Tuesday, October 18, 2011

If You Blinked You Missed : Arrgh!

In September 1974, Marvel unleashed Arrgh! upon the comicbook world. Like DC's PLOP! it was a horror/mystery mag with a humorous twist, a love-letter to the classic EC Comics in the guise of the love-child of Tales from the Crypt and Mad. Though it lasted only five issues (September 1974-June 1975), Ol' Groove has fond memories of Arrgh! Even my non-comics pals thought it was kinda cool. Violent, subversive horror in the Mighty Marvel Manner? What more could a 70s kid--or a modern-day Groove-ophile--want?


Check out this paralyzing pair of horrifying ha-has from the freaky and fab first ish!  First up it's "Fangs for the Memories" by Jack Younger (better known as Russ Jones), Mike Sekowsky, and Tom Sutton!










Sutton's "Rat!"( inked by Peter Flynn) is still a fave. So creepy and gory--and darkly humorous. A macabre masterpiece of comicbook mirth and mayhem!






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5 comments:

  1. Ian MillerOctober 18, 2011 at 7:56 AM

    Do I see an Eisner homage on the first page of "Rat"?

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  2. AnonymousOctober 18, 2011 at 9:15 AM

    I have fond memories of Arrgh too; another memory I had was that Rat was reprinted from somewhere, so I turned to GCD where I found that it first appeared in Scream Door #1 in 1971. Around that time, Marvel sometimes reprinted stories from underground/ground level/small press comics. They also got Hey Buddy, Can You Lend Me A... by Kaluta from Scream Door #1, reprinting it in the first issue of Unknown Worlds along with, if my memory serves me right, a couple of other such gems.

    David Simpson

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  3. bobOctober 18, 2011 at 11:23 AM

    I remember when The Monster Times (a publication of blessed memory) ran Rat in black and white -- full broadsheet, newspaper size. Glorious stuff!

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  4. AnonymousOctober 19, 2011 at 7:57 AM

    Rat appearing in The Monster Times was what I had in the back of my memory. Any idea if that was the strip's first appearance?

    David Simpson

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  5. Jeff ClemOctober 19, 2011 at 1:17 PM

    I believe that the "Flynn" credit doesn't mean he was the inker; I am a serious Sutton-fan and that art looks like all-Sutton to me. Maybe the Flynn credit is for writing or co-writing? Sometimes Sutton played games with credits (see some of his Sywald stories), using, I think, his son's names sometimes (Sean Todd) or just made-up names.

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