THE ZANY HORROR HOUSE (PART 2)

Zany #3, March 1959 - Cover art by Bill Everett.

Scriptwriter unknown; art by Dick Briefer.

Scriptwriter unknown; art by Carl Burgos.

Scriptwriter unknown; art by John Forte.

Zany #4, May 1959 - Art by Bill Everett.

Scriptwriter unknown; art by John Forte.

THE ZANY HORROR HOUSE (PART 1)

Another in the long parade of MAD copycats was ZANY, published by Candar Publishing Co. Inc. The first two issues were edited by veteran artist Carl Burgos with Phyllis Yampolsky as art editor for issues 1-3. Dick Richards was the editor for issues 3-4.

Candar was the imprint of Ace Comics' magazine publishing line. The first editor was Donald A. Wollheim, mainly because of their science-fiction titles. After Wollheim, a fellow by the name of Robert C. Sproul -- whose father Joseph was circulation manager of Ace books -- took over the editing chores. which included a line of men's adventure magazines. The company eventually was re-named Major Magazines. Sproul and Major may sound familiar as they would be associated with another humor magazine named CRACKED.

As for the humor in ZANY, like so many others, it is mediocre-to average and sometimes even wince-inducing. But, as you can see, they parodied a few monsters and fantasy newspaper strips along the way with some work by familiar artists.

Zany #1, September 1958. Cover by Bill Everett.

Script and art unknown.

Scriptwriter unknown; art by Paul Reinman.

Scriptwriter unknown; art by Carl Burgos.

Zany #2, December 1958. Cover by Bill Everett.

Scriptwriter and artist unknown.

Scriptwriter unknown; art by Don Orehek.

Scriptwriter unknown; art by Jim Roth.

Scriptwriter and artist unknown.

Included in the pages of ZANY were the first Horror House ads which were hot on the heels of Warren's "Monster Mail Order" that had just started appearing in the back pages of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND. Since ZANY was a parody mag, they made sure readers didn't mistake it as a gag by adding "REAL AD" to the heading!

Horror House "real ad", artist unknown.

The Horror House artwork changed in the 1960's with new art by John Severin.

Severin's original art.

ESOTERIC COMIC ARTIST CARTOONS (PART 2)

Another quick look at this topic after I came across this two-page cartoon feature from MAN'S DARING (November 1962). Readers may recall seeing Vic Martin's signature on single-panel cartoon gags in the pages of CRACKED and FOR MONSTERS ONLY in the 1960's.

Victor "Vic" Martin was born in Argentina and drew the cartoon strip "Salvador" in his native country before moving to the U.S. in the 1950's, where he drew cartoons for various men's magazines. He drew spot cartoons for comic books, including Prize, Toby and Ziff-Davis titles.

Martin made the move to men's humor magazines such as TV GIRLS & GAGS and HUMORAMA, as well as mainstream humor magazines such as Joe Simon's SICK, Charlton's CRAZY and Robert C. Sproul's CRACKED. He also worked for a time on the LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE newspaper strip.

Coincidentally, MAN'S DARING was published by Sproul and Pre-Code horror artist alumnus Bernard Baily!

MAN'S DARING "Gals and Pets" by Vic Martin.

Vic Martin FOR MONSTERS ONLY pages:

Cartoon for the men's magazine ESCAPADE (March 1967). Charlton's Pat Masulli is listed as one of the production staff on the masthead!

TV GIRLS & GAGS (Pocket Magazines, September 1954)

WEB OF HORROR NO. 2 ORIGINAL ART

I always find it interesting to compare original art with the printed results. Many times publishers would use the cheapest paper and the lowest cost printer to get their 'zines on the stands. Even when printed in black and white, the original art shines through with more detail than on the printed page.

Here is an example of Ralph Reese's art for his story, "Man-Plant From the Tomb" (!) from WEB OF HORROR #2. He used an illustration board called Craftint Doubletone which enabled the illustrator to create shading using a special solvent that removed the surface of the board to show the tinting underneath. I suspect that the solvent that was used was full of toxic chemicals which is probably why it's no longer sold. This is one wiser case where its better to use a computer for the same effect!

Below are two illustrations that were used on the letters page drawn by Bernie Wrightson and Jeff Jones. The art is done with ink over graphite on Bristol board.