Death Rattlewas an American black-and-whitehorroranthologycomic bookseries published in three volumes byKitchen Sink Pressin the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.Death Rattleis not related to the Australian one-shot comicDeath Rattle,published by Gredown inc. 1983.[1]
| Death Rattle | |
|---|---|
 The cover ofDeath Rattlevol. 2, #1 (Oct. 1985), artwork byRichard Corben. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Kitchen Sink Press |
| Schedule | (vol. 1) biannually; (vol. 2 & 3) monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | (vol. 1) June 1972–June 1973 (vol. 2) Oct. 1985–Oct. 1988 (vol. 3) Dec. 1995–June 1996 |
| No.of issues | (vol. 1) 3 (vol. 2) 18 (vol. 3) 5 |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | (vol. 1)Tom Veitch;(vol. 2)Mike Baron,Wally Wood;(vol. 3)John Wagner,James O'Barr |
| Artist(s) | (vol. 1) Tim Boxell,Richard Corben,Peter Poplaski, John M. Pound,Mike Vosburg;(vol. 2)Charles Burns,Richard Corben,Will Eisner,Steve Stiles,Sam Kieth,Basil Wolverton,Stephen R. Bissette,Spain Rodriguez,William Stout,Mark Schultz,Joe Coleman,Al Williamson,Don Simpson,Dan Burr,Frank Miller;(vol. 3)James O'Barr,Brian Biggs,Mark Schultz,Mark A. Nelson,Alexander Maleev,Tony Millionaire,John Wooley,Tom Sutton,Matt Howarth,Thomas Ott |
| Editor(s) | (vol. 2)Denis Kitchen,Dave Schreiner; (vol. 3) Phil Amara, N. C. Christopher Couch, Catherine Gornie |
Starting out as anunderground comixhomage to classic horror comics likeTales from the Crypt,[2][3]Death Rattledid not fall under the purview of theComics Code,allowing the title to feature stronger content — such as profanity, nudity, and graphic violence — than other comparable horror titles.[3]
Publication history
editDeath Rattlevolume 1 was published from June 1972–June 1973 under theKrupp Comic Worksimprint, putting out three issues in all.
Twelve years later,Death Rattlewas revived for volume 2, publishing 18 issues between October 1985–October 1988 under theKitchen Sink Comiximprint. The first five issues were in full color, but for issue #6 onwards the title reverted to black-and-white.
Death Rattlevolume 3 ran five issues from Dec. 1995–June 1996, again under the Kitchen Sink Comix imprint.
Death RattleVol. 1
editThe early 1970s saw a number of underground publishers putting out horror comics, from theSan Francisco Comic Book Company'sBogeyman;Rip Off Press'SkullandUp From the Deep;Richard Corben'sFantagor;thePrint Mint'sInsect FearandDeviant Slice;Shroud'sGory Stories;andLast Gasp'sTwo Fisted Zombies.[2]Kitchen Sink Press joined the wave withDeath Rattle.
The first volume ofDeath Rattlefeatured the work of Tim Boxell as well as contributions from a number of other creators, includingRichard Corben,Peter Poplaski, John M. Pound,Mike Vosburg,andTom Veitch.
Death RattleVol. 2
editDeath Rattlevolume 2 was notable for being one of the few horror titles published during the 1980s, rivaled only byDC Comics'Swamp ThingandFantaCo Enterprises'sGore Shriek.
The second volume ofDeath Rattlewas lead-edited by Dave Schreiner; the series is most notable forJaxon's 11-part, 126-page "Bulto… The Cosmic Slug", about a space creature's effect on the people of the ancient Southwest.Rand Holmesdid many of the covers.Mark Schultz's story "Xenozoic!", published inDeath Rattle#8 (Dec. 1986), launched its own title,Xenozoic Tales,shortly thereafter.[4]This book was soon to be labeled one of the best books of all time in the year 2009. It became a new york best seller and became extremely popular from there.
Other notable contributors to the second volume ofDeath RattlewereCharles Burns,Charles Dallas,Richard Corben,Will Eisner,Steve Stiles,Mike Baron,Sam Kieth,Basil Wolverton,Stephen R. Bissette,Spain Rodriguez,William Stout,Joe Coleman,Al Williamson,Wally Wood,Don Simpson,Dan Burr,andFrank Miller(who illustrated the cover of the final issue).
Theletters pagewas known as "Fang Mail".
Death RattleVol. 3
editContributors to the third volume ofDeath RattleincludedBrian Biggs,Mark Schultz,Mark A. Nelson,John Wagner,Alexander Maleev,James O'Barr,Tony Millionaire,John Wooley,Tom Sutton,Matt Howarth,andThomas Ott.
Death Rattlevolume 3 was edited by Phil Amara, N. C. Christopher Couch, and Catherine Gornie; it was nominated for the 1997Harvey Awardfor Best Anthology.[5]
References
editSources
edit- Death Rattle (vol. 1)at theGrand Comics Database
- Death Rattle (vol. 2)at theGrand Comics Database
- Death Rattle (vol. 3)at theGrand Comics Database
- Death Rattle (vol. 1)at the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)
- Death Rattle (vol. 2)at the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)
- Death Rattle (vol. 3)at the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)
Notes
edit- ^"Death Rattle(Predawn) ",Grand Comics Database. Accessed Oct. 23, 2016.
- ^abSabin, Roger (1996). "Going underground".Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels: A History Of Comic Art.London, United Kingdom: Phaidon Press. pp. 92; 94–95; 103–107; 110; 111; 116; 119; 124–126; 128.ISBN0-7148-3008-9.
- ^abFox, M. Steven."Death Rattle, Volume 1",ComixJoint. Accessed Oct. 23, 2016.
- ^Schultz, Mark;Williamson, Al(1993).Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.Northampton, Massachusetts:Kitchen Sink Press.p. 4.ISBN0-87816-071-X.
- ^"1997 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners",Hahn Library. Accessed Oct. 22, 2016.