The EC Archives: Tales From the Crypt Volume 1
Various authors
Dark Horse Books
July 28, 2015
Reviewed by Tim Potter
Dark Horse Books is releasing a new edition of The EC Archives: Tales From the Crypt Volume 1, a collection of some of the most influential stories in the history of horror comics. Reprinted here in beautiful full color are the first six issues of EC to carry a horror title. These are not the finest horror comics EC published, though some of them are among the elite tales, but they are entertaining and superior to anything else that was appearing during 1950 and 1951. These issues set the standard and template that all horror comics are compared to, even to this day.
First, some history. These stories were written, drawn and printed before the creation of the Comics Code and the mid-1950s uproar over the perceived immorality in comics. This lack of oversight allowed EC to publish stories that were violent, brutal and dealt with adult themes, often infidelity, greed, racism and bucking authority. At the same time, the stories contained herein are among those most responsible for those measures of censorship and oversight.
The original issues reprinted here are The Crypt of Terror #17-19 and Tales From the Crypt #20-22. Despite the numbers these are consecutive issues of the same periodical and the first EC publications to feature a horror title. The series began under the title International Comics, which lasted through the first five issues, and then became International Crime Patrol for just a single issue, before settling on Crime Patrol as a title for the next ten issues. Crime comics were big at the time and this is an example of EC trying to stay popular and relevant in a changing market.
With Crime Patrol #15 a new feature was added, a single graphic story introduced by the now famous Crypt Keeper. It was a horror story and the first step in the series ultimate evolution into a horror only book. Crime Patrol #16 featured four stories, all of them horror. It was with this success that the title of the book was changed again with issue #17, which was the first issue of The Crypt of Terror. This title lasted three issues before the book finally hit its stride and found a permanent title as Tales From the Crypt.
There seem to be two reasons for the changing title of the series while continuing with the constant numbering. The first is that retailers were much more willing to buy established books, series that had previous readership and brand recognition. This allowed the book to evolve slowly as the inclusion of horror stories built up. The other reason, this one sometimes debated, that Canadian imports were nearly impossible if the issue was numbered one, the logic being that if there was only one issue it couldn’t be, by definition, a periodical. So the simple reason seems to be that by changing the title but numbering it as the same ongoing series increased sales potential.
Top to bottom the stories from these issues are not EC at its finest. Horror in this medium was new and it’s clear that the writers and artists are finding their niche but aren’t quite there yet. That said, there are quite a few very fun tales that are well worth reading, and even the weak efforts are amusing and usually satisfying. “Death Must Come” is a tale of mad scientists, grave robbing, cutting-edge science and the futility of trying to overcome death. It’s smart and gruesome and kicks off the collection in strong fashion. “The Man Who Was Death” is the story of the executioner at State’s Prison who just can’t stop killing for perceived justice. An entertaining werewolf story with a twist ending is told in “Curse of the Full Moon” while vampires are the topic in “Blood Type ‘V’”.
The biggest thing missing from this collection is the progressive social commentary that took EC publications from fun horror stories to important discussion of contemporary issues. It’s not absent, but it only comes up a few times, once in “The Man Who Was Death”, the story of the executioner at State’s Prison. There is a fascinating parallel between the legally empowered killings of the executioner and the murders committed by others who don’t have a government sanction. There is also an interesting underlying theme of the evils of colonialism in the story “Zombie!”, where the transgressions of a plantation owner in Haiti damn those who come after him. In addition to the social awareness it is also the perfect example of the pre-Night of the Living Dead zombie tale.
While the quality of the stories is more uneven that other volumes in The EC Archives series, there is more than enough high quality graphic storytelling to make this a thoroughly entertaining read. When combined with the historical value of these issues, The EC Archives: Tales From the Crypt Volume 1 is an essential volume for fans of horror and comics.
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