Uncle Ernie's Creature Ink

Halloween Leftovers

2009-11-01T10:09:00.001-08:00

Jolly jaundiced jack-o-lanterns

November 1st just doesn't have the same ring of anticipation as October 1st did, but it is The Day of the Dead.

Happy Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween Mad Science

2009-10-30T00:22:00.000-07:00

If you had a productive pumpkin patch this year, automating the carving process for all your Jack-O-Lanterns would be a great help.

I wonder, do you think scenes like this are taking place in the cold damp basements of all the haunted house around town?

Halloween Haunted House

2009-10-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

Last month I was doodling as I was talking on the phone and came up with a rough image of a haunted house. I decided to ink the sketch, scan, and color it using Photoshop.

It would be great if we all had a cool haunted house to visit on Halloween night.

Halloween Fruit Crate Label

2009-10-27T17:47:00.001-07:00

Old fruit crate labels can have some of my favorite combinations of art and design. There is another earlier version of this label that does not have a zip code.

Draw Me; Horrors of it All

2009-10-26T19:21:00.001-07:00

If you have never checked out The Horrors of It All, the Halloween season would be a great time to click on over there.

They are having a little contest based on the old "Draw Me" ads we must have all seen at one time in comic books. There are some clever pieces there and you get to vote for your favorite. Of course, I wouldn't mind if you voted for my Cyclops Beauty; but you may find one of the other drawings raises the hair on the back of your neck.

You will definitely find some creepy old stories from the comic books of the past.

Professor Gizmo; Ruff and Reddy

2009-10-26T03:09:00.000-07:00

Ruff and Reddy was the first Hanna-Barbera cartoon made for Saturday mornings. The episodes that I remember from the late 50's and early 60's featured MUNI MULA or the CHICKASAURUS. I have never seen any Ruff and Reddy comics that had either of those two episodes in comic book form, but here is a story with Professor Gizmo, Ruff and Reddy's adsent-minded mad scientist friend.

The Mad Doctor: Mickey Mouse

2009-10-25T00:02:00.000-07:00

Captive Wild Woman, 1943

2009-10-24T05:57:00.000-07:00

What is the difference between a mad scientist and a mad doctor?

Capt. Pepper Jack: 077

2009-10-23T00:13:00.000-07:00

Metropolis: Mad Scientist

2009-10-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

In this nice sepia tinted image, here is a slick modern mad scientist, C.A. Rotwang, from Fritz Lang's 1927 German Expressionism silent film Metropolis.

The upside down star is often said to be a satanic symbol. I wonder what it's prominent placement here was meant to express.

The logo for the Republican National Committee also uses this star shape. It has been written that the star is only tipped to the right, standing on one leg. If that was the intent, the star could be tipped either to the left or the right.

Roberto Campus; Mad Scientist Tutorial

2009-10-19T12:50:00.001-07:00

The image we have of a typical mad scientist has been set in out minds by popular culture. The original 1931 film Frankenstein seems to be the origin of what we think a mad scientist in a buzzing, popping, bubbling laboratory should look like.

This image is by Roberto Campus. I ran across it as I was looking for images of mad scientists. He has written a little step-by-step tutorial about how he went about creating this art.

George Tuska (April 26, 1916 – October 15, 2009)

2009-10-18T11:56:00.000-07:00

I did not realize that George Tuska was 93 years old. It was in the 1960's when I first became aware of his comics, with his work for Marvel. He had been around and drawing comic for sixty plus years and it seems he retires in the early 2000's. Click on the image of the Headless Horseman to read a comic pencilled by Tuska and inked by Jack Abel from 1973.

Paper Craft Skull

2009-10-14T22:24:00.001-07:00

If you need some skull decorations for an upcoming Halloween Party, here is a link to Skull A Day where you can download a pdf pattern to make this paper skull.

The Inside Man

2009-10-12T00:47:00.000-07:00

1954's The Inside Man is from Chamber of Chills #21.

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2009-10-08T11:05:00.001-07:00

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The Horrors of It All

2009-10-06T18:45:00.000-07:00

The Horrors of it All is a wonderful place to read, primarily, pre-code old horror stories. There is a nice selection of mad scientists stories there.

Dr Cyclops

2009-10-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite mad scientist movies is Dr. Cyclops. It was one of those films which didn't get over played on my local TV stations when I was a kid - seeing it was always a surprise and a treat. I haven't watched it in a long time. It would be nice to see it again. I think I could still enjoy all of those zany mad scientist shenanigans.

Henry Kuttner wrote the story "Dr, Cyclops" for the June 1940 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. The release date for the movie was April 1940. I wonder if the story was just an adaption of the movie for a promotional tie-in.

Operation Monster

2009-10-05T00:15:00.000-07:00

You may have more to worry about than just waking up from brain surgery if an egotistical doctor probes too deeply.

This Harvey Comics story was first published in 1952. It was printed in Chamber of Chills # 5 and John Giunta is listed as the penciller, with Manny Stallman credited for the inks at Grand Comic-Book Database.

I don't think it was good storytelling to show the monster in the opening splash panel. There isn't much suspense when the patient later transforms into a monster, but maybe the editors wanted to set you up for the true surprise ending later.

Mad Scientist Monster Lab

2009-10-04T23:05:00.000-07:00

Monster Maker

2009-10-03T00:59:00.000-07:00

In Harvey Comics Witches Tales #11 things go wrong for the mad scientist - who would have guessed.

capt. Pepper Jack: 076

2009-10-02T00:24:00.000-07:00

Haunted Hotel

2009-10-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to the story from Kris about A Night in a Haunted Hotel at Lake Conneaut in Northwestern Pennsylvania.

If you want to visit a link to the Hotel Conneaut, click here.

The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton

2009-10-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

Charles Dickens had a particular fondness for the supernatural. It would not have taken much coaxing for him to fall headlong into spiritualism. His nursemaid, Mary Weller, can be given some credit for helping to shape his imagination and storytelling abilities through the grim and ghostly tales she told to the young Dickens.

I have just discovered this creepy story by Dickens from, The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (known these days as The Pickwick Papers.) You will notice a striking similarity to a later, more famous, Dickens Christmas classic; but The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton is darker in tone. It seems to work better as a ghost story for this first day of October.

The legend of Sleepy hollow

2009-09-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

The Horrors of it All posted the Classics Illustrated # 12 version of the Headless Horseman: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in 2008. Reading the original story is still the best way to enjoy Washington Irving's tale, keep a dictionary handy; but I am always interested in seeing how the original story has been adapted.

The Michigan State University Libraries Special Collections Division lists Classic Illustrated #12 as follows:

Classics Illustrated ; no. 12
  Rip Van Winkle : and the Headless Horseman / by Washington
  Irving ; illustrations by Rolland H. Livingstone. -- New
  York : Gilberton, 1944, 1951? printing. -- 64 p. : col.
  ill. ; 26 cm. -- (Classics Illustrated ; no. 12)
  I. Irving, Washington, 1783-1859. II. Livingstone, Rolland
  H. III. The Headless Horseman. III. The Legend of Sleepy
  Hollow. IV. Series. Call no.: PN6728.1.G5C55no.12