Remember when comic books had letters columns? Well, some
like SAGA and KILL OR BE KILLED and THE WALKING DEAD still have ‘em, but there
was a day when every. Single. Comic book. Had one. It was my dream back then to
get into at least one. I wrote to GI JOE and TRANSFORMERS and PREACHER and
HITMAN and many more. I failed except in a handful of instances. This is one of
them.
The original letter was eight pages long. Staggering, right?
This was the only case of me writing to a comic book without the intention of
being printed in the letters column. My beloved EVIL ERNIE was going in the
wrong direction, and I was very concerned. I’m not going to reprint the whole
letter. Just the part that got printed. I was named Fiend of the Month for this
letter. Writer Brian Pulido called me at home to discuss it. He invited me out
to my first con years and years ago. Since then, we have become friends, which
is pretty cool. I was in college at the time.
To Fiends One and All,
I remember when I was back in high school, and a friend of
mine handed me a collection of comic books called Evil Ernie: Youth Gone Wild.
I hungrily read it all in one sitting. From the moment I finished it, I was
ready for more.
Youth Gone Wild is probably my favorite of the Evil Ernie
series. I really like the idea of the utter hopelessness of Ernie’s case, even
at the early stages. The idealistic Price tries to cure Ernie, but it blows up
in his face and turns his life around until he’s just a cantankerous gun-toting
psychotic.
Then came Resurrection. I was a bit disappointed with the
coloring, but that didn’t stand in the way of my enjoyment. It all ends with
the feeling of total hopelessness! It was great, and it left me thirsting for
more. (I was kind of disappointed with New Year’s Evil from both the story and
artwork aspects.)
Revenge left me feeling much better. Lady Death’s starting
to lose control, which I thought was an interesting twist. This is her world,
but something’s messing with her head. It was good to see Evil back in action,
and I was a bit worried about Ramsey when he got shot, but not much. The most
powerful moment in Evil Ernie history was the de-arming scene where Price gets his
arms torn off while desperately trying to stay conscious because he felt he had
to pay his penance, and the whole time Evil’s talking about how maybe Price is
the crazy one. There was one problem with the scene. When Price’s first arm is
snapped off, it’s his right arm at the elbow. Yet on the next page, when he’s
reaching for his gun, he’s reaching for it with his right hand, and it’s his
left arm that is gone. Consequently, Price gets his right arm ripped off for a
second time on the next page, and then a panel later, it goes back to normal.
Other than that, the scene was perfect.
When Straight to Hell came out, I was disappointed by the
fact that Evil was acting like a superhero. When he went to Hell in his mind,
he started getting into fights from just minor demons all the way up to
Cremator, all of it laced with superhero patter and titan bullshit. Sorry, but
that’s how I feel.
I was quickly restored by Destroyer. I didn’t like the
artwork—it focused too hard on the gory parts—but the story redeems Straight to
Hell entirely. Chastity’s betrayal of Evil was an interesting twist. What I
really liked was to see those nukes airborne in #6. If you guys weren’t
listening to Megadeath’s Rust in Peace when writing this scene, I’d be very
surprised.
In Fear Itself, I find the revelations about Evil’s true
nature interesting and a bit spooky. I don’t know if I like the separation
between Evil Ernie and Ernest Fairchild; it just sounds a bit too corny,
although I liked seeing Smiley roll through the mouse hole—very symbolic.
Over all, though, I think the monthly hasn’t been living up
to Evil Ernie standards and also can’t help but feel like Evil’s abandoned his
original idea. I’m also saddened by the absence of Price, Mary, Judy, and
Billy. Don’t forget them—they’re too important to the story.
I know you have Evil Ernie stories lined up all the way
through 1999, where Chaos! will come to an end, and all I have to say is
bullshit. You’re having way too much fun to quit so soon. Unless you guys lost
the rights to these characters by signing a movie contract, in which case I can
see why you’re quitting. Chances are, I’m sure that when 2000 comes, there will
be more Evil Ernie.
Sworn to the Black,
John Bruni—Elmhurst, IL
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