Governor Sarah Palin's appearance on the cover of TALES FROM THE CRYPT #8 -- on sale Wednesday, October 22 -- is making headlines. The Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, New York Daily News, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and online news outlets Gawker and Wired News have generated news stories about the comic book -- and the Associated Press is distributing the L.A. Times' story worldwide. It's already appeared on the websites of the Oakland Tribune, Iowa's Quad City Times, the Portland Oregonian, and other papers.

"TALES FROM THE CRYPT is about to take a whack at the nation's most famous hockey mom," the AP story says. "The [comic book's] cover references an incident in 1996 when Palin, then mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, sought to ban books from a local public library. The Republican nominee, who has taken some heat for that, said that on two occasions she asked 'a rhetorical question' about removing objectionable books from shelves but that she never pursued it or mentioned specific titles."

The issue of TALES FROM THE CRYPT includes "A Special Editorial" on book banning by Cathy Gaines Mifsud, daughter of the legendary publisher of MAD magazine and the first publisher of TALES FROM THE CRYPT, William M. Gaines. "TALES FROM THE CRYPT is not endorsing any political candidates . . . . nor are we attacking any candidates," Gaines Mifsud says -- but, she adds, TALES does care about freedom and censorship. As Gaines Mifsud points out, the forces of censorship pushed her father to stop publishing TALES and other horror comics. "What usually seems to be behind banning books is an attempt to repress ideas that may offer alternative political views. This is not only un-American -- blatantly violating the very concept of free speech -- but it is assuming that people are unable to come to their own informed conclusions."

The Palin cover is actually one of two different covers for TALES #8, which is on sale now. Both editions contain Gaines Mifsud's editorial and are identical except for their covers. The other cover, by writer-artist Christian Zanier, illustrates Zanier's "She Who Would Rule the World" (a story unconnected to Governor Palin, by the way), in which a pair of misguided scientists help turn a homeless woman into a near-invincible, power-hungry being bent on becoming a human weapon of mass destruction. In addition, horror novelist Joe R. Lansdale (winner of Bram Stoker horror awards for best-sellers such as Leather Maiden, Bubba Ho-Tep, and The Bottoms) and his brother, John L. Lansdale, write "Virtual Hoodoo," drawn by James Romberger, about a video-game company employee who takes gruesome mystical revenge after an idea of his is stolen.

TALES FROM THE CRYPT, published bi-monthly and cover-priced at $3.95, is a 48-page full-color revival of the classic 1950s horror comic book. In addition to TALES FROM THE CRYPT comic books, Papercutz also publishes squarebound book collections of its Tales stories, as well as such popular series as Classics Illustrated, the Lego BIONICLE® comics, and The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew.

You can order through NBM Publishing at 800-886-1223.

For previews and more, visit www.papercutz.com and http://www.myspace.com/papercutzcomics.