The EC Archives: Crime SuspenStories, Volume 3

   Dangerous dames, cunning con men, scorned lovers, and murderous psychos fill panel and page of Crime SuspenStories, Volume 3. Reprinting issues 13-18 of EC Comics’ classic crime thriller comic, this book is lovingly reprinted by Dark Horse Comics.

    I consider myself someone of an expert on EC books. I’ve been reading and collecting them since I was about 10. So, I have seen a variety publisher’s efforts to reprint this stories in so many different styles. In my opinion, I can officially declare that Dark Horse’s efforts are clearly best.

    Up until Dark Horse took over the license, I would have rated the Russ Cochran editions the best. These hardcover collections from 1986-1988, are considered by many to be the standard for EC Comics reprints. They were printed on prestige acid-free paper with beautifully bright covers. Unfortunately, the Cochran interiors were printed only in black and white. The decision  was in an effort to cut costs down, but ultimately it was disappointment to readers. That’s not the case with the Dark Horse volumes. Every dismembered victim is brought to gruesome life in vibrant 4-colors on shiny, hi-stock paper.

    Dark Horse’s collections are little paper time capsules. This era of EC Comics lore is just as the publisher was beginning to overtake DC Comics as the industry leader. With EC’s popularity, new titles were being developed. Initial advertisements for MAD, originally published as a comic book, are highlighted throughout the run of these books. There’s also a number of stories written by Ray Bradbury. Just  prior to issue #13’s release, Bradbury signed an exclusive contract with EC to publish comic adaptations of his works. Also highlighted are masters such as Johnny Craig and Jack Kamen who spin original yarns of revenge gone wrong. Volume 3 also collects the first ever EC works by Al Williamson.

    Another thing that I appreciate with this collection is that the original letters pages are restored. These pages contained Bill Gaines insightful editorial commentary. The Russ Cochran volumes reprinted the original pages as well. Yet when Gladstone took over the licence, they were replaced with a letters page composed of modern readers opinions. That’s all well and good for Gladstone. But the new letters don’t reflect the irreverent tone that would inspire Stan Lee with his letter pages at Marvel.

    The book retails for $49.99. For many, this collection isn’t cheap. But it’s a superior omnibus of reprints that rival anything currently on the market. Collectors of 1950s shock comics will love this book.

    Book will arrive in stores on June 27th, 2017.

    Worth Consuming!

    Rating: 9 out of 10 Stars.

  (This review originally was posted on Outrightgeekery.com on 5/24/17.)

Tales from the Crypt #2, (Banned Comics Week)

 This doubled sized reprint from Russ Cochran contains issue #34 of Crypt and Crime Suspenstories #15. Though I mention Gemstone as the publisher of the most of the EC Comics reprints in my collection, it was actually Cochran from Missouri who first obtained the rights to reprint the entire EC line. (Other EC reprints exist before this but Cochran was the first to reprint the entire line of EC Comics comics.) The collection was very popular, but it was a niche market.

 The Russ Cochran Company found itself unable to recoup its losses and sold the rights to newly established Gemstone. Gemstone got the brilliant idea to reprint in small batches and later reissue as needed. Thus, back issues of past copies could either be ordered through mail or replenished in comic shops nationwide. It’s this method that’s held on for over 25 years and helped keep the EC Comics from fading into obscurity.

   In Tales, our first story is by the Crypt Keeper in segment called “The Crypt of Terror” which was Tales’ original title. That story is based on the cover image in which a mad scientist creates a Frankenstein type monster and it goes on the rampage at a carnival. Then the Vault Keeper spins a yarn about two con men who dupe a small town into believing their sitting on the next oil boom. The Crypt Keeper then returns in his signature segment “Grim Fairy Tales” which are fanciful fables with gruesome endings. This go-round, the Crypt Keeper regales us with a story of a king who goes too far when he learns about taxation.

The last story is by the Haunt of Fear’s Old Witch. It’s rather interesting as it’s adapted by Ray Bradbury of Fahrenheit 451 fame. It’s a fairly light tale in which an old woman filled with salt and vinegar doesn’t want to die so badly that her spirit storms the mortuary in which her body is housed and demands it back.

  What I found so intriguing about this ghost story was that it’s basically by a well-known author. When Fredic Wertham testified before the Senate during the Juvenile Delinquency hearings, he claims that there was no ‘artistic merit’ to the prose found in comic books. Bradbury is such a big deal that not only did my wife read some of his work in high school for her English classes, I read it too! And I went to a strict anti-anything secular Christian school! So when ever anybody tells you that comics are rubble- you can point out that the great Ray Bradbury was featured in comics as was Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, and even Doctor Seuss!

Before I close, let’s examine the Crime Suspenstories reprint. The first tale is a film noir-type love triangle between a wife with a bad heart, her husband, and his best friend who happens to be her lover. Take about Double Indemnity! Then Ray Bradbury returns! This time, his tale ‘the Screaming Woman’ stars a little girl who hears a woman begging to be released from a shallow grave but nobody will believe the tyke’s warnings. Next, we get an interesting story told in two parts in which the same man must suffer through thirst an dehydration first on the high seas and then in the Sahara. There are plenty clever twists in ‘Water, Water Everywhere…” as well as a unique story structure that clearly influenced some of the greats of the Silver Age like Julie Schwartz, Gardner Fox, and Stan Lee. Finally, the Old Witch guests to recall the bickering marriage of a hen-pecked husband and his meddlesome wife.

The Crime comics of the 1950s were a thing of the past by 1959. Crimes of the heart in which implied sex, adultery, and murder were considered taboo. Thus there was a rise in crime digests like Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen. Those mags contained the occasional illustration but were considered so wordy that it wouldn’t appeal to kids. Crime Magazines were still available where kids could reach them and they still had graphic covers. But the changing format was considered enough to prevent kids from going into a wanton frenzy like un-coded comics were said to have inspired.

True, it was 30-years later, but in the 80s I remember walking into a newsstand and buying crime mags as a gift for my mother who loved a good mystery. I was never carded. I couldn’t have been- I was 8! Still, the view towards comic books as low culture is proof of the hypocrisy of censorship. The next time someone tells you comic books are kids’ stuff and for the uneducated, ask them if they watch The Walking Dead, or have seen Men in Black? When they say “yes” tell them it was based on a comic book and watch their face drop. Argument won in your favor!

Worth Consuming

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.