Books

‘The Early Days of McFarlane Toys’: The Horror News Network Review

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If you grew up in the 90s, you couldn’t make it through your childhood without having at least one encounter with one of the many products of McFarlane Toys. Whether it be their Ultra Action Figures of popular Spawn characters, their variety of Kiss and other music lines, or their movie and professional sports lines, there was a McFarlane toy out there for everyone. If you were a big Spawn fan, though, you lived and breathed McFarlane Toys. During those years, barely a month would go by without a new comic book release or a new line of figures hitting the shelves to get everybody talking, and “mint in box” was the name of the game. Some Spawn fans have moved on from collecting since those golden years, but Todd McFarlane Productions is still as relevant as ever given the recent milestone release of Spawn #301 and the anticipation of an upcoming Blumhouse major motion picture directed by McFarlane himself and starring Jamie Foxx as Al Simmons. read more

‘Criminal Macabre: The Big Bleed Out’ Writer Steve Niles and Artist Gyula Németh: The Horror News Network Interview

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Steve Niles hard-boiled detective Cal McDonald has stalked the four color world of comics (and novels) since 1990, solving cases, killing monsters, and upsetting both human and non-human characters alike.

For his latest misadventure, Niles has teamed up with artist Gyula Németh for a tale involving a beautiful vampire and a very premature retirement called Criminal Macabre: The Big Bleed Out.  Niles and Németh sat down with Horror News Network to discuss the new Dark Horse mini-series as well as what has kept Cal going all of these years. read more

‘Locke & Key’ Receives Premiere Date From Netflix

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Fans of the ever-popular author Joe Hill, who has multiple projects in varying stages of development, won’t need to wait long for their next fix.  According to Deadline, the supernatural mystery series Locke & Key, based on a comic book series written by Hill and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez for IDW Publishing, will premiere on February 7th, 2020 on Netflix.   The streaming service made the announcement on Wednesday, and was confirmed by Hill’s official Twitter account shortly afterwards (see below.) read more

Exclusive Preview of Paul Jenkins and Frédéric Pham Chuong’s Original Graphic Novel ‘Scare City’

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While Halloween will always hold a special place in the hearts of every horror fan, the holiday is even more near and dear to children around the world.  Capitalizing on the all ages fun of the holiday, writer Paul Jenkins and artist Frédéric Pham Chuong have timed their new original graphic novel Scare City well, hoping to appeal to the children waiting to run outside for sugary treats, as well as nostalgic parents who love the fun and frights associated with Halloween.

According to the official press release, Scare City begins when “Tensions rise in a Monster Metropolis when spooky things start to happen to its citizens! Will they solve the mystery before ancient rifts tear the community apart?  Deep beneath the human world lies Scare City, the hub where all the ghouls, ghosts and goblins dwell in perfect harmony. It took the monsters centuries to overcome their differences and live together in peace.” read more

Trailer and Release Date Revealed for ‘The Outsider’

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Set to debut January 12, 2020 on HBO, the official teaser trailer for The Outsider has been released. The preview, which is just over two minutes, gives viewers a glimpse of the building drama and suspense that they can expect in this 10-episode series.

Based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King, The Outsider opens with a seemingly straightforward investigation into the murder of a child. But when an insidious supernatural force edges its way into the case, it leads a seasoned cop and an unorthodox investigator to question everything they believe in. read more

Michael Gingold’s New Book ‘Ad Astra’: The Horror News Network Review

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Following the success of his ode to long-lost and forgotten newspaper ads and movie art, Ad Nauseam: Newsprint Nightmares of the 1980s, Michael Gingold began working on a companion piece entitled Ad Astra: 20 Years of Newspaper Ads for Sci-Fi & Fantasy Films, featuring more of his favorite vintage ads and artwork, this time focusing on the science fiction and fantasy genres of the same era.  Fans of his first collection of black and white curiosities will be equally pleased with this compilation, offering unique images from cross-over films that horror purists are also likely to enjoy. read more

Jim Starlin, Paul Gulacy, and Al Milgrom Discuss the Origins of Marvel’s Magazine Line at Terrificon 2019 Panel

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Most horror fans of the 1970s fondly recall Marvel’s black and white magazine sized comic books, and for many of those that grew up in that era, they often served as an introduction to the horror genre  and Marvel’s versions of classic monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein as well as some of their own such as Man-Thing and The Zombie: Simon Garth.

Word Balloon Podcast’s John Siuntres dug deeper into the origins of the magazine line at 2019’s Terrificon panel “The Lost Marvel Magazines of the 70s” with the help of some of the most prominent artists and writers of the time period in the form of Jim Starlin, Paul Gulacy, and Al Milgrom.  And while all three creators joked that they didn’t produce a whole lot of content for the magazines, they all certainly knew the history behind them. read more

‘The Great Monster Magazines’ by Robert Michael Cotter: The Horror News Network Review

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The amount of books that have been written about comic book history (before and after the success of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe) reaches to the stars, not even taking into account all of the price guides and checklists which have been a staples for readers ever since Atlas Comics became Marvel.

Much less time has been spent cataloging the history and impact of horror comics, other than the EC Horror boom and bust which nearly ended all comic publication in the 1950s, and certainly ended horror comics.  This was the sad reality for fans until the black and white magazines of Warren Publications repackaged classic EC style horror stories in a different format for newsstand distribution (avoiding the pesky and arbitrary Comics Code Authority), and the horror comic had risen from the dead. read more

‘Vampirella (2019) #1’: The Horror News Network Review

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Ever since her revival in 1992, Vampirella has been a fixture on comic book store shelves and in the hearts and minds of horror fans everywhere.  Her iconic costume, dating back to 1969, is one of the most recognizable ones at conventions world wide, making her a character that can be identified by all types of fans, most of whom have never picked up one of her Warren magazines or current comics.

For the fans who have kept up with her adventures in the four-color format, Vampirella has had a long line of writer and artists associated with her since 1992, including many of the the most prominent writers in the industry such as Warren Ellis, Nancy A. Collins, and Mark Millar. The only drawback to this star-studded line-up is the frequent new origins and changes in direction for the character, sometimes making it hard for new readers to understand the back story and frustrating the veteran fans who have followed her all of these years. read more

Mike Gingold Talks ‘AD NAUSEAM II’

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Last year author Michael Gingold unleashed a cool and original book containing original newspaper clippings of ’80s horror movie advertisments called AD NAUSEAM, released by 1984 Publishing. Gingold, who is a writer and editor at Fangoria magazine and also a contributor to other outlets such as Rue Morgue, had saved the clippings from local papers during his youth. His foresite was every horror fan’s gain, as the book would go on to prove very popular on Amazon and other online retailers, providing a unique sense of nostalgia that brought us all way back to the day when cinemas and cinemas alone ruled the industry. As reported exclusively by Entertainment Weekly, Gingold is ready to take us on all on splatter-filled journey through the ’90s and early 2000’s with AD NAUSEAM II, currently available for pre-order on Amazon. read more