Spotlight: Bissette & Veitch's Bedlam! (Eclipse, 1985)

"Welcome to Bedlam! The inmates are waiting for you..." - Stephen Bissette

Bedlam! was a two-issue collaboration between Stephen Bissette and Rick Veitch published by Eclipse Comics in 1985. It's a horror anthology of sorts with stories and artwork by both artists, and a lot of the stuff is pretty amazing.
The first issue kicks off with "Lo" by Bissette, about a winged demon and his visit with a giant, dreaming (or dead?)...maggot!

Rick Veitch offers up a nice homage to 1950's B-Movies in, "Forgotten Fears of the Fifties"!

Another Bissette standout features a "Curious Thing" in a quick 4-page sci-fi fix:

The second issue of Bedlam! features even more Bissette/Veitch goodness, and even Steven Spielberg chimed in on his impressions of the artists in a letter he sent to Eclipse:

"We take our hats off to your two artists. We all seem to agree on one thing, they are ruthlessly talented (though demented)." - Steven Spielberg.

Meanwhile, "Lo" introduces us to the second issue:

Veitch's taste in humor shines through in a quasi-science fiction tale called, "Conquest of the Banana Planet!":

Bissette's love for Dinosaurs becomes evident in "Scraps", and he would later go on to create the excellent Tyrant series.

And we get another cool Mars Attacks style story called, "Earth Invasion!" by Rick Veitch:

 

And there is also some amazing artwork by Bissette in a thrilling cockfight story called, "Arena":

Although most of these stories had appeared in other publications before, this was the first time many of them were in full color. Quite a portfolio by these two. Both Stephen Bissette and Rick Veitch went on to be best known for their excellent contributions to Alan Moore's legendary Swamp Thing run in the 1980's. Lots of other gems await in these two Bedlam! issues, so be on the look out for them out in the wild!