About Heroes

Creators: Johnny Craig, Graham Ingels, Harvey Kurtzman, Wally Wood, and others
Publisher: Gem Stone Publishing

I was too young when the original comics were released, but back when I was in middle school, I saw a comic adaptation of Creepshow and it changed the way I saw comics. I was lucky enough to get some of the hardcover rereleases in the early 90’s that were done in black and white and I was blown away by the stories and artwork. Lucky for me I no longer have to find those other volumes missing from my collection. These volumes just keep getting better and better with each release.

This volume reprints the second six complete issues (24 stories) of the comic book "Tales From the Crypt", originally published in 1951 and 1952. They feature classic horror stories of vampires, werewolves, ghouls and monsters in the vein of the early "Dracula", "Frankenstein" and "Wolf Man" movies, and even an early look at blending animal DNA with man’s. Some of these stories were the inspiration for several feature films and the HBO series of the same name. The stories in Tales From the Crypt rarely deviated from the basic formula in that they almost always ended with a shocking, ironic twist with a character getting what they deserve. Throughout the 200+ pages of this book the creators give us our dosage of morality tales with their own supernatural twist.

This book features some fantastic talents, because to be fair EC had the best artists of the era; Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig, Wally Wood, Jack Davis, Joe Orlando, Marie Severin, Graham Ingels, and Harvey Kurtzman. This restored collection the artwork shines like never before. The pages are vibrant and crisp and look like they were illustrated by today’s top artist. I can’t get over how nice this art looks on high quality paper and the coloring looks vibrant. Sadly that is part of the reason it brought down the rating a bit. Some of the pictures look too vibrant and flashy and the colors don’t mesh well with the art style. These editions also include special features such as an interview with Nancy Gaines, the widow of EC Comics founder Bill Gaines. The book lists for $50, but it is well worth the price of admission for stories such as these. A-