Tales from the Crypt (comics)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tales from the Crypt | |
 Jack Davis cover, issue #40 |
|
| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | EC Comics |
| Schedule | Bimonthly |
| Format | Anthology |
| Publication date | April/May 1950 - February/March 1955 |
| Number of issues | 30 |
| Main character(s) | Crypt Keeper Old Witch Vault Keeper |
| Creative team | |
| Creator(s) | William Gaines Al Feldstein |
Tales from the Crypt, The Haunt of Fear and The Vault of Horror are three bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. Tales from the Crypt hit newsstands with its April/May 1950 issue and ceased publication with its February/March 1955 issue, producing a total of 30 issues. The title 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 William Maxwell Gaines canceled Tales from the Crypt and its two companion titles in September 1954. All three titles have been reprinted at various times since their demise and have been adapted for television and film.
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[edit] Origin
Horror comics emerged as a distinct comic book genre after World War II when young adult males lost interest in caped crimebusters, and returning GIs wanted titillating sex and violence in their reading. One-shot Eerie Comics (1947) is generally considered the first true horror comic with its cover depicting a dagger-wielding, red eyed ghoul threatening a rope-bound, scantily clad, voluptuous young woman beneath a full moon. In 1948, Adventures Into the Unknown became the first regularly published horror title, enjoying a nearly two decade life-span.
In 1950, publisher William Gaines and his editor Al Feldstein discovered they shared similar tastes in horror and began experimenting with horror tales in their crime titles. Tales from the Crypt traces its origin to a Feldstein story, "Return from the Grave!", in EC's Crime Patrol (#15, December 1949/January 1950) with the Crypt-Keeper making his debut as host. Issue #16 featured more horror tales than crime stories, and, with issue #17, the title changed from Crime Patrol to The Crypt of Terror. Due to an attempt to save money on second-class postage permits, the numbering did not change with the title, and continued as The Crypt of Terror for the next two issues. The title saw its final form, Tales from the Crypt, with issue #20, October/November, 1950.
[edit] Artists
Early front covers were created by Feldstein, Johnny Craig and Wally Wood, with the remaining covers (1952-55) by Jack Davis. The contributing interior artists were Craig, Feldstein, Wood, Davis, George Evans, Jack Kamen, Graham Ingels, Harvey Kurtzman, Al Williamson, Joe Orlando, Reed Crandall, Bernard Krigstein, Will Elder, Fred Peters and Howard Larsen. Jack Davis took over the art for the Crypt-Keeper stories with (#24, June/July, 1951), and continued as the title's lead artist for the rest of the run. Feldstein devised the Crypt-Keeper's origin story "Lower Berth!" (#33) which was illustrated by Davis. Issue #38 was one of two covers from EC's horror comics censored prior to publication. While The Vault of Horror cover for issue #32 was restored in Russ Cochran's EC Library reprints, the Tales from the Crypt cover remained censored. "Kamen's Kalamity" (#31) starred many members of the EC staff, including Gaines, Feldstein and the story's artist, Kamen. Ingels, Davis and Craig also made cameo appearances in the story in single panels which they drew themselves.
[edit] Crypt Keeper
The Crypt Keeper is the host of the comic, beginning and ending each story with various puns to bring a lighter touch to the gruesome stories. He is one of three 'GhouLunatics', the others being The Old Witch and The Vault Keeper, both of whom he seems to have a rivalry with.
[edit] Demise
In 1954, Gaines and Feldstein intended to add a fourth book to their horror publications by reactivating an earlier title, The Crypt of Terror. They were stopped dead in their tracks, however. Horror and other violent comics had come under scrutiny by parents, schoolteachers, clergymen, psychologists, and others who viewed the material as dangerous to the well-being of children and a significant contributor to the juvenile delinquency crisis in America. Matters came to a head in April and June 1954 with a highly publicized Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. Hearings targeted violent comic books — which fared poorly in the proceedings. While the committee stopped short of blaming the comics industry for juvenile delinquency, they did suggest it tone down the product. Publishers were left reeling.
The industry deftly avoided outside censorship by creating the self-regulatory Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) and a Comics Code Authority (CCA) that placed severe restrictions on violent comic book genres. Publishers were forbidden from using the words "terror" and "horror" in titles, for example, and forbidden from depicting zombies, werewolves, and other gruesome characters and outrè horror fiction trappings. Gaines was fed up; he believed his titles were being specifically targeted and realized they were doomed to future failure. He threw in the towel, canceling Tales from the Crypt and its companion titles in September 1954. Since an issue of The Crypt of Terror had already been produced, it was published as the final issue of Tales from the Crypt, February/March, 1955.
[edit] Reprints
The series was fully collected in a series of five black-and-white hardbacks by Russ Cochran in 1979 [1] which were also available as a slipcased set. Cochran (in association with Gladstone Publishing and solo) reprinted a handful of the single issues in 1990/91. Between September 1992 and December 1999, Cochran and Gemstone Publishing reprinted the full 30 individual issues. In 2007, Cochran and Gemstone Publishing began reprinting the series in its entirety, in full-color volumes (of six issues each) in the EC Archives hardcover series. Volume 1 saw print in February 2007, with Volume 2 following in June. Volume 3 was scheduled to be released on July 10, 2008. [2]
[edit] Media adaptations
The 1972 movie features five stories from various EC comics. "Reflection of Death" (#23) and "Blind Alleys" (#46) were adapted for the movie. In 1989, the book was adapted into the TV series Tales from the Crypt, which features John Kassir as the Cryptkeeper and included comic book covers designed to look like the original 1950s covers by Mike Vosburg, with at least one drawn by Shawn McManus.
The following tales were used in HBO's Tales From The Crypt television series: "The Man Who Was Death" (issue #17), "Mute Witness to Murder" (#18), "Fatal Caper" (#20), "The Thing From The Grave" (#22), "Last Respects" (#23), "Judy, You're Not Yourself Today" (#25), "Loved to Death" (#25), "Well Cooked Hams" (#27), "The Ventriloquist's Dummy" (#28), "Korman's Kalamity" (re-titling of "Kamen's Calamity", issue #31), "Cutting Cards" (#32), "Lower Berth" (#33), "None But The Lonely Heart" (#33), "Oil's Well That Ends Well" (#34), "Curiosity Killed" (#36), "Only Skin Deep" (#38), "Mournin' Mess" (#38), "Undertaking Palor" (#39), "Food For Thought" (#40), "Operation Friendship" (#41), "Cold War" (#43), "Forever Ambergris" (#44), "The Switch" (#45) and "Blind Alleys" (#46).
In 1993, Tales from the Crypt was adapted into a Saturday morning cartoon series entitled Tales from the Cryptkeeper, based on the series (albeit with none of the violence or other questionable content that was in the original series), with Kassir as the Cryptkeeper again; it ran from September 18, 1993 to December 6, 1997.[3]
In 1996, another adaptation (a Saturday morning game show) called Secrets of the Cryptkeeper's Haunted House ran from September 14 to August 1997, with Kassir once again in the role of the Cryptkeeper as announcer.
Two movies, Demon Knight (1995) and Bordello of Blood (1996), were based on the series, neither of which was particularly successful. A third movie, Ritual, was slated for theatrical release in 2001, but was only distributed internationally (without the Tales from the Crypt connection) until 2006 when it was released on DVD in the United States, with the Cryptkeeper bits restored.
[edit] Resurrection
In 2007, Papercutz, an independent comics publisher managed by former Marvel Comics editor Jim Salicrup, began running a new series of original Tales from the Crypt comics. The new version was announced at the year's New York Comic Con. The first issue was published in June 2007, with a cover drawn by Kyle Baker. All three of EC Comics' horror hosts (The GhouLunatics) appear in the issue, drawn by Rick Parker (artist of Marvel/MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head Comic Book). Contributors to subsequent issues have included well-known horror talents Joe R. Lansdale and his brother John L. Lansdale, Don McGregor, husband and wife team James Romberger and Marguerite Van Cook, Mort Todd, and Chris Noeth. The new version has a smaller digest size with a graphic novel style book binding. Controversy erupted in 2008 when Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin was featured on a cover attacking the horror hosts with a hockey stick, published with a letter from Wm. Gaines' daughter Cathy Gaines Mifsud commenting on censorship.
[edit] Issue guide
| # | Date | Cover Artist | Story | Story Artist | Story Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | April/May 1950 | Johnny Craig | Death Must Come! | Al Feldstein | Crypt Keeper |
| The Man Who Was Death | Unknown | None | |||
| The Corpse Nobody Knew | George Roussos | None | |||
| Curse Of The Full Moon! | Johnny Craig | None | |||
| 18 | June/July 1950 | Johnny Craig | The Maestro's Hand! | Al Feldstein | Crypt Keeper |
| The Living Corpse | Wally Wood | None | |||
| Madness At Manderville | Harvey Kurtzman | None | |||
| Mute Witness To Murder! | Johnny Craig | None | |||
| 19 | Aug/Sept 1950 | Johnny Craig | Ghost Ship! | Al Feldstein | Crypt Keeper |
| The Hungry Grave | Graham Ingels | None | |||
| Cave Man | Johnny Craig | None | |||
| Zombie! | Johnny Craig | None | |||
| 20 | Oct/Nov 1950 | Johnny Craig | The Thing From The Sea! | Al Feldstein | Crypt Keeper |
| A Fatal Caper! | Jack Kamen | None | |||
| Rx... Death! | Graham Ingels | None | |||
| Impending Doom! | Johnny Craig | None | |||
| 21 | Dec/Jan 1951 | Al Feldstein | A Shocking Way To Die! | Al Feldstein | Crypt Keeper |
| Terror Ride! | Wally Wood | None | |||
| House Of Horror | Harvey Kurtzman | None | |||
| Death Suited Him! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 22 | Feb/March 1951 | Al Feldstein | The Thing From The Grave! | Al Feldstein | Crypt Keeper |
| Blood Type "V"! | Graham Ingels | None | |||
| Death's Turn! | Jack Kamen | Old Witch | |||
| The Curse Of The Arnold Clan! | Johnny Craig | Vault Keeper | |||
| 23 | April/May 1951 | Al Feldstein | Reflection Of Death! | Al Feldstein | Crypt Keeper |
| Last Respects! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| Seance! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Voodoo Death! | Johnny Craig | Vault Keeper | |||
| 24 | June/July 1951 | Al Feldstein | Bats In My Belfry! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| The Living Death! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| Midnight Snack! | Johnny Craig | Vault Keeper | |||
| Scared To Death! | Wally Wood | Crypt Keeper | |||
| 25 | Aug/Sept 1951 | Al Feldstein | The Trophy! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| Judy, You're Not Yourself Today! | Wally Wood | Vault Keeper | |||
| Loved To Death! | Jack Kamen | Crypt Keeper | |||
| The Works... In Wax! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 26 | Oct/Nov 1951 | Wally Wood | Drawn And Quartered! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| The Borrowed Body! | Howard Larsen | Vault Keeper | |||
| Indian Burial Mound | George Roussos | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Political Pull! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 27 | Dec/Jan 1952 | Wally Wood | Well-Cooked Hams! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| Madam Bluebeard | Joe Orlando | Vault Keeper | |||
| Return! | Jack Kamen | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Horror! Head... It Off! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 28 | Feb/March 1952 | Al Feldstein | Bargain In Death! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| Ants In Her Trance! | Joe Orlando | Vault Keeper | |||
| A-Corny Story | Jack Kamen | Crypt Keeper | |||
| The Ventriloquist's Dummy! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 29 | April/May 1952 | Jack Davis | Grounds... For Horror! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| A Rottin' Trick! | Joe Orlando | Vault Keeper | |||
| Board To Death! | Jack Kamen | Crypt Keeper | |||
| A Sucker For A Spider! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 30 | June/July 1952 | Jack Davis | Gas-tly Prospects! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| A Hollywood Ending! | Joe Orlando | Vault Keeper | |||
| Auntie, It's Coal Inside! | Jack Kamen | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Mournin', Ambrose... | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 31 | Aug/Sept 1952 | Jack Davis | Survival... Or Death! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| The Thing In The 'Glades! | Al Williamson | Vault Keeper | |||
| Kamen's Kalamity! | Jack Kamen | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Buried Treasure! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 32 | Oct/Nov 1952 | Jack Davis | Tain't The Meat... It's The Humanity! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| Roped In! | George Evans | Vault Keeper | |||
| Cutting Cards! | Fred Peters | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Squash... Anyone? | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 33 | Dec/Jan 1953 | Jack Davis | Lower Berth! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| This Trick'll Kill You! | Jack Kamen & George Evans | Vault Keeper | |||
| The Funeral | Jack Kamen | Crypt Keeper | |||
| None But The Lonely Heart! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 34 | Feb/March 1953 | Jack Davis | Mirror, Mirror On The Wall! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| Oil's Well That Ends Well! | George Evans | Vault Keeper | |||
| Attacks Of Horror! | Jack Kamen | Crypt Keeper | |||
| There Was An Old Woman! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 35 | April/May 1953 | Jack Davis | By The Fright Of The Silvery Moon! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| Midnight Mess! | Joe Orlando | Vault Keeper | |||
| Busted Marriage! | Jack Kamen | Crypt Keeper | |||
| This Wraps It Up! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 36 | June/July 1953 | Jack Davis | Fare Tonight, Followed By Increasing Clottyness... | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| Curiosity Killed... | George Evans | Vault Keeper | |||
| How Green Was My Alley | Jack Kamen | Crypt Keeper | |||
| The Handler | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 37 | Aug/Sept 1953 | Jack Davis | Dead Right! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| Pleasant Screams! | Joe Orlando | Vault Keeper | |||
| Strop! You're Killing Me! | Bill Elder | Crypt Keeper | |||
| The Rover Boys | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 38 | Oct/Nov 1953 | Jack Davis | Tight Grip! | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| ...Only Skin Deep! | Reed Crandall | Vault Keeper | |||
| Last Laugh! | Bill Elder | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Mournin' Mess | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 39 | Dec/Jan 1954 | Jack Davis | Undertaking Palor | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| The Craving Grave | Joe Orlando | Vault Keeper | |||
| The Sleeping Beauty! | Jack Kamen | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Shadow Of Death | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 40 | Feb/March 1954 | Jack Davis | Food For Thought | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| Pearly To Dead | George Evans | Vault Keeper | |||
| Prairie Schooner | Bernie Krigstein | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Half-Baked! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 41 | April/May 1954 | Jack Davis | Operation Friendship | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| Come Back, Little Linda! | George Evans | Vault Keeper | |||
| Current Attraction | Jack Kamen | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Mess Call | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 42 | June/July 1954 | Jack Davis | Concerto For Violin And Werewolf | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| By The Dawn's Early Light | Jack Kamen | Vault Keeper | |||
| The Bath | Bernie Krigstein | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Hoodwinked! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 43 | Aug/Sept 1954 | Jack Davis | Four-Way Split | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| Cold War | Jack Kamen | Vault Keeper | |||
| Clots My Line | George Evans | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Accidents And Old Lace | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 44 | Oct/Nov 1954 | Jack Davis | Forever Ambergris | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| Burial At Sea | Reed Crandall | Vault Keeper | |||
| The Proposal | Jack Kamen | Crypt Keeper | |||
| The Sliceman Cometh | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 45 | Dec/Jan 1955 | Jack Davis | Telescope | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| The Substitute | Jack Kamen | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Murder Dream | Bernie Krigstein | Crypt Keeper | |||
| The Switch | Graham Ingels | Old Witch | |||
| 46 | Feb/March 1955 | Jack Davis | Upon Reflection | Jack Davis | Crypt Keeper |
| Blind Alleys | George Evans | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Success Story | Joe Orlando | Crypt Keeper | |||
| Tatter Up! | Graham Ingels | Old Witch |
[edit] References
- ^ MyComicShop.com Information
- ^ Gemstone's EC Crypt.com webpage. Accessed June 20, 2008
- ^ Tales from the Cryptkeeper on TV.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-31.
[edit] Listen to
[edit] External links
- Steve Stiles' history of Tales from the Crypt
- Chris Noeth Papercutz comic artist on issue #4 and #7 of the new Tales from the Crypt comic series
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