Beschreibung:

CRYPT OF TERROR No. 17 (1st issue) Author: Place: Publisher: Date: Description: EC. April-May, 1950. CGC certified: VG (4.0). Cream to off-white pages. Feldstein, Fox and Craig stories. Al Feldstein and George Roussos art. Johnny Craig cover and art. 1st issue, numbering continued from Crime Patrol #16. Bill Gaines brought artist Al Feldstein on board in 1948, and soon the energetic Feldstein was functioning as artist-writer-editor for EC's struggling line of comics. By 1949, Gaines and Feldstein were tired of chasing trends, from romance to heroic fantasy to crime, and wanted to stake out their own publishing territory. "Why don't we make them follow us?," Feldstein asked Gaines. "Let's start our own trend." Both men had fond memories of the spooky radio dramas they loved as kids, such as Inner Sanctum, The Witch's Tale and Lights Out. Feldstein pushed Gaines to try horror stories in comics form, and Gaines gave the idea the green light. Thus was spawned EC's first foray into horror: an "Illustrated Terror-Tale from the CRYPT of TERROR" published in the penultimate issue of Crime Patrol. Gaines liked the experiment and more horror yarns followed in the final issues of Crime Patrol and War Against Crime!. According to Grant Geissman's The History of EC Comics, "Gaines and Feldstein liked doing these stories, and it did seem like they were onto something. Back then the wholesalers employed 'road men,' guys who checked the newsstands to see how things were selling. When they sent back the 'ten-day check-ups' indicating strong sales for the experimental issues of Crime Patrol and War Against Crime!, Gaines and Feldstein went all in for horror. And a New Trend was ushered in at EC." Pre-Code historian George Suarez says that "Crypt of Terror marks the birth of EC horror, an event of transcendent importance as far as serious fans of comics are concerned. EC's legendary reputation among comic readers is well-deserved. This company published more quality work in the all-too-brief four years of its reign as the premier comic publisher of the era than much larger companies came close to generating over decades of production." —Tales To Terrible To Tell #1. The title's numbering carried over from its previous incarnation as Crime Patrol, and thus the debut issue of Crypt was numbered "17." The wholesalers were uncomfortable with the word "TERROR" printed in big letters on the cover, and so, with the fourth issue (#20), the title was changed to the more familiar Tales from the Crypt. A limited edition of 100 softcover and 15 hardcover catalogues are available. Over 200 pages, fully illustrated. Fun reference, great keepsake. Softcovers $40, dust-jacketed hardcover with limitation plate $200. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com or visit: https://www.pbagalleries.com/content/comics/. R. Crumb says, "I found [PBA's catalogue] so interesting that I am saving it for the texts that accompany the comics which were put up for auction. This is some of the best commentary I’ve yet seen on the quality of the content of comic books. I especially enjoyed the reviews of the post-war horror comics. Great. Priceless." Consignments welcome for PBA's Spring 2021 Comic Book sale. Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age and Silver Age comics, original art and ephemera sought. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com. Lot Amendments Condition: Item number: 324157