Review by Chris Gage

THE WARREN COMPANION edited by David A. Roach and Jon B. Cooke TwoMorrows Publishing $29.95

Okay, EC may be the greatest horror comics publisher of all time, but Warren Publications is a close second and knocking at the door. At a time when the Comics Code restricted content, James Warren got around it by using the black-and-white magazine format (which also meant a larger size to showcase the art). At a time when superheroes dominated the stands, Warren's CREEPY, EERIE and, later, VAMPIRELLA offered horror and suspense aimed at older readers. Warren brought in veteran EC artists like Frank Frazetta and Wally Wood, offered mainstream talents like Steve Ditko and Gene Colan a chance to stretch creatively, and gave a home to rising young newcomers like Richard Corben and Bruce Jones. Sometimes they were great, sometimes they were awful, but Warren magazines always pushed the envelope. For years, the Warren books were overlooked by comics historians, and information about them in the Overstreet Price Guide was woefully incomplete. All that's changed with the arrival of THE WARREN COMPANION.

This 270-page trade paperback, edited by David A. Roach and COMIC BOOK ARTIST magazine editor Jon B. Cooke, offers a comprehensive history of Warren's output, including an exhaustive checklist detailing the contents of nearly everything the company ever published. The information is cross-referenced by writer and artist so that if, for instance, you want to know what issues Bernie Wrightson's work appeared in, you can find out at a glance. The book is packed with interviews, photos, and rare and unpublished artwork by the likes of Wrightson, Russ Heath, Neal Adams, and many more. It's worth every penny of the cover price. Portions of the book were previously published in Comic Book Artist #4, but even if you have that issue, you won't find The Warren Companion overly redundant:“ there's a wealth of new stuff here, and several of the old interviews have been expanded or updated. The wealth of behind-the-scenes info is terrific; publisher Jim Warren comes across as every bit the eccentric genius of legend. My favorite story is the one in which he causes an army of suits from Columbia Pictures to descend on artist Walter Simonson by convincing them he had illicit pictures of the top-secret spaceship from the upcoming Close Encounters of the Third Kind film (all Simonson had was a rough sketch he'd scrawled on a napkin to use as reference in the comic book adaptation he was drawing).

My only complaint is that I would have liked to have seen some of the paintings reproduced in color, but no doubt that would have been difficult and expensive. If you have any interest at all in Warren's mags (and if you're a fan of horror comics you should), pick this one up - you'll be glad you did.

I give it 5 rabid fanboys as an invaluable reference work!

Review copyright 2001 by E.C.McMullen Jr.

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