E.C. Fan Addict THREAD 27 27

[Jayman]

1 minute ago, Robot Man said:

Wow, what a beautiful copy of a classic! I waffle back and forth between this one and #25. I probably give this one the spot if I had to pick. The color, the lighting, the drama, the guy in the background and there “those eyes”. Jack Davis was a master!

 

You can even see the gun fire flash in the eyes reflection too! 

[BuyTheRedCar]

A classic!

[bronze johnny]

3 hours ago, Jayman said:

Classic cover! I have the Palo Alto copy and will say this cover is even more remarkable in hand. Congrats Jay!

 

[Robot Man]

20 minutes ago, drwente said:

A classic!

Indeed!

[Mmehdy]

I know that the new Tashen EC book is using Gaines file copies for cover reproduction and that every EC cover will be in the books cover gallery.

[OtherEric]

2 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Me too. I have owned and broken up one complete EC collection of ALL of them and one of just the New Trend issues. But I would’nt and never will sell my MAD #1. I have two copies. One signed by Gaines and one signed by each artist who worked on it as well as Kurtzman. My two daughters each want one when I go to the great Comic Con in the sky. 

I too believe it to be the most important EC. As well in the top 10 most important comics of all time. A sentimental favorite as it was my first “grail”. 

 

Agreed on it being in the top 10 all time, as well as most important EC.  I can't call it my first "grail", because when I found it it had never occurred to me that I could actually own a key book like that... so it bypassed the "grail" stage.  It more or less introduced me to the idea that there were grail books at the exact moment I put it on layaway, so it never actually was something I hoped to get.

We've had some discussions over "most important comics" on other threads here; I've argued rather vocally for MAD against people who only see superheroes.  The influence the book had on all of pop culture in the latter half of the 20th century and even now is amazing once you start tracking connections.  Even just within comics rather than the broader culture, I've argued you can track directly from MAD to the underground comix and from there to all sorts of things.

[jayhawker]

This has always been one of my favorite EC covers. It has a nice date stamp also.

[Robot Man]

On 7/2/2020 at 4:41 PM, Mmehdy said:

Got the pre-order for the new EC book by Grant Geissman entitled "The History of EC comics" the book is extra large about 12 by 16 and  592 pages and looks amazing...the best book ever published on EC hand down. and ..on the website their are 15 preview pages. The book contains over 100 rarities from the Gaines family archives that have never seen print. Over 1000 illustrations, the best $200 one can spend. I pre-ordered today...great stuff Check it  out on the Taschen  website

Grant is a longtime friend. There is no one more “connected” in the EC world. Easily, one of the top collectors of ECs. He was very close friends with Gaines and Feldstein. He also knows every major EC and MAD collector in the hobby. He has published several excellent books on this publisher. I have had the honor and privilege of contributing a lot of my meager collection to him over the years. If you are a “fan addict”, just buy this book sight unseen. You will be blown away. 

[Jayman]

2 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Grant is a longtime friend. There is no one more “connected” in the EC world. Easily, one of the top collectors of ECs. He was very close friends with Gaines and Feldstein. He also knows every major EC and MAD collector in the hobby. He has published several excellent books on this publisher. I have had the honor and privilege of contributing a lot of my meager collection to him over the years. If you are a “fan addict”, just buy this book sight unseen. You will be blown away. 

Robot, what do you think Grant’s take would be on this book, Strange Tales #50? It’s been discussed that it could possibly be a tip of the hat tribute to EC featuring Gains & Feldstein with the “End of the line” text.

[Robot Man]

1 hour ago, Jayman said:

Robot, what do you think Grant’s take would be on this book, Strange Tales #50? It’s been discussed that it could possibly be a tip of the hat tribute to EC featuring Gains & Feldstein with the “End of the line” text.

I don’t know. Next time I plan on seeing him, I will take my copy and ask him. 

I believe it is a nod to them myself. 

[Jayman]

1 minute ago, Robot Man said:

I don’t know. Next time I plan on seeing him, I will take my copy and ask him. 

I believe it is a nod to them myself. 

Thanks! I’d be very interested in what he may say! 

[Electricmastro]

This is apparently the first comic EC published:

[OtherEric]

5 hours ago, Electricmastro said:

This is apparently the first comic EC published:

I'm 99% sure it's the first book with the EC logo, at least.  I think Pictures Stories from the Bible #2 came out earlier, and it was from Educational Comics in the indicia but had the All American logo on the cover.  I've also seen a couple sources claim that this issue (and maybe the second) were actually published by DC using the EC logo.  So it's definitely a candidate for first EC, and I think it's probably the best choice.  But the switch from DC-AA-EC was not as clear cut as we might want.

[Electricmastro]

22 minutes ago, OtherEric said:

I'm 99% sure it's the first book with the EC logo, at least.  I think Pictures Stories from the Bible #2 came out earlier, and it was from Educational Comics in the indicia but had the All American logo on the cover.  I've also seen a couple sources claim that this issue (and maybe the second) were actually published by DC using the EC logo.  So it's definitely a candidate for first EC, and I think it's probably the best choice.  But the switch from DC-AA-EC was not as clear cut as we might want.

And Animal Fables #2 (Winter, 1946) also may have been the first time they switched from “An Educational Comic” to “An Entertaining Comic.”

[Mmehdy]

On 7/3/2020 at 5:10 PM, Robot Man said:

Grant is a longtime friend. There is no one more “connected” in the EC world. Easily, one of the top collectors of ECs. He was very close friends with Gaines and Feldstein. He also knows every major EC and MAD collector in the hobby. He has published several excellent books on this publisher. I have had the honor and privilege of contributing a lot of my meager collection to him over the years. If you are a “fan addict”, just buy this book sight unseen. You will be blown away. 

We really need board support on pre-order for this book, Grant has done many great books, but this one is his grand-slam HR. Taschen has a amazing group of followers and art lovers and don't be surprised is some new EC OA and Comic book collectors come on board as a result of this amazing book. It might be a good time to fill in your collection before publication.

Edited July 6, 2020 by Mmehdy

[Robot Man]

I don’t think anybody needs to “panic buy” (or sell quite yet) Mitch. ECs (other than the pre-trend) and a few spotty other ones in all grades are fairly available. They have always been coveted and collected ever since you and I got into the game. They are pretty well known. 

Grant has always produced great books. He has always done it as a fan and his love for them is quite apparent. He is also one heck of a cool guy to boot. 

This looks like a great book. I’ve known about it for quite a while and seen some early drafts. Expect some surprises and a lot of unusual material as only someone like him would have access to. 

[Robot Man]

This came in the mail today. Was looking through it and noticed the letter column. The whole column was devoted to a story called "Blood Brothers" in Shock #13. It is a racially charged story. Is about a bigot finding out his life was saved by a blood transfusion from a black man. Written by Al Feldstein and beautifully rendered by Wally Wood. A must read story and one of the best of the "preachies".

Amazing that this appeared over 60 years ago. EC was never afraid to shy away from topics like this.

The first two letters were written by obviously, bigotted people. EC didn't even edit them and even left in the "offensive" words. The other 12 letters were in support of the story. Nice to know that even back then, people were decent and tollerent.

We still got a ways to go but working on it...

By the way, anybody other than me, think at first glance these are ape hands?

[Robot Man]

Now, the cool part... Upon getting this solid mid grade copy, my collection of this title is now complete! Other than a couple, I need to upgrade a bit, I'm done. This is my third and last set of this title. Good thing because if were to try to start from scratch again, I probably wouldn't want to pay for them all...

Of course, I paid a little more than I wanted to but I have usually found that is what happens on that last issue you need.

[Electricmastro]

 

22 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

This came in the mail today. Was looking through it and noticed the letter column. The whole column was devoted to a story called "Blood Brothers" in Shock #13. It is a racially charged story. Is about a bigot finding out his life was saved by a blood transfusion from a black man. Written by Al Feldstein and beautifully rendered by Wally Wood. A must read story and one of the best of the "preachies".

Amazing that this appeared over 60 years ago. EC was never afraid to shy away from topics like this.

The first two letters were written by obviously, bigotted people. EC didn't even edit them and even left in the "offensive" words. The other 12 letters were in support of the story. Nice to know that even back then, people were decent and tollerent.

We still got a ways to go but working on it...

By the way, anybody other than me, think at first glance these are ape hands?

And there were non-minorities like Fredric Wertham who were against racial prejudice even before then too. Even Spark’s Green Lama #5 (May, 1945) was released long before EC regularly tackled real life topics. I think it’s just a matter of unifying humans together as respected equals, but that simple misunderstandings often lead to complicated, but still blunt conclusions that need clearing up. The little piece of good may have a tough time navigating through the sea of bad, but the good always finds a way to make it to the top sooner or later.

Edited July 6, 2020 by Electricmastro

[OtherEric]

15 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Now, the cool part... Upon getting this solid mid grade copy, my collection of this title is now complete! Other than a couple, I need to upgrade a bit, I'm done. This is my third and last set of this title. Good thing because if were to try to start from scratch again, I probably wouldn't want to pay for them all...

Of course, I paid a little more than I wanted to but I have usually found that is what happens on that last issue you need.

Gratz on completing the run!  Shock is the one title I'm pretty sure I'll be able to complete but am not super close on yet.  The 15 definitely has some heat on it these days from the listings I've seen.