Product Description

EC Comics (Entertaining Comics) were all published from the late 1940s until around 1956, when the Comics Code Authority whitewashed all comic books to remove all themes of horror and violence. Psychiatrist Fredric Wertham and Senator Estes Kefauver's Committee on Juvenile Delinquency attacked horror comics as causes of the rise in juvenile delinquency and crimes by minors. These comic books were accused of having no redeeming value to society and were effectively banned by the actions of these groups in creating the Comics Code. EC Comics were superior to other comics of the 1950s because of a higher quality of writing and artwork, and they were widely imitated by other comics publishers. The subject matter for EC Comics were horror, science fiction/fantasy, crime stories, war stories, and stories with a social message that generally had a twist or "shock" ending. This volume reprints the second six complete issues (24 stories) of the comic book Tales From the Crypt, originally published in 1951 and 1952, and features classic horror stories of vampires, werewolves, ghouls and monsters in the vein of the early Dracula, Frankenstein and Wolf Man movies. This title was EC's best seller, and was the inspiration of several feature films and the HBO series of the same name.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #202059 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 212 pages

Customer Reviews

The Crypt-Keeper keeps on kicking... *Gasp, choke!*
This is the second TALES FROM THE CRYPT archive from Gemstone and it collects issues # 7-12 of EC's groundbreaking horror comic in luxury hardback (actually issues # 23-28, thanks to EC's policy of changing the title of a magazine mid-run, to avoid post office fees). This volume really sees the comic hitting its stride, while still ironing out a few wrinkles in its formula. There's some rotating of artists, but the mainstays of the comic are Jack Davis, Jack Kamen and Graham Ingels. Joe Orlando first appears in issue # 27 and wins his place as the fourth regular contributor. Al Feldstein provides most covers and the oft-referenced 'Reflection of Death!' in issue # 23, while Wally Wood contributes strips to issues # 26 and 27. It's quite apparent Wood wasn't at home drawing horror strips though, and his great talents would be utilised better in the science fiction and war titles. Indeed, some of his work here looks uncharacteristically rushed, with hands especially crudely delineated. Johnny Craig provides strips in the first two issues, but would find his spiritual home in 'The Vault of Horror', instead. There are also try-outs for Howard Larsen and George Roussos, of which that by Roussos is the more successful (and a big improvement on his previous contribution to 'The Crypt of Terror' # 17). Larsen's strip looks very dated. As ever, Al Feldstein provides increasingly florid scripts, most of which are of a very high calibre.

TALES FROM THE CRYPT largely eschewed the horror staples of vampires and werewolves. Instead, retribution from beyond the grave is a popular theme, as various hard done-to types claw their way from the earth to enact revenge. Graham Ingels' idiosyncratic art especially succeeds at this kind of tale, his scenes of putrefying flesh more than earning him his nickname, 'Ghastly'. 'The Ventriloquist's Dummy!' (issue # 28), despite the trite-sounding title, is anything but predictable; it's excellent. His best strip here, however, is the more restrained 'Horror! Head... it Off!' in issue # 27, set during the French Revolution. The climax, of a still-living body gradually revealed to be missing it's head, sends a shiver up the spine. It's a shame, then, that he fudges the climax to 'Political Pull!', in issue # 26 (at least, I can't make out what's happening). Jack Davis's tales are consistently excellent, with the exception of the slightly below-par 'Séance!' in issue # 23. 'Bargain in Death!' is clever and amusing, as two medical students in need of a cadaver cross paths with an insurance swindle. His drawings of burned and acid-scarred faces in 'Well-Cooked Hams!' (# 27) are especially sick-making, and the anti-hunting lobby will find much to appreciate in 'The Trophy!'(# 25). 'Bats in My Belfry!' in issue # 24 might be inspiration for Frank Robbins and Neal Adams' 'Man-Bat' in Detective Comics nearly twenty years later. Joe Orlando's best story is the gruesome 'Ants in Her Trance!' in issue # 28, but he's too much in Wood's stylistic shadow to make much impression of his own (Orlando was Wood's protégé, as revealed in that issue's 'Artist of the Issue' feature). Jack Kamen, whose characters were always too glamorous to look horrible, provides artwork on the more subtly horrific strips. 'Return!' (# 27) suffers from a corny denouement, but gives Kamen opportunity to draw an attractive woman, as does 'Loved to Death!!' (# 25). That's an amusing variation on the 'be careful what you wish for' theme. 'A-Corny Story' in issue # 28 is a minor classic, as an aged and unfairly dismissed employee exacts revenge via a voodoo-cursed tree. Similar themes are explored in Craig's 'Voodoo Death!' (# 23) and Davis's 'Drawn and Quartered!' (# 26), and there are body-swap stories by Wood and Larsen.

As ever, the stories are introduced by the Crypt-Keeper, the Vault-Keeper, and the Old Witch. Editor Feldstein liked Davis's version of the Crypt-Keeper in issue # 24 so much that Davis took over the lead story from that point, his host therefore becoming the definitive one (there's a three-part text article on the evolution of the 'GhouLunatics' included here). Johnny Craig and Graham Ingels had already taken over the duties of drawing the Vault-Keeper and Old Witch, respectively. This volume also contains a short interview with Nancy Gaines, wife of publisher Bill, and a handful of candid photographs dating back to EC's heyday at 225, Lafayette St. Letters pages and text stories are preserved, too. This time around, Joe Dante provides the foreword.

Of the stories published here, three would be adapted by Amicus in the film versions of 'Tales From the Crypt' and 'The Vault of Horror'. They are 'Reflection of Death!', 'Drawn and Quartered!' and 'Bargain in Death!'. With the exception of the middle story, Feldstein's originals are more successful.

TALES FROM THE CRYPT VOL. 2 sees the transition of the comic from an above-average read to the best horror comic on the market, the delight of gruesome-minded kids and scourge of guardians of 50s moral decency. Despite some artistic inconsistencies, it's a piece of comics history and well worth a place in your collection.