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Uneven but eclectic and fascinating

Customer Rating:

First let me say that before I was truly impressed by the quality of text and art I wasn't overtly enthusiastic about it.Being labelled as "tame" by some readers and in the beginning of its lifecycle, I was a bit apprehensive to buy this expensive hardcover. The plot ideas or "springboards" by William Gaines, while not wholly original (the majority of them "borrowed" from classic literary weird fiction of such authors as William Hope Hodgson, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, H.P. Lovecraft, Arthur Machen among others), are masterfully developed (despite some stilted dialogue and other minor flaws) by Al Feldstein (some of them are beautiful examples of classic cinematic storytelling). The art is almost always top notch. Here you'll encounter amazing artwork by Jack Kamen, Johnny Craig , Graham "ghastly" Ingels, Wally Wood (the last two being my all time favorites) among others. While not all stories are top notch the majority of them are excellent and even the lesser ones are worth reading. Here you'll find classy hitchcokean thrillers (Mute Witness Murder), nautical horror (Ghost Ship!, The Thing from the Sea!), standart crime/detection drama (The Corpse Nobody Knew), medical horror (Death Must Come!), vampire fiction (Blood Type "V"), out-and-out horror (Terror Ride), zombie fiction (Zombie), clever psychodramas (Madness at Manderville), teen horror (House of Horror) conte cruel (Death Suited Him), classic monster fiction (Curse of the Full Moon!), nightmarish thrillers (The Living Corpse), revenge from beyond the grave (The Thing from the Grave!), gothic/lovecraftean fiction (Rx... Death!), ironic grand guinol (The Maestro's Hands), cozy fantasy/horror, (Impending Doom) even cheesy, silly sci fi (Cave Man). If you like vintage horror and weird fiction do yourself a favour and read it. Here is the contents and personal ratings (* to *****): THE E.C. ARCHIVES: TALES FROM THE CRYPT VOL.1 The Crypt of Terror #17: Death Must Come! ========================== ****1/2 The Man Who Was Death ===================== ****1/2 The Corpse Nobody Knew ==================== *** Curse of the Full Moon!==================== ****1/2 The Crypt of Terror #18: The Maestro's Hand ======================== ***** The Living Corpse ========================= ***** Masness At Manderville ==================== ****1/2 Mute Witness Murder ======================= ****1/2 The Crypt of Terror #19 Ghost Ship! =============================== *** The Hungry Grave ========================== ***1/2 Cave Man ================================== **1/2 Zombie ==================================== ***1/2 Tales from the Crypt #20 The Thing from the Sea! =================== ***1/2 A Fatal Caper! ============================ ****1/2 Rx... Death =============================== ***** Impending Doom! =========================== ****1/2 Tales from the Crypt #21 A Shocking Way to Die ===================== ***** Terror Ride =============================== ****1/2 House of Horror =========================== ***1/2 Death Suited Him ========================== ***** Tales from the Crypt #22 The Thing from the Grave! ================= ***** Blood Type "V" ============================ ***1/2 Death's Turn ============================== ** The Curse of Arnold Clan ================== ****1/2

Horror classic!	Customer Rating:
I used to read EC Horror Stories long ago, and always loved them. When I had the chance to buy the original Volumes, I ran and did it. Great quality for a classic work, I really recommend it!

EC Comics Are the Greatest, but the Gemstone Reprints Are Garish Travesties

Customer Rating:

In April of 1950, William Gaines and his staff of writers and artists at EC Comics started publishing a line of comic books that were entirely devoted to the themes of horror and science fiction. Breaking with the convention of the superhero, the "funnies," the westerns, and the romance comic books of the day, their new format dispensed with the motif of a recurring character in a continuing storyline and, instead, offered five or six complete stories that were frequently inspired by classic genre literature like that of Bierce, Poe, Verne, and H.G. Wells. By the mid-1950s, all of EC's horror and science-fiction comics were quite popular, and the company's success with these "New Trend" titles soon inspired competitors to publish a plethora of inferior imitations. Unfortunately for EC and its fans, the popularity of their horror titles also drew the attention of conservative parental groups, glory-seeking politicians, and an ambitious psychiatrist named Dr. Frederic Wertham. The publication in 1954 of Wertham's book SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT: THE INFLUENCE OF COMIC BOOKS ON TODAY'S YOUTH led to Congressional investigations into possible links between comic books and juvenile delinquency. Though the existence of such a link was never proved, fear of possible legislation prompted the comic-book industry to establish The Comics Code Authority (CCA), a program of standards and self-censorship, and comic books that did not comply with those standards could not get the seal of approval from the CCA. Since horror was one of the primary themes targeted by Wertham and Congress, it was therefore the primary genre frowned upon by the CCA, thereby making EC the CCA's primary target. Sadly, most comic-book distributors and dealers feared the CCA and the influence it had on parents, and subsequently they quickly agreed to carry only those comics that carried the CCA seal of approval. Since Gaines and his staff refused to compromise their artistic and literary integrity in order to comply with the draconian "guidelines" of the CCA, EC was all but finished. Only MAD magazine somehow escaped the iron fist of the CCA and kept EC from disappearing altogether. To a large majority of the people who are today familiar with comic books and their history--from art historians and English teachers to avid and affluent comic-book collectors--the horror and science-fiction comic books that were published by EC Comics prior to the establishment of the CCA exhibit a quality in both the writing and the artwork that has yet to be surpassed. Original, pristine copies of most of those titles (which include the famous TALES FROM THE CRYPT and VAULT OF HORROR series) are highly sought-after collectors' items, and they command prices that are sometimes as high as those of masterpiece oils on the high-art market. Because of this, and also to preserve the art and writing of the great EC comics for posterity, Russ Cochran began publishing hardbound reprint volumes of EC's "New Trend" comics in the 1980s. To keep costs down and preserve the quality of the artists' original line drawings, Cochran's reprints were over-sized black-and-white reproductions. Yet, in spite of the lack of color, the reproductions were beautiful and very popular sellers, and now that they've gone out of print, they are sought-after collectors' items in their own right. Sometime in recent years, Cochran struck a deal with Gemstone Publishing to yet again reprint the original EC greats in hardbound volumes, but this time the reprints were to be sized according to the original comics, and they would also be reproduced in full color. But now that these color volumes are being released, it appears there's been a proverbial monkey-wrench thrown into the works. The coloring process being used is similar to, if not exactly the same as, the computerized coloring process that is currently the rage in the comic-book industry. While this pseudo-airbrush technique might look great for modern comics and graphic novels that are designed with its use in mind, the technique just looks garish when applied to the fantastic artwork that was lovingly hand drawn by Gaines' bullpen of greats like Al Feldstein, George Evans, Graham Ingels, and Wally Wood. Fans interested in collecting some great reprints of the original EC horror and SF are advised to avoid the aesthetic travesty currently being peddled by Gemstone Publishing and, instead, seek out some used copies of Russ Cochran's black-and-white reproductions. The black-and-whites might be a little pricey now that they are out of print, but they are far superior to the Gemstone reprints in terms of readability and aesthetic enjoyment. (Keep in mind that the artists who drew the original comics often executed the artwork in black-and-white anyway, and while they may have offered suggestions about the final color schemes, the coloring was actually done by another.) NOTE: The 1-star rating of this review is for the Gemstone reprints only. The EC comics themselves are always 5-star items.

EC at it's best yet!

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First read an EC comic when I was 10 years old and have been hooked ever since. I am now 67. When the large slip-cover b/w reprints were issued I bought most of them. This Archive series is better than I expected. Any true EC fan would be foolish to pass up the opportunity to own this well produced set. The size, color, print, paper, presentation is all one could ask for. Beautiful and thank you Russ Cochran.

A Lesson	Customer Rating:
This book is a lesson in comic book writing and drawing. In its days Tales from the Crypt set new standards for comic books arguments and style.