Entertaining Comics, commonly known as

EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, war novel, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through th ...

, was a major publisher of

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s in the 1940s and 1950s. The letters EC originally stood for Educational Comics. EC's ''Pre-Trend'' titles are those published by

Max Gaines Maxwell Charles Gaines (born Max Ginzberg September 21, 1894 – August 20, 1947) was a pioneering figure in the creation of the modern comic book. In 1933, Gaines devised the first four-color, saddle-stitched newsprint pamphlet, a precursor t ...

and his son

William M. Gaines William Maxwell Gaines (; March 1, 1922 – June 3, 1992), was an American publisher and co-editor of EC Comics. Following a shift in EC's direction in 1950, Gaines presided over what became an artistically influential and historically impor ...

, who took over the family business after his father's death in 1947. In 1950, with the addition of writer and artist

Al Feldstein Albert Bernard Feldstein ( ; October 24, 1925 – April 29, 2014) was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satirical magazine '' Mad''. After retiring from ''Mad' ...

, EC found success with their ''New Trend'' line, including their horror titles ''Tales From the Crypt'' ''

The Haunt of Fear ''The Haunt of Fear'' was an American bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics, starting in 1950. Along with '' Tales from the Crypt'' and '' The Vault of Horror'', it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies. ''T ...

'' and ''The Vault of Horror''. A line of science fiction titles soon followed, ''Weird Science'' and ''Weird Fantasy'', illustrated by the best artists in the business, such as Wallace Wood, Reed Crandall, Johnny Craig, George Evans, Graham Ingels, Jack Davis, Bill Elder, Joe Orlando, Al Williamson and Frank Frazetta. In addition to original stories, the books also featured adaptations of

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and ...

's short stories. The ''New Direction'' group was a response to the Comics Code Authority. ''Picto-Fiction'' was a short-lived line of heavily illustrated short story magazines. Beginning in 1958, EC published annual and special editions of '' Mad''.

Publications

Pre-Trend

New Trend

New Direction

Picto-Fiction

''Mad'' annuals and specials

* ''More Trash from Mad'', 1958–1969 (12 issues) * ''Worst from Mad'', 1958–1969 (12 issues) * ''Mad Follies'', 1963–1969 (7 issues) * ''Mad Special'', 1970–1973 (10 issues) * ''Mad Super Special'', 1973–1999 (131 issues) * ''Mad XL'', 2000–2005 (34 issues) * ''Mad Color Classics'', 2000–2005 (11 issues) * ''Mad Classics'', 2005–2009 (25 issues) * ''Mad Kids'', 2005–2009 (14 issues)

Reprints

Many of these titles were reprinted during the past 30 years by publisher

Russ Cochran Russell Earl Cochran (born October 31, 1958) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions, having previously been a member on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. He is one of the few natural left-handed players to win ...

, both independently and in conjunction with

Gladstone Publishing Gladstone Publishing was an American company that published Disney comics from 1986 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1998. The company had its origins as a subsidiary of Another Rainbow Publishing, a company formed by Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran to ...

and later with

Gemstone Publishing Gemstone Publishing is an American company that publishes comic book price guides. The company was formed by Diamond Comic Distributors President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Geppi in 1994 when he bought Overstreet. Gemstone published licen ...

. Russ Cochran's reprints include '' The Complete EC Library'' in black and white but with full-color covers; '' EC Annuals'' in full-color, comic-book sized reprints with four to six complete comics in each ''Annual''; and '' EC Archives'', full-color hardcover books containing six complete EC comics. In 2012

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

began publishing a series of artist- and theme-based collections of EC stories titled ''

The EC Artists' Library ''The EC Artists' Library'' are a series of books released by Fantagraphics Books, which collect anthologies by artists and themes of the comics originally published by EC Comics. Background On July 23, 2011, Gary Groth, president at Fantagraph ...

''. The full-color '' EC Archives'' project was taken up by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

in 2013, both reprinting previous Gladstone and Gemstone volumes and producing new volumes collecting further EC Comics titles.

References

*
EC Comics
at the

Big Comic Book DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated feat ...

* {{EC Comics