TERROR ILLUSTRATED 1
"REST IN PEACE"
In the wake of the 1950s comics witch-hunt that saw the formation of the corrupt "Comics Code Authority"-- allegedly a self-policing body designed to avoid government censorship, but in reality, a tool for the biggest (and most crooked) publishers to drive their competitors OUT of business... EC stopped publishing comic-books. Their biggest hit, MAD, was transformed into a B&W magazine, on sale beside TIME and PLAYBOY. The rest of the line was reinvented as a set of "illustrated" story mazazines. The same high level of quality was maintained, simply by using the same hugely-talented writers & artists.
"But it didn't sell".
One of these short-lived treasures was TERROR ILLUSTRATED. This ran a mere 2 issues between the end of 1955 and early 1956. (It was also a title used in the early 1970s by a short-lived horror comic in Brazil that spotlighted the work of artist Edmundo Rodrigues... but that's another story.)
EC's 8th foray into Poe was another variation
on his most famous and popular story...
"THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER".
This was the 6th comics adaptation of the story, following...
Charlton's YELLOWJACKET COMICS #4 (Dec'44),
Gilberton's CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED #40 (Aug'47),
Register & Tribune's THE SPIRIT (Aug'48),
EC's THE VAULT OF HORROR #13 (Jun-Jul'50), and
Prize's BLACK MAGIC #28 (Jan'Feb'54),
...the last one just under 2 years earlier.
Now... this will probably look uncannily familiar to anybody, like me, who's been reading this POE blog project with interest. There's a reason for that. Jack Oleck, I have discovered, was a writer who was often in the habit of RE-using his stories from one publisher to another. After all, how would THEY know?
Not long after discovering the existence of this story, one of my friends and fellow comic-fans, "Pappy", came through with a set of GORGEOUS, STUNNING, HI-RES scans of the story. Now, imagine my surprise when, simply glancing through the pages quickly, I realized... I'd READ this story before! Oh, sure, the words were different... the names of the characters were different... and the art was different. That's besides this being an "illustrated story" and what it reminded me of was a "comic". But the events in the story were IDENTICAL. And NOT just because they were both adaptations of the same Poe story.
That's right. This is an almost EXACT redo of "BURIED ALIVE". The one with Steve Ditko art! The one that I strongly believe had a direct influence on no less than 3 of Roger Corman's POE films!! Man, that was SOME comic. Not only did elements in it that were original to the comic (NOT from Poe) turn up VERBATIM in the later movies, it was also REDONE twice in the comics. Once here, and then again, later, as a comic with Cirilo Munoz art... and not one single word of the original comic changed.
The artist is once again, one of the true GREATS in the business,
George Evans.
This was his 2nd of 4 POE adaptations.
Oh yeah-- the cover is by ANOTHER one of the GREATS in the biz--
Reed Crandall. A decade later, he would do 3 of the best POE comics adaptations ever put to paper!!
ENJOY!
TERROR ILLUSTRATED 1
cover by REED CRANDALL (EC / November-December 1955)
(adapted from "THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER") / Version 6
(including elements of "THE PREMATURE BURIAL") / Version 2
Adaptation by Jack Oleck / Art by GEORGE EVANS / Page 25
cover by REED CRANDALL (Russ Cochran / November 2006)
Scan of TERROR ILLUSTRATED #1 cover from the Heritage Auctions site.
Scan of TERROR ILLUSTRATED #1 interiors supplied by "Pappy"
with special thanks!
Scan of EC PICTO-FICTION LIBRARY from the My Comics Shop site.
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa.
For more:
Read about Edgar Allan Poe at The Poe Museum site.
Read about Edgar Allan Poe at the Biography site.
Visit the EC Fan-Addict Club Facebook group.
Read about George Evans at Lambiek Comiclopedia.
Read an interview with George Evans at the Words And Pictures blog.
"THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER":
Read about THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER at Spark Notes.
Read the complete story at the Poe Stories site.
See the HOUSE OF USHER Gallery of Illustrations.
Audio:
Hear the Basil Rathbone recording!
Hear the Gladys Thornton WEIRD CIRCLE episode!
Hear the Paul Frees ESCAPE episode!
Hear the Kevin McCarthy CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER episode!
Comics:
Read the Gus Schrotter HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Harley M. Griffiths HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Jerry Grandenetti HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Harry Harrison HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Steve Ditko HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the George Evans HOUSE OF USHER illustrated story!
Read the Osvaldo Talo HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Alexis-Thomas Hinsberger HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Tom Sutton HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Dino Battaglia HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Juan Reyes HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Gino Dauro HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Miguel Gomez Esteban HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Carlos Moro HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Maro Navo HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Cirilo Munoz HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Martin Salvador HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Guido Del Carpio Rivera HOUSE OF USHER illustrated story!
Read the Nestor Redondo HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
(Coming soon:)
Read the Pablo Marcos HOUSE OF USHER illustrated story!
Read the Luis Romero B. HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Arturo Arnau HOUSE OF USHER illustrated story!
Read the E.C. Nickel HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the Richard Corben HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
Read the P.Craig Russell / Jay Geldof HOUSE OF USHER adaptation!
"THE PREMATURE BURIAL":
Read about THE PREMATURE BURIAL at Interesting Literature.
Read the complete story at the Poe Stories site.
See the PREMATURE BURIAL Gallery of Illustrations.
Audio:
Hear the CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER episode!
Comics:
Read the Steve Ditko PREMATURE BURIAL adaptation!
Read the George Evans PREMATURE BURIAL adaptation!
Read the Gedeone Malagola PREMATURE BURIAL adaptation!
Read the Juan Porredon Morillo PREMATURE BURIAL adaptation!
Read the Juez Xirinius PREMATURE BURIAL adaptation!
Read the Cirilo Munoz PREMATURE BURIAL adaptation!
Read the Vicente Alcazar PREMATURE BURIAL adaptation!
Misc.:
Read the George Evans TELL-TALE HEART adaptation!
Read the George Evans SPACE CONQUERORS! run starting in 1953!
Read the George Evans USHER / PREMATURE BURIAL adaptation!
Read the George Evans MORELLA adaptation!
Read the George Evans VALDEMAR adaptation!
See the CHRONOLOGICAL list of Edgar Allan Poe stories!
See the ALPHABETICAL list of Edgar Allan Poe stories!
(Continued in Poe 1958, Pt. 1)
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