Pete Von Sholly's Morbid [Paperback]

Pete Von Sholly (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Series: Pete Von Shollys Morbid | Publication Date: November 24, 2003

The connection between cinema and comic books has been a frequently raised subject but the separation was fairly obvious until now. Veteran motion picture storyboard artist Pete Von Sholly has created a groundbreaking publication that goes further than any previous attempt to blur the line between the two art forms. While employing the time-honored European "fumetti" format, this book goes light years beyond that simple approach. Custom-sculpted models, costumed actors, and mind-boggling computer-generated "special effects" come together to create a dynamic visual storytelling format heretofore unseen in graphic novels. Von Sholly's extensive experience working on countless sci-fi and horror-genre films (The Mask, Darkman, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Mars Attacks, etc.) as well as his experience as a Disney animation artist and conceptual designer come together to unveil a truly unbelievable leap in visual storytelling. The stories themselves run the gamut from tongue-in-cheek lampoons of '50 drive-in movies to gut-wrenching horror in the Lovecraft tradition. We no longer have to wait to see the future of graphic storytelling - it's right in front of our eyes in Pete Von Sholly's MORBID!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a loving embrace of all things camp, Von Sholly presents a way-out collection that celebrates horror and science fiction in the most deliriously goofy way. The pages are choc-a-bloc full of monsters, aliens, busty cavewomen, kung fu, sci fi (or "kung fi," as Von Sholly dubs it), and other topics straight from the '50s B-Movie vault. A storyboard artist by trade, here Von Sholly abandons the drawing board for digital photos and effects, creating "fumetti," the juxtaposition of photography and word balloons. The effect is that of walking through scene highlights from some of the most lurid movies you could imagine. In "Reptitan!," the reader is informed that she is about to read "a story with an annoying kid, a screwy scientist, a hot babe, and some blood and guts! A story of many pictures and not too much to read!" (This could describe just about every piece in the book.) "The Astounding Shehemoth" chronicles a man obsessed with a gargantuan beauty from prehistoric times; the story's climax finds her battling a dinosaur somewhere near Alaska while the narrator watches the fight from a secure perch in her cleavage. The true essence of the work may best be captured in "The Tale of the Werewig," in which a bald gentleman purchases a used hairpiece that causes him to attack women by the light of the full moon. In a couple of self-referential bits, Von Sholly first sends up comic conventions, and then touts what must be his favorite childhood books from authors such as H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. The whole collection is so wildly over the top that it breaks down all attempts to remain aloof, but it's such fun that we don't mind being dragged down to Von Sholly's level.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* When are comics not stories told in a sequence of drawings? When they're fumetti, in which photographs replace drawings, as in Von Sholly's hilarious horror parodies. Not that these particular photos are mere photos. Von Sholly digitally collages them, colors them, and makes them look like frames from 1950s "sci-fi" flicks--not too fakey, not too polished, but so that, for example, the lines around inset figures show. In short, just right. Von Sholly also gets perfect actors for his characters: guys who can mug up a storm, gals who look drop-dead in bikinis, and convincingly bratty and nerdy kids. Even without the tongue-in-cheek narrative and smart-mouth-kid dialogue, these are funny, or at least wonderfully odd, pictures. With it, they're pretty paralyzing. Take "Medusa," in which the Gorgon is bearded in her cave by "the mighty Testicles" ("Pronounced TESS-ti-cleez, please"), shouting, " Let's go, baby! I ain't afraid of turning to stone! I'm legally blind and can't see you for shit anyway!" Huge creatures, star-trekking, martial arts, mad doctors, the living dead, and H. P. Lovecraft come in for similar treatment, and there's a plug (sort of) for reading books, starring 11-ish Peter Von Sholly Jr. "Funnies" don't get much funnier than this. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (November 24, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593070284
• ISBN-13: 978-1593070281
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,194,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Parodies abound and there is a great deal of negative intelligence, March 12, 2011

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pete Von Sholly's Morbid (Paperback)

This book is a series of parodies of the cheap and sensationalistic horror/science fiction films of the 1950's and sixties with one of the martial arts films thrown in. The first story features a lizard popping out of an orange egg, although it doesn't breath fire it looks and acts much like Godzirra. Military forces are powerless to stop it; the hero finally manages to end the reign of terror by using the "Molecular Reduction Ray." The second story is called Kung Fi, meant to be a cross between martial arts and science fiction.
There is a story about a giant woman thawed from an old block of ice and of course she has large chest protuberances with one flap down. Zombies, more large lizards and other creatures help make further fun of bad movies.
Although the action is comical, a little thought is necessary to understand exactly what is being made fun of. If you haven't seen (and enjoyed) a few of the old movies, then you will most likely be a little bit lost. For years, the local television station had a late night "creature feature" that played the movies referenced here.

5.0 out of 5 stars Maniacal Movies of the Mind, March 8, 2004

By 

Otto Bingo (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pete Von Sholly's Morbid (Paperback)

Pete Von Sholly's "Morbid" represents a breakthrough -- a visually exciting and vastly entertaining new genre created by an artistic comic genius. Like all true innovations, you may easily overlook it by assigning it to an existing category out of hand. But you would be missing something extraordinary. Von Sholly is a wry magician, a sarcastic alchemist who stirs together classic comics, Italian fumetti, Hollywood B-movies, Ray Harryhausen dinosaurs, HP Lovecraft horror tales, Gaines Cryptkeepers, and transmutes them into something new and different. You'll see an artful stew of living dead, gigantic babes in bikinis, retro classic films, the three-eyed evil scientist who shrinks his enemies to the size of their intellects (two inches), Captain Harry Hauser, and the irrepressible Tuxford Noodlefactor. Sea serpents, giant insects, aliens, you name it -- Von Sholly does them all with skill and panache. When he's not dreaming up this stuff -- and realizing it beautifully in his cyber-photoshop world -- Von Sholly is a Hollywood storyboard artist who has created the visuals for such films as "Green Mile," "Cat in the Hat," and the current episode of "Chucky the evil doll." At this moment, I understand, (March 2004) he's with the "Chucky" film crew in Romania -- where he's also shooting digital pictures of old graveyeards and castles to use in his next issue of "Morbid." This is a don't miss -- and an instant classic collectible!

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Graphic Novel For the New Year!, January 15, 2004

By 

Steven R. Reiss "Xwing1" (Annandale,, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pete Von Sholly's Morbid (Paperback)

Well, it's true, he's back! Yes, Von Sholly has surpassed my expectations with this updated homage to the photo "comic" book.

Bolstered by his wickedly delightful imagination, coupled with his artistic eye and computer skills, Von Sholly has taken another step into the visual horror genre. Can a H.P. Lovecraft novel be coming somewhere down the road (not too far, we hope)?

Consider a graphic novel incorporating the "unspeakable" Lovecraftian nightmares on 5 webbed feet, as visualized by an artist of Von Sholly's skill.

Onward and upward, Mr. Von Sholly. Your fan base is waiting for more food to savor and digest. It's little wonder that Amazon's shipment is running out at the time of this review.