Review- SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES ANNUAL VOL. 2

SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES ANNUAL VOL. 2 (Gemstone, 1994; Softcover)

Collects Shock SuspenStories #6-10 (cover dates February/March, 1952- December, 1952/ January, 1953)

Writers: Bill Gaines (co-plotter), Al Feldstein (co-plotter and script), and Ray Bradbury

Artists: Al Feldstein, Jack Kamen, Jack Davis, Joe Orlando, Graham Ingels, and Wally Wood

Shock SuspenStories was an EC sampler series, giving readers an idea of what the entire EC line was doing. Each issue has a Crime SuspenStory, a Shock SuspenStory, a Science-Fiction SuspenStory, and a Horror SuspenStory.

Issue 6's Under Cover! is a subversive tale about the Ku Klux Klan in all but name, pointing out how its membership were really well-respected members of the community. Sugar 'N Spice 'N... has one of those grand EC twist-ending Horror stories, borrowing from one of the greatest fables of all time.

#7 starts out with Beauty And The Beach!, a Jack Kamen eye candy feast. Kamen has a knack for drawing beautiful people doing horrible things to one another. Every story in #7 and 8 are winners. #9's Came The Dawn! is one of my all-time favorite EC stories. I don't go into great details with the whys of these tales because it would be like telling you the punchline to a joke. You need to read these comic books for yourself.

The Sacrifice kicks off issue 10, and it is a sordid tale of murder, love triangles, and double-crosses. Jack Kamen once again delivers a flawless portrayal of the ugliness of the human condition wrapped up in a pretty package.

While it is extremely difficult for me to name a favorite EC title, SS is certainly near the top of the pile. These comics hold up very well with repeated readings, and it is crazy to think that these were originally published 65 years ago.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This is the part where I go into tactile sensations and materials of physical media. Those with heart conditions, high blood pressure, or women who are pregnant should exit my blog at their earliest convenience, as their safety cannot be guaranteed beyond this point.

Gemstone overprinted their single issue reprints in the '90s with an eye toward selling their own back issues. They later repurposed this overstock by trimming and gluing 5 entire issues into a cardstock cover. While this is not technically a trade paperback since it has no ISBN, it is squarebound and has the title on the spine. Close enough for Rock and Roll in my book. The EC Annuals are the most economical and efficient way of getting your EC collection while offering the most authentic reading experience this side of the original comics.

Linework and Color restoration: Shot from the original artwork with a color palette authentic to the original publication. If you want to see EC Comics in full color then this is the best way to do so, as these look superior to the originals in print quality. The only drawback is that the covers to each issue are recolored. Marie Severin redid them for the EC Library sets and those same versions are used here.

Paper stock: Standard pulp paper of the day. The pro is that this looks and feels like a real comic book. The con, and it is a very large one, is that this will age and yellow, just like real comic book paper. I am admittedly less and less worried about this sort of thing as time goes by, as I will likely be dead and gone before this book deteriorates too badly.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback. I am impressed by the quality of the glue used in these Annuals, as many Marvel trades of this vintage have fallen apart.

Cardstock cover notes: Thick cardboard with minimal coating. There are signs of wear after years but all in all very solid.

Review- IMPACT ANNUAL VOL. 1

IMPACT ANNUAL VOL. 1 (Gemstone, 1999; Softcover)

Collects Impact #1-5 (originally published by EC Comics, cover dates April- December, 1955)

Writers: Carl Wessler and Al Feldstein

Artists: Jack Davis, Reed Crandall, Graham Ingels, George Evans, Bernie Krigstein, and Joe Orlando

EC's 'New Direction' titles tend to be dismissed by most EC fans, widely considered to be inferior because EC toned down the subject matter in order to receive the seal of approval from the Comics Code Authority. While the tongue in cheek, over the top Horror elements were removed “for the good of the children”, the stories found in Impact are among the most visceral in the entire EC repertoire. Don't mistake these tugs at your heartstrings as short-changing your intellect, as the cerebral is still in full effect as well.

While EC's fortunes were in decline during this time, the output of their artists was at an all-time high in terms of quality. George Evans in particular shines in this title. There is a 5 part interview with him from 1995 reprinted in each issue, and Evans tells of how the rest of the comic industry blamed EC for the whole Wertham incident. Many of the artists were largely black-balled because of it, forcing them to go into other lines of work such as commercial art.

The obvious winner in #1 is Bernie Krigstein's tour de force, Master Race. We were only a decade removed from World War II at this time and the Nazi menace still haunted the dreams of the Jewish population. Krigstein boldly defied EC's strict layouts, extending the page counts of his own stories to the chagrin of Feldstein and Gaines. He was one of the first to apply cinematic “camera pans” to comics. He really saw comic books as a form of artistic expression. You can read more of my thoughts on his work here. If you have never read this tale, please skip the rest of this paragraph and proceed to procure a copy of it posthaste. The story about a man haunted by nightmares of being in a concentration camp, about how the prisoners made a break for freedom as the Allies approached. He lives in fear, seeing every face on the subway as the man who said that one day he would get him as the prisoners fled. The tale is written to give the reader the impression of the prisoner's plight, and only at the twist ending is it revealed that the man who lived in fear was not the concentration camp prisoner but rather the Nazi guard on the run in America.

In all honesty many of these stories seem like they were retro-fitted, as with a tweak in the scenario many of these could have been 'New Trend'-style stories. The twist endings are all still evident throughout this series. Issue 2 really ups the emotional impact, with morality plays taking center stage. Graham Ingels' The Suit could have easily been a Horror story with a handful of tweaks. It was a very emotional story presented as is, but Ingels' pacing and payouts lend themselves to the double cross and black humor. I was half expecting something gruesome to happen. Paid In Full tells the tale of a life of regret, one of those Things would have been different, if only I weren't so selfish! stories.

I was surprised that issue 3's The Debt made it past the Comics Code Authority. The last page, with the twist ending, made it feel like something out of Crime SuspenStories or one of the other EC crime comics. I imagine that it was a moot point for the CCA since EC was effectively black-balled on the distributor level, with bundles of comics returned because they were never sent out.

It's nearly impossible to pick a winner for #4, but George Evans' brilliant Country Doctor wins it by a hair. Evans is one of the best artists to ever grace the pages of comics. I am a sucker for photo realism, and Evans is right up there with the best of the best (Foster, Raymond, etc.).

Issue 5 sees things winding down quality-wise, even though the stories remain good and are highly enjoyable. Impact is an interesting footnote in the history of comics. Too far ahead of it's time for it's own good, yet too tame for the audience of the time. One can only imagine the artistic heights that American comic books might have reached if Wertham and the Comics Code Authority never happened.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- Gemstone overprinted their single issue reprints in the '90s with an eye toward selling their own back issues. They re-purposed this overstock by trimming and gluing 5 entire issues into a cardstock cover. While this is not technically a trade paperback (it has no ISBN), it is squarebound and has the title on the spine. Close enough for Rock and Roll in my book.

Linework and Color restoration: Shot from the original artwork with a color palette authentic to the original publication. If you want to see EC Comics in full color then this is the best way to do so, as these look superior to the originals in print quality.

Paper stock: Standard pulp paper of the day. The pro is that this looks and feels like a real comic book. The con, and it is a very large one, is that this will age and yellow, just like real comic book paper. I am admittedly less and less worried about this sort of thing as time goes by, as I will likely be dead before this book deteriorates too badly.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover notes: Thick cardboard with minimal coating. There are signs of wear after years but all in all very solid. 

Review- THE VAULT OF HORROR ANNUAL VOL. 6

THE VAULT OF HORROR ANNUAL VOL. 6 (Gemstone, 1999; Softcover)

Collects The Vault of Horror Nos. 37-40 (cover dates July, 1954- January, 1955)

Writers: Carl Wessler and Johnny Craig

Artists: Johnny Craig, Jack Davis, Al Williamson, Angelo Torres (inker), Graham Ingels, Bernie Krigstein, Reed Crandall, and Joe Orlando

An air of desperation and agitation hang over these final issues, as the witch hunt led by Dr. Frederick Wertham which resulted in a Congressional subcommittee inquiry into comics boils to a fever pitch. EC was the biggest target, with the publisher being blackballed by distributors due to the recently imposed Comics Code Authority which all but banned their best titles. They knew the end was near and upped the ante, defiantly going out with a bang.

The Vault Keeper reintroduces a seldom used character who became a fixture in these last few issues, his co-hostess Drusilla. She has the requisite Goth/dead chick thing going on. It should be noted that this predates The Munsters and The Addams Family television series, although the latter was around as a New Yorker strip nearly two decades before EC.

Godlike artwork by Reed Crandall. 

I love Bernie Krigstein's artwork on #38's The Catacombs. His style, panel composition, and use of shadows is highly effective. I have picked up the Fantagraphics collection of his work, Messages In A Bottle: Comic Stories By B. Krigstein, and that story is also included there recolored with water colors by famed EC colorist Marie Severin. Issue 39's Deadly Beloved! is a genuinely creepy story that benefits from Johnny Craig's fine artwork. Reed Crandall's Top Billing, also from #39, is another winner.

An example of Johnny Craig's artwork from Deadly Beloved!

As I have stated ad nauseam in all of my reviews for EC Comics, these remain the gold standard for comic books, or as the hipsters call them, the graphic panel sequential narrative artform. Whatever you call them, or however you read them (originals, '70s reprints, '90s Gemstone reprints, EC Library sets, EC Archives, or the artist-centric Fantagraphics collections), the important thing is that you read them. Everyone owes it to themselves to read this stuff.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- If you do not know what an EC Annual is, then pull up a chair and I'll give you the skinny on these great books. Gemstone overprinted their single issue reprints in the '90s with an eye toward selling their own back issues. They re-purposed this overstock by gluing 5 entire issues into a cardstock cover. While this is not technically a trade paperback (it has no ISBN), it is squarebound and has the title on the spine. Close enough for Rock and Roll in my book.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: None.

Linework restoration rating: 5 out of 5. William Gaines kept the original artwork, or filmed it, and so what you have here are superb presentations of this material with no line dropouts.

Color restoration rating: 5 out of 5. The color palette is entirely faithful to the original issues with the exceptions of the covers. Marie Severin recolored them all for the EC Library sets, and those same versions are found here.

Paper rating: 3.5 out of 5. The comics themselves are printed on the mando pulp paper of the day, while the covers are presented on the original slick cover stock. Some folks prefer this comic book feeling paper. I prefer paper with a little more heft. Your mileage may vary.

Binding rating: 4.5 out of 5. The glued binding is over 15 years old and has nary a creak when you flip through it.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 4 out of 5. There isn't much in the way of coating, but this book has a nice thick cardstock cover with a fair amount of flex to it.

While this particular book is out of print, you can find plenty of other great EC Comics collected editions at InStockTrades!

Review- THE VAULT OF HORROR ANNUAL VOL. 4

THE VAULT OF HORROR ANNUAL VOL. 4 (Gemstone, 1997; Softcover)

Collects The Vault of Horror Nos. 27-31 (cover dates October/November, 1952- June/July, 1953)

Writers: Al Feldstein, Bill Gaines, Ray Bradbury, and Johnny Craig

Artists: Johnny Craig, Jack Davis, George Evans, Graham Ingels, Jack Kamen, and Joe Orlando

I feel silly reviewing these EC Comics because I sound like a broken record, but I am going to say it again anyhow. EC Comics are the greatest comic books from the Golden Age of Comics, and are among the greatest comic books ever made, period. Easily the best Horror comics ever made. The Walking Dead will never be held in higher regard than EC, babe.

They really upped the ante at this stage of the game, with the stories become edgier while retaining the sophistication and artistic elegance found in earlier EC's. Some of these stories are still disturbing by 2013 standards, and I can only imagine how frightening they must have been in a pre-Psycho, pre-modern Horror movie Mayberry world.

I will list my favorite story from each issue. My favorite from #27 would have to be Strictly From Hunger!, a story about a man dying from cancer who gets a witch to hex him so that he won't die. Needless to say the witch kept her end of the bargain. #28's winner among the winners is For How The Bell Tolls! This George Evans penciled treat is about a Royal Bell Ringer, and the young boy who became his apprentice. For 34 years the apprentice waited and waited and waited for the Royal Bell Ringer to grow old and step down, giving him a change to fulfill his lifelong desire and become the new Royal Bell Ringer. I won't give away anything, suffice it to say that the apprentice finally gets his wish.

#29's Let's Play Poison! is a Ray Bradbury story about a teacher (Mr. Howard) who hates children, believing them to be monstrosities of some sort. He catches the kids playing Poison on his sidewalk, jumping over cracks because they claim that they are tombstones. When Mr. Howard goes outside to ask them why they are playing this, they explain it to him and tell him that the name stamped on the concrete is the name of the person buried there. When the city is ripping up his sidewalk to install new drain pipes he loses his mind with all of the noise. The children push ol' Mr. Howard too far, and let's just say that he finds out the truth about the game the hard way.

It's tough to pick a favorite from issue 30, but after some careful consideration I give the prize to Ghastly Graham Ingels' masterwork, Notes To You! People in a small town start getting letters, first a man stating that his wife is cheating on him, then an employer gets one accusing an employee of embezzlement, and finally, the townsfolk all get letters stating that the local bank is using their funds unwisely and are in danger of going belly up, resulting in everyone making a mad dash for everyone to withdraw all of their money. The poison pen notes are all the work of one man, a bitter and cantankerous fella who, in the finest of EC ironic twist endings, gets his.

The best story in this entire book also gets props for possibly being my favorite EC story in my marathon thus far. Graham Ingels is an absolute master, with his artwork being a creepy crawly Gothic affair. No photoshop back then, just pure craftsmanship. One Good Turn is one of the most f-ed stories that I have ever read, and I love it. Jennifer, a sweet looking elderly lady, comes home. She calls to her husband, Edwin, who has been paralyzed and bed ridden for the past eight months, and tells him about her day. She proceeds to tell him how happy she is now that she's helping people by making them happy. She recounts how she made a bum happy...by stabbing him. How she made a lady that she met at the park whose husband had left her happy...by bashing her head in with a rock. How she made a blind man selling pencils happy...by pushing him out into traffic. Yes kiddies, Jennifer is quite insane! She reminisced as she got into bed with Edwin after her long day about how sad he was four months ago when he was laying there unable to move, tears streaking down his cheek as she recounted the events of her day, so she made him happy by making him hot chocolate...laced with cyanide! She is disturbed in the middle of this story by a knock at the door. I've spoiled a fair amount of this story but will save the classic EC twist ending for you.

These comics look great because of the artwork of course, but one of the things that have helped them age well is the mechanical Leroy pantograph lettering device used to letter the caption boxes and word balloons. These sets were used in technical writing and were a tool used in drafting. I priced them out, and you can get a vintage set for under $20. Tempting...I'd prefer a computer font that was compatible with Windows. Hell, I'd even use it as my o-fish-al blog font if I could. 

The Vault Keeper says there's only 24 shopping days 'til Christmas!

While I am thrilled that Fantagraphics is re-releasing these in artist centric collections and Dark Horse is continuing on with the EC Archives, I rest easy knowing that I own all of the New Trend and New Direction titles in these Annuals. I ordered all of them in one fell swoop from Russ Cochran nearly two years ago and they arrived in a big crate on my front porch. Opening it was like opening the treasure of the Ark of the Covenant or something. I have been reading them slowly, savoring them, content in the knowledge that nothing but greatness awaits me as I bounce back and forth between the various titles. I will of course continue picking up the EC Archives as they are released but these Annuals are my insurance policy.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- If you do not know what an EC Annual is, then pull up a chair and I'll give you the skinny on these great books. Gemstone overprinted their single issue reprints in the '90s with an eye toward selling their own back issues. They re-purposed this overstock by gluing 5 entire issues into a cardstock cover. While this is not technically a trade paperback (it has no ISBN), it is squarebound and has the title on the spine. Close enough for Rock and Roll in my book.

These EC Annuals can be ordered directly from Russ Cochran at his site for a paltry $7.50 each. You can't find a better entertainment value for that price anywhere.

Linework restoration rating: 5 out of 5. William Gaines kept the original artwork, or filmed it, and so what you have here are superb presentations of this material with no line dropouts.

Color restoration rating: 5 out of 5. The color palette is entirely faithful to the original issues with the exceptions of the covers. Marie Severin recolored them all for the EC Library sets, and those same versions are found here. Some of the blacks on the interior pages look weak, but that is the result of the water based inks used in the 1990s.

Paper rating: 3.5 out of 5. The comics themselves are printed on the mando/heavy pulp paper of the day, while the covers are presented on the original slick cover stock. Some folks prefer this comic book feeling paper. I prefer paper with a little more heft. Your mileage may vary.

Binding rating: 4.5 out of 5. The glued binding is over 15 years old and has nary a creak when you flip through it.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 4 out of 5. There isn't much in the way of coating, but this book has a nice thick cover and a fair amount of flex.

This book is out of print, but you can buy plenty of other great EC books at InStockTrades!

Review- THE HAUNT OF FEAR ANNUAL VOL. 5

THE HAUNT OF FEAR ANNUAL VOL. 5 (Gemstone, 1998; Softcover)

Collects The Haunt of Fear Nos. 21-25 (cover dates October, 1953- June, 1954)

Writer: Al Feldstein

Artists: Graham Ingels, Jack Kamen, George Evans, Jack Davis, and Reed Crandall.

Okay, I know that I sound like a broken record every single time that I review an EC book, but these are the best comic books ever made. The artists are the cream of the crop, with it being a toss up as to who is my favorite. Could it be “Ghastly” Graham Ingels' creepy crawly Gothic-tinged masterpieces? George Evans' frighteningly realistic artwork that looks so good you'd swear that he photo referenced the horrific events that occurred? Jack Kamen's beautifully rendered people doing godawful things to one another? Who could possibly decide? Not I, said the fly.

Artwork by Jack Kamen

I've read so many EC Comics and so many Golden Age Horror comics that it is hard for me to pinpoint who influenced whom and who did “liberal adaptations” of whose work. Some of these stories, like ...Only Sin Deep, seem extremely familiar. In it, a greedy, vain young lady sells her beauty to a seedy pawn shop owner by allowing him to make a wax cast of her facial features. She has one year to redeem the money for her beauty. Once the year is up she grows old and hideous, returns to the pawn shop, etc. I know that there was a variation of this riff on the '80s Twilight Zone series, and that's not the only place that I've heard this song before. If anyone knows where this story idea originally came from, please let me know. I'm curious.

Artwork by Reed Crandall

Wish You Were Here (Issue 22) is a variation on the Monkey's Paw but with a completely different ending. Issue 23's Creep Course finds “Ghastly” Graham Ingels in top form in a story about a co-ed who is flunking out of Ancient History. She plans to seduce her professor and have him give her a passing grade. She has a nightmare that his house has a cellar where he traps other students* and reenacts the events of the Roman Colosseum. *There are reports of three missing students which fed her anxiety. She goes to the professor's house and is relieved to find that he doesn't like ancient Rome at all. I won't give you the ending. Sorry, folks. 

No Silver Atoll! is another favorite of mine. In this George Evans illustrated story, eleven passengers survive a plane crash in the Pacific Ocean and find a tiny, possibly uncharted island and set up a camp. Strange things immediately begin to occur. Things go missing. Strange things, such as quarters, a belt buckle, and a ring. The castaways quickly figure out that everything that is missing is made of silver. Then people start turning up missing once a month during the full moon. You can put the rest together for yourself. I'll say no more. 

Artwork by George Evans

The Old Witch's Grim Fairy Tales, which are bastardizations of Grimm Fairy Tales, are the only stories where the writing and the gags wear thin after a while. They try too hard to be clever. The Jack Kamen artwork in all of them makes them very palatable, however. Issue 25 is the best of the best in this book. All four stories are incredibly clever and well done. 

Artwork by "Ghastly" Graham Ingels

Many modern comic book fans prefer decompressed, text free comic books. They like to “let the pictures do the heavy lifting.” These EC Comics are prime examples of why that storytelling style sucks when compared to well done third (and occasionally first) party narratives. There is so much story and atmosphere crammed into each and every panel without bloated full and double page spreads with minimal story unfolding. EC accomplished more in 5-7 pages than many comics do in 5-7 issues.

These EC Annuals can be ordered directly from Russ Cochran at his site for a paltry $7.50 each. You can't find a better entertainment value for that price anywhere.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- If you do not know what an EC Annual is, then pull up a chair. I'll give you the skinny on these great books. Gemstone overprinted their single issue reprints in the '90s with an eye toward selling their own back issues. They re-purposed this overstock by gluing 5 entire issues into a cardstock cover. While this is not technically a trade paperback (it has no ISBN), it is squarebound and has the title on the spine. Close enough for Rock and Roll in my book. The comics themselves are printed on the mando/heavy pulp paper of the day. The water based inks look fine, although the blacks look weak on this paper, like they didn't sink in correctly. I am not sure if this is the ink or the paper's fault, as I am not an expert on the printing processes used in these books. I can spot bad restoration and reproduction a mile away, but the nuts and bolts of the printing process is outside of my realm of expertise.

William Gaines kept the original artwork, or filmed it, and so what you have are superb presentations of this material with no line dropouts. The color palette is largely faithful to the original material. My only gripe with this book is that the gutters are tight, the result of the material being formatted for Golden Age comics but reprinted in modern comic size, which is slightly narrower. Not all of these Annuals seem to have this problem, so I might just have a slightly “defective” copy of this book.

Linework restoration rating: 5 out of 5.

Color restoration rating: 5 out of 5.

Paper rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Binding rating: 4.5 out of 5. The glued binding is 15 years old and has nary a creak when you flip through it.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 4 out of 5. There isn't much in the way of coating, but this book has a nice thick cover and a fair amount of flex.

Review- THE HAUNT OF FEAR ANNUAL VOL. 3

THE HAUNT OF FEAR ANNUAL VOL. 3 (Gemstone, 1996; Softcover)

Collects The Haunt of Fear Nos. 11-15 (cover dates February- October, 1952)

Writers: Al Feldstein and Bill Gaines

Artists: Graham Ingels, Jack Kamen, George Evans, Jack Davis, Johnny Craig, Joe Orlando, Sid Check, and George Roussos

Colorist: Marie Severin

EC is the gold standard, not just for Horror comics, but for comic books as a whole. Don't believe me? Pull out any other comic book from 1952, any genre, any publisher. Only Flash Gordon or Prince Valiant hold a candle to the sophistication of the artwork and writing that EC had. This was art for the sake of art. Jack Kamen and “Ghastly” Graham Ingels toiled in obscurity and near-poverty, and their work was worlds better than it had to be. They could have just tossed off “good enough” work, but the artists in the EC stable all sought to impress one another with their work. The readers reaped the benefits of this friendly competition.

The writing is also a cut above everything else going on at the time. While Al Feldstein was known to occasionally lift ideas (“liberal adaptations” sounds classier) from other stories, the ironic twist ending and black humor that was an EC hallmark were all his. The Twilight Zone and Rod Serling owe a huge debt to EC. 

While I enjoyed every story in this book, I'll list my favorites. In The Acid Test (HoF No. 11), Jack Kamen illustrates beautiful people doing ugly things, in this case an unhappily married couple. Well, the husband is happy, but the wife...not so much. This formula (unhappily married couple= carnage) is repeated throughout the book. “Ghastly” Graham Ingels...while it is extremely difficult to pick which one of his masterpieces is the best in this book, I'll have to go with For The Love of Death (HoF No. 13). In this story, a lonely, disturbed elderly man by the name of Morton Macawber goes to funerals because he feels that only in death are people treated with the respect that they deserve. This causes him to brainstorm how he could be that loved, that missed, and this is when Macawber (har-har) goes off of the deep end. Sorry, but this remains a no spoiler zone, even on 60 year old comic books. 

Jack Davis' best piece in the book is Wolf Bait (also HoF No. 13), which ends with a question rather than an answer. Remember how John Carpenter's 1982 remake of The Thing ended, where you just didn't know the answer, nor would you ever know? Well, it's the same thing here, and I love it!

Finally, George Evans' All Washed Up (HoF No. 15) is a beautifully rendered story about...you guessed it, love won, love lost, someone snaps, and then we're off to the races. Some folks may call these stories formulaic, but you must read them with the era that they were originally published in in mind. 

Every issue is divided into three parts, with the hosts trading off each time, just like they do in all of the other EC titles. The Old Witch hosts The Witch's Cauldron, The Vault-Keeper hosts The Vault of Horror, and last but certainly not least, The Crypt-Keeper hosts The Crypt of Terror. They all have terrible puns about the story and insult each others stories each time out. This is the model emulated and imitated by every other Horror anthology.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- If you do not know what an EC Annual is, then pull up a chair. I'll give you the skinny on these great books. Gemstone overprinted their single issue reprints in the '90s with an eye towards selling their own back issues. They re-purposed this overstock by gluing 5 entire issues into a cardstock cover. While this is not technically a trade paperback (it has no ISBN), it is squarebound and has the title name on the spine. Close enough for Rock and Roll in my book. The comics themselves are printed on the mando/heavy pulp paper of the day. The water based inks looks fine, although the blacks look weak on this paper, like they didn't sink in correctly. I am not sure if this is the ink or the paper's fault, as I am not an expert on the printing processes used in these books. I can spot bad restoration and reproduction a mile away, but the nuts and bolts of the printing process is out of my realm of expertise.

William Gaines kept the original artwork, or filmed it, and so what you have are superb presentations of this material with no line dropouts. The color palette is largely faithful to the original material, although some of Marie Severin's color choices on the cover recolorings are questionable. I would love to see a purist line of these books done with all of the original color palettes once they complete the EC Archives. I know, I know, would I like fries with that? I am not above making tall orders, especially where EC is concerned. These pages should be hung in museums for all to appreciate and admire.

Linework restoration rating: 5 out of 5.

Color restoration rating: 5 out of 5.

Paper rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 4 out of 5.

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