THE READTHRU: CRYPT OF TERROR 17-19 and TALES FROM THE CRYPT 20-21
TheReadthru is designed to take you through the issue run of a comic book ormagazine. It will be an ongoing series of capsule review guides to famoustitles of yesteryear.
Of all horror comic books, the titles published by E.C.Comics were the most influential. Thegenre only accounted for three of their titles but it was these comics thatbrought the company profits and infamy in equal measure. Their bold, youthfulapproach was highly influential on a budding crop of horror writers, artistsand filmmakers. If you grew up watching horror in the '70s or '80s, it's likelythat these the creative DNA of these four-color fearfests influenced at leastsome of what you were watching at theaters or on the t.v.
TalesFrom The Crypt was a key title for E.C. and the namesakeof the long-running hit HBO anthology series that would appear in the late'80s. Like its E.C. horror brethren, TalesFrom The Crypt followed a formula: it offered short tales of terror, oftenincorporating a big plot twist and always emceed by a macabre host whosenarration was filled with playfully macabre puns. The Crypt Keeper was the mainhost here though E.C.'s other hosts (the Vault Keeper, the Old Witch) wouldregularly appear.
The first five issues represent the baby steps of thistitle, lacking the gore that would become infamous later on, but they benefitfrom tight plotting and stylish art by some of the finest comic book artists ofthe era.
For your information, the first three issues of thistitle were published as Crypt Of Terror.It was only with the fourth issue that it took on its classic Tales moniker.
CRYPTOF TERROR #17: The debut issue is on the tentative side:its back half features a story with a corpse that is really more of a detectivetale, albeit one with the E.C. twists, and a werewolf-themed mystery whosenon-supernatural reveal has become predictable in the ensuing decades. Thatsaid, it opens with a dandy, Al Feldstein-illustrated tale of surgery-assistedeternal youth ("Death Must Come!") that borrows its plot from The Man In Half-Moon Street and"The Man Who Was Death," a fun tale of a prison executioner whodevelops a fateful God complex. The latter was adapted to memorable effect byWalter Hill for the Tales t.v.series.
CRYPTOF TERROR #18: The style continues to develop here. Themiddle tales are the lightest here: there's a tale of the undead that offsetsits non-supernatural resolution with a satisfying E.C.-style final twist plussome imaginatively twisted Wally Wood art while "Madness At Manderville" is a crazy-or-not tale that is lighton the gothic touches. The killers are the opening and closing tales. "TheMaestro's Hand" is a revenge-beyond-the-grave tale that makes excellentuse of a reanimated severed hand via cinematic Al Feldstein art and "MuteWitness To Murder" sets the crazy-or-not story archetype on its ear bytelling it from the perspective of a gaslighting victim. The storyline is laidout with precision, Johnny Craig's art brings imaginative visual devices to thetelling and it's got the kind of 'ironic justice' ending that would become anE.C. staple (it was adapted for the Talest.v. show).
CRYPTOF TERROR #19: Things really start to come together here.The issue is framed by two stories using the narrative device of peoplelearning a tale of horrific past events told in flashback: the first is a taleof greed taking out a pirate ship via a supernatural curse with evocative AlFeldstein art and the second uses voodoo as a tool for revenge in a tale ofracial intolerance (an early example of EC's forward-thinking approach to thattopic). The latter boasts some excellent fireside jungle ritual art by JohnnyCraig. However, the two best tales are the middle ones: "The HungryGrave" is a tale with the classic E.C. theme of doomed infidelity thatboasts creepy, gothic Graham Ingels art and "Cave Man" mixes afrozen-then-thawed caveman with revenge themes and some stylized Craig art thatplays up the tale's comedic edge.
TALESFROM THE CRYPT #20: the first issue of the comic under itsfamous title. It offers a solid cross-section of E.C.'s burgeoning approachesto horror. "The Thing From The Sea" is a ghost story that props up astandard, lite-horror plot with slick Feldstein art. The other tales up thehorrific ante. For instance, "Rx... Death" is a nifty body-horrortale derived from an Arthur Machen story that boasts moody Ingels art in afitting gothic style and "Impending Doom" uses crisp Craig art toconvey a tale of people trapped in a cycle of inescapable fate (another classicE.C. theme). That said, the killer here is "Fatal Caper," a tale ofcollege kids fooling around with black magic (evocatively illustrated by JackKamen) that one-ups a seemingly obvious twist with an unexpected second twistthat will make you grin with ghoulish glee. It was later adapted for the Tales t.v. show.
TALESFROM THE CRYPT #21: This is strong from top to bottom, anissue where even the thinner storylines are enlivened by inspired and effectiveartwork. For example, "Terror Ride" and its scenario of an eerilyrealistic horror-themed boat ride has become standard horror fare since the'50s but it's easy to imagine a young Tobe Hooper being influenced by itsgarish Wally Wood art. Similarly, college initiation scare tale "House OfHorror" does a lot of setup to get to its punchline but Harvey Kurtzman'smoody, cinematic layouts really bring it to life. The other two tales areall-around strong: "A Shocking Way To Die" mixes crime, mad scienceand zombie themes to memorable effect, topped off by ace Feldstein art, and"Death Suited Him" is a tale of stolen love that boasts a killertwist ending and Ingels art that enhances its vibe of simmering psychosis.