Dark Horse Comics, based in Milwaukie, Ore., reprints classic EC horror, crime, science fiction and war comics from the 1950s in full, redigitized color.
By Dana Jennings
EC was best-known for over-the-top horror comics like Tales From the Crypt, Vault of Horror and Haunt of Fear. “EC’s horror comics are historically one of the greatest of all comic lines,” said Daniel Chabon, who edits the EC Archives. “The talent behind the stories was phenomenal.”
Mr. Chabon added that EC was controversial as well as influential. “No one else was publishing anything remotely similar,” he said. “Adult issues were being confronted for the first time in sequential comic-book literature, including war, racism and graphic death. There existed a certain shock value and maturity that attracted a specific fan base, particularly in the postwar decade of the 1950s. It may be that adults with limited interest in comics, or who had outgrown them, saw that these horror comics were not just for children but were for mature readers, too.”
EC was best-known for over-the-top horror comics like Tales From the Crypt, Vault of Horror and Haunt of Fear. “EC’s horror comics are historically one of the greatest of all comic lines,” said Daniel Chabon, who edits the EC Archives. “The talent behind the stories was phenomenal.”Mr. Chabon added that EC was controversial as well as influential. “No one else was publishing anything remotely similar,” he said. “Adult issues were being confronted for the first time in sequential comic-book literature, including war, racism and graphic death. There existed a certain shock value and maturity that attracted a specific fan base, particularly in the postwar decade of the 1950s. It may be that adults with limited interest in comics, or who had outgrown them, saw that these horror comics were not just for children but were for mature readers, too.”
Check out the full article at The New York Times!
The EC Archives: Tales from the Crypt Volume 5 HC is available now! Check out free preview pages here!