WARNING! The Most Disturbing Comic in CREEPY Magazine: Thrill Kill by Neal Adams! Artist's Edition

[@jimhiggin63]

Jim Stenstrum was a very under appreciated writer. He wrote lots of great stories for Creepy and Eerie. This is probably his best one. It's also one of Adams' best jobs. As great a storyteller as Neal was, the writing on this is top notch. The juxtaposition of what we're seeing with what's being said in the radio interview is very inspired. Thanks for taking a look at this great story.

[@Thierrothierro]

Jim Stenstrum went on to direct some good animated Scooby-Doo movies in the late '90s - one in particular, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, was the scariest movie I saw as a kid and is pretty well regarded by fans. I didn't know he had a career in comics before that, and worked on such an iconic story. Thanks for spotlighting this!

[@paulhardman2515]

Very tough and timely issue to discuss and you guys handled it great. That art is brutal and so realistic. It's so well done but so hard to look at too.

[@garykuzminski7969]

What Paul said.

[@monnierobinson9210]

I picked this issue up from the drug store magazine rack when it was published Aug 1977. Fourteen year old boy fresh off of Star Wars, Close Encounters, Saturday Night Fever, The Car, Demon Seed, The Hills Have Eyes, and Rabid. Coma, The Legacy, The Howling, and The Amityville Horror in books. Very interested in everything sci-fi, horror, etc. I read this issue over a dozen times back to back. This story was so amazing, the art was so incredible, it's detail and perspectives so life like, I was floored. This was the first time I saw the results of a urban shooting and it really hit me hard. I was from a small town in the south and I had never seen anything like it before. I wasn't upset, it made me think about what would cause someone to do this and the detail of the writing and art really drove it home. As a young man with few friends, I understood the plot, but even then, I couldn't connect with the character. It was another world which I just couldn't understand. It stayed as art only for me, I was unable to personally identify with the issues in the story. I still read this issue from time to time and still see the quality of the form. The most powerful comic story I have ever read. Thanks for showing the original layouts.

[@johna4371]

Just read this online, and as a high school teacher I gotta say it gave me chills to hear the minister talking about young people unable to face the messed up world they'll inherit. Adams showing the boy casually munching his apple was laden with possible religious meaning, but more importantly it was a sad, human moment...the apple in the lunch bag, stuck in his mouth like a kid as he takes another shot. Thanks for covering this one; it's a (depressing) gem.

[@randomposter5665]

The loss of Neal was such a blow to the comic world. His Batmobile he drew at 10 years old is better than most artist currently drawing it today. His realism will never be matched. It’s really sad because I started to really get into Neals older And unnoticed works. I think his Tomahawk 117 and The Witch Hour 13 are in my opinion his best works and my favorites

[@shadowcastorg]

this comic made a strong impression on me as a kid. i have this in memory but didn't remember exactly what it was until now.

[@christianninsananda9626]

I remember reading this story as a child... I was 8 when this was published and I was Savage Sword of Conan and Vampirella and any horror mag at the time... luckily my mom figures it was just comics lol. I reread this years later and took a look at the letter column in Creepy 77... It has a letter from Brent Anderson who loved this story.

[@paulk.8653]

I posed for the psycho and still have some of the Polaroids Neal took.

[@russworks2882]

If you're the guy who drew Dope Rider, Paul, thanks for the great work.

[@CannonfireVideo]

Really? Now THAT I'd like to see. I always thought he must have had some photo ref...

[@Danaluni59]

It’d be interesting to see those posted side by side with the art for reference.

[@paulk.8653]

@@CannonfireVideo They're on-line, but I can't post them here. I have three of the B&W Polaroids.

[@paulk.8653]

@@russworks2882 Thank you, I appreciate that.

[@James-ke4gq]

I had to double check the date when I heard the mass shooting warning that prefaced your discussion. It’s so fucked how right you are about the normalcy of mass shootings in our country, now just a few weeks after this we are dealing with another one. Anyway, I think your channel is great. It’s so comforting to watch you guys go through this amazing books. Im an illustrator that knows he has a comic book somewhere, I’m hoping following you guys will help bring it out of me.

[@UncleObscure]

In the excellent (and sadly OOP) The Warren Companion published in 2001 by TwoMorrows, there is an in-depth interview with Neal Adams where he discusses a lot of his Warren Publishing work, including 3-4 pages devoted just to "Thrill Kill." It also features some early pencil sketches that served as basis for what's in the Artist Edition featured in your video. The interview is freewheeling and Adams is his usual candid self when talking about Thrill Kill. For example... "Arlen: Is this marker or wash?" "Adams: No, it's pen and ink. The grey tones were put on by somebody else and I hate them. They're too dark, too uneven. Look at this. In this panel the rooftop is tone; here it's white. There's no consistency. Here's a group that's this shade, then this shade, then it changes. What the hell is that?" The Neal Adams chapter of The Warren Companion alone is worth the price of admission since it is full of quips and inside baseball revelations regarding his craft. The book is hard to come by and expensive these days, but it does a splendid job of chronicling the history of Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, et al, as told by many of the creators who were there when it all happened.

[@patrickmoreau7592]

I bought this edition when it came out. It didn’t sell initially because no one knew what to make of it I’m glad I kept mine.

[@CRUCIFi777]

The horror lies in the ending taking pity on the likes of him and no afterthought for the proposed posed victims, no wonder society is so terrible today if this was being made available to young adults back then. Pretty disgusting honestly.

[@careyatchison1348]

I know most people only remember the iconic U. of Texas/Charles Whitman tower shootings from 1965, but there was another sniper incident in New Orleans in early 1973 by Mark Essex which, in some ways perhaps, better mirrors the "Thrill Kill" story. I remember reading this story in Creepy a long time ago but it made such an impression that I immediately flashed on it as I read: 'the most disturbing comic...Neal Adams' header.

[@anthonytee6798]

look at adams ben casey strip from the early 60s - the style was there very early on

[@russworks2882]

Some of his first comic book work was for Warren (about 1967) and this was his last for them (1975). In between he'd done much of the classic DC and Marvel work we know, so it's an interesting body of work. Eerie # 125 reprints most of the Warren stories under one cover. In his interview for the Warren companion, Neal really hates the tone work on this story. Combined with the somewhat slipshod lettering placement, production on the whole thing looks rushed. When I first saw this in print, it felt to me like the story had been colored and then shot in black and white at the last minute.

[@rlewis5696]

I have that issue of Creepy 75. It was really delightful to hear this particular story discussed in this way. I loved every minute of it.

[@mrvic9395]

As controversial as this story is Warren publishing 1984 The Harvest was a lot worse. I still remember the shock ending

[@patrickmarkfort7480]

When the author of Red Room throws out a trigger warning at the beginning of the episode, you KNOW it's a disturbing comic! 😬

[@philliptyndall6005]

I bought it when it first came out, but wasn’t familiar with the story. It was awkward reading it. Excellent artwork though.

[@b.l.fisher8230]

Great episode and not to depress people further, but a fascinating rabbit-hole to go down, is Wikipedia's list of American school shootings. They started way before you think, and sometimes very strange...