Monsters

Beautiful James Bama artwork adornes this box for the Forgotten Prisoner Aurora model kit.

It may come as a surprise, but our ex-President of These Here United States that sometimes goes by the name of George Dubya, is something of an accomplished painter. So much of a secret that, when asked at the inauguration of his George W. Bush Library a few weeks ago why so many many people didn't know he was a painter, he replied in true Texas humor: "Well, a lot of people didn't think I could read, either".It is actually another Bush I speak of -- George A. Bush, to be exact, and judging from the work shown here, he is himself quite a painter. His depiction of Bela Lugosi as Dracula in shades of midnight blue is no paint-by-number, pardner.Up for a minimum bid of $974 on a 2003 MastroNet auction, it failed to sell. By all accounts it flew back into the night on bat's wings.Here is the description:This is the second George A. Bush portrait painting of a classic Universal horror film star that we have been able to offer through our Americana auctions. The first was of Boris Karloff in his Ardath Bay makeup, worn in production of The Mummy. Our second is offered in this auction. It is a haunting portrait of Lugosi in his most famous role of stage and film, Count Dracula. Bush has executed the entire work in an incredibly subtle spectrum of different shades of blue, perfectly capturing the Count in his nighttime environment. Rising almost invisibly in the background is an outlined castle against a suggested light source of a fully cloud covered, almost invisible moon. The portrait is riveting, with pinpoints of light reflecting in the Count's eyes, and the slightest speck of blood appearing at the corner of his bottom lip. Obviously, Dracula has feasted already! The 14-3/4" x 19-3/4" original gouache painting on hard board is flawlessly preserved. Date and publication are unknown, and it is signed "Bush" in the lower right.

Herman in his koach and Grandpa driving his Dragula!

Here is Mae Clark's reaction to seeing the Monster in "Frankenstein".

You have seen the term, "iconic" used frequently here at MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD. With no disrespect for its religious beginnings, I use it when I want to describe the impact of certain images found in horror films, magazines, and other visual media that represent an analogy that is fixed in traditional or conventional thought.Norman Mingo's cover art for MAD magazine's September 1964 (#89) issue can easily be described as "iconic". It is ubiquitous not only in the realms of humorous illustration, but in the world of Monsterology as well. The image, depicting the Frankenstein monster putting together a model of Mad's mascot, Alfred E. Neuman, is the epitome of ironic reversals in a long line of works that the publication was famous for (I do not include the magazine's current incarnation -- while still somewhat humorous, it has for the most part, degraded into obtuseness). I even use it for a button on the sidebar here.The MastroNet Spring 2003 auction included Mingo's orginal artwork for the Frankenstein MAD cover. To remind people just how famous this work is, the minium bid amount was for $10,000 with a buyer's premium of $17,119. It did not sell.Norman Mingo original art.Here is a description of the item as it appeared in the auction catalog:"Offered is one of the greatest, most easily recognized, and most significant of all Mad cover artworks, Norman Mingo's September, 1964 cover, featuring Frankenstein assembling an Aurora model of Alfred E. Neuman. Many collectors consider this to be the ultimate Mad cover. It is universally recognized as a classic, and is unquestionably one of the most desirable of all of Mad's many memorable covers. This cover's original painting was first sold decades ago, when Russ Cochran auctioned Bill Gaines' Mad archive material. Of all the Mad cover paintings auctioned by Cochran, this is the Mad cover painting which sold for more than any other. The $8,000 it realized in 1990 may seem like quite a bargain today, but at the time, it was a shocking and record shattering sum. The original cover's image dates from the peak period of the Monster Craze of the early 1960's, a period of enormous popularity for the Aurora Monster Models that were the most successful byproduct of that craze. It is a testimonial, both to the endurance of the craze and to the fact that Aurora was about to produce a model of the magazine's own little monster named Alfred. Because it so perfectly captures the most memorable elements of its period, it has become the quintessential Mad cover, and many now consider it to be Norman Mingo's greatest masterpiece. When Mad originally sold this artwork, it had not yet been decided to withhold a selection of their choicest pieces, the grouping which would come to be known as "The Soul of Mad." Yet despite the fact that this cover painting was not retained in Mad's permanent collection, it clearly is deserving of being included in that select group, perhaps, more so than any other Mad cover art that is currently in private hands.More than any other artist, Norman Mingo is most closely aligned with the Alfred E. Neuman image. He was the first to capture him in a painted portrait (Mad #30, 1956), and he produced many of the most classic covers the magazine experienced during its 2.4 million copy sales per issue era. There is only one Mingo, and he is universally recognized as the master, the most desirable of the very talented Mad cover artists. Of course, even with an artist of his caliber, there are only so many Mad covers by Mingo, or any other Mad artist, that can fall into that exclusive and very elusive club of all-time Mad greats. This is obviously one, if not the one.The colorful mixed media (we believe gouache and dyes) on board original measures 16-3/4" x 22" in size, with a flawless image area that measures 14-1/4" x 19-3/4". It is strongly signed towards the lower left corner. Accompanied by a copy of the September, 1964 edition of Mad magazine on whic

The Creature boards the Rita in "Creature From the Black Lagoon".

Michael Landon in "I Was a Teenage Werewolf".

I'll wager it never occurred to most every Monster Kid during the vintage years of the Monster Craze to include in their monster trading card trove one of the boxes that the cards were sold out of. I know that even when I saved enough money for a box of Leaf's Spook Stories cards (1961), after tearing open all 24 packs I summarily crunched up the box and tossed it.Now, these very same boxes are collector's items (go figure). Currently for sale for $100 on eBay is one of the Leaf Spook Stories boxes, albeit in a rather rescued looking condition. Still, there can't be too many of them left around.A later series of cards (1974) featured the fantastic sci-fi fantasy film PLANET OF THE APES. Here is an example of a box from that series in better condition. It is currently up for auction and the bidding has reached $87.50.To "box things up" as it were, this last example is for collectors with serious green only. Offered is a collection of 24 unopened and "unpopped" packs of Spook Stories cards (apparently the QC on this line wasn't so good so many pack seals "popped"), all slabbed and in EX condition, together with the box that they came in. This declared uber-rarity was originally sold at $48,000 (!). But, lucky for us, it's now half-off at 24 grand.A high-grade slabbed unopened pack of Spook Stories cards.

It's time for us to post this wild 'n' weird colorized flick from the mind of low/no-budget guru, Ed Wood, Jr. PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE was part 2 of a trilogy, starting with BRIDE OF THE MONSTER and ending with NIGHT OF THE GHOULS. The film stock for NIGHT OF THE GHOULS was never developed during Ed's lifetime as he couldn't afford the cost of processing!.. Criswell leads the charge in the fun little soundclip Eegah!! sent over for our listening enjoyment, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button right there, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's our audio offering for... PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE In Color!It all starts with our hero seeing a flying saucer near LA during a flight! Then, he gets in a tizzy at home because he's being muzzled by the military brass! You can hear him complain in the soundclip... Hey, it's a freakin' flying saucer over Hollywood!! So, the military stock footage is brought in to battle the disks from outer space! That mother ship is still one of my all-time favorite spaceships from the fifties, I've used it a few times in my artwork. Here's a last look at the great Bela Lugosi... And, his doctor double used to fill in for him. That miniature caved in gravesite is sooo bad, it's very small to start with, and, those leaves!There's Kelton, who's supposed to be in that same hole! It's a hoot to watch Tor try and get out of the grave, he has to squirm around until he barely gets into a position to stand up! They loop it on the DVD menu page. A comparison of military styles from two different worlds! At one point, Bela's character attacks the gang but a ray from a saucer in the graveyard turns him into a skeleton!.. Talk about suspension of disbelief, WTF?!! And, Kelton faints! A classic portrait of Vampira and Tor! The Lieutenant, the Colonel and Jeff find the hidden saucer and cautiously enter...Now, Tor has Jeff's wife! This still shows the utter cheapness of the cruddy set, holy crap, I mean, honestly, a second grader could do just as good, maybe better!!!.. Okay, burn the saucer, cut, that's a wrap!!.. We'll end with this kitsch box art for the 8mm version of this classic fifties B-movie monster flick.