Golden/Atomic Age SciFi Recommendations 2 2

[Randall Dowling]

On 9/19/2021 at 4:29 PM, KirbyJack said:

Another vote of support for EC sci-fi here. 

ECs are the pinnacle of quality for Sci-Fi (and Horror, Crime, Suspense, etc.).  Everything else is a distant second.  If you're looking for high quality covers and amazing interiors, it doesn't get much better than this (not my copy, taken from internet).

[ConcreteMob181]

On 9/17/2021 at 10:47 PM, frozentundraguy said:

I was thinking of the earlier Amazing Adventures series by Ziff Davis. I only have the reprints done by PS Artbooks, but those have interior pages that are very comic book like. The Silver Age series by Kirby is also excellent.

That makes sense (I thought the Kirby one was GA but it’s ‘61). Pretty unique looking covers on these. I quite like them. Thanks for the rec!

[ConcreteMob181]

On 9/19/2021 at 10:27 PM, Randall Dowling said:

ECs are the pinnacle of quality for Sci-Fi (and Horror, Crime, Suspense, etc.).  Everything else is a distant second.  If you're looking for high quality covers and amazing interiors, it doesn't get much better than this (not my copy, taken from internet).

I’ve been looking at the EC books for a long time. I know some of the stories and love the Feldstein and Wood art especially. I sometimes get the sense that the horror books overshadow the scifi a bit. Do you think the horror books are “the best” or that the quality is so good across the line that it doesn’t matter what genre you’re looking at as long as its EC?

[ConcreteMob181]

On 9/17/2021 at 8:40 PM, KCOComics said:

Speed Carter is some of Everett's best cover art in my opinion. 

And that says allot considering how expansive his career was. 

The covers are phenomenal! I’d never heard of the series before this thread but I’ve now checked out the cover art a few times. Really exceptional.

[KCOComics]

On 9/20/2021 at 10:33 AM, ConcreteMob181 said:

The covers are phenomenal! I’d never heard of the series before this thread but I’ve now checked out the cover art a few times. Really exceptional.

And it's still relatively affordable.

[Robot Man]

On 9/20/2021 at 7:31 AM, ConcreteMob181 said:

I’ve been looking at the EC books for a long time. I know some of the stories and love the Feldstein and Wood art especially. I sometimes get the sense that the horror books overshadow the scifi a bit. Do you think the horror books are “the best” or that the quality is so good across the line that it doesn’t matter what genre you’re looking at as long as its EC?

I love the sci fi titles for art, the horror and shock for stories but, frankly, I think the war books are the best. Kurtzman was a stickler for accuracy. Such high quality and still real bargains. 

[Randall Dowling]

On 9/20/2021 at 9:31 AM, ConcreteMob181 said:

Do you think the horror books are “the best” or that the quality is so good across the line that it doesn’t matter what genre you’re looking at as long as its EC?

This.  The level of creativity, writing, and illustration is so high that it really doesn't matter.  I've owned many copies of all the genres and it's a feast of riches.  Wood, Kurtzman, Feldstein, Crandall, Davis, Williamson, Frazetta, et al.  All at the top of their game.  You really can't go wrong.

[fifties]

On 9/20/2021 at 7:33 AM, ConcreteMob181 said:

The covers are phenomenal! I’d never heard of the series before this thread but I’ve now checked out the cover art a few times. Really exceptional.

One of my favorite Atlas Sci Fi books;

[Pat Calhoun]

Of all the Atlas fantasy-/-horror titles Journey Into Unknown Worlds is rare in that the early issues were predominantly SF. JIUW #9 is cover-to-cover SF: more importantly all 5 stories are fabulous and those jackpot issues are few and far between.

[Randall Dowling]

On 9/20/2021 at 4:22 PM, Pat Calhoun said:

Of all the Atlas fantasy-/-horror titles Journey Into Unknown Worlds is rare in that the early issues were predominantly SF. JIUW #9 is cover-to-cover SF: more importantly all 5 stories are fabulous and those jackpot issues are few and far between.

Well that just made my list.  Thanks for the recommendation, Pat!  

[sfcityduck]

On 9/20/2021 at 9:11 AM, Randall Dowling said:

This.  The level of creativity, writing, and illustration is so high that it really doesn't matter.  I've owned many copies of all the genres and it's a feast of riches.  Wood, Kurtzman, Feldstein, Crandall, Davis, Williamson, Frazetta, et al.  All at the top of their game.  You really can't go wrong.

I'm with Robotman, the EC War stories, especially by Kurtzman, are head and shoulders above anything else.  Mainly because they aren't as drowned in words.  EC had great artists, but the writers chewed with their mouths full, including Kurtzman (but he was a bit better on his own stories).  There are Frazetta pages where the art to word ratio is 1:1 and that's just wrong.  Only Krigstein found a way to get entirely out from under the weight of the writers' words.  For me (and for Gaines) the horror books are the worst of the lot, but its a matter of opinion and there are no wrong answers.

 

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by sfcityduck

[Pat Calhoun]

Our pals at Atlas Tales have a JIUW9 cover story splash: this yarn starts the bonanza with a bang...

Edited September 20, 2021 by Pat Calhoun

[Robot Man]

On 9/20/2021 at 3:15 PM, sfcityduck said:

I'm with Robotman, the EC War stories, especially by Kurtzman, are head and shoulders above anything else.  Mainly because they aren't as drowned in words.  EC had great artists, but the writers chewed with their mouths full, including Kurtzman (but he was a bit better on his own stories).  There are Frazetta pages where the art to word ratio is 1:1 and that's just wrong.  Only Krigstein found a way to get entirely out from under the weight of the writers' words.  For me (and for Gaines) the horror books are the worst of the lot, but its a matter of opinion and there are no wrong answers.

 

 

The war books always had a real "anti war" slant to them. And VERY accurate.

Other than the classic Johnny Craig covers, I would rate CSS at the bottom of the pile. (Even if there could be such a thing with ECs. The stories were often rehashed and swiped from the horror stories. The Shocks on the other hand were brilliant thought provoking stories that were just not being done in comics back then.

[fifties]

On 9/20/2021 at 2:22 PM, Pat Calhoun said:

Of all the Atlas fantasy-/-horror titles Journey Into Unknown Worlds is rare in that the early issues were predominantly SF. JIUW #9 is cover-to-cover SF: more importantly all 5 stories are fabulous and those jackpot issues are few and far between.

 

 

 

 

I had forgotten about early JIUW.  Issues 36, 37, 38, 4, & 5 are pretty much all Sci Fi, and excellent reads ESP #5.

[Pat Calhoun]

With Tara the space pirate and Wonderman's interplanetary adventures (Silver Knight is great too tho' fantasy) late issues of Wonder Comics should qualify.

[Pat Calhoun]

here's the Wonderman splash for that issue:

[Pat Calhoun]

sad that #20 was the final issue of the title...here's Tara splash

[frozentundraguy]

Very late GA but also worthy of mention is Journey Into Unknown Worlds #49. The book has a brilliant cover by Russ Heath and contains about 50% sci-fi stories.

 

[OtherEric]

Agreed that you can't go wrong with EC's!  The SF are some of their best books; I actually think the EC horror is the least impressive of the stuff they did.  Still incredibly good, but the least of what they did.

You can find a lot of the titles mentioned in the thread (not the EC or Atlas books) here:

https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/

 

[OtherEric]

Also, some more EC SF covers because we can never have enough of them: