Piracy was the last New Trend title EC released before the company shifted focus of its publications. That's because from April to June, 1954, the US Senate held several public hearings on juvenile delinquency and comic books were placed under the microscope as being its number one cause. Across America, civic groups lead massive burnings of comic books.
There's actually a famous photo taken in the Norwalk, Connecticut community of a Catholic League community bonfire composed of thousands of comics going up in flames. And there's my future grandmother-in-law smiling triumphantly over the paper barbecue. Also in the picture is my wife's 7 or 8 year old uncle, frowning despondently as his prized comic book collection went up in smoke.
Needless to say, comic books were on life support. To prevent the complete extinction of the art form, several publishers got together and formed the self-governed Comics Code Authority. Gaines was initially hesitant to concede to the CCA, instead, opting to cancel most of his controversial line of comic books.
Only 3 books made the cut. The humor comic MAD changed to a larger format and was exempt from CCA rules operating as a magazine. Panic, another humor title, remained comic sized. Piracy, was the third surviving title.
Piracy still had EC's signature twist endings. But they were no longer sensationalized. Haunt of Fear #19 had for a shock conclusion, a rival baseball team dismembering a baseball player who used poisoned cleats and using the guys entrails for a ballpark foul line. Issue #1 of this series has a boat captain finding the man who shanghaied him decades earlier and getting revenge on him... by thanking him for his cowardly deed.
There are 4 stories that fill issue #6 of Piracy. Reed Crandall's 'Fit for a King' has a drunkard regaling the patrons of a tavern with the truth about a missing fabled swashbuckler known as The King of the Pirates. 'The Skipper' by George Evans tells of a sailor whose been stuck as first mate for so long, that he secretly begins sabotaging his cargo ship in a twisted plan to have the captain removed from the helm. Then readers head back in time to the seal hunts of the great white north in Graham Ingels' 'Fur Crazy.' Lastly, Jack Davis spins a yarn about a shipmaster haunted by the screams of the crew he lost years prior in 'Solitary.'
The cover was illustrated by Bernard Krigstein.
EC Comics launched 7 new titles in early 1954 as part of its New Trend line of titles. Because Gaines refused to issue a CCA stamp on the cover of his books, newsstands refused to carry them. Gaines would eventually acquiesce later in the year. But at that point, the financial damage was done and most titles were cancelled with issue #5 (Nov/Dec, 1955). A controversial ruling by the CCA for the powerful anti-racism story 'Judgment Day' in Incredible Science Fiction #33 led to William Gaines turning his back on comic books, devoting himself as publisher of MAD Magazine until his death in 1992.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
Completing this review completes Task #33 (An EC Comic (Reprints are allowed)) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.
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