James Warren, Empire of Monsters
By Bill Schelly (Author)
This heavily illustrated biography features eye-opening ― often outrageous ―anecdotes about Warren, a larger-than-life figure whose ability as a publisher, promoter, and provocateur make him a fascinating figure.
In addition to Forrest J. Ackerman’s Famous Monsters of Filmland, he published Help!, a magazine created by MAD’s Harvey Kurtzman, which featured early work by John Cleese, Gloria Steinem, Terry Gilliam, Robert Crumb, and Diane Arbus; Creepy and Eerie magazines, with covers by painter Frank Frazetta and comics art by Steve Ditko, Wallace Wood, Bernie Wrightson, Al Williamson, and many others. His most famous co-creation, the character Vampirella, debuted in her own magazine in 1969, and continues to be published today.
“Ask anyone who has been associated with the fantasy-horror-science fiction genres in the last thirty years about [Famous Monsters of Filmland], and you’ll get a laugh, a flash of the eyes, and a stream of bright memories ― I practically guarantee it.”
– Stephen King“Bill Schelly has an obsessive yet intelligent passion for things many might consider marginal if not bizarre―always the mark of an interesting mind.”
– Tom Robbins
Product details
- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Fantagraphics Books; 1 edition
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1683961471
- ISBN-13: 978-1683961475