tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830827465735526826.post8099713865529765832..comments2024-03-29T04:24:08.026-07:00Comments on Marvel University: September 1972: Part Two: Doctor Strange's Lovecraftian Tales!John Scolerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15830334036783163702noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830827465735526826.post-57396383322394985502013-10-05T18:13:33.576-07:002013-10-05T18:13:33.576-07:00"More zombie-like townsfolk begin to gather, ..."More zombie-like townsfolk begin to gather, chanting Ethan’s name, both from outside the church" -- Not only Horror Hotel and Haunted Palace, but The Fog, or when adding "slumbering evil" to a zombie siege, Prince of Darkness. (Professor Pete already invoked John Carpenter when he cited Mouth of Madness.) As stated above, Lovecraft's "Haunter in the Dark" is set in a church, but no zombies (though mention of Robert E. Howard's Serpent Men!). Like The Fog, there is also a character named "Blake," and like Prince of Darkness a "cosmic evil" and evil artifact. Spy Smasherhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/32/Spy-smasher-2-winter-1941.jpgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830827465735526826.post-28682003308436299072013-10-04T07:21:37.943-07:002013-10-04T07:21:37.943-07:00Spy Smasher: "I saw what you did, and I know...Spy Smasher: "I saw what you did, and I know who you are."Matthew Bradleyhttp://bradleyonfilm.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830827465735526826.post-72438472013111095382013-10-03T18:47:22.131-07:002013-10-03T18:47:22.131-07:00Go figure, I don't remember the name. Thanks f...Go figure, I don't remember the name. Thanks for the info as always!turafishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09285392739078487496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830827465735526826.post-91669335253818491582013-10-03T18:45:48.439-07:002013-10-03T18:45:48.439-07:00Jack, if I ever get my butt in gear, there will be...Jack, if I ever get my butt in gear, there will be a lot more on that Spidey record.....turafishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09285392739078487496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830827465735526826.post-73376982268576571842013-10-03T18:32:44.232-07:002013-10-03T18:32:44.232-07:00The church setting could also be inspired by "...The church setting could also be inspired by "Haunter of the Dark" (adapted by Marvel in Journey into Mystery), but again that's Lovecraft. It is amusing that there should be any question over Cthulhu Mythos licensing when HPL invited and even encouraged fellow pulpsters to write in his universe, and the reverse is true as well -- the Gothic revival church in "Haunter" turns out to be an "abandoned lair of cosmic evil" housing "the Shining Trapezohedron" once "salvaged from their ruins by the serpent-men of Valusia," which refers back to the Robert E. Howard story "The Shadow Kingdom." Patrice Louinet writes, in his essay "Hyborian Genesis: Part 1" found in Del Rey's The Coming Of Conan The Cimmerian, that in REH's published story "Tower of the Elephant," a "discreet reference to the 'Nameless Old Ones' replaced the first draft's 'Cthulhu, Tsathogua, Yog-Sothoth, and the Nameless Old Ones.'" There may well be other instances. Were the rights at the time of Marvel's Bronze Age with Arkham House? Would that August Derleth and successors have really litigated if Marvel borrowed a name? Derleth certainly wrote plenty of tales with Lovecraft monsters in his day. Spy Smasherhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/32/Spy-smasher-2-winter-1941.jpgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830827465735526826.post-33256826298079423902013-10-03T08:14:49.317-07:002013-10-03T08:14:49.317-07:00Thanks, Andy. I can't resist sharing this apr...Thanks, Andy. I can't resist sharing this apropos tidbit from my book RICHARD MATHESON ON SCREEN:<br /><br />"[Charles] Beaumont and [Jerry] Sohl adapted the work of H.P. Lovecraft, who profoundly influenced [Robert] Bloch and [August] Derleth, in THE HAUNTED PALACE (1963) and DIE, MONSTER, DIE (1965), respectively, but Matheson never did, despite his successful [Edgar Allan] Poe films for the same studio, AIP. 'He wasn’t my kind of writer—too heavy,' he said in an interview with the author for FILMFAX. 'Heavy stuff. You know, he’d spend fifty pages talking about some Eldritch horror that is so horrible to describe that he can’t possibly do it, and then in the last ten pages he describes it. I mean obviously, the man was brilliant, I just don’t care for that kind of writing.'"Matthew Bradleyhttp://bradleyonfilm.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830827465735526826.post-31053298930952780742013-10-03T04:38:03.699-07:002013-10-03T04:38:03.699-07:00@Matthew:
Ahh, now this is interesting. I never kn...@Matthew:<br />Ahh, now this is interesting. I never knew, but then I didn't read Howard's fragments that closely. Shuma-Gorath is a name in a fragment of Robert Howard. Now it makes sense.<br /><br />As I wrote this yesterday I asked myself if HPL wasn't already in the public domain in 72. I did some further reading about this, and it seems that opinions differ wildly about this.<br /><br />But as Marvel had optained the rights for Howard, of course they had to credit him for concepts created, even if it just was a throwaway name.<br /><br />I also aked myself why Marvel didn't adapt more of HPLs work at the time. I mean, they bought so many characters and Storys for adopting. Moorcock, John Jakes, Norvell Page, to Name a few. But only 2 HPL as far as I know, those published in Tower of Shadows.<br /><br />Maybe Roy didn't feel the material suited for comics back then. "Undescribable horror" is always such a letdown when you describe it :-)AndyDeckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12806906746754478064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830827465735526826.post-83760973103663412372013-10-02T16:35:45.658-07:002013-10-02T16:35:45.658-07:00Iron Man channeling William Shatner? That's a ...Iron Man channeling William Shatner? That's a negative? Kudos to Scott and Joe for mentioning the Funky Phantom and Action Jackson. I used to ride my bike over to Jeff Kroll's house and he had an Action Jackson "action figure" (NOT A DOLL). He also had the Spider-Man record album, which made him kind of my idol. I loved Werewolf By Night and I can assure everyone that Dr. Strange and Tomb of Dracula only get better from here on out. Just wait till Brunner takes over!Jack Seabrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02216640325305820140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830827465735526826.post-30730714836788630852013-10-02T12:08:28.522-07:002013-10-02T12:08:28.522-07:00There's some interesting discussion of the who...There's some interesting discussion of the whole HPL/REH business on SuperMegaMonkey, as well as in lettercols of subsequent issues (I, for one, will be quoting from the latter as we roll along), and there seems to be widespread agreement that, if nothing else, Marvel stole shamelessly from "Innsmouth." The idea seems to be that the REH credit was just a fig leaf to keep the Lovecraft estate from suing--how likely they may or may not have been to do so--since Marvel had an existing relationship with REH's people but not HPL's. They apparently plucked the name of Shuma-Gorath, and little if anything else, from REH, and basically said that since REH et al. were all playing in HPL's sandbox, it was all good.Matthew Bradleyhttp://bradleyonfilm.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830827465735526826.post-43247092243398725152013-10-02T11:36:57.711-07:002013-10-02T11:36:57.711-07:00I read PREMIERE 4 and the rest a couple of times o...I read PREMIERE 4 and the rest a couple of times over the years and never understood the "based on Howard" credit. As Mark wrote this is "Shadow over Innsmouth" (and HPLs "The Festival" imho), there isn't one Howard idea in sight. But there must have been a reason for this as Marvel continued this credit in the next few issues. Strange. It makes no sense. <br /><br />Kull the king is the same as Conan the king. More or less boring as a character. Too much of the same. There are only a few Kull comic stories which have withstood the test of time. Mostly later stuff like the Bolton issues. One or two of the original Kull stories by Howard are very well written, though. But as a series character he just isn't very interesting. <br /><br />It is kind of crazy how Marvel expanded the program. They must have had a lot of faith in the interest (and wallet) of their customers.AndyDeckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12806906746754478064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6830827465735526826.post-26460196402569114522013-10-02T08:55:55.745-07:002013-10-02T08:55:55.745-07:00Nice work, everybody, and I'm glad to see I wa...Nice work, everybody, and I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one wowed by PREMIERE #4. The next few issues will be a decidedly rough patch, but believe it or not actually culminate in another standout (#8) just before the Englehart/Brunner, uh, magic begins. Stay tuned.<br /><br />Once in a while, the Professor Matthew Time Paradox throws a curve ball like this one: I just finished reading and reviewing SUB-MARINER #61, featuring Everett's final few pages, although that post won't actually see the light of day until early 2014. Quelle coincidence...<br /><br />Professor Joe, you'll see Chiaramonte's name popping up quite a lot, frequently in connection with Ploog's, although in the early days he was sometimes billed as "Frank Monte." He inked about half of the late, lamented Claremont/Byrne IRON FIST.Matthew Bradleyhttp://bradleyonfilm.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com