Scary Tales #1
Charlton, August 1975
Title: “Introduction”
Synopsis: Three children break into a forbidden old house and discover a sexy vampire: the Countess R.H. Von Bludd.
Writer: Nicola Cuti
Artist: Joe Staton
Review: This debut issue of Scary Tales begins with a two-pager featuring a shockingly creative title: “Introduction.” Sadly, that’s about the most original thing about it. A sexy female vampire hosting an anthology of EC-esque short tales? Hmm. Been done, and better. This story – and series – needed an original twist.
•••
Title: “The Vampire’s Bride”
Synopsis: Newlyweds suspect each other of being a vampire (disregarding the creepy servant who sleeps in a box!)
Writer: Joe Gill
Artist: Sanho Kim
Review: Trite and obvious, this Joe Gill story features a red herring that isn’t. And Sanho Kim’s unattractive art doesn’t help.
•••
Title: “The Wedding Gift”
Synopsis: A 15th-century count who is not-so-secretly undead takes a sassy, red-headed lass to be his vampire bride.
Writer: Uncredited
Artist: Demetrio Sánchez Gómez
Review: Like the rest of this issue, the origin of Countess Von Bludd lacks originality. The art from “Demetrio” is uneven.
Grade (for the entire issue): D+
Cool factor: Starts off with a groovy Joe Staton cover …
Not-so-cool factor: … but it’s all downhill after that.
Collector’s note: According to the Grand Comics Database, there is a Modern reprint of this issue from 1977.
Character quotable: “Come inside and I … vill … tell you such vunderful stories … SCARY TALES.” – Vampirel … oh, umm … Countess R.H. Von Bludd
Editor’s note: This review was originally published by Comics Bronze Age on Oct. 22, 2012.
