My Rating
“Editorial”
Marvel editor Roger Slifer brings his crack insight on entertainment cycles, circa 1977. That little blockbuster known as Star Wars has him pretty certain science fiction will soon take over. Whatever gave him that idea?
But cycles don’t matter much in Slifer’s mind. Tell a good story, and fans will flock to it, whatever the genre. Too bad his vision for a long-running relaunch of The Haunt of Horror didn’t enjoy quite the same success. Apparently, the Force wasn’t with that one.
This is a good article for vintage Marvel fanatics.
“Profits Are Plunging”
A long-term relationship between a man and a woman can be a test of wills at times. When said woman is pregnant and the aforementioned man refuses paid work over his environmental convictions, that’s another matter. Angel O’Hara and Martin Gold had been at odds for several weeks now. Martin had an opportunity to work for one of the leading chemical research and development firms in Midtown Manhattan, but his hippie sensibilities prohibited such involvement. What environmentalist in his right mind would? One with a baby on the way, that’s who!
Angel had been losing patience with Martin, and rightly so. He was a good man, but pride and ideology don’t buy a bassinet or diapers for a newborn. His writing skills were in demand. The great American novel could wait.
Unfortunately, Martin wasn’t Angel O’Hara’s only problem. A dark funk had overcome her recently. Was it depression? It felt like she was sharing her soul with something much darker. It came to her in nightmares. A beautiful, dark-haired woman with European elegance. But her demeanor was pure chaos. One name kept running through Angel’s thoughts. Lilith.
“Slinking Through The Psycho-Ward”
What makes a man a success? Money, power, or helping those less fortunate? According to Dan Yercich’s mother, the first two options. Why had Dan settled on a graveyard-shift custodial job at the Ravenswood Hospital mental ward? Was he crazier than the patients locked up in that god-awful place? That was mother’s stance, not his own.
It took a strong-willed person to clean and maintain a building while the insane languished in various forms of psychosis. Some had even tried to murder Dan in various ways over the years. It wasn’t anything personal. Dan Yercich was just a physical stand-in for whichever devil had driven the patient to the depths of desperation. Mother would never understand.
Only one hour remained in Dan’s shift. Then he would exchange one psychological battleground for another. Why had mother never supported his life decisions? Dan Yercich was no loser. Tonight, maybe she would finally see his side. Tonight, he was bringing home a special gift to his mother.
“Death Of The Living Dead!”
Several warriors fell to the cold, dead hands of the zombie. It was a brutish mass, a warrior at the peak of his skill when alive. Now it stalked through the African jungle with only one purpose. The monster must destroy W’sulli and his tribe.
As the unstoppable juggernaut of voodoo magic murdered one tribesman after another, W’sulli struggled to remember the incantations that could counter this threat. He had been a powerful witch doctor in his youth, but old age had robbed him of those memories. Only one chance remained to stop the mindless slave of Mi’chi’li. W’sulli would have to call upon the Eternal Warrior—Gilgamesh—for assistance. Send a monster to stop a monster.
“Picture Of Andrea”
The scene was grisly. Lt. Chapel scanned Andrea Simmons’s Upper East Side apartment for any clues they might have missed earlier in the day. He was there alone this time, a practice that would certainly earn a frown from NYPD Internal Affairs. Especially given the late hour. Something about the place fascinated the lieutenant. That large portrait of Andrea above the fireplace certainly didn’t help. What a looker.
The one thing Chapel couldn’t figure out was how the killer had entered the apartment without a key to the front door. The window was locked from the inside as well. No way a man could scale the high-rise unless he was Spider-Man. And Chapel doubted the neighborhood wall-crawler had taken up murder as a side hustle.
Then there was the blood. It had pooled on the floor in an unusual pattern. No splatter, no trail leading to the front door. It was as if the killer had held Andrea in one spot and drained her body of blood. But how? And with the apartment apparently secure, where had the murderer gone?
Chapel surveyed the room again. Somewhere in this apartment was an explanation. He just had to stop admiring the woman above the fireplace long enough to find it.
Review
Here it is. The highly sought-after issue of Marvel Preview Presents that every old-time Marvel horror fan searches for. For me, the cover art is the main draw of this magazine. However, I have to admit—I didn’t care for the corresponding storyline.
Steve Gerber was one of the comic book industry’s leading strange cats. His best-known contribution to the Marvel Universe is Howard the Duck. But did he have to turn the weirdness up to eleven for everything he wrote?
Lilith, daughter of Dracula, trapped in the body of a pregnant hippie chick was a little too odd for me. Between the domestic disagreements and the supernatural identity crisis, I found myself wishing we could get back to some good old-fashioned vampire horror. There’s a baby on the way, Martin needs a job, and Dracula’s daughter has apparently moved in. Try explaining that one at the baby shower.
Thankfully, three other stories waited in the wings. In my opinion, the Gilgamesh and Lt. Chapel/Dracula stories were the main stars here. An unstoppable zombie requires an equally formidable opponent, while a bloody apartment and an alluring portrait give Chapel quite the mystery. To me, these gems are what horror comics should be. Give me an unsettling situation, a little atmosphere, and a reason to wonder what lurks on the next page.
“Slinking Through the Psycho-Ward” also adds a dose of human horror to the mix. Dan Yercich’s troubles with Mother make a fitting addition to a magazine where the monsters don’t all need fangs.
The cover may have convinced me to pick this one up, but the supporting stories earned its place in my horror comic book library. With that, I give issue twelve a solid four out of five stars.
