The Covers of Adventures Into The Unknown

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Dazzling Erin

First published in 1948 by the American Comics Group, Adventures Into The Unknown was the first regularly published horror comic book and it’s success led several other comic book companies, most notably EC Comics, to start publishing horror comics of their own. Because Adventures Into The Unknown‘s content was never as explicit as some of the comics that it inspired, Adventures became one of the few horror comics to survive the anti-comic book moral panic that erupted in 1954. Unlike Tales From The Crypt and The Vault of Horror, Adventures Into The Unknown continued to be published after the creation of the Comic Book Code. In total, it enjoyed a 20-year run of 174 issues.

Below are some of the many covers of Adventures Into The Unknown. As you can tell, the covers went from emphasizing horror to emphasizing science fiction and adventure after the creation of the Comic Book Code.

Enter The Vault of Horror

Posted on October 21, 2019 by Dazzling Erin

by Johnny Craig

Along with The Haunt of Fear and Tales From The Crypt, The Vault of Horror was a horror anthology comic book that was published, from 1950 to 1955, by EC Comics. Hosted by The Vault-Keeper, The Vault of Horror featured adaptations of classic horror stories along with totally original tales of terror and fright. The Vault of Horror was so popular among young readers that eventually a psychiatrist named Fredric Wertham claimed that it, along with other comics, was responsible for juvenile delinquency and every other social ill facing 1950s America. Congress investigated and, because of all the bad publicity, EC canceled all of their horror titles.

However, the jokes on Wertham and Congress because The Vault of Horror is now eagerly sought after by collectors and is viewed as a high point in comic book history. Below are a few covers from The Vault of Horror, all done by artist Johnny Craig.

Are you read to enter the Vault?

Horror Artist Profile: Ben Templesmith

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Arleigh

BEN TEMPLESMITH

Ben Templesmith has been one of the more interesting artists when it came to horror comics or, at the very least, when going for a more horror-themed cover. He has done cover work for comic publishers like IDW, Image comics and lately for DC Comics.

Born on Match 4, 1984 in Perth, Australia, Ben Templesmith like most comic artist would get his start working on a degree in graphic art and design which he would use to begin work as early as 2002 doing cover work for Todd McFarlane’s Hellspawn series. This would be the beginning of what would be a career of doing work for the large indie comic publisher Image Comics.

Yet, it would be the cover and interior artwork that he creates for Steve Niles’ 30 Days of Night horror franchise over at IDW Publishing that would be his claim to fame. His covers for the main series and the off-shoots would lead to more personal horror works such as Welcome to Hoxford, Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse and Choker.

Ben Templesmith has a unique rough-hewn style that’s both disturbing and beautiful and brings to mind a dreamlike (or nightmarish depending on one’s predilection) and surrealistic style. It’s no wonder his style has become very synonymous with modern horror comic art.