Duffman_Comics Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 15 hours ago, AJD said: A new purchase for me here (thanks Ed). I hadn't ever read an issue of MD before, so I was curious to see what it was like. Most of the EC New Direction titles were solid, but I feared that this one might be more like the dull Extra! than the excellent Valor or Piracy titles. Actually, it's not a bad read, and I suspect it captures the state of the art of medicine in the 1950s pretty well. I'm old enough to remember being being taken to the local Town Hall for polio vaccine in the 1960s, and hearing the parents being happy and grateful that they had the opportunity. There were people in our town not much older than me with leg braces from having had the disease earlier. So the story below struck a chord. It wasn't long after this comic was published in 1954 that the first disastrous trials with polio vaccine happened. The safe and effective vaccine I got was first available in the US in 1961 (I was born in 1963). I'm not sure when it was first available in Australia, but I'm glad it was. Thanks Dr Sabin. Finally, here's a contest for AJD's Journal readers. See if you can guess which one of the following dialogue excerpts is from a single speech balloon in MD #4. A. Ya gotta get past me first! B. She has a compound comminuted bilateral fracture of the mandible. Her nose is deviated. She's also suffered a depression of the malar-process of the zygoma in the infra-orbital region. There's a fragment of bone missing from the right mandible which, of course, calls for an autogenous bone graft. It's a shame! A beautiful girl like that turned into a grotesquery because of a moment's recklessness! C. Argh! I'm hit! They don't write comics like that any more! I love EC's, and here's a couple of observations regarding this page. Mum and Dad have twin beds. How very, very fifties. The Doc's observation: "I'm afraid it's polio Ken. There's been an epidemic . . . not very widespread so you may not have heard!" What? I think the Doc needs to look up the definition of "epidemic" 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 1 hour ago, Duffman_Comics said: I love EC's, and here's a couple of observations regarding this page. Mum and Dad have twin beds. How very, very fifties. The Doc's observation: "I'm afraid it's polio Ken. There's been an epidemic . . . not very widespread so you may not have heard!" What? I think the Doc needs to look up the definition of "epidemic" Duffman - making observations about comics that mere mortals miss since 2006. Thanks Peter! 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 (edited) On 20/05/2017 at 2:03 PM, Patriot6 said: Are your using an airbrush or brush painting? I can't make out any brush strokes on your models, but some people are that good! Thanks for the kind words. Everything is brush painted. I haven't ever owned an airbrush. On 20/05/2017 at 2:03 PM, Patriot6 said: What do you currently have on the bench? Another Airfix kit! What else? Do you hang out on any model sites? I can sometimes be found on Hyperscale. Edited July 6, 2017 by AJD 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 (edited) Another day, another comic. If MD was a pleasant surprise from the EC New Direction stable, this one was anything but. The premise is easy enough. Each issue we get to sit in on a psychoanalysis session with one of the patients shown in the sidebar. We get to hear them be worked through understanding their emotional problems by a professional. Yes, it's every bit as exciting as that sounds. Here's the sensational splash panel. Strap yourselves in: Here's an example of the insights the patients get: "My boss was furious! He... he got so angry! It was terrifying! He reminded me of my father... that time so long ago! I was only a little girl then... " It's fair to say that parent issues abound in these case files - which might reflect the Gaines family home to an extent! The book Foul Play tells us this: Gaines and Feldstein were both in analysis at the time, so they got the idea to do a comic book following people's progress in their analysis. "We had this idea that we were gonna put out this proselytizing comic book called Psychoanalysis and tell people what it was all about." said Feldstein in the EC Companion. "I don't know why we ever thought it would sell, when I think about it". Quite. This is really doleful stuff. Edited July 6, 2017 by AJD 1950's war comics and vaillant 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Point Five Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 It's funny, but finding an original Psychoanalysis #2 at my LCS back in college (early 90s) was one of the 'gateway drugs' that started me on the classic EC titles. To my mind it was actually a very funny book... just as the posted pic shows, it contained as much over-the-top drama as could possibly be wrenched from a few people sitting in an office every issue. Certainly no worse than the average 50s romance book at least! 1950's war comics and vaillant 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot6 Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 4 hours ago, AJD said: Everything is brush painted. Impressive. There is an older gentleman at my IPMS club the brush paints large ships and I can never tell either. It really is an art. I on the other hand 'cheat' with an airbrush. I do miss the brush painting days occasionally though because the starting and stopping kills me in some projects. The reason I have never really enjoyed building planes, is because of the canopy, I don't know how you guys do it! 4 hours ago, AJD said: Do you hang out on any model sites? I can sometimes be found on Hyperscale. I don't frequent Hyperscale, I am probably the only modeller that does not! I do not contribute much and usually just lurk, but I am on http://www.militarymodelling.com/forums/latest_posts.asp (I enjoy the magazine). 4 hours ago, AJD said: Beautiful! You're on the home stretch haha. That yellow band must be enamel, yah? God I hate yellow, toughest colour out there. Do you ever set your planes into a diorama or base? Happy modelling, JF 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 6 hours ago, Point Five said: It's funny, but finding an original Psychoanalysis #2 at my LCS back in college (early 90s) was one of the 'gateway drugs' that started me on the classic EC titles. To my mind it was actually a very funny book... Maybe you should see someone about that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaillant Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 6 hours ago, Point Five said: It's funny, but finding an original Psychoanalysis #2 at my LCS back in college (early 90s) was one of the 'gateway drugs' that started me on the classic EC titles. To my mind it was actually a very funny book... just as the posted pic shows, it contained as much over-the-top drama as could possibly be wrenched from a few people sitting in an office every issue. Certainly no worse than the average 50s romance book at least! Actually Psychoanalysis is very interesting because it documents an era, it testifies the involvement of american culture (especially post-war) with the cultural climate of psychoanalisis and its "self-enclosed" theories. Complex problem, but EC was clearly attuned to the times. Impact is super-cool anyway, and I’d love to read MD. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC ed Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 10 hours ago, AJD said: This is really doleful stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaillant Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 On 21/5/2017 at 2:23 PM, AJD said: "We had this idea that we were gonna put out this proselytizing comic book called Psychoanalysis and tell people what it was all about." said Feldstein in the EC Companion. "I don't know why we ever thought it would sell, when I think about it". Quite. This is really doleful stuff. Yes, that’s the point. It is a document. But an interesting document. Have you ever read "Artificial Happiness: The Dark Side of the New Happy Class" by Ronald W. Dworkin? Maybe not a top level essay, but very interesting about american culture since the post-war period, and it is directly tied to the climate which generated books like "Psychoanalysis". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 (edited) I'm very pleased to add this EC to my collection, thanks to Ed O's bottomless undercopy box. Great GGA by Jack Davis on the cover - even if his grasp of pachyderm anatomy seems to have gone a little awry in the leg-to-shoulder connection: Reading this issue confirmed my lack of connection with EC horror stories. Two of them revolve around being entertained by people being dismembered. Neither is as gross as Foul Play, but neither of them appealed to me either. The second story in the book is a 'death by irony' story in which a trio of rogues frame their innocent collage in a web of deceit, then <spoiler> fly into a giant spider web and get devoured while making good their escape. </spoiler> It's mildy funny. The last (cover) story is the best, and is the one I've chosen for Under the Covers. (Spoilers again) The woman is crushed to death by the elephant, who is ordered to by the trainer to get his wife out of the way for his mistress. The innocent elephant is killed by the circus security folks. A year later the circus is back in the same town... The Trumpeting Dead! Edited July 6, 2017 by AJD sagii 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffman_Comics Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 More wonderful E.C. stuff, this time from the fabulous pen of Graham Ingles. I just wish the production i.e. printing processes were a bit "sharper". 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted May 29, 2017 Author Share Posted May 29, 2017 (edited) Here's another EC recently added to the box. This is MD #1 The first story in the series is a look back at human history before modern medicine. It's quite thought provoking, if a little heavy handed in a forgivable EC kind of way. But when I think of all the medical procedures I've had, and the mostly pain and disease free life I've had, it really is worth taking pause and saying a quiet thank you for human ingenuity. Here's a page from that story, with an unintentionally (I think) funny panel at the bottom left: It might be just me, but I'd have thought the guy that had just caused a gaping wound in the patient would have a fair idea how he's doing... It must have been disappointing to hear "dead!" Ow, man, not again! Edited July 6, 2017 by AJD 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Lime Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 (edited) "Dead!" Oh man, that made me laugh hard! And the parrot panel had me thinking of a certain, famous sketch. Shame it wasn't blue. Trepanning is still used in surgery today for certain conditions which may also have the side-effect of banishing the headache-pain demons into their portal of escape. Edited May 29, 2017 by Harry Lime 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Shepherd Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 I'm reacquainting myself with this wonderful journal. I spent some time last year collecting Tales from the Crypt dvds, it took me about four months to watch all seven seasons. During that time I ordered Shock SupenseStories vol. 1 and got to read a few of the stories I had just watched. I enjoyed the books sampling of the EC brand, while viewing the art on glossy paper, I couldn't help but wonder what the art really looked liked, meaning what they looked like on the actual comic pages. This journal assuages such curiosity! 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted May 30, 2017 Author Share Posted May 30, 2017 (edited) On 30/05/2017 at 0:07 AM, Brando- said: I'm reacquainting myself with this wonderful journal. I spent some time last year collecting Tales from the Crypt dvds, it took me about four months to watch all seven seasons. During that time I ordered Shock SupenseStories vol. 1 and got to read a few of the stories I had just watched. I enjoyed the books sampling of the EC brand, while viewing the art on glossy paper, I couldn't help but wonder what the art really looked liked, meaning what they looked like on the actual comic pages. This journal assuages such curiosity! Hey Brando, thanks for the kind words! As it happens, the package of books I'm working through posting has some nice SSS issues in it (the first ones I have in the series). Here's #3. Let me know your favourite pages in #s 2 and 3 and I'll scan them for you. Edited July 6, 2017 by AJD 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Point Five Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 12 hours ago, AJD said: Hey Brando, thanks for the kind words! As it happens, the package of books I'm working through posting has some nice SSS issues in it (the first ones I have in the series). Here's #3. Let me know your favourite pages in #s 2 and 3 and I'll scan them for you. I'd say that guy on the cover is toast. That's a beauty of a Shock #3! 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted May 31, 2017 Author Share Posted May 31, 2017 45 minutes ago, Point Five said: I'd say that guy on the cover is toast. That's a beauty of a Shock #3! Would it shock you (see what I did there?) to know that it's an Ed Owens undercopy? 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted June 1, 2017 Author Share Posted June 1, 2017 (edited) On 31/05/2017 at 11:29 AM, Point Five said: I'd say that guy on the cover is toast. That's a beauty of a Shock #3! Well, let's find out, shall we? (Spoilers) Naw, other than a marginal grasp of English syntax and imminent expiration, he's fine. Edited July 6, 2017 by AJD 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted June 2, 2017 Author Share Posted June 2, 2017 (edited) While I am almost overwhelmed by the four views and no comments since the last post, let me try to struggle through another one. Here's the other SSS that was in my last mega-shipment. I think that ShockSuspenStories was probably the boldest of the EC titles. Some of the social issues they took head on made the book look pretty subversive. The cover story in this one is an example - an angry mob turns on someone who doesn't measure up to their idea of what patriotism looks like. The level of 'retribution' is severe. (Note the guy reaching down to pick up a brick bottom right.) It reflects the Cold War mood of the times, and is consistent with a particularly ugly time in US politics. Not surprisingly, there's more to the story than meets the eye: Edited July 6, 2017 by AJD 1950's war comics and porcupine48 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
