EC'S OLD WITCH PRECURSOR

Horror comic fans are familiar with EC's trio of "Ghoulunatics", one of whom was "The Old Witch". Most accounts agree that this character was inspired by Alonso Deen Cole's radio show, THE WITCH'S TALE.

It is interesting to note that there is another comic host by the name of The Old Witch that predates EC's character by a decade, and could have also been inspired by Cole's show, since its first air date was in 1931.

The series began with the intro by The Old Crone in HIT COMICS #1 (Quality, July 1940). The Old Crone's name was changed to The Old Witch in issue #2. Created by "Pierre Winter", the name was a typical "house name" used by publishers so they wouldn't have to disclose who drew the art for any particular story. Several artists did indeed draw the stories, including George Appel, Nick Cardy, John Celardo and Reed Crandall.

Here is the first story from HIT COMICS #1, followed by the splash pages from the other issues. The series lasted until issue #14 (August 1941).