Jack Kamen’s classic stories in EC comics like Tales From the Crypt, Weird Science, Haunt of Fear, Modern Love, and Weird Fantasy left a lasting impression on midcentury American youth. They sold in the millions, but were vilified by child psychologists, preachers and politicians, who claimed these comic books were the cause of juvenile delinquency, leading to their ultimate demise. Kamen’s legacy has been preserved in the EC Artists’ Library from Fantagraphics Books with four collections: Zero Hour, Forty Whacks, Daddy Lost His Head, and Martian Monster. An exhibition of Kamen’s comics hosted by series editor J. Michael Catron opens…
Re/Read: Big Baby by Charles Burns
Re/Read is an occasional column by Fantagraphics Bookstore curator Larry Reid that examines backlist titles you may have missed or are worthy of another read. This week we’ll focus on Big Baby by Seattle native Charles Burns. Big Baby collects four stories created by Burns between 1983 and 1992 from works published in RAW comix anthology and his syndicated “Big Baby” comic strip. Much like the Hernandez Brothers‘ Love & Rockets stories of this period, science fiction plays an important role, though Burns’ EC horror comics influences are more evident. His primary protagonist is a peculiar little boy with an…
Digital Whacks and Tracks
Jack Kamen’s EC collection Forty Whacks and the second issue of Ed Piskor’s Hip Hop Family Tree monthly series are this week’s digital releases.
Graham and Gilbert Go Digital!
This week, our digital offerings through comiXology include Graham Ingels’ new EC collection and Gilbert Hernandez’s innovative issue of Blubber.
