WORLD PREMIER: LES GHOULS – locked away in the vault of Roy Thomas, released for the first time in 65 years for your viewing pleasure!
Les Ghouls is a 12½-minute, mostly black-&-white film made circa 1958 by a group of six teenagers in Jackson, Missouri, including Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich, who went on in the 1960s to become writers and editors at Marvel Comics. It was intended as an homage to/ripoff of the 1948 movie classic Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, just filmed for a lark. It was filmed largely in black-&-white despite the relative difficulty of obtaining that kind of film even then. John Short, who owned the (new) movie camera, served as primary director; Roy Thomas scripted the movie (in synopsis form) and supplied all art and lettering appearing in the film. There were vague plans to eventually either record a soundtrack or to at least have the cast members accompany showings by narration and dialogue, but those plans never materialized.
CAST:
Slim————————————————— Gary Friedrich
Slat —————————————————- Ron Lowes
Dr. Sturdley —————————————— Andy Leonard
Melvin ———————————————— Lyle Hutteger
The Monster —————————————— John Short
Werewolf ———————————————- Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich went on to become major writers in the comicbook industry.
Roy Thomas was an editor of Marvel from 1965-80, and editor-in-chief from 1972-74. He also scripted runs on such series as X-Men, Avengers, Conan the Barbarian, Savage Sword of Conan, Star Wars, Red Sonja, Kull the Conqueror, Daredevil, Captain Marvel, The Invaders, Incredible Hulk, Sub-Mariner, etc. He also co-created the likes of Wolverine, Carol Danvers (future Captain Marvel), The Vision, Ultron, The Squadron Supreme, The Invaders, Union Jack, Spitfire, Black Knight (Dane Whitman), Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing, Morbius the Living Vampire, Sunfire, Banshee, Valkyrie, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Doc Samson, Brother Voodoo, Warlock, Ghost Rider, Son of Satan, Thundra, Captain 3D, What If, Not Brand Echh, and others. In the ’80s he defected to DC Comics, where he co-created, wrote, and often edited All-Star Squadron, Infinity Inc., Arak – Son of Thunder, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew!, Young All-Stars, and Jonni Thunder a.k.a. Thunderbolt, as well as writing the likes of Wonder Woman, Shazam!, Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, and Justice League of America. He has also written comics for Topps, Heroic, etc. He co-created both a super-hero comic and a comics-history magazine which were titled Alter Ego. His and wife Dann’s independent series Captain Thunder and Blue Bolt was optioned for a film in the ’90s. He has also written for films, TV animation, and live-action TV.
Gary Friedrich wrote several series runs for Marvel, including Sgt. Fury, Captain America, Nick Fury – Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Frankenstein, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, Iron Man, Daredevil, [the Western] Ghost Rider, Combat Kelly, Captain Savage, and Captain Marvel—and was the major creator of [the motorcycle-riding, supernatural] Ghost Rider and the co-creator and first writer of Son of Satan. He served as assistant editor at Marvel from late 1966 to 1968. He and Roy Thomas co-created the concept for the Marvel comicbook Not Brand Echh. Gary also wrote for Skywald, Topps, and other comics companies. He passed away in August 2018.
