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Horror Comics

Started by nik,

Horror Comics  

174 members have voted

  1. 1. Horror Comics

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28 posts in this topic

s-man

s-man

Posted
Posted

Never was much into Horror comics before..but from some of the great stuff Ive seen on these boards, I just might start collecting! thumbsup2.gif

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Larryw7

Larryw7

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For me, without a doubt it's EC. The writing-mostly by Al Feldstein-was literate in a way few comics are. And there's never been a greater staff of artists assembled in one place than at EC. Personally, I feel that the EC horror books started getting just a little bit over the top near the end of the run, and were losing their tongue in cheek approach. Some of the stories were truly unpleasant and even downright mean. But, at their peak-from 1951 to 1953-the EC Horror Comics were the peak of the horror genre in comic book form.

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blutobc

blutobc

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I picked EC. I've only read the EC giant reprints, but they had the combo of great stories and interesting artwork.

 

The Bronze DCs have some of the best covers EVER in comics...but overall the stories insided are lacking in depth.

 

Marvel? 4th down...time to punt.

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ultimatevenom

ultimatevenom

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ECs have a lot going for them, they are pre-code so they could be published with pretty much anything the writers wanted, the covers are often very gory and the situations the covers depict are usually quite scary. Having not read any i cannot comment on the stories.

 

DCs, although not pre-code are very good, the covers are usually quite magnificent and HOM 236 has all of the horror elements you need for a great cover. Stories are quite good but i need to read more to get a broader scope of the situation.

 

Marvel, what can i say, covers are usually very, very dull. I have not read any but the covers tell it all.

 

So my vote goes to DC just because i love them, i think the ECs are Pov's sort of thing so he should have a good insight to all of this.

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PovertyRow

PovertyRow

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I voted EC as well, for being the most consistently high quality books with some of the best covers and stroies in horor. You became familiar with the staff of writers and artists and they really catered to the reader. EC is itself a tradition in comics. And they did it all in a few years as well.

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Forbush-Man

Forbush-Man

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EC ! thumbsup2.gif

 

It all started there!

 

Some of the highest quality writing & art of it's time!

 

Frazetta would not even be challenged until close to 20 years later! sumo.gif

 

Damn that Comics Code Authority!!!!!!!!!!! makepoint.gif

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sterlingcomics

sterlingcomics

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I have to admit-my EC knowledge is lacking, hence my reason for choosing DC.

 

Get a few of the reprints. They're cheap, color and full of some of the gretest comics ever.

 

I actually do have one reprint, and it was great! (nice bondage cover to boot)-Shock Suspenstories #6. I just don't have the depth of reading much of the material. It's probably a good thing from a collector's standpoint anyway, since most of the Gaines copies I see floating around aren't cheap. For now, reprints and enjoying the material is important!

 

Don't they have this material available in a volume, similar to the Marvel Essentials and other Hardbound covers that consolidate many issues into one convenient volume?

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s-man

s-man

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There seems to be no respect for Marvel's horror comics... 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

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PovertyRow

PovertyRow

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Actually, in retrospoect, I confess the poll makes no sense. You have EC, DC and Marvel. Well, EC is definitely the king of horror but EC is pre-code really. DC has a few pre-code titles that were sometimes interesting but certainly less than horrific. DC's time came in BA. Marvel? Basically Stan Has A Plan and that plan, SA and beyond, was reflected in the Marvel SA hero books. That formula really doesn't play into horror. All it does is either make the horror book hero-centric (Brother Power, Mummy, Ghost Rider etc but keep the same formula as the FF and ASM type books) or it has some original/reprint books. No wonder Marvel has at this post, no votes.

 

But what was Marvel before Superhero? Atlas! And Atlas was the most prolific horror producer period. They had great covers and decent stories (I would still vote EC over Atlas becvause the quality of EC stories was unsurpassed). But Atlas must not be ignored in any horror talk!

 

So while I DID vote EC - I have to say the poll is - well - horrific!

 

By the way...what About Standard? Gilmore? ACG? Charlton? Superior? And those Avon 1-shots? And.................

 

Bottom line? Hard to really judge when ages are mixed in the horror realm!

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goldust40

goldust40

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Posted

 

By the way...what About Standard? Gilmore? ACG? Charlton? Superior? And those Avon 1-shots? And.................

 

Even if those were all added to the list of choices, EC would still win.

 

EC's imitators often managed to produce great covers but nearly always the stories were amateurish and pedestrian - exceptions would be Weird Tales Of The Future, The Thing, and some of the other Ditko stuff. Of course sometimes the other publishers would try and outdo EC in terms of graphic nastiness - Fight Against Crime (the nastiest), Weird Chills, Mister Mystery and Weird Mysteries spring to mind (I love 'em all!!).

 

With EC, standards were always much higher and the stories were more thought provoking. They were in a league of their own.

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