1. Pal Bugfish has gone and got himself one of those weblog type things that’s popular with all the kids these days…it’s Nat Pike’s Wired for Sound, where he discusses music. So go take a look, you.
2. (Here be SPOILERS) Finished Marvel’s Essential Monster of Frankenstein volume, finally…the earlier chapters, drawn by the always-excellent Mike Ploog, are the highlight of the book, though later chapters get points just for sheer weirdness (the Monster teams up with a robot and they wander off to find peace? Wha–?). The transformation of the Monster from being fairly erudite to being a Hulk-esque “AARRRR! Fire…hate fire!” type of fellow is a little disappointing. Well, it makes sense within the context of the story, but the novelty of a monster that can speak and express itself clearly was welcomed. Also disappointing the brief mention, and discarding, of the idea of attempting to determine just whose brain Dr. Frankenstein ended up using in the Monster. Maybe someone more familiar with Frankenstein lore can correct me, but I think that’s a unique idea, and it’s a shame no one followed up on it. I mean, that brain had to come from somewhere…is any trace of the old personality still in that brain? What if the old mind attempted to reestablish itself over the new mind in residence? Well, I think that’s compelling, anyway.
The book is wrapped up with several stories from Marvel’s black and white magazine line…and boy, those are plenty weird as well. The “mind-transference” storyline involving the scientist, the trapeze artist(!), the Monster, and a mouse, with the end result of the mouse’s mind getting control of the Monster’s body, is really something else. There’s also an odd continuity glitch in this storyline…the mouse with the scientist’s brain survives being destroyed by the mouse-brained Monster at the end of one chapter, but a flashback in the very next chapter shows the Monster most definitely killing the mouse. Suppose it’s too late for a No-Prize.
Anyway, like I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I hope Marvel continues to reprint their horror titles in this format…as well as other titles from their black and white magazine line. Wouldn’t you like to see a Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu Essentials volume? I know I would.
3. Speaking of which, the next volume of Essential Tomb of Dracula is due this week, wrapping up the reprints of the color series, and including stories from the first four issues of the Tomb of Dracula magazine. The first two volumes were great stuff for good value, and the third should be more of the same. This new volume kicks off with issue #50, guest-starring, oddly enough, the Silver Surfer. I’ve come across this issue several times over the years, and each time I flip through it and just sorta shake my head. It’ll be interesting to see how the story now fits in context, now that I’ve read the majority of the series.
