''Psychoanalysis'' was a

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 ...

published by

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, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950 ...

in 1955, the fifth title in the company's '' New Direction'' line. The bi-monthly comic was published by

William 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 import ...

and edited by

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' ...

. ''Psychoanalysis'' was approved by the

Comics Code Authority The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA allowed the comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. ...

, but newsstands were reluctant to display it. It lasted a total of four issues before being canceled along with EC's other ''New Direction'' comics.

Characters and stories

''Psychoanalysis'' was unlike practically any other comic published, focusing on

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

and the day-to-day work of therapists. The comic featured three patients, Freddy Carter, Ellen Lyman and Mark Stone, who were undergoing

. The analyst was the central character. He was never named, simply listed as ''The Psychiatrist''. Ellen Lyman did not appear in the fourth and final issue, having been cured in the third issue.

Reprints

Between October 1999 and January 2000, publisher Russ Cochran (in association 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 ...

) reprinted the four individual issues of the book. This complete run was later rebound, with covers included, in a single softcover '' EC Annual''. Dark Horse reprinted ''Psychoanalysis'' as part of the '' EC Archives'' series in 2020.

Adaptations

The pages were reformatted as a

daily comic strip A daily strip is a newspaper comic strip format, appearing on weekdays, Monday through Saturday, as contrasted with a Sunday strip, which typically only appears on Sundays. Bud Fisher's ''Mutt and Jeff'' is commonly regarded as the first daily ...

, samples for possible syndication, but it was never picked up by a

syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndicat ...

. At the invitation of

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...

, ''Psychoanalysis'' was adapted into two dramatic episodes which were telecast as part of the NBC ''

Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

'' show. One script was by Feldstein, and the other was by Howard Rodman.''Variety'', 1955.

References

External links

* * * Comics magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Fiction magazines EC Comics publications Magazines established in 1955 Magazines disestablished in 1955 Bimonthly magazines published in the United States 1955 comics debuts 1955 comics endings Fictional psychiatrists Psychotherapy in fiction 1955 establishments in New York (state) Magazines published in New York (state) {{comics-stub