Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine

Number 38


COVERING IT: Classic Golden Age Comics Covers


At EC Comics Jack Davis was a great amongst greats. It turned out that he probably had more commercial success after the crash of the original EC line, because he could draw absolutely anything. During the run of EC his distinctive style stands out, even amongst his talented peers, especially on covers of Tales From The Crypt.

Davis took over the cover assignments from Al Feldstein, whose art was kind of stiff, but poster-like; perfect for covers. Davis added a touch when he brought his dynamic, action-filled art to the covers and they popped off the newsstands.

During that run as cover artist, Davis did three classic monster covers in a row. Tales From The Crypt #34 features the Frankenstein monster, #35 a werewolf, and #36 is a vampire. So I'm showing them all to you here.

In 1970 super-Golden Age comics fan Tom Fagan told me he thought Davis's cover of #35 was "the greatest werewolf cover ever." I wouldn't dispute that then or now. No matter what the subject matter, humor, horror, you name it…the tall guy from Georgia could draw it.