Sarah Palin: Cover Girl On New Tales From The Crypt Comicbook (On sale 10/22)

[ENGLISH] Papercutz says: Daughter of original TALES FROM THE CRYPT publisher pens editorial in response to Palin-inspired book-banning controversy. Whether or not vice-presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin explored the possibilities of banning books back when she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, the controversy has placed her front and center on the latest cover of the TALES FROM THE CRYPT comic book published by Papercutz. Half of the comic’s print run has a special cover featuring Palin, wielding a hockey stick as she asks the horror-hosts, the Crypt-Keeper, the Old Witch, and the Vault-Keeper, « Didn’t we get rid of you guys in the 50’s? » Every edition of the comic will feature « A Special Editorial » by Cathy Gaines Mifsud, daughter of the legendary publisher of MAD magazine and the original TALES FROM THE CRYPT.

« TALES FROM THE CRYPT is not endorsing any political candidates . . . . nor are we attacking any candidates, » Gaines Mifsud says — but, she adds, TALES does care about freedom and censorship. » As Gaines Mifsud points out, the forces of censorship pushed her father to stop publishing TALES FROM THE CRYPT and other horror comics.  « What usually seems to be behind banning books is an attempt to repress ideas that may offer alternative political views. This is not only un-American — blatantly violating the very concept of free speech — but it is assuming that people are unable to come to their own informed conclusions. »

Both editions of TALES FROM THE CRYPT 8, which will be on sale in October, will contain Gaines Mifsud’s editorial and are identical except for their covers.  In writer-artist Christian Zanier’s « She Who Would Rule the World » (a story unconnected to Governor Palin, by the way), a pair of misguided scientists help turn a homeless woman into a near-invincible, power-hungry being bent on becoming a human weapon of mass destruction. » In addition, horror novelist Joe R. Lansdale (winner of Bram Stoker horror awards for best-sellers such as Leather Maiden, Bubba Ho-Tep, and The Bottoms) and his brother, John L. Lansdale, write « Virtual Hoodoo, » drawn by James Romberger, about a video-game company employee who takes gruesome mystical revenge after an idea of his is stolen.

TALES FROM THE CRYPT, published bi-monthly and cover-priced at $3.95, is a 48-page full-color revival of the classic 1950s horror comic book. Half of the copies will feature the Palin cover, and half will feature the standard cover.

You can order TALES FROM THE CRYPT through NBM Publishing at 800-886-1223.

For previews and more, visit www.papercutz.com and http://www.myspace.com/papercutzcomics.