Sarg

Is this real? Were they really doing variant covers like this?

Love those Mandrake covers. Could we see a scan or photo of one of the "bone white pages"?

I didn't know MAD was still being published. CRACKED survives at least on the web, with a couple of clever writers carrying on the spirit of Kurtzman. I don't know if they have an actual magazine though. Anybody got scans to the early MAD magazine (not comic) imitators? Lunatickle was one.

Funny, Bill Gaines said that they changed the title of "Crypt of Terror" to "Tales From the Crypt," because distributors objected to the word "Terror" in a comic book title. Perhaps he meant only his distributor? Independent News clearly had no problem with the word "Terror."

This book has a pretty odd publishing history. Doubleday book "House of Fury" - 1941 Diversey digest with title change - 1948 Avon/Realistic comic adaptation of Diversey book - 1951 Avon paperback under original title and different cover than comic - 1952 My guess is that Avon acquired Diversey and their assets when they went out of business in 1950-51. After the comic book was published, the author contacted Avon and told them to cease publishing under this title. Avon then reluctantly brought out a new PB version with the original title and less sensational cover art, a reversal of their usual trend. That's the only reason I can think of for Avon not using the same title/cover art for their 1952 version.

Is this the only known comic published by Realistic? I'm wondering why it wasn't published by Avon's comic division if they in fact owned it. Or why Avon didn't publish it under the more sensational title in their paperback version. I've never actually seen the inside of this comic, so I was pleased to find this B&W version on the web: http://seductionofdainnocent.blogspot.com/2012/01/reform-school-girl.html From Legendary Auctions for the publishing details. "In 1941, Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. would first publish Felice Swados' tale of a young girl's struggles in reform school. This original novel was published under the title House of Fury, and the original title is the only title that the author felt appropriate. That is why Avon continued to use it for their first paperback reprinting of the novel in 1950. Unfortunately for the author, not every publisher was as respectful as Avon. The novel's true first reprinting was in 1948, the product of a Chicago firm named the Diversey Corporation. To the author's regret, Diversey ramped and vamped up the novel quite a bit, starting with a retitling to Reform School Girl. But the title change was only the start. The eye-catching sleazy cover illustration of Canadian model and ice skating star Marty Collins in trampy attire completed the package. Diversey's sensationalized new digest-sized release was the first use of this image and title. It is a combination that is today considered as one of the most memorable and classic entries within its genre. Reform School Girl is also regarded as an esoteric classic in the comic book field, as Realistic Comics would go on in 1951 to use the same photo and title for one of their publications."

Who was "Realistic," the publisher listed on Reform School Girl? Note that this was printed three years after the book. Did they print anything else? I would have loved to've been in the meeting where somebody got up and said, "You know this book Reform School Girl? What a great comic book this would make."

Heh ... Baal worshippers! I'm going to have to get a copy of that.

Apologies if this has already been posted, but I'd like to see some of the Centaur "Artist of the Issue" pages.

Just found this EC horror documentary on YouTube. Lots of good photos I've never seen before, plus interviews with Feldstein, Davis, et al. "Tales from the Crypt - From Comic Books to Television" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRUAf5KmcwE

That is the most seriously out of register cover I've ever seen on a comic book, or any book. I can't believe they actually sent that to the bindery.

Craig was heavily influenced by Milton Caniff. His interiors were good if not great, but he really shined on his covers.

Not to be a taskmaster, but there was a reason why I asked for the least favorite of the regular EC artists. Obviously, people like Roussos and Harrison would slot in at #1 on just about everybody's list of least favorites if we included everybody who ever worked for EC. I love Krigstein, but the problem is his unusual style wasn't really suited to EC's typical stuff, or comics in general! But it worked superbly on offbeat things like "Master Race" and "The Flying Machine."

I've been reading ECs a lot recently. There's something I want to get off my chest. I'd like to get the experts' opinion here, to see if I'm way off base. A problem I find with EC is that, because they were so great and epoch-making, that people tend to withhold any criticism of them, and act like everything they did is equally spectacular. It isn't. Everybody has their favorite regular EC artists, and mine are Wood, Ingels, Davis, Craig, Kurtzman, and (for humor only) Elder. Least favorite (from the regulars)? Feldstein - great for covers, but poor for interiors. Hopelessly stuck in teenage headlights comics of the pre-EC era. Orlando - seems like a crude Wood imitator to me. I don't like his art at all. Kamen - great for Fox jungle girls and romance, but not for horror or crime. Yet he was assigned tons of horror and crime stories. Severin - good for pre-20th Century war/adventure stuff only.

Brilliant. Why did Atlas abandon sci-fi so quickly? It seems like it was all the rage in that period.

Tarzan by Foster is great stuff when the color's in register, that is.

This is getting some negative reviews on Amazon already.

Thanks for sharing. That is brilliant. I can't imagine the thrill of actually owning a piece of original art by Outcault.

I love these pictures of newsstands. I'm amazed at the members' ability to spot the exact issue based on the smallest clues. Looking at all of these pictures, you get the impression that pretty much every magazine was either romance for the women or detective/sports for the men. Not much variety. I didn't realize until these pictures were posted how few serious news/politics magazines were featured on the newsstands. "Time" looks very lonely in some of these pics. Lucky I found this picture in the thread. Someone photoshoped a couple action 1s in it as I stumbled upon the picture on a website. Knew it was too good to be true