by John | Oct 21, 2021 | Uncategorized
Don’t be brainless. Get vaccinated!
Zombie art transformation by Mike (the Drawing Dread) Pascale.
Original Vintage Art & Text

Art by John Tartaglione from the story “To Stella with Love” from FIRST KISS #3, 1958. Click on link to read the original vintage comic book for free.
Transcript:
SCENE: A woman looking back in surprise at a zombie.
WOMAN: Oh no! Fred, Why didn’t you get vaccinated?
ZOMBIE: i didn’t have any BRAAAINS!
1958 Art: John Tartaglione Zombification: Mike Pascale
Verbosity: the very vaccinated John Lustig
3.1.4.3zombie
↓ TranscriptSCENE: A woman looking back in surprise at a zombie.
WOMAN: Oh no! Fred, Why didn’t you get vaccinated?
ZOMBIE: i didn’t have any BRAAAINS!
1958 Art: John Tartaglione Zombification: Mike Pascale
Verbosity: the very vaccinated John Lustig
3.1.4.3zombie
by John | Oct 29, 2017 | Uncategorized
Happy Halloween from me & my frequent collaborator Mike Pascale. May all your tricks be treats! —John
Art Notes: Few pieces of Last Kiss art have gone through as many changes as today’s comic. Here’s the original 1963 FIRST KISS art:

Art by Vince Colletta Studio from FIRST KISS #33, 1963.
And here’s the art after I asked Allen Freemen to extend the drawing (of the woman on the left) back in 2009. (To simplify the art and focus on the coffee drinker, I also asked Allen to omit the woman on the right:)

Years later, I needed a higher-res version of the image for a zombie coffee gag for a Finnish licensee who put it on a travel mug. So Diego Jourdan Pereira re-drew Allen’s art for me and then Mike Pascale added the zombie touches:

And then this year—when Mike and I were scrambling for Halloween gags—I suggested he modify his coffee zombie (removing the coffee and adding some blood around the mouth.) See? Simple! (When!)
Transcript:
SCENE: Zombie woman thinking.
ZOMBIE WOMAN: When we broke up, he told me to…eat my heart out! But his was so much tastier!
1963 Artist: Vince Colletta Studio Re-Creation: Diego Jourdan Pereira
Master of Macabre Modifications: Mike Pascale
DJP.lk77_MP_17WHearts
FK33.3.7.5
Art by Vince Colletta Studio from FIRST KISS #33, 1963.
↓ TranscriptSCENE: Zombie woman thinking.
ZOMBIE WOMAN: When we broke up, he told me to...eat my heart out! But his was so much tastier!
1963 Artist: Vince Colletta Studio Re-Creation: Diego Jourdan Pereira
Master of Macabre Modifications: Mike Pascale
DJP.lk77_MP_17WHearts
FK33.3.7.5
Art by Vince Colletta Studio from FIRST KISS #33, 1963.
by John | Jan 12, 2017 | Uncategorized
My sister (Lisa Hernandez) has been a major help with my Last Kiss business. She has more business acumen—and more commonsense—than silly, impractical me. And she often helps me out at comic conventions.
But it never occurred to me that my sweet sis would want to write a Last Kiss comic. And it seemed even less likely that my cat-loving, zombie-hating sister would ever make a joke about a mangled feline. But…geez, what do I know?
Hey, Lisa. Got any vampire cat gags?
—
(Many thanks to Mike Pascale and Diego Jourdan Pereira for the revised art!)

1954 artist unknown. From the story “Chip on Her Shoulder” in TEN STORY LOVE #196.
Transcript:
SCENE: Very mangled (half-zombie?) cat says something to a woman who’s standing nearby.
CAT: oops! I thought that was life #8!
CAPTION: Be careful! It’s Friday the 13th!
Art: Diego Jourdan Pereira & Mike Pascale
Dialogue: Lisa Lustig Hernandez
DJP.lk54
↓ TranscriptSCENE: Very mangled (half-zombie?) cat says something to a woman who's standing nearby.
CAT: oops! I thought that was life #8!
CAPTION: Be careful! It’s Friday the 13th!
Art: Diego Jourdan Pereira & Mike Pascale
Dialogue: Lisa Lustig Hernandez
DJP.lk54
by John | Oct 27, 2015 | Uncategorized
It wouldn’t be Halloween without at least one Last Kiss monster gag with my pal Mike Pascale. And we’ve got two this year. Wait’ll you see Friday’s vampire comic!
I think Mike came up with this zombie gag a year ago, but we couldn’t use it then. So I dusted it off for this year and made a few minor changes or—as I explained to Mike—huge, brilliant improvements. Then, of course, Mike improved my improvements. And then I…well, you get the idea.
As always, Mike’s “zombification” of the art is hilarious!

Inks by Dick Giordano from the story “Heartbreaker” in FIRST KISS #12, 1960.
Transcript:
Scene: Young woman and a young man in a booth having a soda. The man is oggling the woman’s breasts. Another man is behind the booth and is also looking at her boobs. The woman smiles and looks towards a zombie who is coming towards her.
MAN #1: Boobs…
MAN #2: Boobs…
ZOMBIE: Braaains!
WOMAN (thinking): I like Bob! He’s not like other boys!
WOMAN: I like you, Bob! You’re not like other boys!
1960 Inks: Dick Giordano Color: Allen Freeman
Additional Art, Idea & Zombification: Mike Pascale
12.3.1.1.Tall3_Halloween15MP
↓ TranscriptScene: Young woman and a young man in a booth having a soda. The man is oggling the woman's breasts. Another man is behind the booth and is also looking at her boobs. The woman smiles and looks towards a zombie who is coming towards her.
MAN #1: Boobs...
MAN #2: Boobs...
ZOMBIE: Braaains!
WOMAN (thinking): I like Bob! He’s not like other boys!
WOMAN: I like you, Bob! You're not like other boys!
1960 Inks: Dick Giordano Color: Allen Freeman
Additional Art, Idea & Zombification: Mike Pascale
12.3.1.1.Tall3_Halloween15MP
by John | Oct 30, 2014 | Uncategorized
Happy Halloween! Special thanks for today’s comic treat to devil-may-care Mike Pascale!
Meanwhile, back in 1959…
See the original 1959 art and dialogue for today’s Last Kiss webcomic here.
↓ TranscriptSCENE: Blonde woman talking to a guy in a devil costume.
WOMAN: My costume? I’m a nymphomaniac!
Artist Unknown Devilish Charm & Color: Mike Pascale
©2014 Last Kiss Inc
7.5.2.4