HALLOWEEN MEMORIES

 Halloween is around the corner so it's time once again to review some of my related cartoons:

KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER

KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER was a television series which aired during the 1974-75 season on ABC and was preceded by two TV movies, THE NIGHT STALKER (1972) and THE NIGHT STRANGLER (1973). The series was inspired by writer Jeff Rice who created the character of Carl Kolchak for his unpublished novel THE KOLCHAK PAPERS.

The series presented the adventures of reporter Carl Kolchak, played brilliantly by Darren McGavin, who investigated strange and sometimes eerie and unexplainable crimes which always baffled the law enforcement authorities.
Kolchak's boss, Tony Vincenzo, head of the Independent News service, played by Simon Oakland, was permanently flustered, irritated and downright infuriated by Kolchak's relentless pursuit of the macabre and unbelievably far-fetched stories.
McGavin, a personal favorite actor of mine, had been the star of the 1950s series MICKEY SPILLANE'S MIKE HAMMER and RIVERBOAT, the 1960s THE OUTSIDER and was a seasoned veteran of stage and screen. He would also become memorable as the Old Man in 1983's A CHRISTMAS STORY.

It's been reported that THE X-FILES creator Chris Carter named KOLCHAK as one of his main sources of inspiration in creating the series. McGavin even appeared in a couple of X-FILES episodes as retired agent Arthur Dales.
Today, the series and character have developed a cult following and for me, every Halloween season is welcomed by repeated viewings of the films and TV series on DVD.

      

THE NIGHT STALKER (1972)
Starring Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak and Barry Atwater as the vampire Janos Skorzeny.

KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER -
The TV series with Jack Grinnage, Simon Oakland and Darren McGavin

   Jack Grinnage as Ron Updyke

A MONSTER CALLED FRED

A MONSTER CALLED FRED ©  -  This is the last comic strip from the Monster Trilogy under the banner name of CREEPY CONDO, my unsold comic strip project.
Maybe the Newspaper Syndicates today are more inclined to favor strips with social significance and topical themes over purely gag-oriented material.  This type of humor may be on its way out but I strongly suspect the whole idea of funny monsters isn't that original, to begin with!

MAX THE VAMP

MAX THE VAMP © is another character from the unsold Monster Trilogy Comic Strips.

LARRY THE WEREWOLF

Larry The Werewolf © is part of an unsold comic strip idea I submitted a couple of years ago to several newspaper syndicates under the banner title of CREEPY CONDO. The rejection letter came only from a few of them. Others didn't even bother to acknowledge, which is par for the curse...I mean, course.  Tough luck! 

A Cartoonist's Halloween Nightmare!

LIDDLE WOLFGANG by Mel Crawford!

This comic book character appeared in the ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE comic books and also in THE MUNSTERS as a bonus short story during Gold Key's golden era of the 1960s.  Liddle Wolfgang was a rambunctious and imaginative kid obsessed with monsters and horror stories. The comic artwork has sometimes been mistakenly credited to Al Kilgore (who was the artist on the BULLWINKLE daily syndicated comic strip), but it was the work of the much underrated Mel Crawford. I loved these little stories and here's a small sample of Liddle Wolfgang's adventures: