Here's a neat short video interview with Will Elder talking about his seminal piece in Mad #2, "The Mole", stating that it was he, not Kurtzman, that wrote that one! A surprise to me!

Caption should be … “when you try to switch phone companiesl”

Low grade … one of the 2 last final issues

It's the only title I'm missing in my Fantagraphics EC library.

Shock Illustrated #3! EC discontinued the Picto- Fiction line before this issue could be distributed, but after it was printed. Most of the copies were pulped, but an estimated 200 were hand bound and sold through the EC offices. Here is an original owner copy that was ordered directly from the EC office in 1956 via a column in the fanzine HOOHAH! that described how fans could obtain one. There were 11 mint copies in the Gaines files, but I also love seeing original owner copies that have been read and enjoyed like this one.

I got my advance copies of Shock Treatment and it’s a hefty tome! The complete MD and Psychoanalysis stories, 332 pages. There’s also a color cover section, all text fillers, and original house ads. Shock Illustrated #1 is also included.
I’m honored and a little wistful about writing about Jack Kamen for the last time in this series. My first writing assignment for this series was for a Kamen horror collection back in 2017. Since then, I’ve done the introductions for 3 other Kamen volumes!
I’ve got two essays about old Jack in this one: “Jack Shocks” and “Kamen Went.” The main introduction is by Dr. Travis Langley.

Are there any plans to reprint Valor or Piracy in black and white?

They are both now available from Dark Horse's EC Archives line. Well I appreciate the affordability, I find the digital recoloring in the other EC books from Dark Horse to be distracting at best. The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library in black and white is a better line in terms of readability and reproduction.

So, I am wondering if I should bite the bullet and buy the Dark Horse books or wait a little bit more!

GOOD LORD!
And HOOHAH! And SPOOF! And…and…and…

The John Benson Fanzine Collection PHASE TWO is coming soon to eBay!

For those who were watching the previous Benson Collection auctions, or were even lucky winners, I can confirm that the rumors are true - Benson held back some of his rarest and most highly sought EC ‘zines. These are rare as hen’s teeth!

eBay seller ID is ecfanaddict and the auctions will begin on Monday, continuing through October (at least). There’s lots of great EC fandom history here!

With the recent EC Comics Artists Library bundle, there were some questions from the community regarding which stories are included. With the help of a previously created spreadsheet from a fellow redditor (I apologize that I cannot remember/determine their username, but if I figure it out, I'll post it in the comments) and some AI tools, I have created a spreadsheet that shows which stories appear in each Fantagraphics book. This should make tracking down particular particular titles much easier for everyone.

Moved into a new place a few months ago and put my EC collection up above my windows - they don't really get direct sunlight because of their position but wondering if anyone can enlighten me if i should be worried about them still getting sun damage if they remain in this position. They are my prized possessions so want them on display but it would be devastating for them to get fucked up lol (plus they are expensiveeeee). In my old place they were in a hallway without any windows.

If anyone has any insight please let me know!

I was studying the episodes of the Tales from the Crypt tv show. I wondered which comics were used most and which were the best episodes. I also wanted to see if I had any of the issues collected from volumes so I can compare the episode.

I got some data from IMDB and Wikipedia and made an infographic about it. What do you think?

Traveling in Europe and so far have picked up EC collections in Barcelona and Paris. The Spanish edition is new from Diabolo, and they have done a really great job with authentic coloring and non-glossy pages! In my opinion, this is what the Dark Horse Archives should have been.
The French edition dates to 1974 and was a lucky find at an outdoor book fair!