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The edowens71 Comic Journal
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227 posts in this topic

Whew...now, I can think about moving into the phase of the journal where I lay out what kind of progress I've made on that list, and show some of my books...

 

But first...Questions? Comments? Discussion? :baiting:

 

See something I got wrong? It's highly likely....help me make sure I didn't leave anything off the list! :D

 

 

 

 

Good stuff - I'm in for the ride.

 

I like these "journey of a collector" yarns (except when MM does them lol ).

 

I have lots of questions and observations but I'll hold off in order not to interrupt the narrative.

 

Please carry on :applause:

 

:hi: Thanks for reading!

 

Give me a couple more posts to finish laying out my full EC completist list and the rationale behind it, and then I'll be happy to take questions. :D

 

OK, shoot!

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I'm sure this has been asked and answered elsewhere, but what's the difference between Crime Suspenstories 15(1) and 1?

 

:hi: Thanks for stopping in!

 

Great question.

 

So, you know how EC had a habit of starting up new titles and continuing the numbering from discontinued titles, rather than starting the numbering of the new title at #1?...

 

Well, apparently EC had made plans to discontinue Vault of Horror after issue #14 (yes, after only three issues), and start up the new Crime SuspenStories series where that numbering left off...i.e., the first issue of Crime SuspenStories was to be numbered as #15. They actually went so far as to start the print run that way...so, a very small number of CSS first issues were printed with the #15 listed in the indicia (although the cover itself referenced #1). Then, Bill decided to keep the Vault of Horror series, so he needed that #15 for Vault of Horror #15.

 

So, EC stopped the CSS first issue print run that had #15 in the indicia (before any were distributed), and literally blackened out the #15 and printed #1 over the top of it. Then, they continued the CSS first issue print run with issues that referenced #1 both on the cover and in the indicia.

 

So, the #15(1) is a pretty rare "variant" (it has its own separate entry in OSPG). Because both books reference #1 on the cover, the only way you can tell if you have the blacked out #15 variant is to look inside the front cover. I'll post a pic later....

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Thanks Ed! So I'm guessing the Gaines copies are the later version? I wonder how accurate CGC is on this when stabbing hm

 

I've wondered the same thing.

 

CRACK OUT PARTY! :banana::baiting:

 

Actually, I have an old label copy that needs cracking out anyway...that'll give us a sample size of 1.... :Dhm

 

...is there a blacked out #15 in the indicia? I'll report back....

 

css1_f_1.jpg

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So, where’s the end?

 

Approved_by_the_Comics_Code_Authority.gif

 

Well, the Comics Code (formed in 1954) was the beginning of the end. Among other things, the Code forbade the words “crime,” “horror,” and “terror” in comic titles, and banned vampires, werewolves, and zombies. So, this obviously made ECs stable of successful crime and horror titles no longer viable.

IIRC, they also banned the word, "weird", which effectively shut down Weird Science Fantasy, along with Vault of Horror.

 

Actually, the word, "crime" was not banned, only required to be less prominent in size as compared to the rest of the words in the title. Crime Does Not Pay continued along for another few months or so after the code, as an example.

 

I've always wondered why they didn't continue some of their comics as magazines, like they did with Mad.

 

One comment on your otherwise excellent complete EC checklist;

you have Piracy listed as a new trend title, when it was actually in the new direction group.

 

I became acquainted with Mad comics when my cousin, 4 years senior, gave me about a half dozen of them, which I still have. Ratty condition, but hey, they're EC's! :wink:

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Thanks Ed! So I'm guessing the Gaines copies are the later version? I wonder how accurate CGC is on this when stabbing hm

 

I've wondered the same thing.

 

CRACK OUT PARTY! :banana::baiting:

 

Actually, I have an old label copy that needs cracking out anyway...that'll give us a sample size of 1.... :Dhm

 

...is there a blacked out #15 in the indicia? I'll report back....

 

css1_f_1.jpg

 

You and your crack habit lol

 

I just checked GPA, and they don't split out results for 15(1) and 1. Hard to get a read on the price difference - does anyone have a sense of the premium a 15(1) might carry?

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You and your crack habit lol

 

Well, no such luck on that copy...CGC got it right...they're 1/1 :D

 

Here's the indicia on that copy I just cracked out...a "true" #1 (but, notice that the rest of the first line after Vol. 1 No. 1 is blank, like they hadn't quite gotten it fully sorted out yet):

 

css1_i1.jpg

 

And here's the indicia on my copy of 15(1). I think the full text of the blacked out part says '#15 (formerly "The Vault of Horror")':

 

css151_i1.jpg

 

As you can see from the tape, my copy of 15(1) is a real beater:

 

css151_f.jpg

 

If anyone can find me an upgrade, :takeit::D

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IIRC, they also banned the word, "weird", which effectively shut down Weird Science Fantasy, along with Vault of Horror.

 

Actually, the word, "crime" was not banned, only required to be less prominent in size as compared to the rest of the words in the title. Crime Does Not Pay continued along for another few months or so after the code, as an example.

 

I've always wondered why they didn't continue some of their comics as magazines, like they did with Mad.

 

One comment on your otherwise excellent complete EC checklist;

you have Piracy listed as a new trend title, when it was actually in the new direction group.

 

I became acquainted with Mad comics when my cousin, 4 years senior, gave me about a half dozen of them, which I still have. Ratty condition, but hey, they're EC's! :wink:

 

Thanks, fifties! Good stuff.

 

I debated where to put Piracy...point taken. Wikipedia has it down as a New Trend title, and I noticed that it started a bit earlier than the other New Direction titles (October 1954 vs. all of the others in March 1955), so I left it there. You're right though...I've seen it classified the other way, as well. (thumbs u

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IIRC, they also banned the word, "weird", which effectively shut down Weird Science Fantasy, along with Vault of Horror.

 

Actually, the word, "crime" was not banned, only required to be less prominent in size as compared to the rest of the words in the title. Crime Does Not Pay continued along for another few months or so after the code, as an example.

 

 

I don't think that's right. According to The Ten Cent Plague, "weird" wasn't on the banned list, but Gaines got it into his head that he had to change it anyway. The NY statute banning words in comic titles listed "crime", "terror", "horror" and "sex" (despite the fact that no comic had sex in the title). [10c Plague, p 311]. Crime does not pay was indeed banned in NY.

 

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Now, this is a noble endeavour :applause:

 

I am as big an E.C. fan as the next funny book guy. Bought a few from Bobby Bell back in the day just to get a "taste" of the real things.

 

My geographical isolation (original E.C.'s were not distributed here) meant that (in the pre-internet days) I knew I had no hope of getting anything more than random books.

 

Then two things happened.

 

In 1973 East Coast Comix issued their series of reprints. This was as close as I could get to high grade copies at a very reader-friendly price.

 

It was interesting to note how closely these reprints matched the originals in terms of colouring, line reproduction, "texture" (if you know what I mean) and I had high hopes that the publisher would reproduce the entire E.C. output.

 

Not to be. Twelve issues and done.

 

Then, Russ Cochran's mammoth effort arrived in 1978. I could not wait to get a hold of these.

 

The reprints, larger than the originals and in black and white, opened my eyes to the detail that had been obscured in the originals. This is not a slam on Marie Severin, but simply the shortcomings of the four colour production process at the time.

 

They also pretty much extinguished my collecting "need" to get the originals. Oh, I've still got (and continue to obtain as targets of opportunity) the old books, but I really like having the ability to read any E.C. at a moment's notice without fear of damage.

 

Anyway, enough prattle from me :blahblah: . Pray continue, Ed (thumbs u

 

 

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Ed, as you know,the New Trend titles began in 1950-52, whereas the New Direction fare was either started in late '54, beginning with Piracy, which was a definite break with their horror/crime/war/SciFi genre, or early '55, with the other New Direction titles.

 

Now to further confuse the issue, here's a house ad from TFTC 45, promoting Piracy as...A New Trend Title! Oy va!

 

20htyjn.jpg

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I wish you well in your journey in collecting all the EC's, I would suggest you pick up some samples of the Canadian and even some of the later Mexican EC's. It's fun to compare the coloring and the Spanish translation of the stories. Oh and how about the Fan-Addict Club and the GhouLunatic photos. I feel as a Completest these are also part of the canon. See what can of worms you've opened, but you will have a lots of fun also in your journey.

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For your checklist, here are four different back cover versions of Wonders of Wire Rope...

 

1. Upson-Walton Company, Cleveland, Ohio

2. The Galigher Company, Salt Lake City, Utah

3. Macwhyte Wire Ropes

4. Yellow Strand Wire Rope, Broderick & Bascom Rope Company, St. Louis, Missouri

 

:ohnoez:

 

Thanks to BOOT for this excellent info - he posted this (with photos!) over in the EC Fan Addict thread in the Gold subforum. LINK

 

So, it seems that EC produced Wonders of Wire Rope for multiple manufacturers of wire rope (at least these 4...could there be more?), to help them market the virtues of their product to potential customers. The only apparent difference is the info on the back cover that references the company that handed a particular copy out. Basically, looks like they printed essentially one issue, but left a blank "picture frame" type area on the back cover, and then printed different "client" info back there, as needed.

 

For purposes of my list, the question is whether I should now list these as 4 distinct issues to go after, or keep it at 1 entry in the list, and be happy if I can find just one representative copy from any of the back cover issuer "variants"? hm

 

I think at this point, I'll leave it as just one entry in the list, and just be happy and call it good if I can ever get my hands on just one of them...any one of them.

 

:wishluck:

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So, how much progress have I already made? If you're reading this journal, hopefully you won't now feel like you've been brought into a 25 chapter novel already at chapter 23 (although those last couple chapters are usually the most entertaining, right?). Admittedly, it might have been cooler if I had started this journal earlier...but better late than never!

 

Remember, all of that stuff on the first three pages was a retrospective....how I became an EC completist, and how I constructed my list of 470 issues to target (which is still subject to revision if we figure out there's some info missing). Well, I've been pecking away at that list for a while now with some dedication...

 

So, my next major task in this journal will be to lay out (hopefully in an interesting way) how and when I obtained the issues I already have (sort of the Cliff Notes version of what I've done so far), while also narrating the progress of my efforts going forward...whether it's upgrading issues I already have (and I need lots of upgrades), or acquiring missing issues on the list.

 

(Once I get the journal fully updated and current with respect to the ECs, maybe I'll work in some stuff about other collecting themes I'm working on on the side)

 

Please keep the comments/questions/discussion coming! Great stuff!

 

:news:Drumroll....according to my calculations, as of today I have 448 out of the 470 books on the list....missing 22 of them. (also, I have multiple copies of some issues...naturally)

 

Again, I'll stress the caveat that I'm not satisfied with all of my copies of the 448 issues I've knocked off the list...I've been following the "upgrade" collecting strategy...you know, acquire as decent a copy as I can find (above some reasonable lower bound on the grade) and then upgrade later as opportunities arise....so, lots of upgrading to do yet....

 

Which 22 issues am I missing? What are the characteristics of the 448 issues that I already have? I'll lay that out later (I need to pause to build at least a little suspense here :grin: )...

Edited by edowens71
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For your checklist, here are four different back cover versions of Wonders of Wire Rope...

 

1. Upson-Walton Company, Cleveland, Ohio

2. The Galigher Company, Salt Lake City, Utah

3. Macwhyte Wire Ropes

4. Yellow Strand Wire Rope, Broderick & Bascom Rope Company, St. Louis, Missouri

 

:ohnoez:

 

Thanks to BOOT for this excellent info - he posted this (with photos!) over in the EC Fan Addict thread in the Gold subforum. LINK

 

So, it seems that EC produced Wonders of Wire Rope for multiple manufacturers of wire rope (at least these 4...could there be more?)

 

Yep, there be more. :D

 

Found this image of another version out on the internet..

 

5. H.D. Edwards & Company, Detroit, Michigan

 

Who knows how many different back cover versions existed back then...probably unknowable.

 

Glad I decided to just look for any single copy...otherwise, this could drive me :screwy:

 

9r2seDQpVigUaodOwG1jIA-smallw.jpg

 

 

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:news:

 

I caught a small error in my previous list!

 

I forgot to account for the fact that there are 3 cover variations for Mad #28 (I only had one entry before, where there should be three...one for each variant). So, total # of books on the list is 470 (not 468), and my missing issue count is 22 (not 20).

 

Moving farther away from the goal as we speak :cry::D

 

I went back and edited in the corrections....

Edited by edowens71
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OK, here's the big reveal...the 22 issues from "the list" of 470 that I don't own a copy of:

 

Across the Seas in a War Torn World

Church that was Built with Bread

Dandy Comics #2

Dandy Comics #6

Haunt of Fear #8

KO Punch

Mad #28 "with very useful Income Tax Guide" variant

Mad #28 "with a late and utterly useless Income Tax Guide" variant

Out of the Past a Clue to the Future

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete New Testament 1st printing (40-cent cover price)

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete New Testament 3rd printing (50-cent cover price)

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete Old Testament 6th printing

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete Old Testament 7th printing

Picture Stories From the Bible Complete Old Testament 8th printing

Reddy Kilowatt 1B

Reddy Kilowatt 2B

Reddy Kilowatt 3B

Tales of Terror Annual #2

Two-Fisted Tales Annual #1

Two-Fisted Tales Annual #2

War Against Crime #4

Wonders of Wire Rope

 

 

 

It's OK to consider this to be a WTB post :D . Any help would be greatly appreciated. :foryou:

(there are a few copies of a few of these on eBay/Metro right now, but not sure those are the right copies for me...e.g., Two-Fisted Tales Annuals....holding out on those for a bit to see if I can find the keeper copies and skip the upgrade cycle)

 

For completeness...I have a deal pending on a Tales of Terror Annual #2, but I don't want to mark it off the list of missings until I have it in hand (and I pay for it :eek: )...

 

Next step in the journal is to lay out more info about the 448 issues I do own a copy of...

 

Edited by edowens71
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