OtherEric

Just a couple minor books today. MD may rank low in my estimation relative to the other New Direction books, but I still want it, and the art is still amazing. And I got the ISF 11 reprint because I believe it's the only time "An Eye For an Eye" has ever been published in an actual comic book. I figure it's worth throwing in the back of the EC box just for that. I also got in a couple more of the Frontline Combat issues I need, but waiting until the last issue arrives and then I'll post the whole run by way of celebration.

One odd thing on that run of Mad covers 11-23: They probably mostly stood out well with other comics, but because of their camouflage nature they could easily get lost if mixed in with other magazines (or anything else...)

Mutation on a spaceship to Mutation on a spaceship

I agree that a lot of the magazine covers were even better. The covers on Mad 11-23 can be quite hit or miss, depending on your on personal tastes, I think. I love the #20 because I first saw it in high school, and I think I was still in school when I got a copy. It was either my first or second EC, and the gag just struck me perfectly. No argument on the #13 and #17. I suspect the #13 might look better if Panic #6 and Mad #23 hadn't both done the minimalist cover gag better; but as is it's probably my least favorite of the comic issue covers. I personally like the #12, but it takes a lot of context to properly appreciate it, I think. Not only do you need to know the "contents on the cover" style of magazine design that was popular back then, it actually tied into the subscription ad that month. I'll try to scan the ad after work. As for the cover, here's an issue of "Unknown" from a few years earlier for comparison, or just look at any early issue of National Geographic. But anything that requires that much context to get is probably flawed as a cover:

So, finally got around to scanning all my EC covers so I have them handy when I need them for a discussion here. Admittedly, better than half of them were already scanned. Thought I would throw a few random favorites up here since I had them ready.

The quack doctor hated all comics. (I don't think The Nightingale actually counts as a comic from the description I've seen of it.) As is often the case, on the surface he might have had a point... but who on earth looks at the indicia rather than the cover of the book for the publisher name? This isn't even his worst example of deliberate cluelessness... and his deliberate cluelessness isn't even as bad as his active misrepresentation or outright delusion.

Whereas my favorites in addition to the war titles are the humor and SF books. Looking back, it's just incredible how good EC was in so many diverse genres. Even their worst stuff was better than 85% of what was out there at the time, and their best stuff is still some of the finest comics ever published in the history of the medium.

I may have the issues I'm still missing already on order and just waiting for them to arrive... I really think that Frontline Combat might be the most consistently excellent of all the New Trend books. It may not have quite as many classics as the SF or Horror titles, but I honestly can't think of a single story that wasn't first rate- and as much as we love EC's, they had their share of stinkers mixed in with the classics.

It also was mentioned in SOTI, but I'm not sure what the reference is because I've never tracked down a copy of Seduction of the Innocent. It may have been Kurtzman's favorite story but I can't say that it's his best. I definitely think "Corpse on the Imjin" and "Big 'If'" are better stories. It's a good one, though.

Today's book. I'm closing in on the complete run of Frontline Combat, only a few more to go. And while nobody would mistake this for a file copy, it's a pretty solid book compared to a lot of my EC's:

Posted this over in magazines a couple days ago and thought I would share it here too. I'm not normally a big Vampirella collector, but I thought my January 1950 Startling Stories needed some company in the collection:

It's definitely known by some people, but I hadn't heard about it until I saw the cover somewhere and went "wait a minute...". I wonder how many people spotted it back when it came out, I think that's one of the covers Steranko used in his history of comics chapter on the pulps.

Not really a Vampirella collector in general, but I thought my January 1950 Startling Stories needed company in the collection:

I loved the Oz books, enjoyed I Hate Fairyland will frequently get his variant rather than the standard cover. Not a big enough fan to track down everything, but I enjoy it enough to grab it when I see it.

Today's book.

Today's dollar bin find:

Found in the wild today, cover is loose. Almost as fun as the book itself is wondering how it survived WWII and made it to the far coast of the US.

Another fun discussion. There's a special joy to discovering and documenting a previously unknown bit of comic book history, no matter how small. Here's my contribution to the "small variation" genre : https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/411569-worlds-finest-96-variant/

I have nothing substantial to add to this thread, but want to thank everyone who did because I find this stuff fascinating.

Kurtzman War to Kurtzman humor. (at least the border...)

Looking at the Captain America 187 I found in a dollar bin 3 days ago... identical to the US, or at least it shows the price in US currency, not pence.

Of course I do. But I personally want the horror & crime books less than I want the humor and science fiction and war books, so unless I come across them cheap I'm prioritizing the others. You did catch me misusing the word "want", I'll give you that.

Good reasons all; all the more reasons for me to be happy I got a copy a few years ago. One of only two CSS issues I have; it's not one of the titles I'm really trying for other than wanting at least one issue of each New Trend book. Weren't 22 and 23 equal in the guide for years and years?

In that case, everything I said is still true until you try to sell it. I suspect it could actually limit the number of people who want to buy that particular copy... but some of those might be willing to pay more for it. No way to know until it comes up.

If you didn't get it signature series'd, then all that really matters is if you like it. You got a story and a memory out of it, and that's all I really want from my signed books. I love the handful of "mini-sketched" books I've gotten over the years; they're nothing compared to full scale commission pieces but they always feel like the artist or writer is going out of there way to thank me for being a fan and I treasure them. Here's a similar sketch I got from Matt Wagner on the last issue of Mage earlier this year: