Beschreibung:

Picture Stories from the Bible: The Story of Jesus, Part II. VG- (3.5). 1/2" dogeared and abraded tear at bottom spine, spine abraded, a few small chips and tears, creasing, staples a bit pulled. Cream to off-white pages. Text by Montgomery Mulford (with revisions by Edward L. Wertheim). Art by Don Cameron and S. Harrison. Picture Stories from Science, No. 2. VG- (3.5). Spine stressed and slightly rolled, covers creased, small chips including a 3" chip to open edge of back cover. Cream to off-white pages. Includes a culturally insensitive vignette of Asians chasing bats for food. Cover: Allen Simon. Text by Morris Nelson Sachs. Art by Don Cameron. Picture Stories from World History, No. 2. VG- (3.5). Mild spine stress, mild edge creases and wear, short tears, ink slash (distributor's mark?) to left of logo, discoloring to top edge of back cover. Stories and art: Uncredited. "My Father worketh and I work—the Son can do nothing of himself, but what things he seest the Father doest—these, also doeth the Son likewise!" —Jesus, Picture Stories from the Bible. No EC publications reveal as much about the chasm between publisher Max Gaines and his son Bill as the various Picture Stories titles, which the senior Gaines was hugely proud of, and which the junior Gaines disdained. Shortly after the release of these mags, Max died in a boating accident and Bill took over his father's failing comic book business. Bill Gaines had a rotten relationship with his domineering, belittling dad, who routinely told Bill that he'd never amount to anything. "How the hell can I run a business when I couldn't even make it as the old man's stockroom boy," Bill worried, according to Frank Jacobs' The MAD World of William M. Gaines. "Worst of all was the recurring dream that disturbed Bill's sleep, a quasi-nightmare in which Max would appear and tell his son that he wanted the business back." Frank Jacobs describes how Max Gaines's editor, Sheldon Mayer, told Bill he wouldn't succeed as a publisher until he stopped treating it as a lark: "'I got the feeling that Bill went into the business as a joke, to see if he could screw up things, change them for his private amusement, and still manage to make money doing it,' Mayer remembers.... Maybe Mayer's theory is right. Maybe Bill did have a lot of rebellion to get out of his system. Years earlier, when he worked as Max's editor, Mayer had set down a list of taboos to be observed to the letter by all of Max's writers and artists. Among them: "Never show anybody stabbed or shot. Show no torture scenes. Never show a hypodermic needle. Don't chop the limbs off anybody. Never show a coffin, especially with anybody in it. "Less than four years after taking over his father's business, Bill would have punctured every taboo on the list." Bill continually advertised his father's bottom-selling Picture Stories series in his horror, suspense, sci-fi and war mags throughout most of the New Trend era, long after the line was discontinued... why? Was he merely hoping to unload stale inventory, or did keeping the memory of his dad's mags alive provide Bill with some sort of emotional comfort? Was it a calculated attempt to deflect criticism from religious and educational leaders? Or did Gaines sincerely believe his dad's Picture Stories mags were a quality product deserving a wider audience? EC research ace Philip Smith observes that the centerfold ads for the Picture Stories books were dropped in late 1953: "This might correlate with the arrival of Lyle Stuart as business manager." Lyle Stuart was a Svengali-like character described by Al Feldstein as "a manipulator." Frank Jacobs suggested that Stuart was a father figure to Gaines. If Stuart's assumption of business manager duties precipitated the removal of the Picture Stories ads — the last remaining vestige of Max Gaines — what might this reveal in psychological terms? When asked about this, Mr. Smith replied, "That is interesting — Stuart sort of Oedipal