...Haunted Horror...Yoe Comics...

Yoe Comics "Haunted Horror" - Books #13 and #14

Cover by Shelly Moldoff - Haunted Horror #14

We had just returned from a day trip to San Juan Capistrano a few Saturdays ago on the Metrolink back to the Fullerton Train Station.  I was quickly happy to discover Comic Hero University attached to it after we arrived.  I got a fountain Dr. Pepper at the small convenience shop next door.  Then, as I walked in, I fully made the clerk aware of my open transgression: the lidless cup of soda.  [I have a disdain for straws.]  And, in my defense, I am an adult, and haven't spilled a drink since trying to hover a tray of shots over a table a year ago.

University not only has comics atop their platform shop, but they have tables for card players and an arcade(!).  To the latter point, I only lacked the time and the energy to play some Walking Dead pinball.  I wanted comics.  I picked up Star Wars #1 and Robocop #9.  But I was looking for something twisted.  It had been a while to scratch an itch that I didn't know I had.  Haunted Horror!  by http://www.yoebooks.com/
was that.

Art by Abe Simon "Headless Horror"

My first foray into horror comics was a fun memory when I was not even seven years old.  My mom and I were on the return flight from the Philippines and the stewardess, completely unaware of the theme of these particular comics, handed me a stack.  (There were a few people on the flight that were empathetic of a boy on a 14 hour flight.  Little did they know that I could sit for hours and never be bored.)  I took the stack happily, arranged them in the pocket in front of me and slowly went page by page.

Now, the comics I was used to up to that point were not like this.  They were American comics.  I read a lot of Marvel, mostly due to my uncle in East LA having a ton of them.  I stayed at his house often, reading every single one.  They were a quick, fun read, but never heady.  These Filipino comics books had a deranged story line in them that actually scared me.  I had to put them away.  Then, after some time and curiosity set in, I turned back to them to see the horror in their pages.

I barely understood the language, but luckily Filipino popular culture had a mix of English along with Tagalog.  This was a tale of ruthless people, whoring and dirty, getting their just desserts when they ingest small green humanoid creatures.  They eat away at anyone unlucky enough to drink the tea that they come in.  Ghastly images of these little green men chewing away at the human - the latter in agonizing pain for more than anyone should dare.  There was lurid nudity.  There was blood.  It was brilliant!

Art Attributed by Joe D'Agostino "Horror of the Cannibal's Dinner"

Then some thirty years later, here's a group of banned comics from the 50s in the form of Yoe's comics that are compilation of different comics from that time.  Yoe then compiled them into a truly beautiful comic book with a plastic-like cover and heavy weight paper inside.  The comics look better than they did 60 years ago, surely.

And the stories - they are shocking, schlocky, and wonderful.  As I do when I read things in time, you have to image the twisted, souless mind of the artists and writers of these stories.  They were the harmless underbelly of society, with stories that reflected their naive passion for blood.

Horror comes out every couple of weeks, and I picked up a few back issues at Phat Collectibles in Anaheim.  You won't be unhappy spending that 3.99!