list. I would also chat with the creators and owners of Dead Dog Comics while at Wasteland, and they would tell me what was coming up and listen to my ideas of what horror films should be comics as they clearly loved what they made and created. Sadly they closed shop in roughly 2007 and the void they left would not be filled for me until 2016 when Eibon Press was unleashed on the comic reading market. One of Dead Dog’s final releases was the comic we are about to review based on Day Of The Dead. I can remember being so hyped when I picked up this copy from Cinema Wasteland and was not disappointed when I read it then and can’t wait to see if it holds up! The downside is that this series was supposed to be a 3 issue mini series but only had one issue released before they went under. So as we travel even deeper underground to get away from the zombies I can hear this echo “Remember I grade these on a standard 1-4 star rating and am looking at how well the comic keeps to the source material, its entertainment value, its art and story.” So with that, let’s see how well this comic holds up to my memories and how well it does justice to my favorite zombie film of all time.

Day Of The Dead: The Rising Of Bub # 1 ***
Released in 2007 Cover Price $4.95 Dead Dog Comics # 1 of 3

Joe, his wife Anne, and a whole apartment filled of survivors hear the call from army soldier Miguel in the streets of Florida and try to get everyone together quickly in order to be saved, but an accident leaves one of their members dead and the opportunity to be saved lost. The survivors’ morale is down as they all meet up and try and figure out where the helicopter came from and who is manning it. The survivors group is made up of all types of people from young to old and locals and vacationers all who give their ideas about where the base is that holds their saviors, but it’s Norman who looks beyond the big airfields and finds a location that he thinks is the perfect place for them to be at. The next morning the adults meet at Norman’s garage and find that his plan is to use a push car called The Phalanx to get to the local jeep dealership in order to hot wire them and get them to the target location, and before they can decide if the idea will work over breakfast they are interrupted by Kat and her boyfriend who inform Joe that Anne has killed herself. While all this is going on the zombies are gathering and Bub is now free and leading a group of the undead.

This is Walking Dead and Land Of The Dead mixed as this focuses on a group of survivors who are held up in a apartment building in Florida who want so badly to be saved and think that if they can get to the base that Rhodes and his men are at that, they can be saved and are doing all they can to come up with an idea to reach their safe zone that they are unaware has been overrun by zombies. Joe is the “leader” of the survivors as it’s clear he is the one with the level head and breaks up fights and tries his best to keep the peace among his people. He also tries his best to keep an eye on his lady Anne and his daughter Kat who are also suck in this world of the undead. Norman and the rest of the group are all good people that are trying not to snap in the bad situation that they are in and tempers do get short as they all think they know what’s good for an escape. The zombies are everywhere and are hungry for human flesh and even Dr. Tongue is on the prowl looking for a quick meal. Bub is around but only shown in one panel as he is leading a group of zombies around underground and makes you wonder how angry he is. This is a great issue as it builds up our survivors and shows that they are desperate to find help and are stuck in a bad way as the world around them is filled with the undead.  The only major downside is that while Bub and the zombies are around, they are very much second thoughts and are the cause of the whole drama but only really get to eat one person for the whole issue. I would have liked to have seen more of Bub and do realize that issues 2 and 3 would have shown him more, but still a little sad all we got is one panel in this issue. The cover is great and shows a mad looking Bub in the underground.  The interior art is done by Jeff Zornow and is fantastic stuff and captures a good zombie comic feel. Over all this very much held up for me, and I enjoyed reading it in 2017 just as much as I did in 2007…wow that’s been 10 years! Fans of the film will enjoy this issue even if it’s not as dark as the film, and I hope that Dead Dog Comics comes back and delivers more comics based on cool horror films.  All I can say is come on, Chazz DeMoss, make this happen! Check out this cool art below to see what style this comic delivers.

So the day has ended, and we have survived another zombie invasion as well as another Monster Bash vacation.  I for one can’t wait to go back to Cranberry again next year and do it all over again! So with this we are leaving zombies behind and once more stepping back into the world of Pro Wrestling as we take a look at Chyna and the Chaos! comics based on her. So until next time, enjoy the rest of this summer, read a comic or three, watch a Romero film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! So see you in the ring, my readers and friends!

Body Count The Forgotten Horror Series From Aircel

Welcome back to Rotten Ink, a place for me to share my past, present and future! On this update, I want to chat a little about independent horror comics and my love for them! Growing up I was a avid comic reader, and super heroes like “Captain America”, “Batman”, “Spider-Man”, “Superman” and “The Incredible Hulk” were what I was reading at almost any given time as those were comics that we could find at the local grocery stores and comic racks at convenient stores. Besides the superhero comics, I also read lots based on toy lines, books and cartoons like “G.I. Joe”, “Masters Of The Universe”, “Transformers”, “Conan The Barbarian” and “Thundercats” that were also easy to find. The only horror comic titles I had were copies of “Werewolf By Night”, “Swamp Thing”, “Tomb of Dracula”, “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not”, “Godzilla” and “Man-Thing,” all mostly obtained at garage sales that acted as another source of a way for me and my brother to get comics. Growing up in a small town like Waynesville made it super hard to find out about other comics as it did not have a comic store (besides antique store Spencers that carried back issues of Power Man and Secret Wars 2). The closest ones around were Dark Star in Yellow Springs, Mavericks in both Kettering and Centerville and my all time favorite store Bookie Parlor that was also in Dayton/Kettering, and my parents would only take us to these stores from time to time when I was really young and more so when I was around 12 or 13. I can remember discovering that comic companies like NOW, Innovation, Eternity, Malibu and Epic were cranking out comics based not only on super heroes but also horror and science fiction comics and being blown away at the huge selection that comic shops had us readers able to choose from as I was used to the magazine section of Big Bear and Hearts in Lebanon where I got most of my comics from other than the subscriptions that my Mom and Dad would finally break down and get me and my brother. The good old Marvel Comics subscriptions through the mail was where I would get my issues of Incredible Hulk, Captain America and Amazing Spider-Man delivered to my waiting hands, but the worst part about it was our mailman would fold the issues in order to place them in our mailbox leaving the issues with a bend down the center! But while I loved my super hero adventures, I was a Monster Kid so I also loved to read about the night time terrors of Dracula from the pages of Tomb Of Dracula, the inner struggle of Jack Russell the Werewolf By Night, the stomping rampage of Godzilla as well as the burning touch of Man-Thing who I always enjoyed more than Swamp Thing in the comic world…I know it’s because I am a Marvel Guy. The only independent horror comics that I owned and had access to were from Gold Key and Whitman and were such things as Ripley’s Believe It Or Not and some very beat up and in some case coverless issues of Boris Karloff Tales Of Mystery that my brother Bryan shared with me. But my love for horror comics really exploded when visits to the local comic shops started to happen more often and my parents started to enjoy the fact I was reading a bunch and encouraged me to choose comics and even paperback novels I would enjoy.

The first time I walked into the Bookie Parlor, I was a fan as the owner Hal and his wife Sue were super nice to me and my brother, and after coming in for a few times and spending money Hal would start to let me know when he got new back issues of Hulk and Captain America in. At the Bookie Parlor, I discovered Atlas Comics and its characters like The Brute, Son Of Dracula and their series like “Tales Of Evil”. And at Bookie Parlor is where I found comics by Epic based on the Clive Barker films “Nightbreed” and “Hellraiser” and started my obsession with the Nightbreed and Rawhead Rex cross over. It was also where I discovered Eternity Comics and the fact they made comics based on Full Moon Entertainment films likes “Subspecies” and “Puppet Master” that I had to have and read. Claypool was another comic company Bookie Parlor introduced to me who made comics based on “Elvira Mistress Of The Dark”!

At Mavericks Cards and Comics in Kettering, a place I would later work for, I met owner Jack who always treated me and my brother like we were his friends and would also give us discounts as well as free comics.  During these early years is when I met Jason Young who years later would be one of my closest friends as well as Jeremy Hoyt! While shopping Mavericks I discovered NOW Comics who made comics based on the TV Show “Twilight Zone” and horror film “Fright Night” as well as Innovation who did comics based on the films “Psycho”, “Child’s Play” and “A Nightmare On Elm Street”! Another independent comic company Mavericks introduced me to was Apple who did weird adult horror comics like “Dracula In Hell” and another company, Blackthorne, who shocked me with comics based on the film “Waxwork” and TV Show “Werewolf”. Between these two stores my want and need for horror comics was in full effect as I would buy whatever ones I could get my hands onto, from comics based on killer “Jack The Ripper” to ones based on classic monsters like “Phantom Of The Opera” and even ones that I had no idea what they were even about before buying like “Body Count.”  All I knew was that I needed to read them all! During this time I also started buying Topps Comics as they had many amazing titles out like “Dracula Frankenstein War”, “Bram Stokers Dracula”, “Satan’s Six”, “Jason Goes To Hell” and “Jason vs. Leatherface” and with Dracula Frankenstein War started my first ever comic store pull list. During this time was also the birth of me having to have all the comics based on horror films as many of the films I loved had adaptations and new comic killing adventures for them as such titles as “Re-Animator”, “Halloween”, “Army Of Darkness”, “Night Of The Living Dead”, “Blair Witch Project”, “Pumpkinhead” and so many more from many different comic companies all had comics based around them. For me the comic killing sprees for these movie monsters was another way to add to the characters’ legacy and a way for fans to get a little more while waiting for the next film.

During this time as well I didn’t give up on Marvel Horror as I went out of my way to get more and more issues of Werewolf By Night and the others as they also filled the need to read horror comics. During this time was a true magical age for horror comics as besides the companies mentioned above you had Arrow, Fantaco, Aircel, Northstar, Chaos, Dead Dog, IDW, Avatar, ONI, Fangoria and many others publishing and making horror themed comics from the late 80’s thru the mid 2000’s with each delivering blood and gore filled issues. But during what I call the Golden Years of Horror Comics also came the crash of the 90’s when Marvel and DC once more went to war to dominate the shelf space at comic shops and by putting out so much product, they forced many amazing companies to go under as did cut throat politics in the industry among small press companies. The companies that have fallen to the comic rack in the sky that I miss the most and wonder what they would be making now if still around have to be Topps Comics, Fangoria Comics and Dead Dog Comics all of whom were some of my favorite companies going and all who delivered some amazing horror comics into readers hands. During these years horror comics were coming out less and less, and many of them were not based on horror films as they were just original titles mostly based on vampires or zombies with 2003’s Walking Dead from Image being the biggest horror comic title in years.

We are now in 2017, and over the past two years, independent horror comic companies are back on the rise and are making some amazing and entertaining stuff. While the bigger companies like Image, IDW, Boom and Devil’s Due are putting out horror comics with titles like Lord Of Gore, Godzilla, Kong Of Skull Island and Walking Dead, it’s also the smaller guys who are coming into your comic shops and online stores with some amazing stuff that is bringing back the boom of these comics that has been long dead for to long.

My favorite small press company is Eibon Press, run by Shawn Lewis who is also the owner of t-shirt company Rotten Cotton.  They are doing amazing comic books with releases based on Italian director Lucio Fulci movies like “Zombie” and “Gates Of Hell”! They also have titles based on such films as “Laserblast”, “Maniac” and many more including an original series called “Bottom Feeder” in the works. Another cool thing about Eibon is that they have what’s called the Eibon Sleeve that is like a record sleeve for your comic.  They also back it with all types of great stuff like stickers, trading cards, bookmarks and even vinyl records!

Action Lab has a sub company called Danger Zone that has put out some great spooky series and mini series like ones based on Full Moon films “Puppet Master”, “Gingerdead Man” and “Trancers” as well as original titles like “Final Plague”, “Southern Dog” and “Blood & Dust”. While it seems at this time the Full Moon comic deal has come to an end, I have faith that their editor-in-chief Shawn Gabborin will unleash more horror themed comics to the market.

Small publisher Lion Forge has released the series “Night Trap” alongside other horror themed books like “Mad Balls” based on the spooky toys. This company prices their comics at a great price at $2.99 each and sadly seem to be gone or on hold as I have not seen much from them in Diamond Previews as of late. But while their fate of physical comics is up in the air, they still tried to make a small mark for Horror Comic readers.

Rough House Publishing run by Derek Rook has brought back two classic horror comics from the graveyard as they have released “The Dead Omnibus” as well as new issues of “Gore Shriek” with a comic based on the remake of the film “Nightmare City” coming soon. This is a company I cannot wait to see what else is coming from as rumors of music and other cool media items have surfaced as has lots of gossip about what’s in store for the comics they are doing.

The Blood-Shed Publishing has a series called “We Kill The Dead” on the way that showcases over 20 movie slashers from independent horror films doing battle with a government elite team. This is a mini series and rumors of new horror comics from them have been floating around. This is one comic company that is attached to a horror news website that you might want to keep your eyes on.

Space Goat is a company that has been around since 2014 making comics as well as board games. They have also delivered some great horror comic titles like “Evil Dead 2”, “The Howling”, “Zombie Camp” and “Forty Coffins” to name a few. And I also want to give a shout out to Titan Comics who have been doing their best at delivering entertaining spooky comics like “Anno Dracula”, “It Came” and even have Hammer Horror comics with “The Mummy” and rumor of “Captain Cronos Vampire Hunter” coming soon! Plus American Mythology is doing some great comics and even one based on the Adam Green film “Hatchet” as is Alterna who has titled like “Croak” and “The Chair” to name a few so as you can see the world of horror comics has lots of great companies doing amazing things.

When opening Sparkle Comics alongside Jason Young in 2016 and after getting friends and amazing artists like Damien Brunk, Jason Gilmore and Scott Scarborough joining the comic making family, I knew we had to make horror comics so we even opened a branch we are calling Blood Scream Comics that is slated to showcase gore and more mature style horror comics with the all ages and teen horror comics coming out via the Sparkle label. Sp far for Sparkle Comics, we have the free online comic called “Don’t Play With Monsters” that features foolish kids coming across monsters who are not as cute as they appear. “Shocking Macabre Theater” is an anthology comic that has Dayton, Ohio horror hosts Dr. Creep, A. Ghastlee Ghoul and Baron Von Porkchop sharing twisted tales with a stranded motorist. We also have “The Wolf Hunter” based on the shot on video film of the same name that was directed by Matt Hoffman who also played the title role and has The Wolf Hunter killing werewolves in the state of Ohio. We have a series called “Unknown Creatures” that features tales of cryptozoology creatures with the first issue being about the Flatwoods Monster! We also have 12 page issue # 0’s in the works that are based on shot on video films from Independent B Movie and Bloodline Video that will feature stories based on “The Sadness”, “Farmer Joe” and “Scars” and will allow our readers the chance to vote on which horror baddie will get a full # 1 issue! With many more amazing horror comic titles in the works, we hope to entertain readers with spooky, gory and twisted tales. One thing I am the most proud of is that via Blood Scream Comics we will be doing issues based on the films of Paul Naschy as well as have comics based on films from such companies as Warlock Home Video, Massacre Home Video, Brain Damage Films, Scream Time Films and Nevermore Productions in the works as well as comics based on pro wrestlers who fit the horror theme! So there are lots of great spooky reads are coming your way via Sparkle and Blood Scream Comics.

Sorry for being so long winded; it’s just I really do think that it’s a great time to be not only a horror comic reader but also just a comic reader in general. And I really do feel that horror comics have a bright future with many of these companies turning out very high quality comics that are well written and well drawn driving the market back up for the independents. But let’s get focused on the comic I have chosen to review for this spooky epic update and that’s Body Count, a silly horror comedy comic that I discovered at Mavericks Cards And Comics when I was a teen and bought and read and enjoyed for the wacky killer and the large chested heroine…oh and the over the top kills. I want to thank Bell, Book And Comic, Ebay and Lone Star Comics for making this update possible and having these issues in stock so that I could own them again and cover for this review. So if you’re ready, check your brain and taste at the door and let’s dive into a late 80’s and early 90’s horror comic that will have you screaming with fear and laughing after with joy. I also want to note that even as a youngster I never could find the 4th and final issue so this will be my first time reading how this story ends! Oh yeah I grade these on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story! So lets take a look at Body Count!

Body Count # 1  **1/2
Released in 1989    Cover Price $2.25    Aircel Comics    # 1 of 4

Winter Falls College is a high priced school where the students are watched by the hotheaded Dean Burns and make fun of simple minded janitor Wanker. Professor Chill is a science teacher and has caught the eye of his student and assistant Becky who will does what she can to get him to notice her.  From short shorts to tights shirts, she brings her A-game, and together they are working on a formula that will in theory turn a nerd into a jock.  After they leave to get some dinner, a pair of students looking to steal knock over the formula and rush away telling Wanker about the mess in the lab. Wanker, being simple minded, takes a taste of the formula goo and it starts to melt him and flings his body into a deep sea divers suit.  He dons the helmet and becomes a crazed killer, and his first victims are the two thief kids that meet their ends with a mop through the head and a telescope through the eyes! When Prof. Chill and Becky return to the lab they find the dead bodies as well as the missing formula and call Dean Burns who heads to the lab to cover up the murder. Meanwhile Wanker is still on his killing spree and drops power cables into the pool killing three students by electrocution causing a power outage and as he is leaving the pool area, he catches Dean Burns and makes him drink Drano! As Chill and Becky leave the lab, they find the bodies and guess that Wanker must have drank the formula and is now a killer and is headed toward town!

This comic is just as silly and over the top as I remember it being when I first read it in my mid teen years. The plot is very much like an 80’s B-movie horror film as a geek puts on a mask and murders those who tormented him, the setting is a college, and the victims are all mean spirited and selfish people who are killed in horrific ways. Professor Chill is our hero, and while smart, he is also pretty goofy and has a hint that he does not really know what they heck he is doing in the lab.  While a goof, he still remains calm with all the bodies pilling up around him and it’s clear he is thinking of ways to stop the killer. Becky is a typical hot chick who showcases her amazing body and uses it to get her way, but when the killing starts she also becomes hysterical and screams her head off in fright! While she is just a scared woman now, it’s clear that she is in for the long haul with her man Prof. Chill. Wanker is just a simple minded janitor who is mistreated by both staff and students and after tasting the foul smelling formula goo, he transforms into a brutal killer who is on a rampage of revenge.  He also turns ugly and disfigured from the goo and wears a diver’s helmet as his killing mask. Wanker is cold and brutal with his best kill being the telescope through the eye as it’s so brutal and gross, it made my own eyeballs hurt! The gore is slightly over the top.  Not on the level of Arrow Comics’ The Dead but it’s more brutal than IDW’s The Fly: Outbreak so Gorehounds have a little splatter to make them happy. The true nature of the comic is also horror comedy as many silly lines are delivered by characters as is cheap sexual jokes that are fitting and add to the cheesy fun of the comic. The cover is okay and does not truly do justice to what the comic is about and the art inside is cartoonish and done by Dave Cooper, fitting for this style of horror comic. Over all, this is an above average horror comedy comic that acts as a build up for this four issue mini series.

Body Count # 2  **1/2
Released in 1990     Cover Price $2.25     Aircel Comics     # 2 of 4

Professor Chill and Becky, along with a device they created that picks up the chemical that created the killer Wanker, head out into town to see if they can find him before he kills again. Meanwhile two fisherman in a boat are not so lucky as the now farting and stinky Wanker sets his sights on them and kills one by crushing his head and leaves the other in a state of shock wandering the roads when he runs into Chill and Becky who take him into town and try to warn the law of the killer on his way. Meanwhile Wanker has found a new pair of college victims who are on a motorcycle joyride as he decapitates the man with a fish and causes the woman to be flung from the bike and smash into a tree! Chill arrives at the police department, and the Sheriff and Deputy rush off to the College before they even could hear why they are running! As Prof. Chill and Becky wonder what they can do to stop Wanker, the police run into the killer that leaves the Deputy dead from a ricochet bullet and the sheriff is bull rushed into some bushes, After the screaming stops Wanker appears, this time around bigger in size!

The rampage of Wanker continues as he makes his way closer to town with murder and destruction on his sick and twisted mind. Professor Chill and Becky come up with a tracking devise that goes off when the killer is around and can also be used to save others, as it’s a warning to the approaching death dealer. They also try the best they can to get help and rush an injured scared to death man to the local law office only to be greeted by the world’s worst police officers! So as you can see the pair of scientists have done all they can up to this point to try and save lives of the townspeople. The Sheriff and Deputy are as backwoods as they come and think everyone is an alien or a communist and are easily slaughtered and out smarted. Wanker is now turning worse and is smelling terrible, becoming more ooze-based with even more of a thirst for blood. He is slowly making his way to the town and killing almost anyone that gets in his way, but oddly enough he allowed one of the fisherman to live! It’s shown that bullets can’t kill and stop Wanker as he is shot a number of times by the Sheriff and simply shrugs them off like Michael Myers from Halloween. Plus at the end of the issue, he grows in size and makes you wonder: did he eat the sheriff or can he body jump like in the films The Hidden and Jason Goes To Hell. The best kill in this issue has to be the decapitation of a collage age brat on a motorcycle with a fish! It’s an over the top and dumb kill but is hands down my favorite in the issue. The blood and gore is once more present and not terribly over done. The cover this time around is better and shows Wanker in all his slimy glory, and the art once more is done by Dave Cooper and is well done for this style of horror comedy comic. And just like the first issue, this one is holding up to what I remember and was a fun read and makes me look forward to reading the next issue again after all these years.

Body Count # 3  **1/2
Released in 1990    Cover Price $2.25    Aircel Comics    # 3 of 4

Becky and Professor Chill are at the bar in Winter Fell and trying to get the locals to believe them about the Wanker Killer that is heading their way, but no one does no matter how hard they try. Meanwhile Wanker stalks and kills a young man on a date by ripping his head off and than turns his attention to the young man’s girlfriend who is running toward town to warn others. Chill and Becky next try to warn the town barber shop of the killer’s rampage but she as well meets her fate by the hands of Wanker who snaps her neck. Chill and Becky run around town trying to warn people of the killer after the barber shop also gives them the high hat as does the post office and the mayor who allows his bodyguard to beat up Chill on his front lawn. In the end Chill and Becky spot Wanker now in town and run to the town’s switchboard operator, and they phone the National Guard and talk to General Howitzer who tells them they are on their way.

The plot thickens as now Wanker is in town and no one believes the warnings being given by Chill and Becky who try every major place in town to spread the coming of a killer. Chill, who feels responsible for the Killer as his formula is what turned a nerdy janitor into a head crushing killer, must push as hard as he can to inform the townspeople as their deaths would be on his hands…kind of. After being beat up and called a communist by all the towns people he almost just walks away to let them deal with the approaching death, but he is reminded that he loves this little town that has acted as away for him to score with collage chicks and get away from his nasty wife. Becky tries to help spread the warning the best she can, but sadly she is just eye candy and no one really listens to her. Wanker is shown to be using the Sheriff’s body as a suit as he has half way crawled up the bodies back and controls it. Wanker is stronger now and after killing a couple on a date has entered town to cause some major damage. This issue only has two deaths and while violent, they are not super gory and a little toned down, with the best being the head rip off from the shoulders of the boyfriend. The story in this issue reminds me of “Invasion Of The Body Snatchers” and “The Blob” as no one is listening to our heroes as everyone thinks their story is to over the top, and this brings more of the B-Horror Movie aspect out of this comic series. The cover is pretty good and once more captures what this series really is all about and the interior art is still done by Dave Cooper and is fantastic for this goofy, gory comic. This issue is filled with lots of humor and once more is a mix of redneck humor, slap stick and adult humor all done at the expense of Becky. Another fun issue just like I remember it and is the lead up to the last issue in the Winter Fell rampage of Wanker and his over sized divers helmet. So let’s move onto the fourth and final issue and discover how Wankers is stopped…or is he, as this will be the first time I have read issue four as I never could find it, so it will be a first time read for me!

Body Count # 4  **
Released in 1990    Cover Price $2.25     Aircel Comics     # 4 of 4

Professor Chill and Becky wait in town, and the pressure hits Chill who feels bad about the rampage of Wanker as his formula goo is what created him! But before they can wonder if the Army can stop the rampage, they show up lead by the crazed and kill hungry General By-God Dry-Heaves McArthur who’s first plan of action is to blow up the bar with his tank as Wanker is inside killing off drinkers, but his attack fails to stop Wanker! The next target is the barbershop as Wanker enters it and kills off the barber and a man looking to get a shave, this time The General hits the business with a missile from a helicopter…it as well fails as Wanker is spotted again alive and unwell! Chill informs them that if they can capture it alive he might be able to cure Wanker and the Army turns on the Professor calling him a monster lover and boot him and Becky off the tank and head back into the hunt for the killer. As Becky and Chill hide the Army finds Wanker who is not scared of the tank and guns and charges causing The General to panic and order for the big bomb to be dropped, as the plan does so and the atomic bomb goes off our story ends with Chill hugging Becky and wondering what effect the radiation will have on Wanker!

The final issue is by far the weakest issue and I am pretty sure even in my middle teens I would have not been a super fan of this overly plotted army based issue that seemed to be rushed and with a very weak ending for the killers rampage. Prof. Chill and Becky are once more thrown to the side when the army gets mad that they want to cure the killer and not kill him like they want to do, but by the army turning on them and chasing them off is what saved their lives as they were able to hide as the bomb was dropped. These lovers are more just waiting to be saved as they have done all they could to save the townspeople and watch in horror as not only Wanker kills those who were rude to them but so does the army! The Army and their leader General By-God Dry-Heaves McArthur are fools who like to blow things up and really have no plan of action of how to really stop Wanker besides just that blow things up…reminds me of the army in Return Of The Living Dead. The townspeople are all crazy and rude and none of them want to believe that a killer is heading their way ready for mayhem and murder, and they get what’s coming to them for being such scummy people. Wanker who is still using the body of the Sheriff as almost a suit of armor is finally in town and wants to make his body count rise hire and hire by knocking off the towns people, and he proves that he is not even scared of a whole army as when they finally have him cornered he don’t back down he lunges forward to take them all one and their tank! His brutal and quite nature makes him like Jason Voorhees (Friday The 13^th) and Michael Myers (Halloween) but not taken as serious by the writer and creators of this comic mini-series. The issue has some blood, guys and kills but they seemed very toned down this issue as does the art done by Dave Cooper that seems very much rushed and lacks the appeal and moody nature of the issues that came before it. The cover as well is not all that great as it just showcases the army…yep, not the killer or even something that shows it’s a horror comic at all! While this might not be the best Independent Horror Comic series of the late 80’s and Early 90’s and by most accounts I am sure this is forgotten and issues can be found in .25 or $1.00 boxes around the world at comic shops, to me it is one that stands out and one I can remember picking up from Mavericks all those years back and reading them while sitting in my room in Waynesville and wondering just how the story was to unfold as I never could find this final issue….and after all these years finding a copy and reading it, while I am little disappointed in the way Wanker’s rampage came to an end I do enjoy the fact it was left wide open for another mini series that sadly never was made. If you love horror comics from the 90’s that have a hint of humor in them, I suggest you check out Body Count, as it is sure to please or at the very least entertain you slightly. Below is some artwork samples from the Body Count series and I should also note that artist Dave Cooper is known for his work on such comics as Suckle and Bent as well as he worked on Nickelodeon Magazine and co-created the cartoon “Pig Goat Banana Cricket” for the station.

I see lots of great horror comics on the horizon for us readers, and it really is a great time to be alive and a comic book fan. Body Count was one of the early independent horror comics I read and after all these years, it kind of holds up as I still find it entertaining, silly, bloody and gory with a lackluster ending. I would love to hear from you friends and readers about what horror comic you first remember reading when younger and even what horror comics are you reading now.  Leave me a comment as I would love to hear from you about this. So for our next update we are leaving Winter Fell behind and joining a underrated Superhero from DC Comics, the super android The Red Tornado! So until next time, make sure to read a comic or three, watch a horror film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you soon for some DC Comics talk…