'Billy Joe Van Helsing, Redneck Vampire Hunter' feels distressingly fresh

I recently looked in some boxes that have been sitting untouched for years. Inside were comic books that haven't been looked at since I read them 20-30 years ago. Many of them are black-and-white comics, which, although I grew up reading comics in that format overseas, were something unusual and noteworthy in the US comics industry during the 1980s through the mid-1990s.  I'm going to be writing about some of them here at "Shades of Gray""... some of them quite obscure. (As with all posts, click on the illustrations to see larger versions.)

Billy Joe Van Helsing, 
Redneck Vampire Hunter #1
Writers: Bill Kieffer, with Joe Migliore
Artists: Joe Paradise, Rob Hawkins, Donna Franklin, Tad Ghostal, John Skikus, Robert Roman, and Debbie David
Covers: Fred Harper (front), James Hopkins (back)
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

In 1994, Maine-based publisher Alpha Productions published the first (and only) issue of "Billy Joe Van Helsing, Redneck Vampire Hunter" It's a 32-page anthology title that satirized horror, politics of both the left-wing and right-wing variety, comics fan culture, and Stars-and-Bars-waving, beer-drinking rednecks. The title character is a Southern good ole boy who's carrying on the family business of vampire hunting. What's most fascinating to me about the book is how much of the humor holds up, nearly 25 years later.

"Billy Joe Van Helsing, Redneck Vampire Hunter" #1 contains four stories of varying lengths and three pin-ups. The primary artist is Joe Paradise, who had a hand as penciler, inker (or both) in three of the stories. All the stories were written by Bill Keiffer.

The tone of the book is blunt and sophomoric, and it seems pretty evenhanded in its mockery of both political wings. The stereotypes being played with are exactly the ones you see today when Left and Right conjure cartoonish insults of each other... and this goes for the spoofing of comics fans as well (which takes place when Billy Joe goes to a comic book convention).

The featured stories are "Here Comes Billy Joe Van Helsing, Redneck Vampire Hunter" which introduces us to our hero and his girl Maxi... although in this story, he is trying to convince her that she's made a terrible choice is dumping him for a guy who is not only a vampire but a (gasp) liberal; "The Devil and David Duke" where our hero sets aside his distaste for the KKK and its leaders like Duke to destroy a vampire who may become the next Vice President of the United States since he's Duke's running mate; "Horror of the South" where a quiet evening at home with Maxi turns awkward when her sister shows up to visit; "Li'L Billy Joe", a one-pager which spoofs the Hostess Fruit Pie ads that us Gen Xers read growing up; and "Southern Discomfort" in which Billy Joe goes to a comics convention and meets The Grad, a character from Alpha anthology series"Lethargic Comics." (That series ran 14 issues, from 1994 to 1996.)

Billy Joe Meets Klansman David Duke. 

Billy Joe goes to a ComiCon and meets the Grad

To my eye, the art and writing in this comic book is the low-end of average for what was typical in a small-press comic during the mid-1990s. Therefore, I think it's probably more reflective of the sad state of American pop culture and politics that the humor in "Billy Joe Van Helsing, Redneck Vampire Hunter" #1 holds up so well than any particular genius on the part of writer Bill Kieffer. We like to pat ourselves on the back and gladhand those who share our views, and pretend that we're better people than we were 25 years ago, but as soon as we spot someone who's not in lockstep with us culturally and politically, out come the same invective stereotypes and bigoted slurs. Every decent American agrees the likes of David Duke are scumbags, and that he and those like him on the contemporary stage should be mocked and sneered at, we also agree that it's A-Okay to toss around fat-jokes, sexist jokes, gay jokes, and stupid-Southerner-jokes so long as we are deploying them against those bad people over there who don't agree with us.

That said, no one but hardcore Gen X comics fans will know what a "Marvel Zombie" is. Am I right?

One of the Billy Joe Van Helsing pin-ups.

On Black Friday...

... it seems like the perfect time to announce that NUELOW Game will soon release the first-ever collection of all the stories featuring "the black mistress of horror," Skywald Publications' Lady Satan! I am editing and contributing original material to the book. The editing part includes a few tweaks here and there to make the comics slightly more reader-friendly--in the sense that I'm making the story flow a little better than it did in the original version.

Titled Lady Satan 1974 (so as to not confuse it with NUELOW's other Lady Satan book), it tells the dark story of Anne, a young African American woman who becomes possessed by a spirit hellbent on being the mother of Satan's baby. Written by Alan Hewetson and illustrated by Ricardo Villamonte and Pablo Marcos, Skywald's Lady Satan is an all-but-forgotten milestone in the history of comics, as she was the first African American anti-hero to headline her own series.

In addition to the classic comics, the book will include fiction by yours truly featuring the other Lady Satan, and roleplaying material for both the d20 System and the ROLF! game.

I will post more when the book is released. In the meantime, here's a sample page to introduce you to Lady Satan 1974!

If you want to warm up to the NUELOW debut of this great, classic character, check out the original Nazi-busting Lady Satan in the original Lady Satan book, and read how she gained her mystical powers in The Werewolf Hunter #1.

The Black Dwarf Strikes at NUELOW Games!

Paul Gattuso's "Black Dwarf" is the latest hero to be retrieved from the forgotten corners of comic book history and put in front of modern audiences where he will find (I hope) new fans.

Black Dwarf is another of the many cool characters that came out of Harry Chesler's production studio during the early 1940s, debuting in the pages of Spotlight Comics in 1944. The series was created by Gattuso, who illustrated all ten episodes. Dana Dutch, best remembered for writing romance comics, is known to have written several of the later Black Dwarf tales, but Gattuso may have written some of them himself. We may never know, as Chesler's records are long gone.

"The Black Dwarf" from NUELOW Games contains six stories and all-new roleplaying game material inspired by them from yours truly and Rob Garitta. It's been released with two different covers--check out previews here and here. (It was released with two different covers.)

Here are a couple scenes of the Black Dwarf in action, as well as a few splash pages from the book, as further preview.

Get your copy of "The Black Dwarf" at DriveThruComics by clicking here.

Return of the Space Girls: Meet Tara, Marauder of the Spacelanes!

She may not typically wear a rocket pack nor a fishbowl helmet, but Tara rates top marks among Space Girls anyhow... because she's an original whose adventures were first published in issues of Wonder Comics during the late 1940s!

Art by Alex Schomburg

Tara is the star of NUELOW Games' latest release Tara: Marauder of the Spacelanes. The book contains four great retro sci-fi comics stories by Tara's creator Gene Fawcette, with a cover by Alex Schomburg, and a never-before-seen origin story by yours truly. I also contributed game stats for Tara's favorite weapon, the Atom Sword, for the OpenD6 and OGL d20 game systems, as well as designed a complete ROLF! supplement included in the book.

Click here to see previews of Tara: Marauder of the Spacelanes or to download your own copy. For further previews, here are some splash pages from the book.

Fantomah finds her destiny!

In the final book in NUELOW Games' "The Three Lives of Fantomah" series, the Mystery Woman of the Jungle is restored to her rightful place as ruler of the hidden land of Khefra. No longer a magical powerhouse herself, she comes under the watchful eye of the Egyptian gods that bless her lineage. This doesn't mean she's safe... and over the course of seven classic stories illustrated by George Appel, she must fend off challenges from the Evil Spotted Men, corrupt priestesses, darkhearted adventurers, and more!

"The Three Lives of Fantomah: Daughter of the Pharoahs" is now available at all the usual websites that carry NUELOW Games books, but you can click here to get your own copy or see previews of it at DriveThruComics. Here are a few sample splash pages to give you some further previews of the book. (Click on the images to see larger versions.)

 

 

 

In addition to the rarely republished comics, the book contains rules for incorporating the gods of Khefra into just about any variant of the popular d20 System for roleplaying games.

Now available from NUELOW Games -- The Three Lives of Fantomah: Book Two

Fantomah has been accurately described as the first female superhero in comics. Readers were first introduced to her in Jungle Comics #2 (cover date Feb. 1940), a full two years before the celebrated debut of Wonder Woman. Fantomah soon lost the superhero flavor.

Fantomah, as drawn by Richard Case

When series creator Fletcher Hanks was replaced with a mixed bag of artists and writers who worked under the house-name "W.B. Hovious." From Jungle Comics #16 through #26, Fantomah moved away from the fearsome incarnation of nature's vengeance that she had been under Hanks, and became increasingly a "jungle girl"-type character. She still had magic powers, but they were increasingly de-emphasized as she gained a faithful pet panther, rescued and took charge of a lost boy--and generally came to seem more like a female Tarzan.

Fantomah's "jungle girl" period is the subject of The Three Lives of Fantomah: Book Two from NUELOW Games. It presents the six best episodes from Jungle Comics #16 - #26, together will all new roleplaying game rules that will let you bring Fantomah-style magic to your OGL Modern d20 games. For a sample of the game content, click here to visit the NUELOW Games Blog.

The majority of the art in The Three Lives of Fantomah: Book Two is by Richard Case, although some stories were penciled and/or inked by "W.B Hovious." I designed the new game content, as well as wrote a small piece of fiction intended to shed light on why Fantomah is transfirming -- and to set up her final transformation that will occur in Book Three.

I hope you will download a copy of The Three Lives of Fantomah: Book Two. Click here to see previews of the book. If you do, be sure to tell me what you think of it.

And please keep en eye out for Book Three some time after Christmas.

Fantomah: When she kicks ass, she doesn't bother taking names.

NUELOW reveals the lives of Fantomah

Many comics fans will tell you that Wonder Woman was the first female superhero. Others will tell you that it was Phantom Lady. True masters of trivia will tell you it was the Woman in Red.

Truth is, they're all wrong.

The first female superhero, Fantomah, saw print in Feb. 1940, in the pages of Jungle Comics #2.

Created by writer/artist Fletcher Hanks (working as Barclay Flagg), the earliest "Fantomah" stories carried his trademark powerful character type dishing out extreme supernatural justice against evil-doers. Here's a splash panel from one of the early Fantomah stories that tells you everything you need to know about her -- other than her habit of turning villains into strange creatures or dispatching them violently. Oh -- and her own ability to turn into a terrifying skull-faced Furie when angered.

The "first life" of Fantomah

Unlike other Hanks creations, Fantomah continued past his involvement with the strip, evolving as it passed through the hands of other creators (working under the name W.B. Hovious). The surreal, macabre flavor that Hanks brought to most of his work faded quickly from the series, and for a time Fantomah was not very different from jungle girls, such as Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.

Fantomah, with Ken and Fury, during her "second life."

Eventually, it was revealed that she was the lost ruler of the City of Khefra, and for the final 20 or so episodes of the series she ruled justly while fighting off challengers to her throne. As she claimed her inheritance, the last vestiges of the powerful magic she had once wielded seemingly faded forever. The series came to a close in Jungle Comics #51.

The undead stalk Fantomah, Daughter of the Pharohs, during her "third life."

NUELOW Games has just released The Three Lives of Fantomah: Book One. It contains four of Fletcher Hanks' best Fantomah stories, as well as one by "W.B. Hovious," all spotlighting Fantomah during her "first life" as a vengeful demi-goddess. The book also contains an all new OGL Modern/d20 System prestige class and related feats that set out to capture the unusual nature of Fantomah's development over the course of her series.

Like most of NUELOW Games' releases, it's co-edited by yours truly, and I am also responsible for the game design. I hope some of you will check it out and let me know what you think.

And, of course, I hope you'll like it well enough to come back for Books Two and Three!

'Tis Talk Like a Pirate Day, me hearties!

NUELOW Games is celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day with the release of an anthology featuring two comics adventures of Lila the Corsair Queen, and Robert E. Howard's classic pirate tale "Isle of Pirate's Doom."

Click here to see previews or to download your own copy of the book, which also includes a handy guide to pirate vocabulary.

 By way of further preview, here are a couple sample pages...

The arrival of Zoom!

I am co-editing and writing material for a new three-volume series from NUELOW Games featuring the classic Golden Age magical femme fatale -- the Sorceress of Zoom!

The Sorceress of Zoom is the most powerful magic-user on her home world. She rules the flying city of Zoom, and she travels through space and time seeking to take whatever, and whomever, her heart desires. For the people of her world, few things are more terrifying than the sight of Zoom appearing in the sky, because the Sorceress always gets what she wants and others pay the price.

Click here to see previews of The Sorceress of Zoom, or to get your own copy. As a further preview, here are some splash pages from the book. It contains five "Sorceress of Zoom" stories and a new approach to incorporating magic into the OGL Modern d20 System roleplaying game.

When journalists were heroes

Back when Americans trusted journalists, and reporters were more interested in keeping the public informed than advancing their personal political agendas, they were pop-culture heroes. During the 1930s and 1940s, crusading reporters and news photographers were the subjects of movies and numerous comic book series.

Newshounds is a new series from NUELOW Games that presents some of those classic stories from the Golden Age of Comics when journalists were more interested in speaking truth to power and uncovering dirty corporate dealings than being part of the elite and reaping the benefits.

Click here to see previews and to get your own copy of Newshounds #1, which collects classics by Matt Baker, Bob Oksner, and Harvey Kurtzman. Like all NUELOW Games comics projects, this issue contains roleplaying game content. This one presents rules for playing adventuresome reporters using Lester Smith's d6xd6 CORE RPG system.

As a further preview, here are a few sample pages from the book.

Art by Matt Baker

Art by Bob Oksner

Art by Harvey Kurtzman

Art by Matt Baker

Coming Soon: 'Complete Golden Age Oddballs: Angela & Miss Espionage'!

The fourth volume in NUELOW Games' "Complete Golden Age Oddballs" series is pretty much finished. I'm just having another set of eyes review one of the pieces slated to go in it, because I'm feeling a little insecure about its quality even though the editor has said "Oh, for the love of Jesus, it's fine!" (in an exacerbated tone and British accent).

This volume is focused entirely on female characters, and the bulk of it was drawn by one of comics industry's first full-time professional woman artists, Ruth Atkinson. She is best remembered for creating "Millie the Model" and "Patsy Walker" for Marvel Comics precursor Timely Comics, but even before that she had worked at industry giant Fiction House on numerous adventure series in anthology titles like "Jungle Comics", "Ranger Comics", and "Wings Comics."

But NUELOW Games being NUELOW Games is collecting for the first time anywhere what is perhaps Atkinson's most obscure work. In 1947, she created the high school comedy series "Angela" for Eastern's "Club 16." The series lasted four episodes, vanishing when Eastern pulled the plug on this attempt at cashing in on the teen comedy craze that "Archie" had started shortly before.

But as obscure as "Angela" is, "Miss Espionage" may be even more so. It appeared in two issues of "Power Comics" (#3 and #4) in late 1945 from Holyoke imprint Narrative Publications. This brief series is interesting, because it's may have been the first to use a post-World War 2 world as the backdrop for its action. The first story deals with a Nazi underground trying to lay the foundation for the return of the Third Reich, while the second deals with villains trying to rekindle hostilities between the United States and Japan. (It may also be of interest as it was written by the prolific and celebrated Bill Woolfolk and drawn by Rudy Palias and Maurice Whitman.)

And, of course, the book features a smattering of roleplaying game material inspired by the comics, as well as a text piece that brings the featured series together in the same universe... and that's the text piece I'm feeling a little insecure about. As I said up top, we'll see what the reader has to say.

In the meantime, here's a preview of "Complete Golden Age Oddballs: Angela & Miss Espionage" in the form of selected splash pages from the book.

Pat Patriot -- Just in time for Fourth of July!

In celebration of Fourth of July, NUELOW Games is presenting the four best adventures of "Pat Patriot," an early female superhero (who pre-dated Wonder Woman's first appearance) and an all-but-forgotten champion of the American spirit.

By way of a preview, here are the spalsh pages for the four tales included in the "Pat Patriot" book. Additionally, it contains a full supplement for "ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game." You can click here to see additional previews, or to get your own copy.

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NUELOW Summer Special Preview

NUELOW Games has released another collection of classic comics in the NUELOW Summer Special. This time, it's a variety of teen comedy comics by the likes of Al Feldstein (who was the editor of Mad Magazine for some three decades) and Harry Sahle (one of the founding fathers of the great Archie series). The book also features NUELOW's unofficial mascot Black Cat taking to water in summer-time action. Finally, there's a supplement for ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game of Big Dumb Fighters in which Kathy (of NUELOW's Kathy fame) takes her boyfriend Hank to a picturesque cemetery for some moonlit romance... what could possibly go wrong?

Here are a few splash-pages from the book as a preview. You can click here to see more of the NUELOW Games Summer Special at DriveThruComics, or to download your own copy. The book is available for less than half price through the First Day of Summer (June 21).

Art by Al Feldstein

Art by Harry Sahle

Art by Lee Elias

Art by Art Saaf

Coming Soon: The Best of 'Kathy'

NUELOW Games is soon releasing Kathy, a small collection of classic teen comedy comics illustrated by the team of Frank Frazetta and Ralph Mayo. If you like teen comedies, if you like the screwier sit-coms, if you just want to read some funny stories with goofy characters, you should check out this book.

You should also check out the book if you have an interest in comics as an art-form. In the course of the four included stories,Frazetta and Mayo trade off being the penciler or inker, and doing both art chores. It's an interesting display of how much an artists style can influence the look of a comic depending on what task he is performing.

You can explore the entire selection of NUELOW Games comics/rpg books by clicking here. It's a treasure trove of obscure comics from the Golden Age! And look for Kathy by Frank Frazetta and Ralph Mayo (with RPG content by Steve Miller and L.L. Hundal) within the next day or two!

Judy of the Jungle Returns!

NUELOW Games has just released the second volume in the "Judy of the Jungle" series. It features some great "jungle girl" comics and short fiction, along with all-new material for use with jungle-themed d20 System roleplaying games. (Now... when I say the stories are great, I am biased, given that I edited the book. That said, out of all the Jungle Girls that graced the pages of comics back during the Golden Age, Judy's adventures are the ones that hold up the best. The artwork by Frank Frazetta and Ralph Mayo compares to favorably to any top artist working in comics today.)

Judy of the Jungle: Warriors of the Laughing Hyena is available at DriveThruComics, DriveThruRPG, and RPGNow.

You can click here to get your own copy, or to see previews.

And speaking of previews, here are some of the splash pages and spot-art from the book.
Click on the images to see larger versions.

If you decide to download Warriors of the Laughing Hyena, I hope you'll let me know what you think of the book. I can't make the projected Volume 3 better if I don't know what readers thought was wrong with Volume 2.