Legendary publisher Bill Gaines is perhaps best remembered as the founder of MAD Magazine, but in the opinion of many dedicated comic book fans, his greatest achievement was E.C. Comics, a line of adventure, horror, and science-fiction comics whose influence on American graphic novels is undeniable, even today. Foul Play! is the perfect book for anyone wanting to understand the special place E.C. holds in the comic fan's heart -- or who just wants to read some real good comics!
Foul Play! celebrates the fan-favorite creators of E.C. Comics, profiling their artists -- a veritable who's who of mid-20th century popular illustration -- and describing how they came to work with Bill Gaines and how their careers evolved after E.C.. Among the comics art legends profiled are Al Feldstein; Harvey Kurtzman; Johnny Craig; Jack Davis; Graham Ingels; Jack Kamen; Wallace Wood; Joe Orlando; Will Elder; John Severin; George Evans; Al Williamson; Reed Crandall; Bernie Krigstein; and more! Plus, the book includes a special bonus: a lost E.C. Comics story "Wanted for Murder!" originally intended to be published in 1956 but forgotten and unseen until now.
When originally published, E.C. Comics titles like Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror, and Weird Science became best-selling titles, embraced by readers for their macabre wit and stunning illustration. Eventually, E.C. Comics ran afoul of a full Senate Subcommittee investigating (but never proving!) the link between comic books and juvenile delinquency, but not before winning a legion of fans that still treasure E.C.'s output. Foul Play! demonstrates -- in glorious, gory detail -- exactly why these are among the most beloved comics stories ever published.

Foul Play!: The Art and Artists of the Notorious 1950s E.C. Comics!

Arts & Photography

Geissman, Grant

History & Criticism

Harper Paperbacks

COLLECTIBLY MAD. Special Limited Edition of 500 signed by MAD publisher William C. Gaines and author/musician Grant Geissman. Hardcover book housed in a deluxe slipcase with a foil-embossed E.C. logo. $150 sound a little pricey? Consider that only 500 deluxe editions were published and this is the ONLY book Bill Gaines (1922-1992) EVER SIGNED! And this is the original retail price from fifteen years ago. The book is an extensive illustrated history of MAD magazine collectibles starting with its comic book inception from genius cartoonist/editor Harvey Kurtzman in 1952 (see also The Art of Harvey Kurtzman from Abrams). Collectibly MAD is a fat 320-page square compendium. Not at all square is author Geissman, the world s authority on MAD collectibles, not to mention a respected jazz musician (Chuck Mangione band, TV/movie scores). Limited to just five hundred Signed &amp; Numbered copies, this is the ultimate book (or gift) for any MAD or comics fan s library. Published by Kitchen Sink Press in 1995, several years after Gaines (who died in 1992) signed the historic bookplates. These are the last of publisher Denis Kitchen s personal inventory, still in mint condition in the original shrink-wrap.

Collectibly Mad: The Mad and Ec Collectibles Guide

Kitchen Sink Pr

COLLECTIBLY MAD. Special Limited Edition of 500 signed by MAD publisher William C. Gaines and author/musician Grant Geissman. Hardcover book housed in a deluxe slipcase with a foil-embossed E.C. logo. $150 sound a little pricey? Consider that only 500 deluxe editions were published and this is the ONLY book Bill Gaines (1922-1992) EVER SIGNED! And this is the original retail price from fifteen years ago. The book is an extensive illustrated history of MAD magazine collectibles starting with its comic book inception from genius cartoonist/editor Harvey Kurtzman in 1952 (see also The Art of Harvey Kurtzman from Abrams). Collectibly MAD is a fat 320-page square compendium. Not at all square is author Geissman, the world s authority on MAD collectibles, not to mention a respected jazz musician (Chuck Mangione band, TV/movie scores). Limited to just five hundred Signed & Numbered copies, this is the ultimate book (or gift) for any MAD or comics fan s library. Published by Kitchen Sink Press in 1995, several years after Gaines (who died in 1992) signed the historic bookplates. These are the last of publisher Denis Kitchen s personal inventory, still in mint condition in the original shrink-wrap.

Comics & Graphic Novels

History & Price Guides

Tales of Terror!: The Ec Companion

The definitive story of EC Comics, the most notorious and well-regarded mass-market publisher in comics history. The EC line (MAD, Tales from the Crypt, Weird Science, etc.) was a high point in terms of craft and presentation. From the humanistic, well-paced writing of editor Harvey Kurtzman to the artwork of lauded masters like Wally Wood and Bernie Krigstein, what truly sets EC apart in comics history is its wider influence on American pop culture. Horror, crime and sci-fi stories "in the EC tradition" are a staple of movies and television almost 50 years after their original heyday, and the original stories themselves were many readers' first exposure to these now-ubiquitous cultural trends. MAD magazine has been a rite of passage for three generations of American comedians, while Kurtzman's war comics Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat were not only amongst the very first comic books ever to successfully express human drama but were also perhaps the first popular entertainment in any medium to look at America's involvement in the Korean War and other conflicts with anything less than a strictly nationalistic and patriotic eye. Every EC title is included in this comprehensive volume that uncovers the amazing history behind the comics, up to the US Senate driving EC out of business for allegedly corrupting America's youth (EC publisher Bill Gaines' testimony to a U.S. Senate Subcommittee one of the most capricious political witch hunts this side of Joseph McCarthy is included). Legendary EC creators like Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig, Graham Ingels and others are all represented, including previously unpublished interviews with several. Best of all, every EC cover is reproduced in full color. Co-published with Gemstone Comics, the official licensor of the EC line, and fully authorized by the estate of EC's Bill Gaines. Hundreds of lavish full-color pages.

Tales of Terror: The Ec Companion

Von Bernewitz, Fred

Graphic Novels

Fantagraphics Books

Fifty years in the making. This is the definitive story of EC Comics, the most notorious and well regarded mass-market publisher in comics history. The EC line - having published such seminal titles as MAD, Tales from the Crypt, Two-Fisted Tales, and so many others - was a high point in terms of craft and presentation. From the humanistic, well paced writing of editor Harvey Kurtzman to the artwork of lauded masters like Wally Wood and Bernie Krigstein, what truly sets EC apart from other pinnacles in comics history is its wider influence on American pop culture. Tales of Terror! is the most comprehensive overview to date of the EC Comics line: a visual checklist, creator index, guidebook and more! Tales from the Crypt, Weird Science, Frontline Combat and all of the other EC titles are included in this comprehensive volume that uncovers the amazing history behind the comics, from the very beginning to the bitter end, when the U.S. Senate drove EC out of business for allegedly corrupting America's youth.

Literature & Fiction

Bernewitz, Fred Von

Genre Fiction

This biography is an incisive look at the life and career of one of the greatest and most mythic comic book creators―the maddest artist of Mad magazine, the man behind Marvel’s Daredevil, and self-publishing pioneer of Witzend―Wallace Wood. Who was Wallace Wood? The maddest artist of Mad magazine? The man behind Marvel’s Daredevil? His World is an incisive look back at the life and career of one of the greatest and most mythic figures of cartooning. Edited over the course of thirty years by former Wood assistant Bhob Stewart, His World is a biographical portrait, generously illustrated with Wood’s gorgeous art as well as little-seen personal photos and childhood ephemera. Also: remembrances by Wood’s friends, colleagues, assistants, and loved ones. This collective biographical and critical portrait explores the humorous spirit, dark detours, and psychological twists of a gifted maverick in American pop culture. Color and black &amp; white illustrations.

The Life and Legend of Wallace Wood Volume 1

Gaines, Bill

Robbins, Trina

Severin, John

Williamson, Al

Stewart, Bhob

Humor & Entertainment

Fantagraphics

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FELDSTEIN: The Mad Life and Fantastic Art of Al Feldstein! takes a long-overdue look at the entire remarkable career of this legendary artist, writer, and editor. Both a full biography and a coffee-table art book, we begin with the earliest surviving Feldstein artwork from the High School of Music and Art, present his very earliest comic book work, and follow his development from the 1940s Victor Fox shop (including the titillating "headlight" comics Junior, Sunny, and Meet Corliss Archer). And we examine his highly visceral work for the classic E.C. comic book line. </li> <li>Along with rare and previously unpublished photographs, the book pictures every E.C. Feldstein comic book cover (many placed alongside the original artwork), presents several complete E.C. stories, plus nearly every splash page and house ad Feldstein did for E.C. We trace his thirty-year career as the editor of MAD, and present his post-retirement work as a "fine" artist, including his prize-winning Western canvases and his many commissioned paintings "revisiting" his classic cover images from the 1950s. We examine every aspect of Feldstein's long career and fascinating personal life, not all of it sweetness and light. </li>
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FELDSTEIN: The Mad Life and Fantastic Art of Al Feldstein!

IDW Publishing

In 1947, Bill Gaines inherited EC Comics, a new venture founded by his legendary father M. C. Gaines, who was responsible for midwifing the birth of the comic book as we know it during his tenure at All-American Comics, bringing the likes of Wonder Woman and Green Lantern to the world. Over the next eight years, Bill Gaines and a “who’s who” of the era including Al Feldstein, Harvey Kurtzman, and Wally Wood would reinvent the very notion of the comic book with titles like Tales from the Crypt, Crime SuspenStories, Weird Science, and MAD.
EC delighted in publishing gory, morbid horror and crime comics that had snap, ironic endings―but they also pioneered the first true-to-life war comics, the first “real” science-fiction stories, and a series of tales about such then-taboo subjects as racism, bigotry, vigilantism, drug addiction, police corruption, and anti-Semitism. Too good to last, they were eventually caught up by various 1950s guardians of morality, who were convinced that EC’s often over-the-top content was causing juvenile delinquency. A year or so after a full inquiry investigating horror and crime comics, the incredible EC Comics were no more.
TASCHEN presents the full, fascinating story of this fabled company, written and designed by EC-expert Grant Geissman. Even the most die-hard EC Fan-Addicts will find something new within these pages, with the Gaines family archives providing over 100 rarities that have never seen print. Many of the cover images are reproduced from Gaines File Copies, which are widely regarded as the best surviving copies of the EC Comics.
Gathering more than 1,000 illustrations that include the rarest and most notorious covers, interior pages and panels, rare photos, vintage original artwork, and some of the most celebrated stories ever to be printed in four colors for a dime, this is the ultimate EC Comics compendium and a must-have for any comics enthusiast or pop culture historian.

The History of Ec Comics

Graphic Design

Taschen America, LLC

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