EC Archives: Vault of Horror Vol. 1
William Gaines and his company, EC (Entertaining Comics), published horror, war, crime, and science fiction comics in the early fifties, before the Comics Code Authority effectively shut them down. The stories were amazingly consistent and enjoyable; the art was incredibly high quality. These comics are cultural treasures, and I love the crap out of them.
EC had three horror titles: Tales from the Crypt, The Haunt of Fear, and The Vault of Horror. Haunt of Fear is my favorite, and Vault of Horror is my least favorite. So I didn't enjoy this collection as much as some of the other EC stuff. But it's all good. After the work of Carl Barks, these are my favorite comics of all time, so even the "bad" stuff is awesome.
The EC Archives series reproduces the comics, complete with letter columns and what not (but not ads), with completely refined color, in nice hardbacks. They're a decent value at Amazon prices. Unfortunately, they're getting hard to come by, with further publishing of the series now in question after shakeups at Gemstone, the publisher. So it goes.
Tags: comics