EC Comics returns! 3 3

[Coverless 9.8]

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/70-years-ec-comics-returns-171943904.html

[Coverless 9.8]

Epitaphs From The Abyss in July and followed by Cruel Universe in August!  

[Coverless 9.8]

 

 

[Ryan.]

Interesting. Solid creators involved. 

[Jayman]

[Ken Aldred]

I doubt it will replicate the magic of the original books. Product of their time.

Some very good creators, but basically just indie SF / horror, not dissimilar to modern Image Comics, despite the label.

Or, reminiscent of Twisted Tales and Alien Worlds from Pacific Comics.

Edited February 20 by Ken Aldred

[jdandns]

Pacific's Twisted Tales & Alien Worlds were created closer to the time of the original ECs (30 years later) than these new ECs were to Twisted Tales & Alien Worlds (40 years later).

[Ken Aldred]

On 2/21/2024 at 3:24 AM, jdandns said:

Pacific's Twisted Tales & Alien Worlds were created closer to the time of the original ECs (30 years later) than these new ECs were to Twisted Tales & Alien Worlds (40 years later).

And, they didn’t really work, let alone recapture the magic, even back then.

[Mmehdy]

hey lets give them a CHANCE ....once every 70 years

[Mr Sneeze]

As I recall, some of the Alien World and Twisted Tales stories were to this young teenager at the time pretty awesome. I had no idea what EC even was yet.

I’ll give them a try.

[F For Fake]

I'm all about horror anthologies, and this is a nice group of creators. However, there's a big difference between "a nice group of creators" and "the best stable of artists that comics ever produced", which is what EC had. Can't really compete with that. But if we get some cool books out of it, I don't see the harm.

[ThreeSeas]

This is good news and I plan on picking these up.

I guessing that all the art is done on a computer nowadays. These covers, to me, seem to have a different feel to them. Now don't get me wrong, I like them and all and plan on supporting this endeavor. Maybe it's just because they are modern. This  is why they feel a little off to me, as I am so used to the older hand drawn comics. 

[Ken Aldred]

On 2/21/2024 at 2:30 PM, Mr Sneeze said:

As I recall, some of the Alien World and Twisted Tales stories were to this young teenager at the time pretty awesome. I had no idea what EC even was yet.

I’ll give them a try.

The series did have some great talents working on them; Dave Stevens, Al Williamson, Bruce Jones, Richard Corben.

True enough.

[Ken Aldred]

On 2/21/2024 at 3:01 PM, F For Fake said:

I'm all about horror anthologies, and this is a nice group of creators. However, there's a big difference between "a nice group of creators" and "the best stable of artists that comics ever produced", which is what EC had.

Yup.  That's the problem with convincing EC fanboys like myself.

We consider those books to be absolutely untouchable in terms of sheer quality.

A short period of absolute brilliance in comics.

 

Edited February 21 by Ken Aldred

[shadroch]

On 2/20/2024 at 9:04 PM, Ken Aldred said:

And, they didn’t really work, let alone recapture the magic, even back then.

They sold well, but Pacific didn't understand the market and vastly over-printed.  Eclipse took them over, with some changes and was doing okay until several distributors went bankrupt , owing them hundreds of thousands of dollars.   Then their warehouse and office got flooded out. The books didn't fail, as much as the publishers did.  The Dave Stevens covers are highly collected, and the rest have a niche.

Edited February 21 by shadroch

[Gambold Vintage]

EC has been praised beyond the skies - and much of it is deserved.  The comics do all start to slip a bit in the final year or two - the text narration starts to overwhelm the panels, and the stories become increasingly repetitive. When I read them now I just read the dialogue, and skip all the exposition which just gets in the way of the art. 

Gaines liked his horror a certain way, and that way could get routine. There were no ghosts or demons, no satanism or slashers...but lots of vampires, zombies, werewolves and the like - and plenty of vengeful spouses. The science fiction issues, while beautifully drawn (perhaps even better than the horror), have not aged well, but then science fiction of any era never does.  The crime and war books - they are well-regarded but no-one is reading them and they sell for less than the "big six" (the three horrors, two sci-fis, and MAD).

The artwork was all top-notch - the writing not so much, as it was mostly from Al Feldstein and Bill Gaines ripping off classic stories from other writers and sources, and like I said, repeating themselves quite a bit. The Bradbury stories are always a refreshing highlight in any issue. Harvey Kurtzman has to be mentioned for his tremendous war stories and for launching MAD, almost all of which he wrote during its comics period.

Some of the artists were better in some areas than others - I never bought Jack Davis as a horror illustrator, although his comic stylings in MAD, Superfan and the like are peerless.  Graham Ingels is the king of creepy, although I do like Johnny Craig's twisted presentation, and I think he wrote a few too. Wally Wood is the master of science fiction.  Bill Elder made MAD - his riff on King Kong in Mad #6 is probably the pinnacle of the Mad comic series. The rest of the artists are all fine, but these five are the leaders and produced the most collectible covers. 

The new issues? We will see.  This has been tried before, bringing back something long gone yet still beloved.  It's a tough challenge to make it work. 

 

 

Edited February 22 by Gambold Vintage

[Ken Aldred]

On 2/22/2024 at 2:53 AM, Gambold Vintage said:

EC has been praised beyond the skies - and much of it is deserved.  The comics do all start to slip a bit in the final year or two - the text narration starts to overwhelm the panels, and the stories become increasingly repetitive. When I read them now I just read the dialogue, and skip all the exposition which just gets in the way of the art. 

Gaines liked his horror a certain way, and that way could get routine. There were no ghosts or demons, no satanism or slashers...but lots of vampires, zombies, werewolves and the like - and plenty of vengeful spouses. The science fiction issues, while beautifully drawn (perhaps even better than the horror), have not aged well, but then science fiction of any era never does.  The crime and war books - they are well-regarded but no-one is reading them and they sell for less than the "big six" (the three horrors, two sci-fis, and MAD).

The artwork was all top-notch - the writing not so much, as it was mostly from Al Feldstein and Bill Gaines ripping off classic stories from other writers and sources, and like I said, repeating themselves quite a bit. The Bradbury stories are always a refreshing highlight in any issue. Harvey Kurtzman has to be mentioned for his tremendous war stories and for launching MAD, almost all of which he wrote during its comics period.

Some of the artists were better in some areas than others - I never bought Jack Davis as a horror illustrator, although his comic stylings in MAD, Superfan and the like are peerless.  Graham Ingels is the king of creepy, although I do like Johnny Craig's twisted presentation, and I think he wrote a few too. Wally Wood is the master of science fiction.  Bill Elder made MAD - his riff on King Kong in Mad #6 is probably the pinnacle of the Mad comic series. The rest of the artists are all fine, but these five are the leaders and produced the most collectible covers. 

The new issues? We will see.  This has been tried before, bringing back something long gone yet still beloved.  It's a tough challenge to make it work. 

 

 

I suppose we all have certain comics or writers and artists that we get carried away with a bit, and could do with a little more constraint and objectivity.  Mine are the New Trend ECs, especially Weird Science and Weird Fantasy, which absolutely stunned me when I first read them in the early 80s as the Library hardcovers. Still some of my all-time favourite comics to this day.  As you can tell.

Edited February 22 by Ken Aldred

[wardevil0]

On 2/22/2024 at 6:12 AM, Ken Aldred said:

I suppose we all have certain comics or writers and artists that we get carried away with a bit, and could do with a little more constraint and objectivity.  Mine are the New Trend ECs, especially Weird Science and Weird Fantasy, which absolutely stunned me when I first read them in the early 80s as the Library hardcovers. Still some of my all-time favourite comics to this day.  As you can tell.

May I ask how many of your favorite Weird Science and Weird Fantasy stories are Ray Bradbury adaptations?  Just wondering if some of your appreciation for EC is actually appreciation for the source material.  It may be an unnecessary distinction, as EC definitely deserves credit for the artwork and scripting, as well as the recognition of quality that led to the adaptation itself.

Meanwhile, adjacent to the topic, I hope no one interested in this kind of thing has been missing the anthologies by Antarctic Press from the last few years...

 

[The Commissioner]

On 2/21/2024 at 8:53 PM, Gambold Vintage said:

the "big six" (the three horrors, two sci-fis, and MAD).

I know E.C. published a lot of horror. Which of those are considered the three titles in the "big six"?

[Robot Man]

On 2/22/2024 at 7:22 AM, The Commissioner said:

I know E.C. published a lot of horror. Which of those are considered the three titles in the "big six"?

Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror and Haunt of Fear. Crypt seems to get a slight edge out of the group probably due to the TV show. To me, they are all pretty much equal as far as quality is concerned.