Title: Ghosts of Fear Street #31 – Escape of the He-Beast, a.k.a. “Hecula the He-Beast #32 – Death by Dying”

Author: Page McBrier

Cover Artist: Happy Boy Pat (Published), Mark Garro (Original)

Tagline: This Monster Is Real – Real Hungry!

Summary: He’s hairy. He’s scary. He’s escaped.

He is Hecula the He-Beast – the coolest monster in comic book history. And Jamie Kolker is his number-one fan. Jamie loves the He-Beast’s horns. His teeth. His claws. And especially the way he hunts his prey.

Then one day Jamie manages to get his hands on the computer program of the artist who draws Hecula. Somehow the program releases his comic book hero into the real world.

Suddenly Jamie isn’t a fan anymore. He’s monster chow!

Initial Thoughts

It’s Comic Con International time, so for this month I decided to do some recaps focusing on comic related horror (except for Graveyard School, which sadly never had a comic-based book). Comics are as important to me as the books I read for Point Horror, but they are a never-ending source of stress for me because it seems like the two major companies are run by complete morons. Word of warning: When you make statements about wanting your favorite character back or for a current writer to stop writing your favorite title, BE AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE THE WORLD OF COMICS IS LIKE A LIVING MONKEY’S PAW AND YOU WILL GET FUCKED OVER.

So, funny story. “Escape of the He-Beast” was originally going to be book #28 in the Ghosts of Fear Street series, following “Parents from the 13^th Dimension.” There was even a preview for it and, as you can see, Mark Garro completed a cover for the original release. For whatever reason, the book must’ve been pushed back when the Fear Street series was transferred over to Gold Key, with the published #28 being “Hide and Shriek II.” I own all of the Gold Key-published books and they’re my favorite of this series because I LOVE the early 90s CGI cover artwork.

[Wing: Awww, fear of technology setting things free into the world goes back for ages, and I love it.]

READ AT DEVIL’S ELBOW

Title: Detective Comics #40 – The Murders of Clayface

Writer: Bill Finger

Penciller: Bob Kane

Inker: Jerry Robinson

Initial Thoughts

I don’t talk about this as much, but before I was ever a Titans or Legion fan I was a Batman one. It started, of course, thanks to Bruce Timm and Paul Dini’s animated series, but as I got older I tried to dig deeper into the more obscure aspects of Batman’s history. I was more fond of the Golden and Silver Age stuff like Kathy and Betty Kane, the original Batwoman and Batgirl, and villains like Doctor Double X and the Rainbow Beast.

My favorite member of Batman’s Rogues gallery is undoubtedly Clayface. But here’s the thing, there are over seven of them! If you watched the Batman cartoon, you probably remember Clayface looked like this:

And in the comics, he did. One of them did. Well, after the cartoon happened, people began using THAT design as a default appearance which made things frustrating. The cartoon version was a combination of the first three Clayfaces. The very first, who appeared in Detective Comics #40, wasn’t a shapeshifter. No, he was a serial killer with a grotesque face. But I can’t say much more than that because it would spoil the story.

READ AT DEVIL’S ELBOW

Welcome to NostalgicBookshelf.com, where we recap all sorts of nostalgic media from our childhoods. After much debate, Wing set the hard rule that “nostalgic” means it must be at least ten years old. [Wing: Oh, yeah, throw me under the bus. This is starting off well.]

We currently recap: The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin, Making Out by Katherine Applegate (and Michael Grant), Enid Blyton books (including Famous Five and Malory Towers), the Dungeons & Dragons television show, and anything else that strikes our fancy. In the future, we’ll add Baywatch, Dawson’s Creek, My Little Pony (generations 1-3), Fighting Fantasy by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, Jem, and more.

This site is owned by Dove, Raven, and Wing, who you may know from their recaps on The Devil’s Elbow or Sweet Valley Online, which are both now a part of the Nostalgic Bookshelf network. (Devil’s Elbow: Where evil twins and friends come together to lovingly snark Point Horror and other teen genre fiction. Sweet Valley Online: Evil triplets take on Sweet Valley one book at a time.)

We have a number of guest recappers across all three sites, including: Bat, Dade, Donna, Jude, Necromommycon, Rosey, TheeCountOlaf, Tuesday, and Virgin.

Our format: One person writes each recap, but any of the other recappers may comment throughout, which adds to the discussion, snark, and Wing Goes Boom moments that make up this fun nostalgic community. We’ve had a great experience with readers.

Our schedule: At least one recap a week posted here and at Sweet Valley Online and The Devil’s Elbow. At the beginning of each month, we’ll update the recap list for that month in case you want to read along with us.

If you have ever wanted to be a part of this nostalgic recapping, podcasting, and discussions, or if you have any questions or comments, email us at management@nostalgicbookshelf.com.

 

March Recap Schedule

9 March – Podcast episode: Sweet Valley Twins #42: Jessica’s Secret by Francine Pascal (Dove, Raven, Wing) (at Sweet Valley Online)
12 March – Sweet Valley Twins #43: Elizabeth’s First Kiss by Francine Pascal (Raven) (at Sweet Valley Online)
13 March – Friday the 13th: Final Nightmare (Virgin) (at Devil’s Elbow)
14 March – Making Out #3: Nina Won’t Tell by Katherine Applegate (and Michael Grant) (Dove)
15 March – Last Vampire #3: Red Dice by Christopher Pike (Wing) (at Devil’s Elbow)
16 March – Graveyard School #7: Slime Lake by Tom B. Stone (Jude) (at Devil’s Elbow)
16 March – Podcast episode: Sweet Valley Twins #43: Elizabeth’s First Kiss by Francine Pascal (Dove, Raven, Wing) (at Sweet Valley Online)
19 March – Nightmare Hall #10: Sorority Sister by Diane Hoh (Dade) (at Devil’s Elbow)
20 March – American Girls: Molly by Valerie Tripp (Jude)
21 March – Famous Five #2: Five Go Adventuring by Enid Blyton (Necromommycon)
21 March – Dungeons & Dragons #2: The Eye of the Beholder (Raven)
22 March – The Mermaid Saga #3-4: The Village of Fighting Fish by Rumiko Takahashi (Jude) (at Devil’s Elbow)
23 March – Podcast episode: Famous Five #1: Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton, Making Out #3: Nina Won’t Tell by Katherine Applegate (and Michael Grant), Dungeons & Dragons #1: The Night of No Tomorrow, and review of available recaps (Dove, Raven, Wing) (at Sweet Valley Online)
26 March – Sweet Valley Twins Super Chiller #3: The Carnival Ghost by Francine Pascal (Wing) (at Sweet Valley Online)
28 March – A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (Zachary)
30 March – Podcast episode: Sweet Valley Twins Super Chiller #3: The Carnival Ghost by Francine Pascal (Dove, Raven, Wing) (at Sweet Valley Online)
31 March – Goosebumps: Screams in the Night by R. L. Stine (Jude) (at Devil’s Elbow)