Comics
Monsterverse Releases Official Cover For Horror Anthology, ‘Tales From The Grave’!
Earlier this year we brought readers an exclusive first look at Monsterverse Entertainments upcoming horror anthology “BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE” that will attempt to resurrect readers’ interest in the horror icon. Inside you can find the cover of the very first issue that is illustrated by none other than the legendary Basil GoGos! Read on for the skinny. “The new full-color anthology to be done in the classic EC and Warren tradition will have each fantastic tale hosted by iconic horror film star Bela Lugosi. The book will be the premier publication from Monsterverse Comics, which will launch other horror and monster related titles in the months ahead. Editors Kerry Gammill (Powerman and Iron Fist, Deadly Foes of Spider-Man, Superman, THE OUTER LIMITS) and Kez Wilson (Hammerlocke, Scarlett, Power of the Atom, SPACE JAM) will be adding their artistic talents throughout the series, along with associate editor and writer Sam F. Park (Horror films: HALFWAY HOUSE, DEATH’S DOOR and the upcoming “The Need” for screenwriter turned producer Stiles White of BOOGEYMAN and KNOWING).”
Here’s The Official Press Release…
Monsterverse fans, this is the Basil Gogos cover for issue one of “BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE.” It was commissioned by Rob Zombie and published only in the Gogos art book by our publisher Kerry Gammill and never used before as a cover. A version of this image on cards will be passed out at events and conventions. You can find MONSTERVERSE ENTERTAINMENT giving a preview of the Lugosi horror comic book at the top monster movie fan event, MONSTERPALOOZA, in Burbank, CA at the Airport Marriott from April 6-11, 2010.
No other publication can offer a “new” pristine example of Basil Gogos’s artwork at his very finest. “BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE” will go on sell at comic shops and online in late September, 2010, in time for the October month of Halloween. A major publicity campaign will promote the book across the mainstream press when Lugosi interest is at its most popular in every media.
MONSTERVERSE publisher Kerry Gammill was the creator/editor of the highly regarded art book covering Gogos’s entire career entitled, “FAMOUS MONSTER MOVIE ART OF BASIL GOGOS.”
MONSTERVERSE is publishing a horror anthology comic book series featuring the most sinister of horror icons, “Dracula” BELA LUGOSI along with THE most fantastic contributing artists and writers working in the comic and film worlds today. John (ASTONISHING X-MEN) Cassaday, Steve (30 DAYS OF NIGHT) Niles, Basil (FAMOUS MONSTERS) Gogos, Bruce (BATMAN/SUPERMAN/JLA ANIMATED SERIES)Timm, John (AM. WEREWOLF IN LONDON, THRILLER) Landis, Rick (8 TIME OSCAR WINNING MAKE-UP ARTIST) Baker, Joe (THE HOWLING, GREMLINS, MASTERS OF HORROR) Dante and many more.”
“BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE” Issue #1 Drops Later This Year From Monsterverse Entertainment!
Comics
[Review] Graphic Novel ‘Tender’ Is Brilliant Feminist Body Horror That Will Make You Squirm & Scream
Beth Hetland’s debut graphic novel, ‘Tender,’ is a modern tale of love, validation, and self-destruction by way of brutal body horror with a feminist edge.
“I’ve wanted this more than anything.”
Men so often dominate the body horror subgenre, which makes it so rare and insightful whenever women tackle this space. This makes Beth Hetland’s Tender such a refreshing change of pace. It’s earnest, honest, and impossibly exposed. Tender takes the body horror subgenre and brilliantly and subversively mixes it together with a narrative that’s steeped in the societal expectations that women face on a daily basis, whether it comes to empowerment, family, or sexuality. It single-handedly beats other 2023 and ‘24 feminine horror texts like American Horror Story: Delicate, Sick, Lisa Frankenstein, and Immaculate at their own game.
Hetland’s Tender is American Psycho meets Rosemary’s Baby meets Swallow. It’s also absolutely not for the faint of heart.
Right from the jump, Tender grabs hold of its audience and doesn’t let go. Carolanne’s quest for romantic fulfillment, validation, and a grander purpose is easy to empathize with and an effective framework for this woeful saga. Carolanne’s wounds cut so deep simply because they’re so incredibly commonplace. Everybody wants to feel wanted.
Tender is full of beautiful, gross, expressive artwork that makes the reader squirm in their seat and itch. Hetland’s drawings are simultaneously minimalist and comprehensively layered. They’re reminiscent of Charles Burns’ Black Hole, in the best way possible. There’s consistently inspired and striking use of spot coloring that elevates Hetland’s story whenever it’s incorporated, invading Tender’s muted world.
Hetland employs effective, economical storytelling that makes clever use of panels and scene construction so that Tender can breeze through exposition and get to the story’s gooey, aching heart. There’s an excellent page that depicts Carolanne’s menial domestic tasks where the repetitive panels grow increasingly smaller to illustrate the formulaic rut that her life has become. It’s magical. Tender is full of creative devices like this that further let the reader into Carolanne’s mind without ever getting clunky or explicit on the matter. The graphic novel is bookended with a simple moment that shifts from sweet to suffocating.
Tender gives the audience a proper sense of who Carolanne is right away. Hetland adeptly defines her protagonist so that readers are immediately on her side, praying that she gets her “happily ever after,” and makes it out of this sick story alive…And then they’re rapidly wishing for the opposite and utterly aghast over this chameleon. There’s also some creative experimentation with non-linear storytelling that gets to the root of Carolanne and continually recontextualizes who she is and what she wants out of life so that the audience is kept on guard.
Tender casually transforms from a picture-perfect rom-com, right down to the visual style, into a haunting horror story. There’s such a natural quality to how Tender presents the melancholy manner in which a relationship — and life — can decay. Once the horror elements hit, they hit hard, like a jackhammer, and don’t relent. It’s hard not to wince and grimace through Tender’s terrifying images. They’re reminiscent of the nightmarish dadaist visuals from The Ring’s cursed videotape, distilled to blunt comic panels that the reader is forced to confront and digest, rather than something that simply flickers through their mind and is gone a moment later. Tender makes its audience marinate in its mania and incubates its horror as if it’s a gestating fetus in their womb.
Tender tells a powerful, emotional, disturbing story, but its secret weapon may be its sublime pacing. Hetland paces Tender in such an exceptional manner, so that it takes its time, sneaks up on the reader, and gets under their skin until they’re dreading where the story will go next. Tender pushes the audience right up to the edge so that they’re practically begging that Carolanne won’t do the things that she does, yet the other shoe always drops in the most devastating manner. Audiences will read Tender with clenched fists that make it a struggle to turn each page, although they won’t be able to stop. Tender isn’t a short story, at more than 160 pages, but readers will want to take their time and relish each page so that this macabre story lasts for as long as possible before it cascades to its tragic conclusion.
Tender is an accomplished and uncomfortable debut graphic novel from Hetland that reveals a strong, unflinching voice that’s the perfect fit for horror. Tender indulges in heightened flights of fancy and toes the line with the supernatural. However, Tender is so successful at what it does because it’s so grounded in reality and presents a horror story that’s all too common in society. It’s a heartbreaking meditation on loneliness and codependency that’s one of 2024’s must-read horror graphic novels.
‘Tender,’ by Beth Hetland and published by Fantagraphics, is now available.
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