Wednesday, July 9, 2025

DEATH IS THE END RESULT


This is a swipe if there ever was one. "End Result" was illustrated by Bob Powell and appeared in TOMB OF TERROR #14 (Harvey, March 1954). As yet, the writer has not yet been positively identified, although some say it was Powell, who sometimes scripted his own art.

TOMB OF TERROR was a cross-over science-fiction/horror title likely patterned after EC's line of sci-fi comics. In this particular story, any reader of a certain H.G. Wells novel will realize it for what it is. I'll let you be the judge, but it's pretty obvious.





Monday, July 7, 2025

A GLIMPSE OF THE PIT


Besides all the werewolves, vampires and ghouls, the devil himself is probably the most recurring villain during the pre-Code horror comics era.

Doris Duncan becomes a nasty bit of work after she is lured by money to commit murder. A quick trip through Hell with the Devil as her guide has her changing her ways after she is sent back to the land of the living for another chance. Usually, these stories don't turn out so well!

The story, "A Glimpse of the Pit" appeared in Comic Media's HORRIFIC #9 (January 1954) and was illustrated by Pete Morisi.







Saturday, July 5, 2025

THE LATEST EC FANZINES


Make some room on your bookshelf for two new EC Comics fanzines. HORROR FROM THE CRYPT OF FEAR #18 is now shipping and EC FAN ADDICT #7 ships in August.

HORROR FROM THE CRYPT OF FEAR 18
Art by XNO, Monte Wolverton, Angelo Torres, et al. All new, extra large, perfect bound, wrap around cover. Celebrate the 31st Anniversary of HFTCOF….a history of this classic EC zine. Bill Gaines’ only File Copy of Vault #12 by Thommy Burns. Paul Wee’s Ghoulunatic Gallery by Bill Stout and another by Al Feldstein. The history of Dennis Cunningham’s horror zine Weirdom that published the first Richard Corben work. Shock Suspenstories issue by issue. Picto-Fiction examined by the late Roger Hill. A History of Horror by Lou Russo. The EC Giveaway comics by Thommy Burns. The wedding of Nuemanstein by Ken Hooper. 1982 EC Dimension Convention photo album by Bill Leach. Bill Leach, 2025.

Now shipping. Order HERE.







EC FAN ADDICT 7
Edited by Grant Geissman and the late Roger Hill, this 120-page issue features a portfolio of pre-EC art by Jack Davis, an interview with the legendary publisher of the 1960s and 1970s prozine (and first-generation EC fan) Bill Spicer, a portfolio of Gary Arlington's "What If?" EC covers released as part of his 1970s Nickel Library series, an article on collecting Humbug/Harvey Kurtzman-related collectibles, a 1958 interview with Kurtzman conducted by John Benson and Larry Ivie, another installment of "The EC Collector," an interview with the notorious Dr. Fredric Wertham about his final book, The World of Fanzines: A Special Form of Communication, a vintage 1967 visit with Frank Frazetta, and much more
Featuring a front cover painting by Laurie Snow Hein (a longtime student of EC's Graham Ingels), and a back cover done in 1954 by Al Williamson. Another must-have issue for EC Comics fans.

Format: Paperback
Language: English
ISBN: B0F5LK1ZWH
ISBN13: 9798875001512
Release Date: August 2025
Publisher: Fantagraphics-Fu
Length: 120 Pages

Pre-order HERE.

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

GRAVEYARD GHOULS


You've heard of bats in the belfry? Well, now there's ghouls in the graveyard, and that's the name of this Stan Lee-edited "Crypt of Shadows" story from ADVENTURES INTO TERROR #12 (Atlas, October 1952) with art by Bernie Krigstein.

NOTE: The "Comics Code Authority" page has been updated to include the Revised 1989 version. It was to be the last one before the Code started petering out.





Monday, June 30, 2025

LAIR OF THE SPIDERY FIEND!


Ready for some "Weird, Spooky and Supernatural Stories"? Well, Ace Comics delivered them in spades. This issue of THE BEYOND, besides some pretty good stories, has some of the craziest horror titles yet. The Lou Cameron cover is a winner.


THE BEYOND
Vol. 1 No. 20
May 1953
Ace Magazines (Ace Comics)
Editor: ?
Cover: Lou Cameron
Pages: 36
Cover price: 10 cents

CONTENTS
"Prophecy of the Black Dream"
Script: ?
Art: Ken Rice

"Horde of the Faceless"
Script: ?
Art: Mike Sekowsky?

"Lair of the Spidery Fiend"
Script: ?
Art: Dick Beck

"Calling All Ghouls"
Script: ?
Art: Chic Stone