THWAK #3

It wasn't until late 2000 that I first discovered the marvelous monster/horror magazines that Warren had started in the '60's. What really peaked my interest was the absolutely amazing art that vividly accompanied each well crafted tale. I instantly recognized many of these talented creators as having contributed to the original EC comics from the '50's. CREEPY & EERIE boasted such EC talent as Frank Frazetta, John Severin, Wally Wood, Angelo Torres and of course Jack Davis sporting the iconic CREEPY #1 cover.

It was after discovering these gems that the idea came to do an "All Monster Issue". Knowing that I really wanted to parody this cover I initially (naively) approached Bernie Wrightson to illustrate it and was turned down quicker than you can say "NO!" : ) Next another artist took a swing at it but it wasn't quite right until my friend Ben Boling stepped up to the plate with what proved to be a funny spoof/homage to that amazing initial issue.

While waiting for our Diamond order I stumbled across another magazine that had the very same idea sporting their latest cover. It was the excellent "MONSTER MEMORIES 2002 Yearbook" from the long running SCARY MONSTERS magazine. Indeed what a coincidence that we were both thinking along the same lines at that very moment. I thought it would be fun to put all these 3 covers side by side to see the differences and similarities. This same concept was also utilized on the cover to Two Morrows Publishing's "The WARREN Companion" a must have book for anyone interested in Warren's rich publishing history.

While Uncle CREEPY, Sam Scare (SCARY MONSTERS), Jim Warren (The WARREN Companion) all read their titles to an attentive (if not quite terrifying) audience, Stupid Cupid has no such luck as his listeners are clearly more than repulsed by the drivel that he's reading them.

The contents of this issue while all keeping with the "All Monster" theme were quite varied, including these 3 main features: Mayberry RIP by Lint Hatcher about characters from the beloved Andy Griffith show turning into zombies it was illustrated in a realistic style (very CREEPYish) with a humorous twist. Billy Genius (101 Uses for a Turd) did an excellent job with his 6 pages of illustrated lyrics to some Monster songs filled with tons of sight gags and Dave Newton's homage piece to EC comics called "Reduction of the Insolent" which included cameos by the 3 Ghoulunatics and Alfred E. Neuman. Much FUN !!!

THWAK magazine #4

Always wanting to try something different, my friend John Hett (Journal of MADness publisher) and I decided to take a new approach to our magazines and combined forces for this "special double issue".

One side was THWAK #4 - flip it over and you've got the Journal of MADness #15! This issue came out in Fall/Winter '02 and also included an article on a "Brief History of Humor Magazines" which included a listing of over 40 titles!

I was thrilled that Kent Gamble painted this cover which is by far my favorite. It is also the 1st time that all previous humor magazine mascots have appeared together on one cover. Here Stupid Cupid lights the "candle" to a cake celebrating 50 years of satire in honor of MAD magazine. Boy are those mascots gonna be in for a suprise! Do you think you can name them all? I actually got to handle the original painting while scanning a transparency to print from and the colors were so vibrant. It was stunning! I ended up printing a large poster that now hangs in my office.

Another small tidbit of info was that this cover had a small change to one of our tag lines. Up until this issue we had always had the phrase "Steal Me!" $3.99 on the cover to the right of the logo. I was informed by some store owners that they were having problems with people actually trying to steal the magazines, as if taking us up on the dare. Issue #4 & 5 sported the new and improved "A steal at" $3.99.

Journal of MADness #15/THWAK $4

This is the Journal of MADness side of our little experiment. Its cover done by Kent Gamble as a play on MAD #13. The issue, although a delight to both THWAK and JOM readers who now got to sample an alternate publication, created logistical issues for some of our distributors who displayed both covers and were confused by which title to assign to the UPC code.

This issue contained a great 7 page Mort Drucker article.

THWAK magazine #5

This ended up as the final issue of the run from summer '03 and is my most favorite. The issue flowed really well and many new contributors were added such as the amazing Jay Lynch, an amazing interview and 2 page spread by CRACKED veteran Bruce Bolinger and a one pager by wacky Art Bouthillier! James Bond cover art and supporting interior 5 pager by Dave Newton who had been a loyal contributor since issue #1.

At the time of its release I was already compiling material for the next 2 issues, #6 was to be dedicated entirely to the one page multi panel gag and #7 didn't have a particular theme. Material for these issues ended up going into CRACKED, JOKESTER and the new THWAK Bonfire of Insanity Collection.

The issue was to be our last as in late summer of that year I became an editor of CRACKED and although I fully intended to continue THWAK the workload and other commitments just proved too much.

Another "Behind the Scenes Look"

Here's another look at the layout process. In this instance we were playing around with the large plume of smoke, initially going for the same color. I felt that this didn't really help the logo and title "pop" so we went with a smaller amount of smoke against a black night sky background.

As I've already mentioned the THWAK gang consist of some truly amazing talent as you'll see when you pick up the book check a little futher down for more details ( "this is a plug" : )

There are 30 contributors, not only from all over the USA but from all over the world! Represented are: Australia, Great Britain, Argentina and Canada.

Man them's "Some Ugly Looking Action Figures!"

For all your Toy and Action figure needs - Come check out the 9th annual JOElanta May 17th in Atlanta. For more details http://www.joelanta.com/ GI Joe, STAR WARS, Johnny West, Dragon, Sideshow, Barbie, Transformers, Mego, Hot Wheels, Comics, Magazines, Horror/Monster, Games, Tin Toys and Pop culture collectibles of all kinds!

The Birth of THWAK!

Back in early 2000 after a showing of my artwork at a local comic store I met a fellow named Buddy Finethy (Mellow Mushroom Art Director) who would not only be a great source of encouragement but also a terrific friend. Buddy had an idea to put together a compilation of local cartoonists and I was invited to be a part of the project. At one of our brainstorming (hanging out) sessions at my game room, aptly named "The MAD Pad" because of the wall to wall (and ceiling too!) artwork and posters etc. we came up with the name THWAK after a DON MARTIN sound effect. It would also be at one of these sessions that our "lovable" mascot Stupid Cupid was born. A little later that year we launched THWAK as a comic book and sold it locally in the Atlanta market and Florida.

I enjoyed the comic book version but my own aspirations were to turn this into a humor magazine, so in 2001 I revamped the title into magazine format, solicited contributors from all over the country (and a few from other countries), started promoting at big shows like Dragon Con and secured distribution through Diamond Comics as well as 3 or 4 others.

Initially in our first issue I wanted to imitate MAD down to the page headings (a direction that I decided to change by the next issue) but unlike other humor magazines I embraced the fact that we were also fans honoring those publications that had come before us like a fanzine in a way. John Hett of The Journal of MADness was certainly an influence in this area as well as my mini interviews/editorials (A Little O' This And A Little O' That") that appeared in all but one issue.

THWAK has been an amazing experience for me. It has opened some doors but most importantly to me it has afforded me the opportunity to meet many wonderful artists, writers and fans alike. Many of whom I have come to call my friend. What a great life!