Many many moons ago I was a subscriber to Russ Cochran's over-sized black and white reprints of the legendary EC Comics. They were awesome and were a considerable commitment at a time when money was tight, but they proved worth the investment when I traded them off some years later. I made a little on them, unlike what will happen when I shuffle off the mountain of comics which populates my back bedroom now. But once having many issues of vintage EC made me yearn to catch them again so when I saw this large-size color reprint of the first six issues of the ground-breaking comic, I added to the pile. I've never regretted the decision as these six issues are brimming with the MAD glamour which established the magazine early on. While MAD went on eventually to become a magazine-sized black and white pioneer, the earliest color comics are still among the finest pieces of work done in the whole history of the industry. The stories have been reprinted and reprinted again and again ever since they first dropped onto the stands in those long ago days of 1952.
Here are the covers of the issues contained in this mighty volume.
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I remember advance subscribing for a group of the EC sets for an incredibly reduced rate (and Cochran had an installment plan so you can pay in small bites over a year). I opted for the color version of Mad, so I didn't go for the later reprints, but I understand volume 4 has the first magazine-sized issue, which I'd appreciate having. In fact, I wish they'd get around to reprinting at least the Kurtzman-edited magazines; he was sort of inventing a new form. And of course the art was magnificent.
ReplyDeleteThat's probably the same set. Seems like the MAD books were in color, but it's been many years ago now.
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I got reprints of these that they made in the 90s
ReplyDeleteThey did some handsome color reprints of the EC line in comic book format. I used to want those, but I'm glad I didn't pop for them. More comics to get rid of now.
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I bought the boxed set of four volumes reprinting all 23 issues of the comic back in the late '80s. Between '97 & '99, they were reprinted again in an 8-issue magazine format - got 'em too.
ReplyDeleteSounds delightful. I'm not familiar with the magazine format versions right off hand.
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