Mr. Monster’s Hi-Shock Schlock

    (Eclipse, 1987)
™ and ©1987 Michael T. Gilbert

The Mr. Monster series from Eclipse plumbed the annals of forgotten comics history for lost masterpieces. But every so often, a story of such fascinating awfulness would emerge from the depths that the editors didn’t have the heart to throw it back. Three such tales are collected in Mr. Monster’s Hi-Shock Schlock. The first, “Flatman,” is a horror story about a guy who gets flattened by a steamroller and comes back for revenge. The next is a gem from Dick Briefer’s cult-favorite Frankenstein series from the 1940s, starring a charming, pug-nosed, dimwitted version of the famous monster. Finally, there’s “Corpses Coast to Coast,” a ghastly tale that combines 1950s B-movie sensibilities with anti-Communist paranoia. Though all of these stories would be toxic in large doses, the occasional sample produces inexplicable giddiness among comics fans and connoisseurs of kitsch the world over.
Jump to issue:
  • 1
    Mar 1987
    Cover: $1.75
    W: Michael T. Gilbert, Dick Briefer, Fred Hembeck  ·  A: Michael T. Gilbert, Dick Briefer, Fred Hembeck
    Reprints from Journey into Fear #19, Frankenstein #3, Voodoo #14; A.K.A. Super Duper Special #6
    3 copies from $2.26
  • 2
    May 1987
    Cover: $1.75
    W: Michael T. Gilbert, Norman Nodel, Basil Wolverton, Frank Thomas  ·  A: Michael T. Gilbert, Norman Nodel, Basil Wolverton, Frank Thomas
    Reprints from Popular Teenagers #6, Weird Tales fo the Future #5, Keen Detective Funnies #23; A.K.A. Super Duper Special #7
    3 copies from $1.64