Comic Review: Eerie Archives Volume 24 (Dark Horse)

Dark Horse continues its Archive Edition of the Warren black and white magazines with Eerie Volume 24.

This volume collects much of the contents of Eerie 114-119 while making the odd exception of skipping the contents of Eerie 115, which were previously reprinted in other collections. It makes for a jarring interruption but is perhaps understandable from a collector/archival point of view.

By now, (1980), the theme of Eerie magazine had changed from horror short stories to fantasy/scifi/ sword and sorcery sagas. There are lots of these here… Red Sonja lookalikes, John Carter of Mars emulators, men in loincloth lost in the alien desert, that sort of thing.

In this arc of Eerie’s evolution, issues are illustrated by the likes of E R Cruz, Ruby Nebres, Victor de la Fuente, Fernando Fernandez, and so on. Many of these artists were also working on DC war comics and horror titles at the same time. The halftones are gone, and all art is now line work with black shadows. Hand lettering goes by the wayside in later issues, switched to typesetting. Perhaps another cost-cutting move at the time.

Nicely presented, these stories will be apt for the collector of this Eerie series… swords, sorcery, women, and fantasy…

Dark Horse, Eerie Archives Volume 24, $49.99 hardcover, 300 pages, not rated