A HECK OF AN ARTIST

Don Heck (January 2, 1929 – February 23, 1995) may be better known for his work with Marvel, such as being the long-time illustrator for the original Avengers and co-creating characters including Iron Man and Black Widow, but he was also a first class story and cover artist for a long list of Pre-Code horror comics, specifically for Comic Media.

He originally went to work for Harvey Comics in 1949 and one of his assignments was to modify Milton Caniff's newspaper strips TERRY AND THE PIRATES and STEVE CANYON into comic book form. He was a big fan of Caniff and incorporated some of his style into his own work. When friend and fellow-artist left Harvey to go freelance, Heck went with him and found assignments at Quality, Hillman and Toby.

In 1952, Allen Hardy, a staffer at Harvey, left to form his own comic book company, Comic Media. Knowing Heck's work, he called him up and offered him a job. Heck accepted and his two earliest works for Hardy were a story for WAR COMICS #1 (September 1952) and the cover and story, "Hitler's Head" for WEIRD TERROR #1, also in September (see below).

Heck hit his stride with the Comic Media horror comics line and produced some of the most memorable (and controversial) covers and art of the Pre-Code period, including his infamous bullet-hole to the head cover for HORRIFIC #3.

Here are a few more examples of his startling cover art for Comic Media:

Horrific #4.

Horrific #6.

Horrific #12.

Horrific #14.

Weird Terror #3.

Weird Terror #4.

Weird Terror #5.

Weird Terror #6.

Weird Terror #8.

Weird Terror #12.

This is Heck's original art for the cover of WEIRD TERROR #12. It is rendered in ink over graphite on 14" x 21" Bristol board. It was auctioned from EC expert Roger Hill's collection and the text paste-ups may be from Mr. Hill himself since restoration of comic logos and cover texts were an area of his expertise. This affords an excellent opportunity to observe Don Heck's exquisitely fine line work.

Source: Heritage Auctions.

ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS

Atlas had the market cornered when it came to horror comics during the Pre-Code period, cranking out nearly 400 issues with 18 titles. ACG came in a distant second printing 123 issues (see publisher's data HERE). Publisher Martin Goodman's strategy was to flood the newsstands with his comics, and when one sold poorly, another one was waiting at the printer to take its place. A total of five of these horror/sci-fi anthologies appeared in just one the six-month period during January-June 1952.

ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS ran for 30 monthly issues from January 1952 through June 1954. Like the other anthology titles, it contained a mix of horror, science-fiction and fantasy stories. While not on the hard-hitting and visceral level of EC Comics, they were still by and large fairly well-written and heads above a lot of its competition in this department. The quality of the art was a mixed bag, but mainly above average compared to a number of other Pre-Code horror comics.

You may notice that the cover bears the seal of approval from The Association of Comic Magazine Publishers. The ACMP was formed in 1947 and was a precursor to the Comics Code Authority. It's also interesting to note that it came out just a few months after Avon published the first-ever horror comic with all-original stories, EERIE COMICS (the industry had already been given a drubbing by a concerned public with its crime comics). See more about the ACMP HERE.

This issue starts off with a couple of cover vignettes by Carl Burgos, creator of The Human Torch. One of his last gigs was to edit the infamous Eerie Publications. The artist for the main cover illustration has yet to be identified. So too, the script-writers for these tales for this and many other Atlas titles are largely unknown. On a side note, a book has just been published that discredits Stan Lee for a large amount of content he signed his name to. Well, he had every opportunity to do so with the stories in these Atlas anthologies but didn't. The artists are from the bullpen that churned out page after page of this entertaining material. Be sure not to miss the fourth story, "Bok-Tok Makes a Boo Boo" for its humorous, but cautionary tale.

In the shadow of the impending CCA nearly half of the Atlas horror/sci-fi anthologies were cancelled in 1954 (including this title) and the rest were neutered to comply with the CCA's guidelines.

ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS

Vol. 1 No. 23

October 1953

Animirth Comics Inc. (Atlas/Marvel)

Editor: Stan Lee

Cover: Carl Burgos (side panels); main cover artist unknown

Pages: 36

Cover price: 10 cents

CONTENTS

"I Am Death!"

Script: ?

Art: Joe Maneely

"Call of the Wild Goose"

Script: ?

Art: Al Eadeh

"An Old Man's Fancy!"

Script: ?

Art: Dan Loprino

"Bok-Tok Makes a Boo-Boo"

Script: ?

Art: George Oleson

"The Kiss of Death!"

Script: ?

Art: Manny Stallman

MONSTERS OF THE MIND!

While Pre-Code horror Fawcett titles had their fair share of violence and grue, this particular title took more from the pages of ACG and took it down a notch or two, leaning more toward the supernatural and paranormal side. Although its first air-date wouldn't come until about seven years later, the stories are reminiscent of the TV series ONE STEP BEYOND. This issue is especially remarkable for its eerie cover by famed paperback, pulp and men's sweats illustrator, Norman Saunders, also known as the artist for the infamous MARS ATTACKS trading cards, as well as the cards for the 1966 BATMAN TV series.

Sheldon "Hawkman" Moldoff was hired to create the Fawcett horror line and thy produced several notable titles during the era, including THIS MAGAZINE IS HAUNTED and BEWARE! TERROR TALES. Moldoff contributed the art to the lead story, "Pillar of Stone".

The standout is "Monsters of the Mind", Written by Bill Woolfolk, who scripted for Capt. Marvel and Superman it is the story of a man who is entrusted with a briefcase of government defense secrets. He suffers a head injury when hit by a car and afterwards imagines (?) aliens are after him and the secrets. The strip was drawn by Bob McCarty (aka Bob McCarthy) who worked for the Simon and Kirby studio and Atlas/Marvel, among others. McCarty also drew some horror comics for Toby Press.

STRANGE STORIES FROM ANOTHER WORLD

Vol. 1 No. 4 (Third issue)

December 1952

Fawcett Publications Inc.

Editor: Will Lieberson (Executive Editor); V. A. Provisiero (Editor); Al Jetter (Art Editor)

Cover: Norman Saunders

Pages: 36

Cover price: 10 cents

CONTENTS

"Pillar of Stone"

Script: ?

Art: Sheldon Moldoff

"Monsters of the Mind"

Script: Bill Woolfolk

Art: Bob McCarty

"Phantom Riders in the Sky"

Script: Bill Woolfolk

Art: Ed Waldman?

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