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Mr. Monster #1
Doc Stearn...Mr. Monster: His Books of Forbidden Knowledge, Volume One
Meet Michael T. Gilbert's "Doc Stearn... Mr. Monster" in a new book featuring seven stories of Forbidden Knowledge culled from his self-titled Eclipse Comics series. Contents include Mr. Monster classics, such as "The Case of the Reluctant Werewolf," "The Hemo Horror," "No Escape from Dimension-X" and more.
Comics legend Alan Moore contributes not only the Foreword, in which he elevates Mr. Monster (alongside Captain Marvel, The Spirit, The Fighting American and Plastic-Man) into his approved pantheon of essential superheroes, but also a story of garbage-gone-bad, "The Riddle of the Recalcitrant Refuse."
Supporting Gilbert's efforts to document the frightening facts forming Mr. Monster's Forbidden Knowledge are artists Williams Messner-Loebs, Roger Stewart, Jeff Bonivert, Dave Stevens and Steve Bissette; colorists Steve Oliff and Eric Vincent; and lettering wizard Ken Bruzenak. Witness the terror for yourself in Mr. Monster: His Books of Forbidden Knowledge, Volume One. Read it at your own risk!
Comics legend Alan Moore contributes not only the Foreword, in which he elevates Mr. Monster (alongside Captain Marvel, The Spirit, The Fighting American and Plastic-Man) into his approved pantheon of essential superheroes, but also a story of garbage-gone-bad, "The Riddle of the Recalcitrant Refuse."
Supporting Gilbert's efforts to document the frightening facts forming Mr. Monster's Forbidden Knowledge are artists Williams Messner-Loebs, Roger Stewart, Jeff Bonivert, Dave Stevens and Steve Bissette; colorists Steve Oliff and Eric Vincent; and lettering wizard Ken Bruzenak. Witness the terror for yourself in Mr. Monster: His Books of Forbidden Knowledge, Volume One. Read it at your own risk!
145 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 1996
18 people want to read
About the author
Michael T. Gilbert
145Ìýbooks18ÌýfollowersMichael Terry Gilbert is an American comic book artist and writer.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 16, 2020
The legend of Doc Stern, Mr. Monster, begins in this collection of first appearances by Michael T. Gilbert and William M. Loebs. In the early 80s, Gilbert refurbished a one-shot character from a 1940s anthology to craft one of the most over-the-top characters in all of comics history. (Yes- reboots were happening even in the 80s. But they were good back then!)
The legend of Doc Stern varies from issue to issue. Was he the lone survivor of a zombie apocalypse? Was he trained by mysterious monks in the art of war? Regardless of his origin, Mr. Monster has one goal in life- to destroy all monsters. But Doc Stern seems to help the creatures of the night more than he winds up extinguishing them!
This book opens the case files of Mr. Monster. From a reluctant werewolf to a living trash heap; these ghouls boggle the imagination. And they also straddle the line of good taste.
Michael T. Gilbert was firmly set in the camp of 1980s creators such as Frank Miller and Alan Moore (who penned the foreword.) Miller and Moore were renegades who saw the Rambo-eqsue excesses of the Reagan Era and made it even more violent and absurd. Helping Gilbert with this is Bill Loebs. Long before he took the reigns of Wonder Woman, Loebs cut his teeth on Mr. Monster and he did a fantastic job! Loebs is so much like Frank Quietly or any of the usual gang of idiots from MAD Magazine as he puts so much fine detail into his work. Being a satire, Loebs peppers the panels of Mister Monster with dozens of tiny jokes. And I so loved his Will Eisner-like experimentation with titles and credits.
This is a wild collection of stories. I've got to admit, these tales are extremely creative. The dialogue is insipid. Some of it might be parody. But it's some pretty B-movie level stuff. But I loved the encompassing brilliance here. It's like an issue of Wolff & Byrd: Counselors of the Macabre but on steroids!
Lastly, I need to brag. I bought this book new. Despite being published nearly 20 years ago, I found this book, shrink-wrapped at a comic book store in Greensboro. Having the book on his shelf for decades collecting dust, the owner gave me the book for a good discount. But that's not what I want to brag about!
Inside the book was a limited edition book plate that was signed and numbered by Michael T. Gilbert. While that itself was cool, what made it cooler was that this book was numbered 1 of 999! I've gotten low numbers before. I think a 7 or maybe 11 was my record. But never a #1! This was an awesome unexpected addition to my collection!
The legend of Doc Stern varies from issue to issue. Was he the lone survivor of a zombie apocalypse? Was he trained by mysterious monks in the art of war? Regardless of his origin, Mr. Monster has one goal in life- to destroy all monsters. But Doc Stern seems to help the creatures of the night more than he winds up extinguishing them!
This book opens the case files of Mr. Monster. From a reluctant werewolf to a living trash heap; these ghouls boggle the imagination. And they also straddle the line of good taste.
Michael T. Gilbert was firmly set in the camp of 1980s creators such as Frank Miller and Alan Moore (who penned the foreword.) Miller and Moore were renegades who saw the Rambo-eqsue excesses of the Reagan Era and made it even more violent and absurd. Helping Gilbert with this is Bill Loebs. Long before he took the reigns of Wonder Woman, Loebs cut his teeth on Mr. Monster and he did a fantastic job! Loebs is so much like Frank Quietly or any of the usual gang of idiots from MAD Magazine as he puts so much fine detail into his work. Being a satire, Loebs peppers the panels of Mister Monster with dozens of tiny jokes. And I so loved his Will Eisner-like experimentation with titles and credits.
This is a wild collection of stories. I've got to admit, these tales are extremely creative. The dialogue is insipid. Some of it might be parody. But it's some pretty B-movie level stuff. But I loved the encompassing brilliance here. It's like an issue of Wolff & Byrd: Counselors of the Macabre but on steroids!
Lastly, I need to brag. I bought this book new. Despite being published nearly 20 years ago, I found this book, shrink-wrapped at a comic book store in Greensboro. Having the book on his shelf for decades collecting dust, the owner gave me the book for a good discount. But that's not what I want to brag about!
Inside the book was a limited edition book plate that was signed and numbered by Michael T. Gilbert. While that itself was cool, what made it cooler was that this book was numbered 1 of 999! I've gotten low numbers before. I think a 7 or maybe 11 was my record. But never a #1! This was an awesome unexpected addition to my collection!
May 16, 2022
This was a whole lot of mid 80's high octane pulp goodness. So over the top it's in orbit, knob turned firmly to 11.
September 30, 2012
I'm a long-time fan of the "monster hunter" archetype, thanks to my youthful indoctrination by Carl Kolchak. So it's no surprise that, when I discovered Mr. Monster in the late '80s, I flipped for him--not just because of his determination to destroy evil, but also because of the dark, tongue-in-cheek humor that sent the character and his stories over the proverbial top. In his introduction to this volume, comic legend Alan Moore highlights exactly that quality to explain what sets Mr. Monster apart from the plethora of excessively grave super-hero comics that have grown to dominate the American mainstream comic book industry.
But it took me many more years of comic book reading before I dipped deeper into the historical roots of the medium and developed an appreciation for the crime and horror comics of the '40s. Belatedly, I realized that these antecedents were the loam into which Mr. Monster creator, Michael T. Gilbert, had deliberately sunk his artistic roots. Thanks to this trade paperback collection of Mr. Monster stories, I've had the chance to revisit Gilbert's original stories with a broader perspective and greater appreciation, and I'm finding myself once again enthralled by the character and looking forward to his continuing adventures.
However, this volume, collecting the Mr. Monster stories from the first five issues of the Eclipse Comics series, is not without its drawbacks. (Though I'll temper my reservations, as the problems I encountered could be related to my presbyopia, signaling the need to invest in a pair of fershluggina' reading glasses.) Certain production issues that hounded the original comic books (i.e., muddy coloring and printing [a common problem with independent comics in the '80s]; some stylistic incompatibilities between pencillers, inkers, and colorists; confusing panel layouts; and crammed lettering) persist in these reprints and, honestly, couldn't be easily remedied without extensive revision of the source material. Such glitches can present a barrier to "getting into" the stories, thus forcing the reader to work a little harder to decipher the visual iconography. But it's effort well spent, especially if you're a fan of pre-Comics Code comics.
But Mr. Monster is more than an homage. Gilbert's work is original, thoughtful, and fun, as he mines the past--visually and thematically--to tickle our contemporary funny bones. Mr. Monster, "the hero too tough to die," keeps pushing his way back into our awareness--a persistent reminder that the comic book audience should be careful not to take the medium too seriously. After all, if our inner kid isn't giggling, shuddering, or shedding a tear by the end of a story, the target's been missed. It's a good thing that Gilbert's--and, by extension, Mr. Monster's--aim remains true.
But it took me many more years of comic book reading before I dipped deeper into the historical roots of the medium and developed an appreciation for the crime and horror comics of the '40s. Belatedly, I realized that these antecedents were the loam into which Mr. Monster creator, Michael T. Gilbert, had deliberately sunk his artistic roots. Thanks to this trade paperback collection of Mr. Monster stories, I've had the chance to revisit Gilbert's original stories with a broader perspective and greater appreciation, and I'm finding myself once again enthralled by the character and looking forward to his continuing adventures.
However, this volume, collecting the Mr. Monster stories from the first five issues of the Eclipse Comics series, is not without its drawbacks. (Though I'll temper my reservations, as the problems I encountered could be related to my presbyopia, signaling the need to invest in a pair of fershluggina' reading glasses.) Certain production issues that hounded the original comic books (i.e., muddy coloring and printing [a common problem with independent comics in the '80s]; some stylistic incompatibilities between pencillers, inkers, and colorists; confusing panel layouts; and crammed lettering) persist in these reprints and, honestly, couldn't be easily remedied without extensive revision of the source material. Such glitches can present a barrier to "getting into" the stories, thus forcing the reader to work a little harder to decipher the visual iconography. But it's effort well spent, especially if you're a fan of pre-Comics Code comics.
But Mr. Monster is more than an homage. Gilbert's work is original, thoughtful, and fun, as he mines the past--visually and thematically--to tickle our contemporary funny bones. Mr. Monster, "the hero too tough to die," keeps pushing his way back into our awareness--a persistent reminder that the comic book audience should be careful not to take the medium too seriously. After all, if our inner kid isn't giggling, shuddering, or shedding a tear by the end of a story, the target's been missed. It's a good thing that Gilbert's--and, by extension, Mr. Monster's--aim remains true.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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