E.C. Fan Addict THREAD 27 27

[KirbyJack]

Anyone else think that Haunt of Fear 18 would be a bigger deal if it weren’t quite so busy? There is a whole lot of horror going on there. 

Edited May 9, 2020 by KirbyJack

[KirbyJack]

Haunt 17 (not 3) seems to be in increased demand lately.

[OtherEric]

38 minutes ago, KirbyJack said:

Anyone else think that Haunt of Fear 18 would be a bigger deal if it weren’t quite so busy? There is a whole lot of horror going on there. 

The Ingels covers, I think, tend to be dark and messy and complicated.  They absolutely reward a closer look, and are probably my favorites of the horror covers in general. But they don't have the instant jaw dropping impact the Craig covers do.  The layouts on the Craig covers are consistently amazing, even if I think he was in the lower tier of the EC artists in general.  Admittedly, lower tier EC regular is still A-list in any larger sense; the sheer quality of the EC crew remains just mind boggling.

I think Ingels also took a surprisingly long time to allow for the cameos of the hosts on his covers.  I love the Haunt 17 cover, but it gets marked down for having the foreground zombie wearing a monocle with the Vault Keeper's picture on it.  Something similar happens on the 18.

[KirbyJack]

Bought 2 super cheap New Trends on ebay. I'll post them when (if) they arrive!

[OtherEric]

2 hours ago, KirbyJack said:

Bought 2 super cheap New Trends on ebay. I'll post them when (if) they arrive!

[Ghastly542454]

Haunt Of Fear #18 is my number #1 EC favorite cover. In my opinion it is Ingel’s magnum opus.

[KirbyJack]

That's a really nice copy! Looks better than a 6!

[PilgrimS]

Have recently bought a raw copy of Tales From the Crypt 35. It looks in ok condition but I think it's been re-stapled. I'm interested to know how this will effect value. In silver age books it's a killer but I suspect restoration is much more common in Golden Age books, and seeing as there is less of them, it's a case of getting what you can sometimes. Here is a link to the ebay auction I won, which contains pictures.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TALES-FROM-THE-CRYPT-35-APR-1953-ORIGINAL-PRE-CODE-GOLDEN-AGE-HORROR-EC-COMICS-/153919238473?nma=true&si=olst709JlJVqJn92pBx%2Bcn2EWYA%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Also I bought Vault of Horror 33 and looking inside it seems to be a Canadian copy Is this good or bad?

Finally, I also bought Haunt of Fear 11. This is older than the other 2 books mentioned and the paper quality of the cover is different. It feels more like card. I can't see anything to suggest it's a reprint. Are the earlier issues on card stock?

[EC ed]

20 hours ago, PilgrimS said:

Have recently bought a raw copy of Tales From the Crypt 35. It looks in ok condition but I think it's been re-stapled. I'm interested to know how this will effect value. In silver age books it's a killer but I suspect restoration is much more common in Golden Age books, and seeing as there is less of them, it's a case of getting what you can sometimes. Here is a link to the ebay auction I won, which contains pictures.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TALES-FROM-THE-CRYPT-35-APR-1953-ORIGINAL-PRE-CODE-GOLDEN-AGE-HORROR-EC-COMICS-/153919238473?nma=true&si=olst709JlJVqJn92pBx%2Bcn2EWYA%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Also I bought Vault of Horror 33 and looking inside it seems to be a Canadian copy Is this good or bad?

Finally, I also bought Haunt of Fear 11. This is older than the other 2 books mentioned and the paper quality of the cover is different. It feels more like card. I can't see anything to suggest it's a reprint. Are the earlier issues on card stock?

TFTC 35: it looks to me like the staples that are there are the original staples (their appearance and location are consistent with the original staples) - I'm guessing that at some point someone added extra staples and then someone later removed the extra staples, leaving behind the extra staple holes; if this is true, then the book would not be "restored" based on this staple issue (the extra holes through the book would affect the grade of the book, of course)

VoH 33: some collectors look for the Canadian (Superior) issues, and some don't - overall, I'd say that they are less sought after. As an aside, in my view they are not technically "ECs", because they were not published by EC - they were published by Superior.

HoF 11: the earlier issues are not on card stock - the cover paper should be similar. Perhaps someone put a reproduction cover on a coverless copy? Pics?

[KirbyJack]

2 hours ago, EC ed said:

 

VoH 33: some collectors look for the Canadian (Superior) issues, and some don't - overall, I'd say that they are less sought after. As an aside, in my view they are not technically "ECs", because they were not published by EC - they were published by Superior.

I thought they were just printed by Superior. I’ve got to look into the distinction!

[Robot Man]

1 hour ago, KirbyJack said:

I thought they were just printed by Superior. I’ve got to look into the distinction!

Canadian ECs published by Superior are usually lower quality and obviously not worth what US versions are. An exception to the rule would be the 3 issues of Weird Suspenstories. Near impossible to find. I have never owned one and I have owned at least one of every American EC at one time or another.

I did pick this up for a good price a couple years ago as a place holder. I don't mind having it for the time being.

I also bought this MAD #5 about a year ago even though I have a nice US one. One of my favorite MADS and it was priced so cheap.

[Hap Hazard]

I pick up the CDL books also when I run across them at a good price.

[KirbyJack]

I’ve owned 2 CDL books, but both had the EC logo. I see from the pictures that some don’t! I’m sure I’ve seen similar issues, but I must not have noticed. I did note the clearly inferior printing quality. 
 
This place is the source for EC info!

[fifties]

6 hours ago, EC ed said:

 

VoH 33: some collectors look for the Canadian (Superior) issues, and some don't - overall, I'd say that they are less sought after. As an aside, in my view they are not technically "ECs", because they were not published by EC - they were published by Superior.

 

You are SUCH a purist, bwahahaha!  Personally, I think the content is what matters, regardless of where a book is actually printed.  I've found that the Canadian issues are definitely valued lower than the American ones, and for good reason.  The printing quality is simply not as good.  I had heard that they used paper printing  "plates" vs the metal ones employed domestically, as the reason.  The interior colors are duller.  The upside of course is that they are a less expensive alternative when collecting EC's.

[EC ed]

27 minutes ago, fifties said:

The upside of course is that they are a less expensive alternative when collecting EC's.

I do think they are a pretty cool set of books to collect - and, if I was Canadian, I'm sure that I would want a complete set!!

But yes, from an "EC purist" sense, I look at them as EC material reprinted by another publisher. Kind of like the Gladstone EC reprints - those are Gladstones, not ECs proper. I do think the Superior reprints are much more interesting than any other EC reprint, because they were being produced very close in time to the actual ECs they reprinted. Also, the motivation was different - I think Superior was doing these (and other American comic book reprints) because at the time, Canada had imposed a ban on the importation of American comic books...so, this was a bit of a workaround to Canada's own censorship movement - which is a fascinating part of that history.

Still, they're not "ECs"  

[KirbyJack]

They both have detached front cover. They were $6 a piece. 
But...they’re complete New Trend ECs and I didn’t have them! 

Survey Time: Is Panic #3 the EC you’re most likely to see for sale? I swear they’re everywhere.

Edited May 18, 2020 by KirbyJack

[OtherEric]

3 hours ago, KirbyJack said:

They both have detached front cover. They were $6 a piece. 
But...they’re complete New Trend ECs and I didn’t have them! 

Survey Time: Is Panic #3 the EC you’re most likely to see for sale? I swear they’re everywhere.

I think Panic in general is the EC you're most likely to see, I don't know that #3 stands out as that far ahead of the pack for me.  7 & 10 are also pretty common.

Still a great deal for $12!

[PilgrimS]

On 5/18/2020 at 2:34 PM, EC ed said:

TFTC 35: it looks to me like the staples that are there are the original staples (their appearance and location are consistent with the original staples) - I'm guessing that at some point someone added extra staples and then someone later removed the extra staples, leaving behind the extra staple holes; if this is true, then the book would not be "restored" based on this staple issue (the extra holes through the book would affect the grade of the book, of course)

VoH 33: some collectors look for the Canadian (Superior) issues, and some don't - overall, I'd say that they are less sought after. As an aside, in my view they are not technically "ECs", because they were not published by EC - they were published by Superior.

HoF 11: the earlier issues are not on card stock - the cover paper should be similar. Perhaps someone put a reproduction cover on a coverless copy? Pics?

Thanks for the detailed reply. I've done some research on Canadian Comics now. Seems there are some hard core collectors of these out there, but it's a recent thing. This particular issue doesn't seem to appear in the database of some of the Canadian comic pages. It was the last one of this series they printed, so may be more scarce.

Here are some pictures of HoF 11. The cover is certainly different paper to other EC comics I have. I am wondering if it has been replaced at some point.

 

[EC ed]

13 hours ago, PilgrimS said:

Here are some pictures of HoF 11. The cover is certainly different paper to other EC comics I have. I am wondering if it has been replaced at some point.

Tough to say. The colors look a bit off, and you can definitely see that there has been some horseplay with the stapling. Combine that with the fact that the cover stock seems different... 

[PilgrimS]

53 minutes ago, EC ed said:

Tough to say. The colors look a bit off, and you can definitely see that there has been some horseplay with the stapling. Combine that with the fact that the cover stock seems different... 

I agree as soon as I took it out of the bag to have a look, I was thinking it felt different and I was suspicious.

I bought 4 raw books for a reasonable price and that was the only one I was disappointed. I'm actually quite pleased with that Canadian one, as it seems quite a hard one to find. The Haunt of Fear may not be restored and I thought it was, and even if it is, it's still a nice book. The 4th book was VoH 37 and I couldn't find anything wrong with that.

Thanks for your answers.