Entertaining Comics, commonly known as EC Comics , was a major publisher of comic books in the 1940s and 1950s. The letters EC originally stood for Educational Comics. EC's Pre-Trend titles are those published by Max Gaines and his son William M. Gaines, who took over the family business after his father's death in 1947.
In 1950, with the addition of writer and artist Al Feldstein, EC found success with their New Trend line, including their horror titles Tales From the Crypt The Haunt of Fear and The Vault of Horror. A line of science fiction titles soon followed, Weird Science and Weird Fantasy, illustrated by the best artists in the business, such as Wallace Wood, Reed Crandall, Johnny Craig, George Evans, Graham Ingels, Jack Davis, Bill Elder, Joe Orlando, Al Williamson and Frank Frazetta. In addition to original stories, the books also featured adaptations of Ray Bradbury's short stories.
The New Direction group was a response to the Comics Code Authority. Picto-Fiction was a short-lived line of heavily illustrated short story magazines. Beginning in 1958, EC published annual and special editions of Mad .
Title | Genre | Initial Run | Issues | Notes |
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Animal Fables | Comedy | 1946–1947 | #1-7 | |
Animated Comics (1947) | N/A | N/A | #1 | |
Blackstone the Magician Detective Fights Crime! | Superhero | (1947) | #1 |
|
Crime Patrol | Crime | 1948–1950 | #1-16 |
|
Dandy Comics | Comedy | 1947–1948 | #1-7 | |
Fat and Slat | Comedy | 1947–1948 | #1-4 |
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Gunfighter | Western | 1948–1950 | #5-14 |
|
Happy Houlihans | Comedy | 1947 | #1-2 |
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Land of the Lost | Adventure | 1946–1948 | #1-9 | |
Modern Love | Romance | 1949–1950 | #1-8 | |
Moon Girl | Superhero | 1947–1950 | #1-12 |
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Picture Stories from the Bible (New Testament edition) | N/A | 1944–1946 | #1-3 |
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Picture Stories from American History | N/A | 1945–1947 | #1-4 | |
Picture Stories from Science | N/A | 1947 | #1-2 | |
Saddle Justice | Western | 1948–1950 | #3-11 |
|
Tiny Tot Comics | Children | 1946–1947 | #1-10 | |
War Against Crime! | Crime | 1948–1950 | #1-11 |
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Title | Genre | Initial Run | Number of Issues |
---|---|---|---|
The Crypt of Terror/Tales from the Crypt | Horror | April/May 1950 to February/March 1955 | 30 issues |
The Vault of Horror | Horror | April/May 1950 to December/January 1955 | 29 issues |
The Haunt of Fear | Horror | May/June 1950 to November/December 1954 | 28 issues |
Weird Fantasy | Sci-fi | May/June 1950 to November/December 1953 | 22 issues |
Weird Science | Sci-fi | May/June 1950 to November/December 1953 | 22 issues |
Crime SuspenStories | Crime | October/November 1950 to February/March 1955 | 27 issues |
Two-Fisted Tales | War | November/December 1950 to February 1955 | 24 issues |
Frontline Combat | War | July/August, 1951 to January 1954 | 15 issues |
Shock SuspenStories | Suspense | February/March 1952 to December/January 1955 | 18 issues |
Mad | Comedy | October–November 1952 to April 2018, rebooted June 2018 with new numbering from #1. Ceased news stand distribution in December 2019 after 10 issues. Soon after switched to mostly reprinted contents | 550 issues |
Three Dimensional E.C. Classics/Three Dimensional Tales from the Crypt of Terror | N/A | Spring 1954 to March 1954 | 2 issues |
Panic | Comedy | February–March 1954 to December/January 1956 | 12 issues |
Weird Science-Fantasy | Sci-fi | March 1954 to May/June 1955 | 7 issues |
Piracy | Fantasy | October/November 1954 to October/November 1955 | 7 issues |
Title | Genre | Initial Run | Number of Issues |
---|---|---|---|
Impact | Suspense | March/April 1955 to Nov/Dec 1955 | 5 issues |
Valor | Fantasy | March/April 1955 to Nov/Dec 1955 | 5 issues |
Extra! | Slice of Life | March/April 1955 to Nov/Dec 1955 | 5 issues |
Aces High | War | March/April 1955 to Nov/Dec 1955 | 5 issues |
Psychoanalysis | Slice of Life | March/April, 1955 to September/October 1955 | 4 issues |
M.D. | Slice of Life | April/May 1955 to Nov/Dec 1955 | 5 issue |
Incredible Science Fiction | Sci-Fi | July/August 1955 to Jan/Feb 1956 | 4 issues |
Title | Genre | Initial Run | Number of Issues |
---|---|---|---|
Confessions Illustrated | Romance | February 1956 – July 1956 | 3 issues |
Crime Illustrated | Crime | December 1955 – June 1956 | 3 issues |
Shock Illustrated | Suspense | September/October 1955 – Spring 1956 | 3 issues |
Terror Illustrated | Horror | November/December 1955 – Spring 1956 | 2 issues |
Many of these titles were reprinted during the past 30 years by publisher Russ Cochran, both independently and in conjunction with Gladstone Publishing and later with Gemstone Publishing.
Russ Cochran's reprints include The Complete EC Library in black and white but with full-color covers; EC Annuals in full-color, comic-book sized reprints with four to six complete comics in each Annual; and EC Archives , full-color hardcover books containing six complete EC comics.
In 2012 Fantagraphics Books began publishing a series of artist- and theme-based collections of EC stories titled The EC Artists' Library .
The full-color EC Archives project was taken up by Dark Horse Comics in 2013, both reprinting previous Gladstone and Gemstone volumes and producing new volumes collecting further EC Comics titles.
Gladstone Publishing was an American company that published Disney comics from 1986 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1998. The company had its origins as a subsidiary of Another Rainbow Publishing, a company formed by Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran to publish the Carl Barks Library and produce limited edition lithographs of Carl Barks oil paintings of the Disney ducks. The name references Gladstone Gander.
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series. Initially, EC was owned by Maxwell Gaines and specialized in educational and child-oriented stories. After Max Gaines' death in a boating accident in 1947, his son William Gaines took over the company and began to print more mature stories, delving into genres of horror, war, fantasy, science-fiction, adventure, and others. Noted for their high quality and shock endings, these stories were also unique in their socially conscious, progressive themes that anticipated the Civil Rights Movement and dawn of 1960s counterculture. In 1954–55, censorship pressures prompted it to concentrate on the humor magazine Mad, leading to the company's greatest and most enduring success. Consequently, by 1956, the company ceased publishing all of its comic lines except Mad.
Gemstone Publishing is an American company that publishes comic book price guides. The company was formed by Diamond Comic Distributors President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Geppi in 1994 when he bought Overstreet.
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is an American comic book distributor serving retailers in North America and worldwide. They transport comic books and graphic novels, as well as other popular culture products such as toys, games, and apparel from comic book publishers or suppliers to retailers. Diamond distributes to the direct market in the United States and has exclusive distribution arrangements with several major U.S. comic book publishers, including Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, and IDW Publishing.
Joseph Orlando was an Italian-American illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades. He was the associate publisher of Mad and the vice president of DC Comics, where he edited numerous titles and ran DC's Special Projects department.
The Vault of Horror was an American bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Haunt of Fear, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies. The Vault of Horror hit newsstands with its April/May 1950 issue and ceased publication with its December/January 1955 issue, producing a total of 40 issues.
The Haunt of Fear was an American bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics, starting in 1950. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies. The Haunt of Fear was sold at newsstands beginning with its May/June 1950 issue. It ceased publication with its November/December 1954 issue, compiling a total of 28 issues.
Frontline Combat is an anthology war comic book written and edited by Harvey Kurtzman and published bi-monthly by EC Comics. The first issue was cover dated July/August, 1951. It ran for 15 issues over three years, and ended with the January, 1954 issue. Publication was discontinued following a decline in sales attributed to the end of the Korean War. The title was a companion to Kurtzman's comic book Two-Fisted Tales. Both titles depicted the horrors of war realistically and in great detail, exposing what Kurtzman saw as the truth about war without glamorizing or idealizing it.
Two-Fisted Tales is an anthology war comic published bi-monthly by EC Comics in the early 1950s. The title originated in 1950 when Harvey Kurtzman suggested to William Gaines that they publish an adventure comic. Kurtzman became the editor of Two-Fisted Tales, and with the dawn of the Korean War, he soon narrowed the focus to war stories. The title was a companion comic to Frontline Combat, and stories Kurtzman wrote for both books often displayed an anti-war attitude. It returned to adventure-themed stories in issues #36 through #39, co-edited by John Severin and Colin Dawkins, with a cover-title change to The New Two-Fisted Tales.
Crime SuspenStories was a bi-monthly anthology crime comic published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. The title first arrived on newsstands with its October/November 1950 issue and ceased publication with its February/March 1955 issue, producing a total of 27 issues. Years after its demise, the title was reprinted in its entirety, and four stories were adapted for television in the HBO's Tales From The Crypt.
Tales from the Crypt was an American bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics from 1950 to 1955, producing 27 issues. Along with its sister titles, The Haunt of Fear and The Vault of Horror, Tales from the Crypt was popular, but in the late 1940s and early 1950s comic books came under attack from parents, clergymen, schoolteachers and others who believed the books contributed to illiteracy and juvenile delinquency. In April and June 1954, highly publicized congressional subcommittee hearings on the effects of comic books upon children left the industry shaken. With the subsequent imposition of a highly restrictive Comics Code, EC Comics publisher Bill Gaines cancelled Tales from the Crypt and its two companion horror titles, along with the company's remaining crime and science fiction series in September 1954.
Shock SuspenStories was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. The bi-monthly comic, published by Bill Gaines and edited by Al Feldstein, began with issue 1 in February/March 1952. Over a four-year span, it ran for 18 issues, ending with the December/January 1955 issue.
Weird Fantasy is an American dark fantasy and science fiction anthology comic that was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. The companion comic for Weird Fantasy was Weird Science. Over a four-year span, Weird Fantasy ran for 22 issues, ending with the November–December 1953 issue.
Weird Science was an American science fiction comic book magazine that was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. Over a four-year span, the comic ran for 22 issues, ending with the November–December, 1953 issue. Weird Fantasy was a sister title published during the same time frame.
Weird Science-Fantasy was an American science fiction-fantasy anthology comic, that was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. Over a 14-month span, the comic ran for seven issues, starting in March 1954 with issue #23 and ending with issue #29 in May/June 1955.
Incredible Science Fiction was an American science fiction anthology comic published by EC Comics in 1955 and 1956, lasting a total of four issues.
Fred von Bernewitz is a film editor, currently with HBO. His work in film editing over four decades ranges from TV commercials to features, including several films by Robert Downey Sr.
Panic was a bi-monthly humor comic that was published by Bill Gaines' EC Comics line during the mid-1950s as a companion to Harvey Kurtzman's Mad, which was being heavily imitated by other comic publishers.
The EC Archives are an ongoing series of American hardcover collections of full-color comic book reprints of EC Comics, published by Russ Cochran and Gemstone Publishing from 2006 to 2008, and then continued by Cochran and Grant Geissman's GC imprint (2011–2012), and finally taken over by Dark Horse in 2013.
Russ Cochran was a publisher of EC Comics reprints, Disney comics, and books on Hopalong Cassidy, Chet Atkins, Les Paul, and vacuum tubes. He was a publisher for over 30 years, after quitting his job as a physics professor.