Michael D Hamersky On Comics Reviews: The Comedy of HoRRoR #1 From Steve 'Moonball' Wyatt of MoonBall Comics!     - Photos: (above)The front cover to 'The Comedy of HoRRoR' #1 - from MoonBall Comics & Steve Wyatt(pictured to the top left at the 2011 Wizard World Anaheim Comic Con).

TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3436:

At the recent 2011 Wizard World Anaheim Comic Con, I came across a familar face, that of Steve Wyatt, as seen to the left at his booth.

It took me a moment  to wonder why he looked 'out of place' there in the 'Artists Alley' of the Comic Con!

You see, for years I've only seen him at his booth at other comic cons as a comic book dealer... and I mean many different comic cons and shows when I say that!

So his booth was a little overpowering in presentation of all of the things that he was presenting at his booth.

Of course I saw the oversized banner proclaiming the 'BIG WOW!' Comic Fest, which I had recently heard of, but didn't know where it was... Turned out that it was the new new name for SuperCon in Northern California! He told me the story why it had a new name, but that is for a later blog or mention at my Facebook Fan Page.

What Steve wanted me to know for this Blog, was that the BIG WOW was coming soon, PLUS that he had a comic book that he would like me to read and possibly mention in this Blog and / or at my Facebook Fan Page.

I wasn't aware of his interest in writing and / or illustrating in comics. So in preparation for this blog, I researched what I could find on him, and came up with this bio on him:

"Collecting Comics since 1974, working in the comic industry since 1976, he has done everything you can do... except create comics (his passion). He sells comics, promotes comics, promotes comic show, appraises comics, finds comics...etc.

Having helped with a number of comics as an inker (his dream job), his 1st time credit was "Ms Fortune" from Image comics. He has worked (uncredited) on Tomb Raider, Star Trek and more. He created the sensational "Doomed Galaxy", 1st self published, and soon to be a new book from Image comics. He also created the smash hit "Santa, The Protector" and "The Comedy of Horror", both published by "Moonball Comics"."

Okay... So that's an updated history of Steve.

What's this comic book about?

It's a self-published comic book with three stories presented.  Each story is introduced by 'Uncle Storyteller', as seen on the front cover to the left.

The first story is 'Pigmy Queen', with additional stories titled 'The Hunter and the Hunted', and 'The Peace & Love Hippy Vampire'.

Words, pictures & cover by Steve Wyatt. Cover Colors by Steve Olifff, with letters by Mike Hampton.  This was copyrighted in 2009. The interior pages are in black & white.

The front cover scene, 'The Desert Zombie' is one of those 'gimicks' that comics used to use, where a scene / story is NOT in the comic book itself!  But Steve does write under the words 'The Desert Zombie' that "this cover has nothing to do with this comic, I jsut wanted to draw a zombie!".  Which I thought was kind of funny!

I didn't realize that Steve was born in 1964, even though I knew he was younger than me.  So the use of the 'Uncle Storyteller' is a mechanism that has been used before, most prominently in the EC Comics.  There have been other uses of this concept before, including in Marvel Comics' horror comics after the Comics Code Authority was relaxed in the 1970's.

So while some might think this is 'derivative', I found that it was a good mechanism to use a character to 'introduce' each story.  Yes, I found that the at least one of the stories was similar to ones I've read in the past, or maybe seen on TV, but I was able to enjoy it in a different style of artwork that is Steve's own.

The artwork was fine in black & white, and actually it was good that the vampire story wasn't presented in color, what with the blood being shown...

The nudity presented within the pages of this comic book prevent it from being a product for a 'general audience'.  So it isn't for young kids, or young adults, dpending on your own parental guidances.

I had a good time reading this comic book, and for a self-published anthology comic book with b&w pages, all with story & art by the same creator... It fared pretty well. As I've mentioned numerous times before here in this blog... Anthology Comics are the hardest to review.

Oh, and as for 'Moonball'... Steve writes: "Moonball", if anyone needs to know, is a dumb kids name from the 70's!"

My comic book grade for this one-shot comic book is a VERY FINE / VERY FINE PLUS (VF/VF+) 8.25 out of a possible 10.0 grading scale.

As for obtaining an issue... If you see him at a comic con, he should have it for sale at his booth if he is selling comics.

Or, you can try him at his eBay Store: Moonball's Magical Comic Calvacade!!

You can also contact him and check out more on the BIG WOW! at his Facebook Fan Page for that comic con. The last one just occured May 21-22 of 2011. And yes, it was originally founded as 'Super-Con' back in 1979 in Hayward, CA.

(NOTE: Next Year's show date will be May 19th & 20th, 2012.).

Thanks, Steve for introducing me to your work, I had fun reading it!

~Michael D Hamersky

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app!  We currently have over 2,456 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! 

And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

~ Michael D Hamersky

If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at:  

http://www.ComicBooksCircus.com/ 

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that!

The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works!

To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:

Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! 

---