Warren Publishing

Warren Publishing was a magazine firm founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades. Magazines published by Warren include After Hours, Blazing Combat, Creepy, Eerie, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Favorite Westerns of Filmland, The Goblin, Help!, Monster World, Screen Thrills Illustrated, Spacemen and Vampirella.

Related Topics:
Eerie - Help! - Vampirella

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Fantasy films were the focus of Famous Monsters of Filmland and Monster World, edited by Forrest J. Ackerman. Graphic stories were on display from 1965 to 1983 in Warren's popular black-and-white horror magazines Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella. The Comics Code Authority was established in 1954 to help ensure comics were suitable for parents, so Warren chose to publish graphic stories in a magazine format to which the Code did not apply. Thus, the Warren magazines paved the way for later mainstream graphic story magazines such as Heavy Metal and Epic Illustrated.

Related Topics:
Forrest J. Ackerman - 1965 - 1983 - Horror - Comics Code Authority - 1954 - Heavy Metal - Epic Illustrated

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Other Warren publications included the short-lived Pantha and the science-fiction magazines The Rook and 1984. The acclaimed anthology of war stories, Blazing Combat, had a brief, four-issue run. The Spirit revived the classic Will Eisner character with reprints of the eight-page, Sunday-supplement comic of 1940s and 1950s newspapers. It featured new covers by Eisner and an occasional color reprint.

Related Topics:
The Spirit - Will Eisner - 1940s - 1950s

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Russ Jones, the founding editor of Creepy in 1964, detailed the magazine's origins and his lengthy negotiations with Warren in the memoir "Creepy & Eerie" at his website. In 1965, Archie Goodwin joined Warren as the editor of Creepy, and Joe Orlando was a behind-the-scenes story editor. Goodwin, who would become one of comics' foremost and most influential writers, helped to establish the company as a major force in its field. Illustrators included such established artists as Orlando, Neal Adams, Gene Colan, Frank Frazetta, Roy G. Krenkel, Gray Morrow, Al Williamson and Wally Wood, plus a newer group of talents, including Dan Adkins, Richard Bassford, Roger Brand, Frank Brunner, Rich Buckler, Dave Cockrum, Nicola Cuti, Richard Corben, Al Hewetson, Ken Kelly, Mike Royer, Tom Sutton and Boris Vallejo.

Related Topics:
Russ Jones - Archie Goodwin - Joe Orlando - Neal Adams - Gene Colan - Frank Frazetta - Roy G. Krenkel - Gray Morrow - Al Williamson - Wally Wood - Richard Bassford - Rich Buckler - Richard Corben - Ken Kelly - Tom Sutton - Boris Vallejo

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Frank Frazetta was a leading cover artist, and other covers were by Terrance Lindall, a renowned surrealist known for his illustrations for John Milton?s Paradise Lost, and H.R. Giger (who designed the creature and stage sets for the movie Alien, which won him an Academy Award for Visual Effects).

Related Topics:
Frank Frazetta - Terrance Lindall - John Milton - Paradise Lost - H.R. Giger - Alien - Academy Award for Visual Effects

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Warren's success eventually gave Marvel, DC Comics and Charlton Comics the impetus to re-enter the horror field, leading to a 1970s revival of horror comics. In 1973, new editor Bill DuBay transformed Warren's magazines to create a uniform style. The following year, Warren Publishing was dissolved and replaced by Warren Communications, a sister company James Warren had founded in 1972.

Related Topics:
DC Comics - Charlton Comics - 1970s - 1973 - 1972

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Louise Jones headed the editorial staff from 1976 to 1980, followed by DuBay's return. As the decade progressed, James Warren's bad health combined with changing tastes and business problems led to the company declaring bankruptcy. In August 1983, Harris Publications acquired company assets at auction, although legal murkiness and a 1998 lawsuit by James Warren resulted in his reacquisition of the rights to Creepy and Eerie, though no new material since has been published.

Related Topics:
Louise Jones - 1976 - 1980 - 1983 - Harris Publications - 1998

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The unrelated Warren Publishing of Cornelius, North Carolina publishes literary fiction and nonfiction, medical books, poetry and children's books. Also unrelated is the black-and-white horror magazine publisher Eerie Publications.

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