Looking back at the underground comix of the early 1970s, one finds that horror, unsurprisingly, was a popular topic. It’s well known that the EC horror Comics of the 1950s were a key influence on fringe cartoonists, and directly inspired a previous underground comic, BOGEYMAN (1969-70).
That series, published and edited by the late underground comics “godfather” Gary E. Arlington (1938-2014), was quite uninspiring despite contributions by a number of the big names on the scene (R. Crumb, Kim Deitch, S. Clay Wilson, Spain Rodriguez), and only lasted three issues. In a four page afterword to BOGEYMAN’S premiere issue Arlington opined that “In time, if we find out we are unable to achieve a quality equal in comparison to the old E.C. Books, we will try to work toward some other goal.”
That “other goal” would appear to have occurred in the form of the six issue SKULL COMICS, which commenced in 1970 and concluded in ‘72. Arlington, whose San Francisco Comic Book Company published the series together with Last Gasp, was credited as the “Spiritual Mentor” and “Cosmic Supervisor,” providing what was in essence a new and improved BOGEYMAN.
…the finest comic book writer/artists, underground or otherwise, of the era, making all those titles worthy of a look, but SKULL is the standout, being the most consistently interesting and ambitious comic of the lot.
SKULL appeared amid a flurry of horror themed comix, including INSECT FEAR (1970-73), UP FROM THE DEEP (1971), FANTAGOR (1971-83), PSYCHOTIC ADVENTURES (1972-74) and DEATH RATTLE (1972-96). All contain content and layouts that are virtually interchangeable, created by recurring names like Jaxon (Jack Edward Jackson), Richard Corben and Kim Deitch. Those guys happen to be among the finest comic book writer/artists, underground or otherwise, of the era, making all those titles worthy of a look, but SKULL is the standout, being the most consistently interesting and ambitious comic of the lot.
“Hi kids! Ever wonder what happened to those great old horror comix that used to scare the shit out of ya way back in the 50s…Those comix are gone! Until now, that is!”
SKULL’S orientation is laid out on the first page of its premiere issue, depicting a Crypt Keeper-esque skull-faced dude proclaiming “Hi kids! Ever wonder what happened to those great old horror comix that used to scare the shit out of ya way back in the 50s…Those comix are gone! Until now, that is!” The EC Comics spirit is even more evident here than in BOGEYMAN and INSECT FEAR, albeit with explicit sex and gore you wouldn’t have seen in the 1950s (or today, for that matter).
Dark, politically incorrect humor is another feature of SKULL—at least in its first three issues. Standout tales include “Head Before Tail” by Dave Sheridan (from issue #1), involving a young woman lured into the realm of a creepy Anton LaVey lookalike, where she’s subjected to sexually-tinged supernatural shenanigans; “Tall Tail” by Greg Irons (issue #2), about a freakish dwarf’s gruesome revenge on the normal world—and his own far more generous self-endowment; “Horrible Harvey’s House” by Richard Corben (issue #3), in which a hippie couple stage a porno film shoot in the yard of a haunted house, with unfortunate results; and “Cleanup Crew” by Irons and Rick Veitch (issue #3), an outrageously gruesome goof marked by gorgeously exaggerated artwork.
There are some lesser entries I won’t dwell on overmuch, such as the overly frantic and only semi-coherent “Pussy Whipped” by Jaxon (from issue #2), which is shockingly poorly drawn. The same is true of Rory Hayes’ “Lorzi” (issue #1), which at least, at just two pages, is mercifully short, and the premiere installment of the “Tales of the Leather Nun” saga (issue #3), an evocatively drafted five pager by Dave Sheridan about a randy nun caught up in an occult conspiracy that’s too short to make much of an impression (the full version of this tale can be found in the 1973 Last Gasp publication TALES FROM THE LEATHER NUN).
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ssue #4 instituted a new direction for SKULL. It consists of straightforward adaptations of the H.P. Lovecraft stories “The Hound,” “Cool Air” and “Pickman’s Model,” as well as “The Hairy Claw of Tolen,” a “Dunwich Horror” inspired tale by Charles Dallas. Lovecraft apparently had a hold on underground comix creators rivaling that of E.C. Comics, which is made quite evident here. The stand-out is “The Hound” by the indefatigable Dave Sheridan, a beautifully drafted account that does justice to Lovecraft’s descriptions and, unlike the other Lovecraft adaptations contained here (Herb Arnold’s “Pickman’s Model” in particular) isn’t excessively dialogue-heavy.
Issue #5 was another Lovecraft extravaganza, with a superb rendering of “The Rats in the Walls” by Richard Corben, whose use of light and shadow has never been more affecting. “The Hand of Ka’a,” a Lovecraftian pastiche by Spain Rodriguez, is likewise noteworthy for its artwork, rendered in Spain’s inimitably bold, contrasty style.
SKULL’S final issue was its most daring, pointing toward a possible new direction for the comic that 
unfortunately never panned out. It consists of a thirty page story entitled “A Gothic Tale,” written by Tom Veitch and illustrated by Greg Irons and Richard Corben, a stately yet lurid two-parter involving a mad doctor, an undead impregnation, a congregation of horny mutants, an unholy resurrection and a cannibal orgy, all situated in a sumptuous Victorian milieu. The pinnacle of SKULL’S contents, “A Gothic Tale” effectively meshes the Lovecraftian horror of issues 4 and 5 with the counterculture infused perversion of the earlier installments, and spins an authentically compelling narrative in the process.