Entertaining Comics, commonly known as EC Comics, was a major publisher of comic books in the 1940s and 1950s. The letters EC originally stood for Educational Comics. EC's Pre-Trend titles are those published by Max Gaines and his son William M. Gaines, who took over the family business after his father's death in 1947.
In 1950, with the addition of writer and artist Al Feldstein, EC found success with their New Trend line, including their horror titles Tales From the Crypt, The Haunt of Fear and The Vault of Horror. A line of science fiction titles soon followed, Weird Science and Weird Fantasy, illustrated by the best artists in the business, such as Wallace Wood, Reed Crandall, Johnny Craig, George Evans, Graham Ingels, Jack Davis, Bill Elder, Joe Orlando, Al Williamson and Frank Frazetta. In addition to original stories, the books also featured adaptations of Ray Bradbury's short stories.
The New Direction group was a response to the Comics Code Authority. Picto-Fiction was a short-lived line of heavily illustrated short story magazines. Beginning in 1958, EC published annual and special editions of Mad.
Publications
Pre-Trend
| Title | Genre | Initial Run | Issues | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animal Fables | Comedy | 1946–1947 | #1–7 | |
| Animated Comics (1947) | N/A | N/A | #1 | |
| Blackstone the Magician Detective Fights Crime! | Superhero | (1947) | #1 |
|
| Crime Patrol | Crime | 1948–1950 | #1–16 |
|
| Dandy Comics | Comedy | 1947–1948 | #1–7 | |
| Fat and Slat | Comedy | 1947–1948 | #1–4 |
|
| Gunfighter | Western | 1948–1950 | #5–14 |
|
| Happy Houlihans | Comedy | 1947 | #1–2 |
|
| Land of the Lost | Adventure | 1946–1948 | #1–9 | |
| Modern Love | Romance | 1949–1950 | #1–8 | |
| Moon Girl | Superhero | 1947–1950 | #1–12 |
|
| Picture Stories from the Bible (New Testament edition) | N/A | 1944–1946 | #1–3 |
|
| Picture Stories from American History | N/A | 1945–1947 | #1–4 | |
| Picture Stories from Science | N/A | 1947 | #1–2 | |
| Saddle Justice | Western | 1948–1950 | #3–11 |
|
| Tiny Tot Comics | Children | 1946–1947 | #1–10 | |
| War Against Crime! | Crime | 1948–1950 | #1–11 |
|
New Trend
| Title | Genre | Initial Run | Number of Issues |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Crypt of Terror/Tales from the Crypt | Horror | April/May 1950 to February/March 1955 | 30 issues |
| The Vault of Horror | Horror | April/May 1950 to December/January 1955 | 29 issues |
| The Haunt of Fear | Horror | May/June 1950 to November/December 1954 | 28 issues |
| Weird Fantasy | Sci-fi | May/June 1950 to November/December 1953 | 22 issues |
| Weird Science | Sci-fi | May/June 1950 to November/December 1953 | 22 issues |
| Crime SuspenStories | Crime | October/November 1950 to February/March 1955 | 27 issues |
| Two-Fisted Tales | War | November/December 1950 to February 1955 | 24 issues |
| Frontline Combat | War | July/August, 1951 to January 1954 | 15 issues |
| Shock SuspenStories | Suspense | February/March 1952 to December/January 1955 | 18 issues |
| Mad | Comedy | October–November 1952 to April 2018, rebooted June 2018 with new numbering from #1. Ceased news stand distribution in December 2019 after 10 issues. Soon after switched to mostly reprinted contents | 550 issues |
| Three Dimensional E.C. Classics/Three Dimensional Tales from the Crypt of Terror | N/A | Spring 1954 to March 1954 | 2 issues |
| Panic | Comedy | February–March 1954 to December/January 1956 | 12 issues |
| Weird Science-Fantasy | Sci-fi | March 1954 to May/June 1955 | 7 issues |
| Piracy | Fantasy | October/November 1954 to October/November 1955 | 7 issues |
New Direction
| Title | Genre | Initial Run | Number of Issues |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impact | Suspense | March/April 1955 to Nov/Dec 1955 | 5 issues |
| Valor | Fantasy | March/April 1955 to Nov/Dec 1955 | 5 issues |
| Extra! | Slice of Life | March/April 1955 to Nov/Dec 1955 | 5 issues |
| Aces High | War | March/April 1955 to Nov/Dec 1955 | 5 issues |
| Psychoanalysis | Slice of Life | March/April, 1955 to September/October 1955 | 4 issues |
| M.D. | Slice of Life | April/May 1955 to Nov/Dec 1955 | 5 issue |
| Incredible Science Fiction | Sci-Fi | July/August 1955 to Jan/Feb 1956 | 4 issues |
Picto-Fiction
| Title | Genre | Initial Run | Number of Issues |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confessions Illustrated | Romance | February 1956 – July 1956 | 3 issues |
| Crime Illustrated | Crime | December 1955 – April 1956 | 2 issues |
| Shock Illustrated | Suspense | September/October 1955 – Spring 1956 | 3 issues |
| Terror Illustrated | Horror | November/December 1955 – Spring 1956 | 2 issues |
Mad annuals and specials
- More Trash from Mad, 1958–1969 (12 issues)
- Worst from Mad, 1958–1969 (12 issues)
- Mad Follies, 1963–1969 (7 issues)
- Mad Special, 1970–1973 (10 issues)
- Mad Super Special, 1973–1999 (131 issues)
- Mad XL, 2000–2005 (34 issues)
- Mad Color Classics, 2000–2005 (11 issues)
- Mad Classics, 2005–2009 (25 issues)
- Mad Kids, 2005–2009 (14 issues)
Reprints
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Many of these titles were reprinted during the past 30 years by publisher Russ Cochran, both independently and in conjunction with Gladstone Publishing and later with Gemstone Publishing.
Russ Cochran's reprints include The Complete EC Library in black and white but with full-color covers; EC Annuals in full-color, comic-book sized reprints with four to six complete comics in each Annual; and EC Archives, full-color hardcover books containing six complete EC comics.
In 2012 Fantagraphics Books began publishing a series of artist- and theme-based collections of EC stories titled The EC Artists' Library.
The full-color EC Archives project was taken up by Dark Horse Comics in 2013, both reprinting previous Gladstone and Gemstone volumes and producing new volumes collecting further EC Comics titles.