Number 2085: Moon Girl is swamped

We begin another theme week, and like last month, the theme is comic book women of the forties. First up, Moon Girl.

Clare Lune, Moon Girl, must have needed a job when she accepted a position in a mansion far into the Bayou. She is all set to tutor little Mary, when the house is assailed by a vampire. Despite Moon Girl’s powers and obvious ability to take care of herself, she has to call in her boyfriend, the Prince. The story is kind of a mess, ending abruptly. We aren’t shown how that tutoring job turned out. At least the artwork by Sheldon Moldoff is atmospheric, and foreshadows his later work in Fawcett’s horror comics.

Grand Comics Database lists the writer as Richard Kraus, based on information from Tales of Terror: the EC Companion. Moon Girl #4 (1948) was edited and published by William M. Gaines, who took over EC Comics when his father died in a boating accident in the summer of 1947.

Number 2000: Woody: Faced with horror

This is the fourth and last posting of our crime week.

“Faced with Horror!” was written by EC Comics publisher Bill Gaines and editor Al Feldstein, and drawn by Wallace Wood. My interest in showing it to you is not because of the weak story— the surprise ending is telegraphed and obvious — but the artwork by Wood, which overwhelms its flaws.

Wood (signing himself “Woody”) was coming to the top of his form as an artist. His work here is inspired by Eisner, for whom he was also working during this time. Looking at his original art, which was sold at auction by Heritage for $11,950 (cheap!) his drawings, drenched in black india ink, give the story a noirish look, imbued with a power the story probably didn’t deserve. But that was Wood. His personal story, told in the recent Fantagraphics book, The Life and Legend of Wallace Wood, Volume 1,* makes clear that at the time Wood was an obsessive, dedicated to his craft.

Scans of the original art are from Heritage Auctions. The story first appeared in EC’s Crime SuspenStories #3 (1951).

 *Highly recommended!

Number 1049


"Dat takes care of dat!"


As I understand the stories from the history of EC Comics, after founder M.C. Gaines died in a boating accident in 1947, and his son, Bill, took over the editorial chores, one of his first hires was Al Feldstein. Feldstein had been an artist on teenage comics ( Fox's Junior). That was the direction they were headed until they stopped that project and went out for crime, love and Western fare. Al did stories in all three genres.

"Machine-Gun Mad Mobsters" is from War Against Crime #4, 1948. Al's artwork, while noirish, seems a little stiff, but a year or so later when he was drawing horror comics that was appropriate. He drew lots of stiffs.

The first two pages of the story in my copy of this comic are damaged, so I scanned them from Russ Cochran's 2000 reprint. The rest is from the 1948 printing.

Number 644


"Reflection" redux


In April I posted the horror story, "Reflection of Death," from Tales From the Crypt #23, in Pappy's #503. It's one of my favorite EC stories, told in a POV style by Al Feldstein. I think that 1951 story helped set the overall tone for the horror comics that Bill Gaines and Feldstein were trying to do. Some years later, after the Comics Code came about, Gaines started a line of magazines. Feldstein re-wrote the story for Terror Illustrated #2, an attempt to mix EC comics and prose fiction. Except for Mad Gaines flopped in the magazine business.

Feldstein wrote the story under the name, Alfred E. Neuman (yuk, yuk), and used the art talents of George Evans. In my opinion the original incarnation of "Reflection of Death" worked; by the time of this re-working the plot seems predictable and the writing pedestrian. The artwork, however, is a good enough reason to look.

Number 611


Eat it raw!


Here's a scary story about meat. It's from Tiny Tot Comics #7, 1947. If this story had been shown to me when I was a kid it's possible I could be a vegan today. It's drawn by Tiny Tot regular Burton Geller. We'll have some more by Mr. Geller in the future, but nothing this bizarre.

Tiny Tot was an EC Comics title, back when Max Gaines was the publisher/editor, and when EC stood for Educational Comics. Max Gaines died in the summer of 1947 from a boating accident. The company wasn't doing very well, and at the behest of Max's widow was taken over by their reluctant son, Bill Gaines. Bill dumped the kiddie books, although he retained the use of the name Tiny Tot as one of the various names used in the indicia as publisher of record.

A couple of years later EC Comics published titles like Tales From the Crypt, Haunt of Fear and Vault of Horror. It was in Crypt #32 that another story of meat was published. "T'aint the Meat, It's the Humanity," was a story of greed, in the best EC tradition. During World War II meat was rationed. Butcher Zach Gristle was offered some black market meat and was able to make a big profit for himself. Unfortunately, some of the meat was tainted, and led to the confrontation with Mrs. Gristle, shown in the panels below. It was one of the more gruesome EC endings, but also ghoulishly funny.

"Peter and Pinky in Meat Land"* is also gruesome in its own way, but not so funny. "Raw meat...raw meat anyone? Eh, eh..."

Number 570


The Basket


Picto-Fiction was an attempt by EC publisher, William M. Gaines, to save his comic book business and avoid the Comics Code by going upscale to the magazine market. Picto-Fiction, including Terror Illustrated, Crime Illustrated, Confessions Illustrated and Shock Illustrated, were a mixture of art and story, not comic books, but not traditional magazines either. Picto-Fiction failed because it didn't reach the readers of either the comic book or prose fiction market. On the other hand, Mad, his non-Picto-Fiction magazine, succeeded beyond anyone's dreams.

"The Basket" is from Terror Illustrated #1, December 1955. It's adapted from a story in the 10¢ comic book, Haunt of Fear #7. In its original form it was drawn by Jack Davis. Graham Ingels handles the assignment here.

Hairy Green Eyeball presented a whole issue of the Picto-Fiction Crime Illustrated here.