BOOT

Gerald McCann always did at least a decent job of telling the story. Sometimes when he was inspired, his solid drybrush style really conveyed drama and intensity. He drew one of my favorite stories in one of my favorite comics. The tense storytelling, the unforgettable monster...masterful stuff by McCann! "The Black Stallion" written by John Stanley, from Dell's 1962 Ghost Stories.

#11 sports one of the most surreal precode covers...

One of my fave Superior runs...

Didn't want to post these before Thanksgiving...

These comics are blowing minds...

Great selections! Love that Ghastly cover! It's like a Bosch painting - dreamlike, full of weird details... Thanks for sharing them! Happy Halloween!

Any other comic adaptations of Bierce's work?

July 25, 1948 Philadelphia Sunday Bulletin "Fun Book" tabloid size Sunday comics newspaper section. Includes Will Eisner's Spirit presenting this adaptation of Ambrose Bierce's "The Damned Thing," here titled simply "The Thing".

Thanks for that link! "An Occurrence..." is a classic short film based on a great story. Didn't realize it was part of a trilogy. "Chickamauga" is a very creepy Bierce story, looking forward to watching their adaptation. Bierce is underrated as a classic early American horror/supernatural writer. Another comic adaptation of one of his great stories follows below. Happy Halloween!

3...2...1...

6...5...4...

11...10...9...8...7...

16...15...14...13...12...

21...20...19...18...17...

Found several issues of this in a long overlooked box and realized it completed a run. So here is Journey Into Fear 1-21 by Superior Comics. This title had some of the most outrageous and amusing precode horror stories, like The Flat Man, Evil Intruder, and Blood On Her Lips. Superior used poor quality paper and lousy printing presses. Miscuts, ragged edges, smeared or faint ink are all common. Good luck finding nice condition copies. Here's a group shot and a countdown... Halloween is coming...

What a grade on that Forest Fire! What is on the back cover? Also, why doesn't Smokey Bear have any kids?

Here's one that's fairly well preserved and one more typical - heavily read. Great comic reading for many Halloweens!

Stories throughout by the great American comic book writer and artist John Stanley. Here is just one sample five page story...

Some of the best Halloween comics. Numbering on these is a pain. Worth tracking down in any condition. 100 pages of Halloween comics in each issue!

Those comics are chock full of greatness...

Here are some other state themed comics. Not strictly western-themed. Most are giveaways...but includes the only 14 cent comic I've seen.

conclusion...

more...

Your impeccable taste is once again evident. The amazing George Evans turns out a stellar nightmarish tale. One of the most gratifying elements of precode horror is that some writers and artists were able to explore different subject matter and to stretch their creative muscles. Many stories for E.C. and Atlas were formulaic and predictable, but other companies really tried to build suspense and provide genuine scares. Fawcett had some great lengthy horror stories. George Evans provided some of the absolute best. His artwork is phenomenal, and the storytelling and imagery was heads above most other work being done at the time. Here is one of the first stories that first got me into precode horror comic books... THE SLITHERING HORROR OF SKONTONG SWAMP!

Here's one of his post-Code covers...