The Undead Thread: Pre-Code Horror 22 22

[precodekeith]

My plan is to post it here first and solicit folks who agree to add their names to it and also to add additional information, cfites etc. If this works out the piece can be sent with everyone's name who contributed. No longer just Pov's idea but a collective of pre-code horror fans speaking out against nebulous definitions that put certain books in Category Z while other books, perhaps less deserving, are put in Category A.

 

 

Pov, sign me up already! Wonderful idea!

[precodekeith]

One of the few horror covers that I look at & say...

Edited August 19, 2005 by precodekeith

[precodekeith]

Wonder if there is any innuendo implied with that one?

[precodekeith]

The problem with designating a book as the "first horror comic" is that I believe that books such as Mask Comics and Suspense Comics (at least via the lurid covers), as an example, we're testing the boundaries of horror before Eerie #1 was released. Where do you draw the line?

 

My thoughts on your question: I draw the line with content. If the book has a horror cover and is the first to have nothing but original horror stories on the interior it is the first horror comic.

[precodekeith]

Another less than stellar full cover Atlas...

 

Edited August 20, 2005 by precodekeith

[rjpb]

Most post-code Atlas covers are more sinister than those Unknown Worlds!

[precodekeith]

Yes, hard to believe that a title with such awesome covers earlier in the run would change gears so much before the code.....

[Jayman]

Most covers with an "invisible something" theme tend to be HO-HUM compared to the ghouls and monster covers. Even the "What's behind the door/in the locked box" covers churn up more dread and imagination than these covers!

[precodekeith]

I just wonder if the honchos at Atlas were trying to tame things down before the senate hearings. Rumor has it that the "other guys" who were serious besides EC were trying to get the code to basically neuter EC alone. There is "proof" for this theory, but it is all circumstantial.....

[precodekeith]

This one is a little more creepy... I think mostly due to the sculptor, who looks somewhat sinister. Still pretty tame, in fact I think it may have been reprinted as a cover in the 70's, but I'm not positive.

 

Edited August 22, 2005 by precodekeith

[Larryw7]

I just wonder if the honchos at Atlas were trying to tame things down before the senate hearings. Rumor has it that the "other guys" who were serious besides EC were trying to get the code to basically neuter EC alone. There is "proof" for this theory, but it is all circumstantial.....

 

That's the theory of Pat Calhoun, an Atlas/pre-code expert who wrote for COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE.

[precodekeith]

That's the theory of Pat Calhoun, an Atlas/pre-code expert who wrote for COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE.

 

I've read some of Pat's wonderful columns, but I've never heard his take on this. Got a link or paste? I'd love to read what he has to say.

[Larryw7]

I read it in at least one CBM, I'll see if I can find it later.

[precodekeith]

Looking forward to it!

[PovertyRow]

Hey Keith! Have some mopre undead pre-code horror but! BUT! They are all 1-shots. So will be posting in the One-Shot thread. Why? because I think one-shots (especially pre-code horror) are very special and very cool so...three titles knowcked off my pre-code type set and three titles added to the 1-shot thread.

 

But you must seek out the one-shot thread! Seek. Seeeeekkkk........and ye shall find! ::

[precodekeith]

[precodekeith]

Somebody que up the Alice In Chains.....

Edited August 24, 2005 by precodekeith

[Larryw7]

Looking forward to it!

 

I've gone through several issues of CBM, and I can't find where Calhoun said this. I know he did, but except for a few cursory statements("already anticipating the Comics Code, the tame cover" etc.), there isn't anything meatier. Sorry.

[precodekeith]

Doiby,

Thanks for looking. I appreciate it.

 

I'm sure it'll pop up later on down the road...

[precodekeith]

Always loved this cross-genre cover.....

 

Edited August 25, 2005 by precodekeith