As a warm-up/preview to the creepy festivities, here's the evolution of a drawing, which shows Vampirella meeting Simon Garth the Zombie, from sketch to final. The artwork is by the great Pablo Marcos.
Showing posts with label Pablo Marcos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pablo Marcos. Show all posts
Thursday, September 29, 2022
In Preparation for 31 Nights of Halloween!
For a number of years now, there has been at least one post every day during October at our sister blog Terror Titans for the 31 Nights of Halloween! This year, the 31 Nights of Halloween will also be taking place here at Shades of Gray! There will be at least one post every day shortly after Midnight... and you can then check out Terror Titans later after darkness has fallen again around 5pm! (Shades of Gray is on Pacific Standard Time, by the way.)
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
'Monster Monster' with art by Pablo Marcos
from NUELOW Games
NUELOW Games's Monster, Monster is series of books featuring horror comics illustrated by Pablo Marcos and RPG content for D&D Fifth Edition by Andrew Pavlides. Each book focuses on a different monster, and the main creators are joined by a different "guest star" contributor in each book. This post provides overviews of all three. (I edited all three, so that's partly why I'm plugging them here--yep, there's a little self-promotion action going on. Plus, if you're not familiar with the great Pablo Marcos, any one of the Monster, Monster books is a chance to become so,)
In Monster, Monster: Soul Drinkers, Pablo Marcos brings life to a script by the great Marv Wolfman, who wrote Marvel's legendary Tomb of Dracula series. Andrew Pavlides then used that quirky tale of gothic horror as inspiration for two all-new D&D monsters: The Soul Drinkers, a one-time mortals who traded their humanity for ageless beauty and an eternal hunger for souls; and the Soul Bereft, the twisted, monstrous husks that remain after a soul drinker is done with their victims. Several variants of each type of creature is included, as well as adventure seeds to help GMs include them in campaigns. Here's the first page of Wolfman & Marcos's horror tale as a preview:
Next up, we have Monster, Monster: Werewolves. The story included here--one of a werewolf who ends his childhood tormentors in a brutal fashion under the full moon--was written by Augustine Funnel. Pavlides provides a number of werewolf variants to spice up your horror adventures. Here's the first page of that story.
And, just released this week, there's Monster, Monster: Vampires. This latest entry in the series is bigger than both previous entries combined, with Marcos illustrating two tales from writer Ed Fedory, and Steve Miller (one-time contributor to TSR/Wizards of the Coast's celebrated Ravenloft gothic horror roleplaying game line) joining Pavlides to provide vampire variants and adventure seeds.
In addition to the powerful artwork by Pablo Marcos, the books feature spot illustrations and pin-ups in the game sections by Robert Martin, Larry Elmore, Ricardo Villamonte, and others. The books are available in electronic format from RPGNow, DriveThruRPG, and DriveThruComics. You can see further previews of each volume at those sites.
Readers familiar with classic horror comics may recognize some of the pages above. The stories included in the Monster, Monster series all originally appeared in magazines published by Skywald during the mid-1970s. Some have undergone a number of editorial changes, however.
In Monster, Monster: Soul Drinkers, Pablo Marcos brings life to a script by the great Marv Wolfman, who wrote Marvel's legendary Tomb of Dracula series. Andrew Pavlides then used that quirky tale of gothic horror as inspiration for two all-new D&D monsters: The Soul Drinkers, a one-time mortals who traded their humanity for ageless beauty and an eternal hunger for souls; and the Soul Bereft, the twisted, monstrous husks that remain after a soul drinker is done with their victims. Several variants of each type of creature is included, as well as adventure seeds to help GMs include them in campaigns. Here's the first page of Wolfman & Marcos's horror tale as a preview:
Next up, we have Monster, Monster: Werewolves. The story included here--one of a werewolf who ends his childhood tormentors in a brutal fashion under the full moon--was written by Augustine Funnel. Pavlides provides a number of werewolf variants to spice up your horror adventures. Here's the first page of that story.
And, just released this week, there's Monster, Monster: Vampires. This latest entry in the series is bigger than both previous entries combined, with Marcos illustrating two tales from writer Ed Fedory, and Steve Miller (one-time contributor to TSR/Wizards of the Coast's celebrated Ravenloft gothic horror roleplaying game line) joining Pavlides to provide vampire variants and adventure seeds.
In addition to the powerful artwork by Pablo Marcos, the books feature spot illustrations and pin-ups in the game sections by Robert Martin, Larry Elmore, Ricardo Villamonte, and others. The books are available in electronic format from RPGNow, DriveThruRPG, and DriveThruComics. You can see further previews of each volume at those sites.
Readers familiar with classic horror comics may recognize some of the pages above. The stories included in the Monster, Monster series all originally appeared in magazines published by Skywald during the mid-1970s. Some have undergone a number of editorial changes, however.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Picture Perfect Special:
Princesses of Mars, Part Nine
Princesses of Mars, Part Nine
Welcome to an All-Star Edition of Princesses of Mars. In this installment, all the illustration are from top illustrators in the comic book and fantasy illustration field.
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| By M.W. Kaluta |
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| By Rudy Nebres |
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| By Alan Davis |
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| By Pablo Marcos |
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| By George Barr |
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| By Mike Hoffman |
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Extra Picture Perfect Wednesday:
Marcos and the Monsters
Marcos and the Monsters
Pablo Marcos is one of the many underrated and under-appreciated artists who made the Marvel Comics horror magazines of the 1970s worth reading. Here are samples of his artwork, in which he draws every major Marvel horror character save Ghost Rider and the Werewolf.
The final two illos relate to Marcos' horror masterpiece "Tales of the Zombie," a strip that was primarily written by Steve Gerber. Click here to read my review of it (and I can't encourage you enough to follow the Amazon link and buy your own copy if you're a fan of well-done horror comics).
As always, click on the illos to see larger versions. Check out more artwork by Pablo Marcos at his website.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
'Essential Tales of the Zombie' is an accurate title for a fine collection of comics
Essential Tales of the Zombie (Marvel Comics, 2007)
Writers: Steve Gerber, Tony Isabella, Doug Moench, Chris Claremont, et.al.
Artists: Pablo Marcos, Alfredo Alcala, John Buscema, Bill Everett, Gene Colan, et.al.
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
"Essential Tales of the Zombie" is one of an ongoing series of 500-page+ collections of reprinted material from the past 30-40 years of Marvel Comics' output. The material in this book originally appeared in some of Marvel's black-and-white magazines from the mid-Seventies. It presents dozens of tales of voodoo and walking dead, the majority of them taken from the 10-issue run of "Tales of Zombie." Also sprinkled throughout the book are some of the best text features from the magazine, such as reviews of zombie movies and articles about voodoo.
It should be noted that nowhere in "Essential Tales of the Zombie" will you find walking corpses of the flesh-eating, post-Romero kind. The undead here are mostly the result of voodoo curses and similar magics. For me, this classic feel is refreshing in this day and age of rampant splatter and dismemberment.
The most worthwhile material in the book is the ongoing saga of the Zombie from the title. It's the story of Simon Garth, a captain of industry and control freak, who is murdered and reanimated as a zombie. Painfully aware of his condition, yet helpless to do anything about it, he becomes the undead slave of a series of different masters, controlled by the mystical Medallions of Damballah.
The stories of Simon Garth are top-notch, classic horror comics, which is not surprising, given they were penned by Steve Gerber when he was at the height of his creative powers. The manage to present social commentary, tragedy, chills, and poetic justice to the bad guys, often-times within the confines of the same story. The narration may get a bit purple at times, but the power of the stories shine through. Plus, the two-part tale that sees Simon Garth finally gain the peace of the grave is an excellent bit of writing by Gerber's successor on the strip, Tony Isabella. It is a perfect end to the story of a man who was forced onto a journey of discovery and redemption.
Although Bill Everett and John Buscema drew the first three tales featuring the Zombie, the art on the Simon Garth saga is mostly by Pablo Marcos. Alfredo Alcala also handles the art on a couple of the stories. Despite the vast difference in styles between these four artists, the mood remains consistently oppressive, dark, and spooky, and all do a great job capturing the macabre atmosphere of the Louisiana swamps and Haitian back-woods that the Zombie spends most of his time. (Alcala, Buscema, and Everett happen to be three of my favorite artists, and they do fine work here.)
Aside from the stories chronicalling Simon Garth's journey, "Tales of the Zombie" contains two stories with Brother Voodoo (a superhero who, as his name implies, gains his powers from voodoo rites) and a couple dozen short horror stories. The Brother Voodoo stories are... well, they're Brother Voodoo stories. The character always seemed a bit goofy to me, and he's true to from in both stories. (One wraps up the plotline from his "Strange Tales" appearances, and it was nice to finally know how that all ended, but the character still doesn't do much for me.) The shorts are mostly your standard twist-ending sort of tales that have been around in comics since the 50s... the ones that once filled the pages of "Creepy", "House of Mystery" and "Psycho". Althoguh they are all excellently written and illustrated, these run the gamut of quality from ho-hum to masterful.
Rounding out the book is an interesting time capsule of table of contents from each issue of "Tales of the Zombie", selected text pieces about voodoo and the occult, a two-part short story from Doug Moench, and some reviews of movies featuring zombies. The movie reviews were of particular interest to me (big surprise there, eh?) and there were even a few mentioned that I hadn't heard of! These magazine articles made for surprsingly good reading... although I wished a few more of had been included. I would have liked to read the obit of Bill Everett that was mentioned on one of the ToCs.)
"Tales of the Zombie" is an unusual entry in the "Essential" series, but one that lives up to its title. Fans of horror comics won't regret spending money on this one.
Writers: Steve Gerber, Tony Isabella, Doug Moench, Chris Claremont, et.al.
Artists: Pablo Marcos, Alfredo Alcala, John Buscema, Bill Everett, Gene Colan, et.al.
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
"Essential Tales of the Zombie" is one of an ongoing series of 500-page+ collections of reprinted material from the past 30-40 years of Marvel Comics' output. The material in this book originally appeared in some of Marvel's black-and-white magazines from the mid-Seventies. It presents dozens of tales of voodoo and walking dead, the majority of them taken from the 10-issue run of "Tales of Zombie." Also sprinkled throughout the book are some of the best text features from the magazine, such as reviews of zombie movies and articles about voodoo.
It should be noted that nowhere in "Essential Tales of the Zombie" will you find walking corpses of the flesh-eating, post-Romero kind. The undead here are mostly the result of voodoo curses and similar magics. For me, this classic feel is refreshing in this day and age of rampant splatter and dismemberment.
The most worthwhile material in the book is the ongoing saga of the Zombie from the title. It's the story of Simon Garth, a captain of industry and control freak, who is murdered and reanimated as a zombie. Painfully aware of his condition, yet helpless to do anything about it, he becomes the undead slave of a series of different masters, controlled by the mystical Medallions of Damballah.
The stories of Simon Garth are top-notch, classic horror comics, which is not surprising, given they were penned by Steve Gerber when he was at the height of his creative powers. The manage to present social commentary, tragedy, chills, and poetic justice to the bad guys, often-times within the confines of the same story. The narration may get a bit purple at times, but the power of the stories shine through. Plus, the two-part tale that sees Simon Garth finally gain the peace of the grave is an excellent bit of writing by Gerber's successor on the strip, Tony Isabella. It is a perfect end to the story of a man who was forced onto a journey of discovery and redemption.
Although Bill Everett and John Buscema drew the first three tales featuring the Zombie, the art on the Simon Garth saga is mostly by Pablo Marcos. Alfredo Alcala also handles the art on a couple of the stories. Despite the vast difference in styles between these four artists, the mood remains consistently oppressive, dark, and spooky, and all do a great job capturing the macabre atmosphere of the Louisiana swamps and Haitian back-woods that the Zombie spends most of his time. (Alcala, Buscema, and Everett happen to be three of my favorite artists, and they do fine work here.)
Aside from the stories chronicalling Simon Garth's journey, "Tales of the Zombie" contains two stories with Brother Voodoo (a superhero who, as his name implies, gains his powers from voodoo rites) and a couple dozen short horror stories. The Brother Voodoo stories are... well, they're Brother Voodoo stories. The character always seemed a bit goofy to me, and he's true to from in both stories. (One wraps up the plotline from his "Strange Tales" appearances, and it was nice to finally know how that all ended, but the character still doesn't do much for me.) The shorts are mostly your standard twist-ending sort of tales that have been around in comics since the 50s... the ones that once filled the pages of "Creepy", "House of Mystery" and "Psycho". Althoguh they are all excellently written and illustrated, these run the gamut of quality from ho-hum to masterful.
Rounding out the book is an interesting time capsule of table of contents from each issue of "Tales of the Zombie", selected text pieces about voodoo and the occult, a two-part short story from Doug Moench, and some reviews of movies featuring zombies. The movie reviews were of particular interest to me (big surprise there, eh?) and there were even a few mentioned that I hadn't heard of! These magazine articles made for surprsingly good reading... although I wished a few more of had been included. I would have liked to read the obit of Bill Everett that was mentioned on one of the ToCs.)
"Tales of the Zombie" is an unusual entry in the "Essential" series, but one that lives up to its title. Fans of horror comics won't regret spending money on this one.
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