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a happy group shot of “Riotous Ronald Rabbit” and his friends

“the whole gang”

a well-dressed hippo

a sheet of paper

a wonderful surprise birthday party attended by all of his funny, furry friends!

The final panel

A flood sends sleeping Angelfood and her cabin floating downstream

this origin story

THE TURD!

the Turd raids the city

a long-haired street sweeper

an enormous – and enormously disgusting --  creature emerges from the nearby manhole

the phone booth

the National Guard

an abandoned National Guard helicopter

the FAN HITS THE SHIT!!!

the leftover turds of the Turd

a pair of werewolves

a back-cover house-ad

This week, ODDBALL COMICS honors Ken Krueger! This unsung hero not only published GORY STORIES QUARTERLY – an underground funnybook featuring the first-ever-published work of John (GARBAGE PAIL KIDS) Pound and Scott (CAPTAIN CARROT) Shaw! – Ken also discovered such creators as Dave (THE ROCKETEER) Stevens, Jim (SHADOWHAWK) Valentino and Greg (CITY AT THE END OF TIME) Bear…and was even a founder of the San Diego Comic-Con International!

Although it bears the label of “No. 2½”, this issue of GORY STORIES QUARTERLY is actually the second edition of the first -- and only -- issue of GORY STORIES QUARTERLY, which was also labeled “No. 2½”, but was digest-size and was printed with covers in both goldenrod and white paper. (See “Shroud Publishers: Purveyors Of The Macabre”, below, for more details.) This edition has the dimensions  of 9 ¾“ X 6 ¾“, a 2-color cover, with 26 interior pages (plus covers) and glued binding.

Growing up in San Diego, I was lucky enough to become friends with a few similarly-inclined young weirdos during my junior high and high school years in the 1960s. These included: Greg Bear (who's since become a Hugo Award-winning science fiction writer); John Pound (who's since become a well-known fantasy painter and humorous illustrator who's created hundreds of images for Topps Cards' infamous "Garbage Pail Kids" trading cards); and Roger Freedman (who's since become an award-winning physics professor and textbook author who teaches college courses on "Science Fiction for Scientists"). Other members of our Oddball gang were H.P. Lovecraft aficionado Dave Clark and actor and horror movie maven/actor "Bilzo" Richardson. Working together, we formed our own "Underground Film Society," we published hand-lettered mimeographed fanzines with goofy titles like WORLDS OF WOW and FAN ATTIC and we occasionally ventured northward to Los Angeles for visits to Forrest J Ackerman's fabled "Ackermansion". There, we first met "big name" fans like Donald F. Glut and Bill and Beverly Warren, their names already familiar to us through Forry's classic FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine. These contacts led to attending my first convention, BayCon, the 1968 World Science Fiction Convention, held in Berkeley, California. There, my pals Greg and Dave and I met fellow fans (some soon to become pros) like Larry Ivie, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Rob and Jeff Gluckson, and Keith Tucker. Remember, this was 1968 Berkeley; I can't imagine a more mind-blowing introduction to fandom-at-large. And after BayCon 68, nothing seemed the same to our little fan contingent from San Diego. Our sci-fi-struck condition had a lot to do with us meeting publisher/retailer Ken Krueger (an attendee of the very first "scientifiction" convention held in 1939, officially making him a member of the elite-if-obscure group known as "First Fandom") and collectible book dealer John Hull. We formed our own sci-fi fan club, "The ProFanests" (the group consisted pros and fans and we were certainly profane at times), quaffed beer and ate raw hamburger cocktails (don't ask) and hung out at Ken's flyblown Ocean Beach bookstore where we discussed the latest batch of "Ace Doubles" with the walk-in locals who frequented the place. And a few years later, Ken (who by then had become one of the co-founders of the first San Diego Comic-Con, Ken asked John Pound and I if we’d like to contribute to what would be his entry into the underground “comix” market with the first and only issue of GORY STORIES QUARTERLY. John and I had seen our work in print before – primarily in the pages of THE PACER, the official school newspaper of San Diego’s Will C. Crawford High School – but it was the first professional (as in “paid” professional) comic book gig for both of us. We probably weren’t the first – and we certainly weren’t the last – of “newbies” who Ken ushered into the ranks of pro-dom; others included the aforementioned artist/writer Greg Bear and Dave (THE ROCKETEER) Stevens and Jim (SHADOWHAWK) Valentino. That was the kind of man that Ken was; he had been a teenage sci-fi fan who went on to become a force in the publishing and distribution of books and comics and I guess he was one of those guys who believe in “paying it forward”. All of those mentioned here owe Ken for jump-starting our careers as creators.

With the permission of the San Diego Comic-Con International here is an excellent memory of Ken Krueger written by the administrator of the Will Eisner Awards and the publisher of Exhibit A Press,  Jackie Estrada:

“Ken Krueger 1926-2009 -- Comic-Con has lost another member of its founding family. Ken Krueger was instrumental in getting the show off the ground and keeping it going in its first few years. He served as chairman of the first Comic-Con in 1970. Ken was no stranger to fan conventions. As a member of science fiction's "First Fandom," he had been at what is considered the very first science fiction convention, the 1939 WorldCon in New York City. His long career as a publisher began with fanzines as well as professional publications included editing for Grant-Hadnet Enterprises, Buffalo Book Company, SHROUD Publishers, and Dawn Press. He was the first publisher for E. E. Smith's Skylark of Space, H. P. Lovecraft's Dream Quest, and many others. In the 1960s he moved from Buffalo, New York to San Diego, where he set up shop with a bookstore in Ocean Beach that became a gathering place for fans of science fiction and cult films. He also published underground comix, featuring some of the first published work of local cartoonists such as John Pound, Dave Stevens, and Scott Shaw! When Shel Dorf and a group of teenage comics fans hooked up with Ken and his group of mostly teenaged sci-fi/movie fans to put on the first Comic-Con, Ken was the go-to guy for dealing with the hotel and handling some of the other business aspects of the show. As Mike Towry, one of the other original committee members points out, "When convention day rolled around and the inevitable problems with people, things, and situations cropped up, unflappable Ken could be counted on to fill in the cracks, smooth over the bumps, and keep things rolling along." Over the years Ken owned (by his own count) dozens of bookstores, in the San Diego area and elsewhere. In the mid-1980s he went to work for the Schanes Brothers managing the Pacific Comics distribution warehouse in Sparta, Illinois, then later ran Capital City Distribution's warehouse in Los Angeles. He retired to upstate New York in the early 1990s but continued to be an avid collector and occasional publisher.

Ken was a special guest at the 2009 Comic-Con as part of CCI's 40th anniversary celebrations. He appeared on the Secret Origins of Comic-Con panel and regaled the audience with stories of the show's early days. That evening he was feted at a special dinner hosted by one of his adoring "sons," Jim Valentino. It was a great opportunity for many of the original committee members to thank him for his great contributions to the show and to their lives. On November 21 Ken passed away at the age of 83. He was an integral part of the origins of Comic-Con and his passing is deeply felt by the Board of Directors, Staff, Committee and Volunteers of Comic-Con, the organization he helped to found.”

From John Pound’s http://www.poundart.com/
“John Pound's commissioned artworks include paintings for humor trading cards, comic book covers, fantasy book covers, art prints, skateboards, and magazine illustrations for MAD, BLAB!, Business Week, and HomePC. He painted many Garbage Pail Kids® for Topps®, and art for Wacky Packages®, Mars Attacks®, Howard the Duck, and Animaniacs®. His art was featured in JUXTAPOZ magazine issue #1. His personal art projects include the RAN DUM series (randomly- generated comic pages and art prints, created entirely by writing computer code), and the WOO-WOO series (loosely- painted poster- like cartoon scenes, often featuring the Eyewiz character). Recent WOO-WOO series paintings appear in BLAB.”

From Scott Shaw!’s http://www.shawcartoons.com/
“SCOTT SHAW! (yes, that exclamation point is a part of his name) is living proof of gonzo journalist’s Hunter S. Thompson’s statement: “when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” An experienced professional cartoonist/writer in the fields of comic books, animation, advertising and toy design, Scott is also a historian of cartooning in all its forms.  Scott’s first published comic story appeared in the underground comic book GORY STORIES QUARTERLY. After writing and drawing a number of stories for other underground and “ground level” comix, including FEAR AND LAUGHTER (Kitchen Sink); QUACK! (Star*Reach); and WILD ANIMALS (Pacific), he went on to work on such titles as HANNA-BARBERA’S THE FLINTSTONES (Marvel and Harvey); HANNA-BARBERA’S YOGI BEAR (Marvel and Harvey); HANNA-BARBERA’S LAFF-A-LYMPICS (Marvel); WHAT IF? (Marvel); and DESTROYER DUCK (Eclipse). With Roy Thomas, he co-created the funny animal superhero series, CAPTAIN CARROT AND HIS AMAZING ZOO CREW! (DC). Scott went on to work as a writer, penciler or inker (and often all three) on a diverse assortment of comic books, including SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (Archie), MIGHTY MUTANIMALS (Archie); TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MEET THE CONSERVATION CORPS (Archie); WHO’S WHO IN THE DC UNIVERSE (DC); USAGI YOJIMBO (Fantagraphics and Dark Horse); DUCKMAN (Topps); DONALD DUCK ADVENTURES (Disney); BETTY AND VERONICA (Archie); LITTLE ARCHIE (Archie); RADIOACTIVE MAN 80-PAGE COLOSSAL (Bongo); TEX AVERY’S COMICS AND STORIES (Dark Horse); DROOPY (Dark Horse); SCREWY SQUIRREL (Dark Horse); BURGER KING KIDS CLUB COMICS (Burger King); THE BIG BOOK OF URBAN LEGENDS (Paradox); THE BIG BOOK OF LOSERS (Paradox); and BART SIMPSON’S TREEHOUSE OF HORRORS (Bongo), SUPERMAN & BATMAN: WORLD’S FUNNEST (DC), TEEN TITANS (DC), STREETWISE (Two Morrows), SIMPSONS COMICS (Bongo), BART SIMPSON COMICS (Bongo), SPARK GENERATORS (Slave Labor), WEIRD TALES OF THE RAMONES (Rhino), LOONEY TUNES (DC), WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY (Wildstorm), THE ADVENTURES OF SCOOTER McDOOGAL (Education Comics), SIMPSONS SUMMER SHINDIG (Bongo), DC SUPER FRIENDS (DC), THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN ROCHESTER (Rochester Electronics) and THE TICK 20TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL (New England Comics). In October, 2007, DC Comics published a three-issue revival of the characters Scott co-created twenty-five earlier, CAPTAIN CARROT AND THE FINAL ARK, co-written and drawn by him.  In a related field, Scott has worked on the syndicated newspaper comic strip incarnations of BUGS BUNNY and WOODSY OWL.  cIn addition to comic books, Scott has made his mark on animated cartoons. Recent projects have included gags and  storyboards for CLASS OF 3000 (Cartoon Network), KRYPTO THE SUPERDOG, WHAT’S NEW, SCOOBY-DOO and DUCK DODGERS (Warner Bros.), DANGER RANGERS (Educational Adventures) and MICKEY’S TWICE UPON A CHRISTMAS and MULAN II. (Disney) He was the producer/director of John Candy’s CAMP CANDY (DIC) and the co-producer/art director of Martin Short’s THE COMPLETELY MENTAL MISADVENTURES OF ED GRIMLEY (Hanna-Barbera Productions). Extending the SCTV connection, he’s also worked with Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis on a new “McKenzie Brothers” cartoon for the Internet. Scott also worked for eight seasons as a writer, storyboard director and character designer on JIM HENSON’S MUPPET BABIES (Marvel Productions) and was a storyboard director and designer on GARFIELD AND FRIENDS (Film Roman). He also has done work on MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM (AKA GRIMMY) (Film Roman); HEY ARNOLD! (Nickelodeon); TEAMO SUPREMO (Disney), AMERICAN DRAGON: JAKE LONG (Disney), CHANNEL UMPTEE-3 (Sony); DEXTER’S LABORATORY (Hanna-Barbera); WOODY WOODPECKER (Duck Soup/ Universal); SECRET FILES OF THE SPY DOGS (Saban); FAMILY GUY (Film Roman); FANTASTIC FOUR (New World Animation); CRO (Film Roman); SANTO BUGITO (Klasky-Csupo) and THE TANGERINE BEAR (Hyperion), among many others. Scott has worked on many other cartoon favorites, including the Jetsons; Huckleberry Hound; Alvin and the Chipmunks; Droopy; Inspector Gadget; Yogi Bear; Popeye; the Smurfs; the Pink Panther; Scooby-Doo; Kwickie Koala: the Snorks; Monster Tails; The Bungle Brothers; Casper the Friendly Ghost; and many, many others.  As Senior Art Director for the Los Angeles office of the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency (1992 - 2000), Scott co-created, designed, storyboarded, laid out, and art directed all the animated commercials for Post Cereals, including Fruity Pebbles, Cocoa Pebbles and Cinna-Crunch Pebbles (all featuring his favorite cartoon characters, The Flintstones), Post Alpha-Bits and Post Marshmallow Alpha-Bits. He also designed many of the cereals’ in-pack premium giveaways. Other commercial clients have included MacDonalds, Burger King, Denny’s, Purina, Hardees’, Carl’s Jr., The Walt Disney Company, Kellogg’s, Pepsi, The Department of Defense, Keebler, Rhino Records, Days Inn, Draft General Foods, Jim Henson Productions, Buena Vista Home Video, Bedrock Press, Discovery Zone, Folger’s Coffee, Power Dogz Pizza and many more.  Scott has also conceived and designed McFarlane Toys’ line of Hanna-Barbera and SIMPSONS-based action figures. Scott has contributed articles to such magazines as THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR, ALTER EGO, COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE, THE COMIC BUYERS GUIDE and the annual OVERSTREET COMIC BOOK PRICE GUIDE. He also created, assembled and wrote the copy for a thirty-two card set of ODDBALL COMICS TRADING CARDS (Kitchen Sink Press) (1994) and an ODDBALL COMICS CALENDAR (Avalanche Press, 1995). Scott also wrote the introduction for Greg Preston’s book of cartoonist photo-portraits, THE ARTIST WITHIN (Dark Horse, 2007) and introductions to their reprint volumes of ACG’s HERBIE, NEMESIS and MAGICMAN. His hilarious “Oddball Comics” on-line column, spotlighting "the craziest comic books ever published", can be viewed every Monday exclusively at http://www.oddballcomics, in  the pages of GEEK MONTHLY magazine and is the basis for an upcoming book. Scott has received four Emmy Award certificates (for Story Direction on JIM HENSON’S MUPPET BABIES); an Eisner Award (for his work on BART SIMPSON’S TREEHOUSE OF HORRORS No. 5 (for Best Humor Publication), an Eisner Award for his work on SIMPSONS COMICS (1999) (for Best Publication For Younger Readers) The San Diego Comic-Con’s Inkpot Award (for Outstanding Achievements in Comic Books and Animation); The Humanitas Award (for CAMP CANDY); The Shazam Award (for Best Comic Book Humor Art) and a Squiddy Award for SUPERMAN & BATMAN: WORLD’S FUNNEST. He was nominated for the Eisner Award for his set of ODDBALL COMICS TRADING CARDS (Best Comics-Related Product); the Reuben Award, (Television Animation Division) and the Annie Award (For Outstanding Art Direction.) Scott is a member of the National Cartoonists Society, the Comic Art Professional Society and the Animators Guild. Scott was one of the handful of local comic fans who gathered together to organize the first San Diego Comic-Con, the biggest convention of its type in the world, now known as Comic-Con International, currently in its 39th year. A regular guest and speaker, Scott has become known for performing his popular Oddball Comics slide show. Born in New York City and raised in San Diego, Scott currently lives in Sherman Oaks, California with his wife Judith and their son Kirby, along with their dog and three cats. When he’s not writing, drawing or spending time with his family and friends, Scott collects comic books, original comic and animation art, vintage toys, DVDs of 1950s monster movies and Hawaiian shirts.”

Included in this issue of GORY STORIES QUARTERLY are the following stories, features and advertisements:

• “Who do I talk to about dis ‘1-A’ hogsludge?”, an inside-front-cover gag-cartoon about a mutant hippie showing up at his local office of the Selective Service, written and drawn by Steve Garris, AKA “Stephen Starr”.

• An indicia that reads: “THE GORY STORY QUARTERLY – Issue #2½ -- Published and distributed by SHROUD, publishers – 5010 Newport Avenue – San Diego, California 92107. Copyright 1972 by Kenneth J. Krueger for SHROUD, publishers. Written permission is necessary if you plan to rip off anything. EDITOR AND PUBLISHER – Ken Krueger—ART EDITORS – John Pound & Scott Shaw. STAFF – Dave Clark, Stephen Starr & David Weiss. Contributions are welcome and if we get something in we might be able to print this on a regular basis. ANY RESEMBLENCE TO LIVING PERSONS IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY – we can’t draw that good.”

• “Ronald Rabbit” in “Ronald’s Surprise Birthday”, “a funny bunny story” written by David Clark and drawn by John Pound. – After a happy group shot of “Riotous Ronald Rabbit” and his friends, we catch up with Ronald, who seems to be slightly depressed:

 RONALD RABBIT:
Gee willikers!...Things sure are dull! Nothing ever happens around here anymore!

When Ronald spots his friend Peter Pig, the silly swine acts somewhat nervous before zipping off-panel:

PETER PIG:
Er…Hi Ronald! Gee…uh, nice day, isn’t it? Well, I’ll …see you around, huh?

But when poor Ronald runs into “the whole gang”, the various funny animals (including one of John Pound’s early creations, “Balaam”) panic and run away, leaving only a well-dressed hippo behind. He, too, acts uncomfortable talking to the crestfallen rabbit:

HIPPOPOTAMUS:
Uh…Lovely weather we’re having uh, isn’t it? …Gosh Ronald…I hate to LEAVE now, but I just remembered I have to…uh…write a letter to my great-uncle in Alaska! ...See ya later Ronald!

Then the nervous hippopotamus zooms off-panel, dropping a sheet of paper in the progress:

RONALD RABBIT:
…What’s this? Why – it’s a list of names for a party! …And everyone on it’s invited...except ME!! >Sob< Nobody…>Sniff< LIKES me >sniff< anymore! WAAAAA!!

Dejected, Ronald trudges back home, but when he unlocks the front door of his tree-house, he’s met by a wonderful surprise birthday party attended by all of his funny, furry friends! Teary with emotion, Ronald’s eyes open wide as his hippo friend explains:

HIPPOPOTAMUS:
Yes , HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ronald! …And since its your birthday, we have a special SURPRISE for you…We’re going to fix a SURPRISE BIRTHDAY DINNER…and YOU’RE IT!!!

The final panel of this story shows Ronald’s friends napkin-dabbing their lips and picking their teeth in post-dining satisfaction…but where’s Ronald?!?

• “R. Crumb’s Angelfood McDevilsfood” in “Backwater Blues”, by R. Crumb. – A flood sends sleeping Angelfood and her cabin floating downstream. As the flood enters the downtown area, Mr. Snoid is swept up in its path and hitches a ride on the still-sleeping giantess’ spectacular body. Taking advantage of the situation, has his way with her mouth, then plunges her head below the water and into the silt below. Sexually sated, Mr. Snoid gets comfortable atop Angelfood’s feet as if they formed a platform. Hours later, the flood waters finally subsides. The perverted Snoid builds a treehouse in her vagina, then begins to fry up some eggs in his treehouse’s kitchen! All of this activity causes Angelfood to awaken and then have an orgasm so powerful that she sends Snoid’s treehouse up into the sky and down onto her head…just in time for breakfast! (Reprinted from Kitchen Sink’s HOME GROWN FUNNIES No. 1, January, 1971.)

• “The Turd” in “The Turd!” by Scott Shaw! – Inspired by such previous comic book muck-monsters as the Heap, It and Taboo, The Thing From The Murky Swamp, this origin story begins with disgusting multiple coincidences:

INTRODUCTORY NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Our feces-filled fable begins in a normal suburban neighborhood, when three folks, living next door to each other, perform innocently routine (not to mention disgusting) daily tasks…Unaware of the other’s actions each person deposits a “contribution” to the sewer system, via the toilet…a glob of jizzum, a soggy Kotex, a lump of radioactive gunk (?)…Flushing into the main sewer pipeline, the various pieces of waste, nurtured by the slimy solution and exposed to the synthetic uranium’s radiation, starts to change…The stuff combines together and acting as a putrid catalyst, begins a reaction that merges as the TONS of SHIT in the system into a sentient SOMETHING…that lives…and hungers!!! Oozing its way up through a branching pipe, the mass of stinking goo emerges out of a downtown manhole…No longer is it mere excrement…No longer is it a lifeless collection of crap…It is a huge MONSTER! It is…THE TURD!

FOOTNOTE:
(reprinted from WHERE MONSTERS AND CREATURES FEAR TO DWELL WHILE LOOSELY ROAMING ON THE PROWL)

Going wild, the Turd raids the city for toilet paper, corn cobs and even mail-order catalogs, consuming anything that could be used to wipe one’s butt. The next morning, everyone in town is trapped in their own bathrooms, unable to wipe themselves. Elsewhere, a long-haired street sweeper – no, that’s not Fred Hembeck, but someone who looks suspiciously like the creator of “The Turd” itself! --  gets reamed by his supervisor, Mr. Neetly:

MR. NEETLY:
…A disaster area, and you ask for a raise, eh?

STREET SWEEPER:
But…but…

MR. NEETLY:
The city’s at a standstill! Half the people can’t even sit down…because they’ve got hemmoroids (sp.) from not being able to wipe their asses!

STREET SWEEPER:
But…but…

MR. NEETLY:
…And YOU…You’re lucky I don’t FIRE you! Look out there…a piece of trash laying in the street! Get it!

STREET SWEEPER:
>Hmph!< No appreciation for true genius, that’s what it is…

Venturing out onto the street, the long-haired streets sweeper bends down to pick up what looks like a few sheets of toilet paper:

STREET SWEEPER:
Yep, there it is…A piece of toilet paper…sticking out’ve that manhole. But...all the toilet paper in the city is gone…? Hmmm…Well, I’ll just SNAG it and…

Suddenly, an enormous – and enormously disgusting --  creature emerges from the nearby manhole, looming over the hapless municipal employee:

THE TURD:
YAARGGH!

STREET SWEEPER:
Ooops…Sorry about that, SIR…Y’know…If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that this is a giant pie of living FECES…or in other words, A SHIT MONSTER! EEYOW!

The street sweeper ducks into a handy phone booth (remember those?) to alert the authorities that he’s just encountered a “20-foot tall, living TURD”, but the aforementioned pile of poo rips the phone booth out of the ground, just to get at its tasty phone book. Fortunately, the National Guard shows up, but their weaponry – including “Lysol bombs” -- fails to affect the Turd. But when the crappy creature unleashes its own built-in weapon, the results are quite different:

NATIONAL GUARDSMAN #1:
Don’t breathe! >Gasp!< He’s fightin’ back with gas!

NATIONAL GUARDSMAN #2:
Yeah! >Choke!< It’s like a million farts in one!

STREET SWEEPER:
Wow…Looks like the National Guard’s had it!! The Turd’s got ‘em on the run!

Suddenly, the street-sweeper has a great idea. Dashing toward an abandoned National Guard helicopter, he commandeers the chopper, but not without attracting the unwanted attention of the Turd. Once he gets the helicopter to a certain altitude, the parachute-wearing trash collector jumps out allowing the chopper to drop like a rock, its blades still churning the air:

NARRATIVE CAPTION:
…Then, the FAN HITS THE SHIT!!!

The Turd is instantly chopped into free-form fertilizer by the helicopter, completely destroyed! The lowly street sweeper is hailed as a hero:

MR. NEETLY:
Congratulations, my boy…I was wrong…You’re not incompetent…just stupid! Yas, yas!

STREET SWEEPER:
Gee!

CITY OFFICIAL:  
…An’ we owe you a vote of thanks…You did what the entire National Guard couldn’t do!

NATIONAL GUARDSMAN #3:
Thass right, suh! He saved the city!

STREET SWEEPER:
Yeah, I guess I am sort of a hero! >Heh heh!< The only thing IS…who’s gonna clean up all this SHIT?!!

One panel later, pushing a broom down the street, the street sweeper answers his own question:

STREET SWEEPER:
Y’know, I’ve got a BIIIIIG mouth…

Meanwhile, in a close-up shot of a gutter, we’re shown that the leftover turds of the Turd are still alive…and are slowly crawling back together! (The final three panels of this story were ‘swiped” from the final page of Marvel’s THE INCREDIBLE HULK No. 121 (November, 1969), written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Herb Trimpe.)

NARRATIVE STREET SWEEPER:
…So the TURD is destroyed! Or IS he? Next time you take a crap, or see some dog shit on the lawn, look closely…Is it MOVING? No, the TURD is NOT gone…He’ll return in the next issue!

FOOTNOTE:
(A tip of the Hatlo Hat to artist Herb Trimpe for the above swipes!)

• “Pictorial Parade Of Potties!” by John Pound. – Hosted by a beautiful woman in a low-cut tank top, jeans, boots and a belt with a peace sign belt buckle, this article spotlights a variety of fantastic toilets “presented by the wonderful world of water closets”. There’s “a handsome jewel-stuffed, 14-karat gold-plated head”, “a timely toilet” with a built-in grandfather lock, an outer-space model, a “down-to-Earth ecology toilet”, a toilet for “the frustrated writer”, “a psychedelic head” and even the “twin-seat toilet” – plus an unauthorized cameo appearance by CREEPY magazine’s horror-host, Uncle Crappy, er, Uncle Creepy!

• “Do-It-Yourself Monster Make-Up No. 147 – ‘The Wolfman’”, by John Pound. – A twisted two-page take-off on the sort of article that might be found in a typical knock-off of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine. (“Next issue: How to make yourself up as KING KONG”.)

• “Too Far From Home”, written by Ken Krueger and drawn by David C. Weiss. – After claiming a human victim, a pair of werewolves – brother and sister – feed on the still-warm flesh. The last of their kind, the brother believes that they need to reproduce to preserve their lycanthropic strain, despite the fact that they’re siblings. After sexually claiming his sister, he leads her deep into the forest as the sun rises. Meanwhile, the frantic father of a pair of children – Johnny and Diane Sherman, age five and four – reports his kids missing…

• “Shroud Publishers: Purveyors Of The Macabre” – a 1/3-page text-feature – “SPIDERwho? – being a few short words for the people who have previously purchased a copy of GORY STORIES QUARTERLY. Hi. Bet you wonder what the *censored* we’re doing and why you are reading the same episodes of THE TURD and RONALD RABBIT again. Well, it’s because we felt like it, that’s why. GORY STORIES QUARTERLY was originally conceived and presented as a 1,000 copy offset fanzine primarily aimed at the science fiction field. The 2nd issue contained both of the strips mentioned above, plus many pages of fiction and inane rambling on by the editor (me). Needless to say, the letters poured in, both in one day, praising the comics to the hilt and damning the words and saying that they were just plain stinkey. So, back to press, and here is the result. Added to this issue is a Robert Crumb strip that originally appeared in HOME GROWN FUNNIES, and we thank them for permission to use it. IN FUTURE ISSUES – THE TURD returns in the next issue and even makes the cover, more lovable than ever, start standing in line right away because Scott says he doesn’t know if he will be able to squeeze out a third TURD. IN THIS SPACE – a letters section. Ah, yes, letter freaks, a page for your kind souls who like to write letters to the editor. Address all correspondence to SHROUD, publishers
  
  5010 Newport Avenue
  San Diego, California, 92107.
  
  A COMMERCIAL MESSAGE – besides comic books, visitors will find that this address is a full size book store, with hundreds of underground comics in stock at all time, plus what is probably the largest display of science fiction and fantasy in Southern California. Lists are issued for those of you who aren’t residents but would like to get in on the fun. Same address, gang. A LAST WORD OF THANKS – To the LA COMIC BOOK COMPANY, who John Pound just informed me wants to distribute this thing. Ain’t they got no taste? -- Thanks, KEN KRUEGER“

• “The Jolly Adventures Of Pete Pig And His Magic Hatband!”, an inside-back-cover gag-strip by John Pound. – When Pete Pig falls out of an airplane flying over the city, he relies on his handy magic hat band…even though he never wears a hat! Unfortunately for Pete – “It didn’t work!”

• “Hey, Skinny! Lose Weight Fast!” a back-cover house-ad (a parody of a classic ad for Charles Atlas’ mail-order bodybuilding courses) for GORY STORIES QUARTERLY by John Pound.

ODDBALL FACTOID – GORY STORIES QUARTERLY contributor David Cody Weiss went on to co-write many stories for DC Comics’ ANIMANIACS, DEATHSTROKE THE TERMINATOR ANNUAL, LOONEY TUNES, THE NEW TEEN TITANS ANNUAL, PINKY AND THE BRAIN CHRISTMAS SPECIAL and the comic book adaptation of SPACE JAM and Disney Comics’ DISNEY’S DARKWING DUCK and DISNEY’S MICKEY MOUSE ADVENTURES!

New Next Week: ODDBALL COMIC #1,282  -- MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2009 – If you think that current comic books have gotten too “dark”, wait until you see this week’s ODDBALL COMIC – a “dark” issue of BOZO THE CLOWN from waaay back in 1951! But whatever you do, don’t reveal the secret of “The Mysterious Box Of Shadows”! That would be a definite “Bozo No-No”!

Just how odd is today's Oddball Comic?
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