Author: Joey Liverwurst

Pre-Code Comics: The Wolpire

I hope you enjoyed my pre-Code comics countdown of favorite werewolf stories.  I wish there were more, but that would require time travel, and my DeLorean’s in the shop.

That said, there’s one more incredible story to share. Just not “Bravo!” incredible. More like “Why has God forsaken me?” incredible.

From March 1954, The Wolpire tries to be many things: horrific, patriotic, romantic, even 3-D! It succeeds at, um, using a lot of yellow ink. I admit a flying yellow man in a speedo sounds scary. I just can’t explain what that has to do with werewolves and neither can the writer.

Thanks one more time to Karswell for hosting this and other stories. If you like them, seriously, leave him a comment already.

And yes: argyle is awesome.

Pre-Code Comics: Werewolf Valley

Illustration by Alright Owl

Does your skin itch? Do your teeth ache? It’s time for first place in the all-lycanthrope pre-Code comics countdown.

There’s a strange disconnect with werewolves. I don’t know about you, but I find the idea of werewolves sexy. Very sexy. And yet, I can’t tell you the last portrayal of a werewolf I found even slightly sexy.

Even in Werewolves of the Rockies, Fria went from blond bombshell to bony bipedal rat-thing. I know werewolves are supposed to be monsters, but can’t they at least look like wolves?

Now rewind to April 1952, when America was much more worried about deforestation than werewolves. Wait, that was some other America so, how to explain Werewolf Valley? All I know is, if Marta offered me coffee, I wouldn’t hesitate even if it were decaf.

Thanks again to Karswell for hosting this at The Horrors of It All. Next time: the worst pre-Code werewolf!

Pre-Code Comics: Werewolves of the Rockies

Yet Another Splendid Editorial Interpretation by Alright Owl

Happy blue moon, Wolfketeers! Ready for second place in the pre-Code comics countdown?

Right before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, good American children instead focused on Lars and Fria, an attractive Scandinavian couple en route to an American ski jumping contest!

They didn’t make it. Because werewolves.

Fear not, though: Werewolves of the Rockies has a happy ending anyway.

As with Werewolf Tale to End All Werewolf Tales! and Werewolf Blood on My Hands, web hosting for this story comes courtesy of Karswell at The Horrors of It All.

Pre-Code Comics: Ghoulash

Another Splendid Editorial Interpretation by Alright Owl

Friday means werewolves!  Or at least, it ought to mean werewolves.  Time for third place in the pre-Code comics countdown.

From June 1954, Ghoulash knows better than to take itself too seriously. Elaine’s the sort of girl who stabs men and stores them in her freezer. What’s such a girl to do when twins take a shine to her? Will she learn to multitask in time?

This story appears at The Time Bullet, the retro blog of Marc Burkhardt. If you like it, leave him a comment!

Pre-Code Comics: Werewolf Blood on My Hands

Editorial Interpretation by Alright Owl

How about another pre-Code comic with werewolves to spice up your weekend?

Fourth place in the countdown goes to Werewolf Blood on My Hands, from July 1953. Cooper decides he’d rather be a werewolf than “a file clerk forever” and shares with us how easy this is! Inspector then lectures us about tampering “with the strange mysteries of the unearthly.”

As always, if you enjoy this trip through time, be sure to thank Karswell at The Horrors of It All.

Pre-Code Comics: Werewolf Tale to End All Werewolf Tales!

Editorial Interpretation by Alright Owl

Few today associate the Truman administration years with werewolves, but the late forties and early fifties saw the rise of “mystery” comics. These were about monsters, not detective work, and their rather sudden popularity led to ghouls, vampires, werewolves, and zombies being banned from comic books. By 1955, drier science fiction had replaced them.

Ever since, these comics by and large have languished in obscurity. Tales from the Crypt enjoyed new life as an HBO series, but few have heard of Mister Mystery, Skeleton Hand, or This Magazine Is Haunted. Even fewer can pay premium every time they want to peruse the fragile pages themselves.

Karswell launched The Horrors of It All in 2007 and has shared over 1500 of these stories no longer under copyright. Obviously, not all the stories are about werewolves, and not all the werewolves are even recognizable as such. Andrew asked for five of my favorites, so for five weeks, my aim is to work up to what I believe is the best.

Fifth place is dumb but fun: a honeymoon “way up north in the forest” of Canada. What could go wrong? From July 1954, Werewolf Tale to End All Werewolf Tales! Please let me know what you think, but more important, let Karswell know what you think, since he did all the hard work.