I had never paid much attention to the Marvel horror comics of the late 60s and 70s. But after picking up a few issues from scattered “dollar bins,” I find that I’m really liking what I’ve found.

Chamber of Chills #1 (premiering in 1972 after the 1971 loosening of rules created by the Comics Code Authority) is a strange masterpiece of different works, including a story called “Moon of Madness, Moon of Fear” written by sci-fi novelist George Alec Effinger. The artist of this particular story is the famous P. Craig Russell – who is simply referred to as “Craig Russell” in the credits. The work is not listed in his online list of art credits.

Other famous writers and artists got a shot in Chamber of Chills later issues as well – including famous American history novelist John Jakes. Jakes’ notable sword-and-sorcery character Brak the Barbarian makes an appearance in Chamber of Chills #2, in a story illustrated by none other than fantasy great Val Meyerik and also Dan Adkins.

Other industry legends – Gardner Fox, Stan Lee, Howard Chaykin, Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, and John Romita Sr. would leave their mark on the series too.

Val Mayerik’s artwork for “The Spell of the Dragon” in COC #2. Story by John Jakes.

This particular series – or at least the few isses I have been able to acquire – reflect a time when comics were truly an art form, and writers really took their time to weave intriguing stories. Add in the limitations that the Comics Code Authority placed on the theme and content of the stories,
and you had writers who really had to think to come up with well-thought out and well-worded stories. I still chuckle at some modern comics, with their full-page action panels with “WHAM!” as the only dialogue on the page. The art is great, but the lack of dialogue boxes and written copy reminds me of the old Adam West Batman combat sequences.

As a kid, I remember learning a lot from comics. In third grade, I knew that a “biped” was something that walked on two legs. The teacher actually argued with me and insisted that we looked up the word. Yet Conan the Barbarian taught me about “bipedal monstrosities” and other creatures the Cimmerian had to face long before the 3rd Grade textbook did.

And so I return to the reason these Marvel horror comics struck me as something of high quality. They were from an era when people cared about what they wrote, sought to come up with artwork equal to the story, and tried to tell a tale. Definitely a far cry from today, when attention spans seem minimal and everything is action, action and more action.

Until next time, – Wally (AKA Paint Monk)