HARVEY
HORRORS COLLECTED WORKS: BLACK CAT
MYSTERY VOL. 1 (PS Artbooks, 2012; Hardcover)
Collects
Black
Cat Mystery Comics
#30-35 (cover dates August, 1951- May, 1952)
Writers:
Bob Powell and other unidentified writers
Artists:
Lee Elias, Vic Donahue, Rudy Palais, Manny Stallman, Bob Powell,
Howard Nostrand, Joe Certa, John Giunta, JohnnBelfi, Vic Donahue, and
other unidentified inkers and art assistants
Praised
be PS Artbooks for rescuing these forgotten classics and releasing
them in their entirety, ads and all, in full color deluxe hardcovers.
While these are not quite as good as my beloved EC Comics of the day
they are still fine, fine old school Horror comics that everyone
should own. There is some tremendous artistic talent on this book.
Rudy Palais has a decades-spanning career, ditto Joe Certa. Both of
them are great artists who never seem to be mentioned by fans. Bob
Powell is a fricking genius, one of the best artists of the 1950s bar
none.
Some
of the stories are silly, such as The Monkey's Paw-style riff
Hand Of The Yogi. The Last Man On Earth is one of those
Cold War fear mongering tales. Deadly Acres is probably my
favorite in the whole book. All of the stories are pretty enjoyable
and make perfect Hallowe'en reading. I will be reviewing a slew of
Horror comics over the coming weeks. You have been warned!
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 4.5 out of 5.
The
OCD zone- I love these PS Artbooks. They are the best
smelling books on the market. I theorize that this delectable aroma
is the result of paper sourced from virgin Amazon rainforests and ink
derived from a paste of mercury from recalled thermometers, broken
asbestos tiles, lead paint chips, industrial waste, and the ancient
Chinese secret- the blood, sweat, and tears of the children working
the Chinese sweatshop where these books are made. That's why the sewn
binding is so superb...their little fingers are perfect for stitching
the signatures of books!
DVD-style Extras included in this book: Foreword by Christopher Fowler. (4 pages)
Macabre
Maestros featuring artist Howard Nostrand- article about the
artist with images of original artwork. (6 pages)
Linework
and Color: These are scans of the original comics with
minimal tinkering, so the yellowed aging of the pulp paper is present
throughout the book. A little bit of work in Photoshop could have
greatly improved things, as would scanning in something better than
300-400 dpi. The scans vary in quality but are mostly acceptable. As
for the linework and color, well you gets what you get. The original
comic books had absolutely horrid printing, so you get plenty of off
register printing and line bleed. Again, this was how the original
issues look if you own them. Fans of benday dots and the anomalies
found in vintage comic books will be thrilled. Fans weaned on
frame-up restoration found in Marvel Masterworks, DC Archives, and
Dark Horse Archives may be disappointed.
Paper
stock: Thick uncoated stock with zero sheen.
Binding:
Smyth sewn binding, seven stitches per signature, lays perfectly
flat.
Hardback
cover notes:
No dustjacket. Image printed on the paper for the casewrap. Dull
matte finish coating which has a few light scratches after handling,
cover images and all words on cover are spot varnished and have a
thicker coating.
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