Review- Nightmares Nos. 1, 2

Nightmares Nos. 1, 2 (Eclipse, cover dates May, 1985)

Writers: Doug Moench and Don McGregor

Artist: Paul Gulacy

Colorist: Steve Oliff

People give me free comic books all of the time. I used to collect these because I thought that they'd put my kid through college, but now they are worthless clutter. Do you want them? I never turn down free comic books, unless they are drawn by Rob Leifeld. Yes, I'll gladly take yours, too.

These are colorized versions of stories originally printed in Eerie Nos. 103-105 and 109-111. I really enjoy colorized versions of material originally presented in black and white, as the heavy lines and shading give things a weird look. Primitive airbrushing provides rich, lush, yet muted colors. Marvel recently recolored Roy Thomas and Dick Giordano's adaptation of Dracula, and it is similarly pleasing in appearance. I look forward to getting both of these stories in their original black and white in future volumes of Dark Horse's Eerie Archives. 

I do have a question that maybe somebody out there can answer: These comic books state that the stories are copyright 1981 and 1985 by the creators. Did they somehow retain the rights to their stories? And if so, will this be a hurtle for Dark Horse to reprint them, or will a separate licensing deal have to be worked out?

These are two three-part stories, collected across this two issue “micro-series”. In The Trespasser, we get a Don McGregor soapbox special, complete with environmental warning. Dated yet lovable, well written Horror. These are some meaty reads, not picture flipbooks. 

Doug Moench's Blood On Black Satin deals with the occult, complete with all sorts of Hollywood flavored Satanism. Real Satanism is totally stupid and lame, but I love this over-the-top eeeevil stuff.

The artwork for both of these tales is done by the exceptionally talented Paul Gulacy. His artwork is excellent, and very photo realistic. Steve Oliff's old school airbrushed coloring deserves a mention, as does the heavy duty paper Eclipse used back then. The independent publishers of the '80s really raised the bar on production values for comic books, introducing better paper, airbrushed and later, computer coloring, and more sophisticated, adult themes.

This was a pleasant find, and these issues have been added to my collection for the duration. These can be had for under $4 on eBay if you're interested. No, not my copies, you fool. I just did a quick check to see what they would cost you to procure.