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What is the 1st TRUE GA Comic HORROR Ever?
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41 posts in this topic

I'll also throw in Prize Comics#7 (1940)

Do you mean by true horror the book fully devoted to?

I mentioned Classic Comics #13 Dr Jekyll Mr Hyde in your other thread (1942)

CC is a full horror,and Prize had a run with the Franky feature.

Edited by porcupine48
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Spook was the title I was trying to remember but like you said @Jaymannot entirely horror. I like Jimmers' case for Classic Comics #13 Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, first edition is 1943. Mine is 3rd edition, June 1944, HRN 20, but here's a pic for those unfamiliar:

Like Spook and Front Page, there's early Shadow Comics issues that probably qualify as sowing the seeds too, like the Thane cover with all the skulls that I sold to a friend...:sorry:

image.jpeg

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4 minutes ago, Readcomix said:

I kept a pic of that Shadow I was talking about! March 1944:

image.jpeg

Not my copy(I wish I had one) but i've heard this brought up many times in the horror discussion as well,1940

0.jpg

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4 hours ago, IngelsFan said:

I’m enjoying reading this thread. Please allow me to muddy the water a little more with Yellowjacket Comics #7 (January, 1946). This was the first time in comics that a recurring host introduced a horror story:

 

C9D57902-807E-4341-8963-CA0F5130BE5A.jpeg

I want this.

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5 hours ago, adamstrange said:

The pre-code horror frenzy that hit on the 50s was the result of a slow boil that started much earlier than many folks realize.  Siegel and Shuster introduced vampires into their Dr Occult story in 1936 so horror started from nearly the beginning of original comic book material.  Dr. Occult would be the first continuing character in a horror stories as well as the first horror based super hero, followed by the Spectre in 1940. 

As far as horror covers go, if your definition of horror includes suspenseful crime covers and stories, then there are some Detective Comic covers that might fit the bill.  They don't do it for me but Detective 31 from Aug '39 gets pretty close with the moonlit castle scene of the mad monk.  Certainly Wonderworld 7 (arriving only a month later) with it's zombie cover advertising a Flame vs. zombie interior story should be considered a full blown horror cover.

If you want horror covers without superheros, then there are plenty of those in the early 40s including some in the Classics line.  The Spook and Front Page are cool horror covers but their interior is thin gruel with respect to horror stories.  Eerie 1 was the first comic that met 4 important criteria:  a horror cover, all horror content, all original content (not adapted from some other source), and a horror title.  There was only one issue so it evidently didn't sell enough to warrant a #2, nor was it apparent any other publisher was influenced by it.

The second horror comic meeting all 4 criteria, Adventures Into the Unknown #1, didn't hit until a 18 months later.  In the case of AITU, there was a #2 and it set off the flood of imitators from other publishers.

 

Wonderworld7new.jpg

Excellent. We see examples of the cool hybrid books in this thread that preceded AITU 1. The postwar era was a fascinating period in America. The advent of the Atomic Age and the beginnings of the Cold War had a tremendous impact on the postwar generation. A new adventure into the unknown was just beginning...

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6 hours ago, IngelsFan said:

I’m enjoying reading this thread. Please allow me to muddy the water a little more with Yellowjacket Comics #7 (January, 1946). This was the first time in comics that a recurring host introduced a horror story:

 

C9D57902-807E-4341-8963-CA0F5130BE5A.jpeg

Glad you brought up the Ancient Witch. Yellowjacket Comics 7 is known for its classic skull cover but has yet to be appreciated for also being the first appearance of the Ancient Witch. Overstreet and CGC please take notice...

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Considering horror pulps had been around since the 1920's, and early comics were often pulp influenced, as well as put out by pulp publishers, it's surprising their wasn't an earlier horror themed anthology title than Eerie. 

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13 hours ago, adamstrange said:

The pre-code horror frenzy that hit on the 50s was the result of a slow boil that started much earlier than many folks realize.  Siegel and Shuster introduced vampires into their Dr Occult story in 1936 so horror started from nearly the beginning of original comic book material.  Dr. Occult would be the first continuing character in a horror stories as well as the first horror based super hero, followed by the Spectre in 1940. 

As far as horror covers go, if your definition of horror includes suspenseful crime covers and stories, then there are some Detective Comic covers that might fit the bill.  They don't do it for me but Detective 31 from Aug '39 gets pretty close with the moonlit castle scene of the mad monk.  Certainly Wonderworld 7 (arriving only a month later) with it's zombie cover advertising a Flame vs. zombie interior story should be considered a full blown horror cover.

If you want horror covers without superheros, then there are plenty of those in the early 40s including some in the Classics line.  The Spook and Front Page are cool horror covers but their interior is thin gruel with respect to horror stories.  Eerie 1 was the first comic that met 4 important criteria:  a horror cover, all horror content, all original content (not adapted from some other source), and a horror title.  There was only one issue so it evidently didn't sell enough to warrant a #2, nor was it apparent any other publisher was influenced by it.

The second horror comic meeting all 4 criteria, Adventures Into the Unknown #1, didn't hit until a 18 months later.  In the case of AITU, there was a #2 and it set off the flood of imitators from other publishers.

 

Wonderworld7new.jpg

Such a great explanation. thanks for sharing Adam :)  #Blizzardmaster

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Add this one to the mix. Some more food for thought regarding first horror comic. This goes back to December 1940 in Prize Comics #7.

 

PC7FRANK

 

According to horror comics scholar Mike Howlett, in his essay “Howlett’s Hysterical Horror Comic History” (published in the horror comic anthology In the Dark), the first horror comic series was “The New Adventures of Frankenstein”, which began serialization in Prize Comics #7 (December 1940),  based on the monster from Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus.  However, Prize Comics #7 was an anthology comic, and the comic’s other features were unrelated to the horror genre.

Edited by misterrmystery
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16 hours ago, Jayman said:

Love those 2 books myself. Certainly predates the OPs choices but not made up of entirely horror. Pretty sure that honor goes to Eerie 1. Still the seeds of horror were blooming with these two! :luhv:

FrontPage1.jpg

Spook%20Comics%20%201_zpsuychdvrn.jpg

I think this comment is 100% correct. There were certainly the seeds of horror much earlier on as posted but Eerie deserves the title as the first true horror comic.

 

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is more a story about addiction and fits into the Psychological thriller genre better to me. I think the movie versions tried to make him into a monsters rogue gallery member.

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