First-generation EC Comics fan Russ Cochran and second-generation EC Comics aficionado Grant Geissman have established a boutique imprint called GC Press, LLC, and it is dedicated to the high-quality preservation of the 1950s EC Comics in book form.
First up from the imprint is a continuation of the EC Archives series, which was originally published by Gemstone Publishing. The first books to appear will be The Haunt of Fear Vol. 1 (containing the first six issues of that title with a foreword by actor Robert Englund and historical notes by Geissman), and The Vault of Horror Vol. 2 (containing issues 7-12 with a foreword by director John Landis and historical notes by Bhob Stewart).
As with the earlier installments in the series, the stories have been digitally re-colored based on the original 1950s Marie Severin color, but with subtleties of tone and shading not possible in time of the original, cheaply-printed comics. All of the cover reproductions are taken from the original 1950s comics, using the finest copies available—including Gaines File copies. The full-color, hardcover books with illustrated dust jackets are listed on Page 298 of the September 2011 issue of Previews from Diamond Comic Distributors. They are expected to be in stores in November. Retail price on each volume is $49.95.
Russ Cochran bought EC comic books right off the newsstands in the 1950s, and was an original member of the EC Fan-Addict Club. Over the past forty years, Cochran has published an important array of high-quality EC reprint publications, beginning in 1971 with the EC Portfolios. Spanning a period of many years, he published a black and white series of EC reprints (with the covers in color) entitled The Complete EC Library, which is widely credited with exposing the EC comics to younger generations, including a number of Hollywood filmmakers. Cochran is also a lifetime guitar picker, and has published books about his guitar idols, including Les Paul and Chet Atkins.
Grant Geissman began reading MAD magazine in 1961 at the age of eight, and began collecting EC material around 1965 when he discovered the short series of EC reprints published by Ballantine Books in paperback book form. He is the author of Collectibly MAD - The MAD and EC Collectibles Guide (1995), Tales of Terror! The EC Companion (with Fred von Bernewitz, 2000), and Foul Play! The Art and Artists of the Notorious 1950s EC Comics! (2005). Geissman is also a jazz guitarist with fourteen solo albums to his credit, and he currently co-writes the music to the CBS-TV sitcoms Two and a Half Men and Mike & Molly.
Views: 380
You need to be a member of Captain Comics to add comments!
So they doing subtle re-colorings based closely on the originals for the interiors, but restorations of scans of the actual covers? Hmm. Wish Marvel would do that with their 60's reprints. NOBODY has even bee trying to reproduce Stan Goldberg's UNIQUE work on those covers. That's why I spent so much time doing extensive clean-ups of scans from my own collection (and later, hi-res scans from other sources).
Replies