Under Whose Skin?

Here's the fourth story in the June 1968 issue of Eerie, number 15.

The makeup wizard's name is Eric Starvos.  Don't you think his ride looks like the Munsters Koach?

Which was cursed, the makeup, or the guy who murdered to get it?  (By the way, this story originally appeared in Eerie's third issue, cover-dated May 1966.

See you on Monday!

A Demon in Li'l Ole ME???

The third story in the June 1968 Eerie, number 15.

An interesting tale which wants you to think allegorically.  Do the guys guarding Moloch stand for the superego's restrictions on the id?

Muse for an extra day, campers!  We're posting this on Sunday because on Monday I'll be unconscious for awhile.  See ya on the flip side!

  

A Wardrobe of Monsters!

Be-VEHR! It's more from Eerie #15, dated June 1968.

This would have made a good Night Gallery segment, wouldn't you say?  

The artist -- Gray Morrow -- and writer, Otto Binder -- have produced some gems.  This is a lesser one, but well crafted nevertheless.

Of course nobody believes that these bodies originated with the Egyptians, as mentioned at the top.  Maybe they were left in ancient Egypt by Doctor Frankenstein's Time-Traveling Circus and Sideshow!

See you at the beginning of the new week, friends!  In the meantime, don't peer into passing shadows TOO closely!

  

Let's Get EERIE!

Herewith commences a voyage through one of my brain's foundational documents!  Eerie #15 is cover-dated June 1968.  This means that my insightful parents were A-OK with their eleven-year-old reading such glorious nonsense.  Hooray for Mom and Dad!

Of course, these images are scanned from my personal copy, bought at the Git-n-Go in Bartlesville, OK.

Above is inside the front cover.  I'm pretty sure that most of these albums were radio broadcasts.

Got some pretty hefty artists there on the masthead!

The first letter refers to Eerie #13, which can be read page-by-page beginning on June 22, 2011 here on the Super Blog.  However, due to ancient tech, you have to click on each image in the post to read them.

So, research with a cyclotron led to the discovery of some long-lost burial monuments.  You just know THAT'S going to work out good, right?!?

Beware the breakthrough!

Yup, ole Mitchell might not like what's fixin' to BREAK THROUGH!  Heh-heh-heh!

Dontcha wish you could go back in time and order these back issues at these prices?

See you on Thursday with our next installment of Eerie #15!

  

That's Because the Government Doesn't Care Enough About Justice

The post title is in response to the headline of this article.

It's from the July 15, 1984 Tulsa World.  Just think, forty more years of possible theories since then!

Sure, many are laughable.  But the reality is, funny business took place before and long after the murder of JFK.  Stories don't jell, "official" narratives do not match what people reported at the time, and so on.

Especially infuriating is that much of the conflicting evidence and fumbled investigations came from people who worked for the government of this blessed nation.

One example you've heard from me before:  If the "official" X-rays and the "official" photographs -- supposedly taken of the same head and at the same autopsy -- DO NOT AGREE, then something stinks.

Let justice be done, though the heavens fall.

See you Monday, kids, hoping we can cool down by them.

  

Crossing Over

The concepts of boundaries, borders, and mysteries of the unknown are as old as humanity, and still fascinating today ...

            Secret societies across history have captured the imagination through their exclusive “hidden knowledge.”  One way they screen outsiders is a secret handshake or password.  The practice persists today in military codewords and the nuclear-launch codes which once prevented accidental Armageddon (since updated to computer control).

            After sinning, biblical forebears Adam and Eve were forever barred from the Garden of Eden; an angel with a flaming sword prevented their return to paradise.

            Star Trek’s episodes and films inaccurately described barriers at the edge and the center of our galaxy.

            Edwin A. Abbott’s 1884 masterpiece Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions depicted contact between entities living on our three-dimensional plane with life in two and even one dimensions.

            Communication with the dead is described in the Bible and in Homer’s Odyssey.  The concept was given new popularity by the Spiritualist movement in 19^th-Century England and America.  Nowadays it’s easy to find a medium or sensitive willing to connect to a “spirit guide,” who promises you can talk to Aunt Hilda on the Cosmic Telephone.  Just don’t take any stock tips or racing results.

            Folks never did believe you could sail over the edge of the Earth.  Ancient Greeks understood the world’s spherical nature; anybody who watched a ship sail past an ocean horizon could see the truth.  Scholars of the Middle Ages likewise understood our planet’s shape and general dimensions.  The only known planet on which you could fall off the edge is a recent discovery—the cube world, Htrae, home of DC Comics’ Bizarros.

            Borderline Personality Disorder is an affliction reflected by feelings of emptiness and fears of abandonment.  Sufferers may have problems respecting others’ privacy as they strive for inclusion and connection.  Hypersensivity to others’ unintended rebuffs or invitations may torture the sufferer, as they seek contact.

            The Ouija board was introduced commercially in the US in 1890.  Generations of youngsters have scared themselves silly by using the board for do-it-yourself séances.  Some churches declare that playing with the board can invite demonic possession.  But it’s all pretend, right?  Tell that to believers in Patience Worth, an entity contacted through the Ouija in 1913, who became a sensational “proof” of spiritual contact.

            The next time you doubt the power of artificial borders, marvel at the little yellow line that keeps oncoming drivers on their side of the street.

            Secret handshakes and passwords are only two of the ways secret societies try to insulate against outsiders.  The storied speakeasies of the American Prohibition era wouldn’t let you in without a current password.  This is parodied in Who Framed Roger Rabbit; the password to the Ink & Paint Club is “Walt sent me”—Walt Disney, that is.

            Restricted access applies in military situations, too.  Nuclear launch authorization used to be dependent on shared passcodes or phrases—a high-tech version of the frontier’s “Friend or foe?”  Most metropolitan police forces have similar systems.  Someone calling from an outside network may be challenged to provide the “color of the day” or similar inside information.

            Be thankful for edges and boundaries—remember H.P. Lovecraft’s observation:  If knowledge were wide open, man’s puny mind would break down before stark reality!

            The “line in the sand” of yore has no certain original.  Supposedly, Col. William Travis called for volunteers to fight to the death by his side at the Alamo by drawing a line with his sword, in 1836.  In AD 168, a Roman consul encircled a king and forced him to choose peace or war before stepping over the line.  Crossing that line in the sand is supposed to symbolize a definite point of no return.  However, the phrase’s impact continues to be diluted by politicians, who usually do nothing but bluster when the metaphorical border is crossed.

See you Thursday, if you can stay in the lines!

  

WATCHMEN's Ever-Full Moon, Part 1

THE EVER-FULL MOON

PART THE FIRST

 

            To quote Andy Rooney, “Did you ever notice ...”

            ... that in Watchmen, the moon is always full?

 

IN THE COMIC

 On Saturday, October 12, 1985 it’s full on the night Rorschach visits Comedian’s apartment (1:5).

A week later, on Saturday, October 19, it’s full on the night Doc Manhattan goes to Gila Flats (3:20).

Eight days following, on Sunday, October 27, the lunar orb is at its apex of lucidity when Laurie & Dan rescue the apartment-fire victims (7:28).

And on Halloween, Thursday, October 31, as Nite Owl and Silk Spectre 2 rescue Rorschach, it’s full (8:16).

It’s still full on All Saints Day, Friday, November 1, as Nite Owl and Kovacs head for Rorschach’s spare outfit (10:4)...

... and on the same night, as Pyramid Delivery’s death ship departs from the secret island near Nicaragua (10:18).

After midnight now, into Saturday, November 2, the moon is still full as Rorschach & Nite Owl search Adrian’s office and leave for Karnak (10:22).

About sixteen hours later, on Saturday, November 2, a full moon watches as Ozymandias’s squid arrives in New York (11:27:03).

Soon thereafter, it’s still full when Laurie & Jon arrive in the devastated New York (12:7). Look in the uppermost part of the center, in panels 1 and 3.

Next time, we’ll see that, in the comic, the moon is full even in non-diegetic sequences!

What do you think about this lunar singularity, comics fans?  See you Monday!

  

TIME Magazine Gave a Crappy Review

... and I called 'em out on it!

This review of STTMP was printed in TIME's December 17, 1979 issue.

I was not the only person who howled over the reviewer's cluelessness.  See below!

I'm sure you can figure out which part of the above image is my letter of protest, which is TIME's semi-canned reply, and the printed responses to the so-called review.

'NUFF SAID!  See you on Thursday.  Thanks for joining me on this month's TREKKING WITH CLIPPINGS!  Don't worry, I have about 200 more images to go before we run out!

  

The Whole World Loves Two-Timing Lovers

At least when they sell papers, that is.

First up:  Nimoy dumps Sandi, from the January 13, 1987 National Enquirer.

Next, from the April 14, 1987 Enquirer, bad news on the Shatner front.

Frankly I am glad to live a boring life with the ONE beautiful person who has agreed to put up with me, to have and to hold.

Why on Earth would ANYBODY risk that!

See you Monday for our final installment of this run of TREKKING WITH CLIPPINGS!