Embarking on a "challenge"

 

So to give myself an activity for my daily hour train ride each morning and night I have decided to download and read every Entertaining Comics (EC) horror comic from the 3 major horror series which include: Tales from the Crypt/Crypt of Horror (27 issues), The Vault of Horror (29 issues), and The Haunt of Fear (28 issues). All in all this equals 84 comics that I will need to read and write about. Now I know that the title of this blog alluded to a "challenge", but to be fair this is something I will enjoy, the challenge for me is to stick with this and write a post Monday-Friday every week until I complete the entire set.

I would like to give a brief history of EC comics, the 3 series and discuss why I felt the need to begin this challenge. In the 1940's and 1950's EC was one of the largest publishers of comic books which began as Educational Comics in an era known as Pre-trend. The company hit their stride when they began publishing titles under the New Trend which included Tales From the Crypt, The Haunt of Fear and The Vault of Horror. Soon after the new found success in the horror franchise EC would release sci-fi titles such as Weird Science and Weird Fantasy. Finally, the company would hit their gold-mine with the ongoing series MAD, which most people know as the magazine line later turned TV series. During the early years the company was owned by Max and William Gaines who would hire some of 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. The legacy of this company speaks for itself  and I cannot do it honor except for giving my personal opinion about the comics.

The 3 Hosts

Now that you know a little about the company I want to talk about the comics themselves. All 3 series would stand as major influences for later books/films/tv shows/video-games. The most notable influence is the 90's Television show Tales from the Crypt. Each series had a unique "host" all of whom were in a rivalry with the other two hosts which would be illustrated in each comic. The job of the host's were to read you stories of horror as if you were a child listening to your grandparents or sitting around a campfire. This is the perfect analogy as the targeted demographic were children. Tales from the Crypt was hosted by the Crypt Keeper, Vault of Horror was hosted by the Vault-keeper and the Haunt of Fear was hosted by the Old Witch. This is were I first learned about horror comics and it has stayed with me ever since.

  Let me begin by saying that I will not be purchasing the original comics as I do not have the money to spend tracking down all of the issues/volumes. It is far more convenient for me to just download the volumes on my ipad and read them on the train. Like most hobbies for me I am not hardcore when it comes to collecting/buying original items. I respect people who have perfectly sealed originals that are in mint condition, but that is not meant for me, especially because I am very destructive (those of you who know me can vouch for that). When I was a child I had a few of the original Tales from the Crypt comics, most of which I cannot recall except for one and guess what it was one with a werewolf on the cover pictured below. Reading these comics at a young age not only scared the hell out of me but also tapped into my inner artist and soon I began drawing comics of my own. By no means was I considered good, but it was a great way for me to begin drawing/painting and generally allowing my creative side an escape. Eventually I may release these one of a kind art master pieces, but until that time I would rather share with you true works of art.

One of the few comics I remember from my childhood

So join me every day Monday through Friday as I review a new comic from the EC horror trilogy, starting November 11th.