REPRINT HORRORS!

Posted today on FEAR IN FOUR COLORS' companion site, WORLD OF MONSTERS, is Eerie Publications' first issue of TALES FROM THE TOMB. Fans of these lurid and vile things are aware that they were made up of reprints from pre-Code horror comics beginning with the plundering of Robert Farrell's fairly substantial inventory. Behind the revolting covers--many by Golden and Silver Age artist Carl Burgos--were stories that were now in black and white, with splash pages and panels re-worked with more exploitative images. These were often drawn by African-American artist Ezra Jackson who was listed as an art director for the magazine.

Following are examples of how the story art was modified by changing titles (that were sometimes previously reprinted in Farrell's comics) and images to better fit the Eerie way of sensationalizing their aim of disgusting readers.

This story was apparently left intact from the original.

DR. LORCH'S SIXTH POTION

Dr. Simon Lorch is obsessed with concocting a potion that will turn a man into one that possesses primordial strength. After five tries, he drinks the sixth one himself and turns into not only a man who has primordial strength, but is also a primordial beast! He goes on the usual killing spree until he is stopped (aka killed) by one of his previous experiments. Poor Dr. Lorch, he should have stopped at five tries!

This one's from Ace's WEB OF MYSTERY #3 (June 1951) with pencils by Mike Sekowsky and inks by Vince Alascia.

NOTE: I've began to go back into some of my earlier posts and started adding labels that are descriptive of some of the common themes found in pre-Code horror comics, such as today's "mad doctor" trope. I'll be including things like cannibalism, hanging, etc. when I come across them. This will be a work in progress for a while.

THE FACE OF HORROR!

In this crazy story from Stanley Morse's WEIRD CHILLS #2 (Key Publications, September 1954), a comic book writer concocts a story that includes such delightful tidbits of terror as electrocution, a revivified corpse, a werewolf, a vampire and plenty of mayhem and murder. The writer and artist of this morbid story are unknown.