Horror comics are comic books , graphic novels , black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction . In the US market, horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when the subject of content and the imposition of self-censorship Comics Code Authoritycontributed to the demise of many titles and the toning down of others. Black-and-white horror-comics magazines, which did not fall under the Code, flourished from the mid-1960s through the early 1980s from a variety of publishers. Mainstream American color comic books experienced a horror resurgence in the 1970s, following a loosening of the Code. While the genre has had greater and lesser periods of popularity, it occupies a firm niche in comics as of the 2010s.
Horror comics include horror comics that include horror comics, and early superhero stories that sometimes included the likes of ghouls and vampires. Individual horror stories Appeared as early as 1940. The first dedicated horror comic books APPEAR to be Gilberton Publications ‘ Classic Comics # 13 (August 1943), ict with full-length adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson ‘s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , and Avon Publications ‘ anthology Eerie # 1 (January 1947), the first horror comic with original content. The first horror-comics series Adventures into the Unknown, premiering in 1948 from the American Comics Group , initially under the imprint B & I Publishing.
Precursors
The horror tradition in sequential-art narrative traces back to at least the 12th-century Heian period Japanese scroll “Gaki Zoshi”, or the scroll of the ghosts (紙 本 著色 餓鬼 草紙) [1] [2] [3] and the 16th-century Mixtec codices . [3]
In the early 20th century, pulp magazines developed the horror subgenre ” weird threat “, which featured sadistic villains and graphic scenes of torture and brutality. The first such title, Popular Publications’ Dime Mystery , began as a straight crime fiction magazine but evolved by 1933 under the influence of Grand Guignol theater. [4] Popularly dominated the field with Dime Mystery , Horror Stories , and Terror Tales. While most weird-threat stories were resolved with some explanations, some involved the supernatural.
After the fledgling medium of comic books became established by the late 1930s, horror-fiction elements began appearing in superhero stories, with vampires, misshapen creatures, mad scientists and other tropes that bore the influence of the Universal horror movies of the 1930s and other sources . [5]
In 1935, the National Periodicals published the first story of Doctor Occult by Jerry Siegel (script) and Joe Shuster (Art) in New Fun Comics # 6, where he confronts Vampire Master. In Detective Comics # 31-32, Batman fights a vampire. [6]
By the mid-1940s, some detective and crime comics had such horror motives, such as spiders and eyeballs to their graphics, and some of the stories of the literary horrors of Edgar Allan Poe or other writers, or stories from the pulps and radio programs . [7] The single-issue Harvey Comics anthologies Front Page Comic Book (1945), bearing a cover with a knife-wielding, skeletal ghoul, [8] and Strange Story (July 1946), [9] introduced writer-artist Bob Powell ‘s character the Man in Black, an early comic-book example of the type of omniscient-observerhost in supernatural and suspense radio drama as Inner Sanctum , Suspense and The Whistler . [10]
As cultural historian David Hajdu notes, comic-book horror
… had its roots in the pulps, where narratives of young women assaulted by ‘weird threats’ … had filled magazines such as Terror Tales and Horror Stories for years. On the subject of comedy – Suspense Comics (which began in 1943), Yellowjacket (which included eight horror stories, “Tales of Terror”, in its run of ten issues, beginning in 1944), and Eerie (which had one issue published in 1947). [11]
Early American horror comics
Issue # 7 (December 1940) of publisher Comics Prize ‘flagship title, Comic Prize , introduced writer-artist Dick Briefer ‘ s eight-page feature ” New Adventures of Frankenstein “, an updated version of Mary Shelley ‘s much – adapted Frankenstein monster . [12] Called “America’s first ongoing comic book series to fall squarely within the horror genre” by historian Don Markstein , [13] and “[t] he first real horror series” by horror-comics historian Lawrence Watt-Evans,[15] Frankenstein # 18-33 (March 1952 – November 1954)before becoming a humor series and being revived in horrific form in the series.
Gilberton Publications ‘ 60-page Classic Comics # 12 (June 1943) adapté Washington Irving ‘s short story ” The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ” as a backup feature to Irving’s ” Rip Van Winkle ” [16] in a package titled Rip Van Winkle and the Horseman Headless . [17] The next issue, Classic Comics # 13 (August 1943), adapted Robert Louis Stevenson’s horror novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as the full-length story Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , making it the earliest known dedicated horror comic book.[18]
Historian Ron Goulart , making no mention of those earlier literary adaptations, identified Avon Publications ‘ Eerie # 1, dated January 1947 [19] and sold in late 1946, as “the first out-and-out horror comic book”. [10] Its cover featured a red-eyed, pointy-eared fiend threatening a rope-bound , beautiful young woman in a scanty evening gown, set amid a moonlit ruin. The anthology offered six primarily occult stories involving the likes of a ghost and a zombie. [10] While all purpose one writer are unknown – Edward Bellin Who teamed with young artist Joe Kubert on the nine-page “The Man-Eating Lizards” [19]– the artists include George Roussos and Fred Kida . [10] After this first issue, the title went dormant, but reappeared in 1951 as Eerie , beginning with a new # 1 and running 17 issues (1951 – September 1954). [20]
Goulart identified the long-running Adventures into the Unknown (Fall 1948 – August 1967), from American Comics Group , initially under the imprint B & I Publishing, [21] as “the first continuing-series horror comic”. [22] The first two issues, which included art by Fred Guardineer and others, featured horror stories of ghosts, werewolves, haunted houses, killer puppets and other supernatural and local. The premiere included a seven-page, abridged adaptation of Horace Walpole’s seminal gothic novel The Castle of Otranto , by an unknown writer and artist Al Ulmer . [21]
Following the postwar crime comics vogue spearheaded by publisher Lev Gleason ‘s Crime Does Not Pay , qui by 1948 Was selling over a million copies a month, [23] cam comic romance , qui by 1949 outsold all other kinds, [24] and horror comics. The same month in which Adventures into the Unknown premiered, the EC comic-book company , which would become the most prominent horror-comics publisher of the 1950s, published its first horror story, “Zombie Terror,” by the then relative unknown writer artist Johnny Craig , in the superhero comic Moon Girl # 5. [25][26] Almost Simultaneously, Trans-World Publications Issued icts one-and-only comic, the one-shot Mysterious Traveler Comics # 1 (November 1948), based on the Mutual Broadcasting Network ‘s radio show of That Name and Including amid icts crime and science fiction stories reprinted by the Edgar Allan Poe adaptation ” The Tell Tale Heart ” reprinted from Charlton Comics ‘ Yellowjacket Comics # 6. [26] [27]
The floodgates started with the first horror comic from the 1950s’ most prolific horror-comics publisher, Atlas Comics , the decade’s forerunner of Marvel Comics . While horror had been an element in 1940s superhero stories from the original predecessor company, Timely Comics , “when zombies, vampires, werewolves, and even pythonmen were working for the Nazis and the Japanese”, [22] ] the publisher entered the horror full-tilt arena with Amazing Mysteries # 32 (May 1949), continuing the numbering of the defunct superhero series Sub-Mariner Comics, Followed by the superhero anthology Marvel Mystery Comics Becoming The horror series Marvel Tales with # 93 (August 1949) and the final two issues of Captain America Comics Becoming The mostly horror fiction Captain America’s Weird Tales # 74-75 (October 1949 & February 1950) – the latter of which did not contain Captain America at all. [28] [29] Harvey Comics followed with his costumed-crimefighter comic Black Cat by reformatting it’s horror comic Black Cat Mystery with Issue # 30 (August 1951). [10] [30]
EC Comics and the boom horror
Horror comics Briefly Flourished from this dot up to the industry’s self-imposed censorship board, the Comics Code Authority , Was instituted in late 1954. Reviews The most influential and enduring horror-comics anthologies de cette période, Beginning 1950, Were the 91 issues of EC Comics ‘three series: The Haunt of Fear , The Vault of Horror and The Crypt of Terror , renamed Tales from the Crypt . [31]
In 1947, publisher William Gaines had inherited what was then Educational Comics on the death of his father, Maxwell Gaines . Three years later, Gaines and editor Al Feldstein Introduced horror in two of the company’s crime comics to test the waters. Finding them successful, the publisher quickly turned them into a Western series into EC’s triumvirate of horror. Additionally, the comic superhero Moon Girl , which had become the comic romance A Moon … a Girl … Romance , became the early science fiction anthology Weird Fantasy . [32]For the next four years, sardonic horror hosts the Old Witch , the Vault Keeper and the Crypt Keeper Introduced stories drawn by Such top artists and soon-to-be-famous newcomers as Johnny Craig , Reed Crandall , Jack Davis , Graham Ingels (who signed his work “Ghastly”), Jack Kamen , Bernard Krigstein , Harvey Kurtzman , and Wally Wood . [33] Feldstein did most of the early scripting, writing a story with twisted endings and poetic justice taken to absurd extremes.
EC’s success time immediately spawned a host of imitators, Such As Ziff-Davis ‘ and PL Publishing’s Weird Adventures , [34] St. John Publications ‘ Weird Horrors , [35] Key Publications ‘ Weird Chills , [36] Weird Mysteries [37] and Weird Tales of the Future , [38] Comic Media ‘s Weird Terror , [39] Ziff-Davis ‘ Weird Thrillers , [40] and Star Publications ‘ Ghostly Weird Stories . [41]Others included Quality Comics ‘ Web of Evil , [42] Ace Comics ‘ Web of Mystery , [43] First Magazines ‘ Horror from the Tomb [44] Harvey Comics ‘ Tomb of Terror, Witches Tales, and Chamber of Chills Magazine , [45 ] Avon Comics ‘ Witchcraft , [46] Ajax-Farrell Publications ‘ Fantastic Fears , [47] Fawcett Publications ‘ Worlds of Fear and This Magazine Is Haunted ,[48] Charlton Comics ‘ The Thing , [49] and Atlas Comics , including Adventures into Weird Worlds , [50] Adventures into Terror , [51] Threat , Journey into Mystery , andStrange Tales . Indeed, from 1949 through comics cover-dated March 1955 Atlas released 399 issues of 18 horror titles, ACG released 123 issues of five horror titles, and Ace Comics, from 98 of five titles – Each more than EC’s output. [31]
Backlash
In the late 1940s, comic books – particularly crime comics [52] – “the comic books of the dead” rising rates of juvenile delinquency . ” [53] Many cities and county ordinances had banned some publications, [54] though these were effectively overturned with a March 29, 1948, United States Supreme Court ruling that a 64-year-old New York State law outlawing publications with “pictures stories of deeds of bloodshed, lust or crime “was unconstitutional. [55]Regardless, the uproar on the publication of two articles: “Horror in the Nursery” by Judith Crist , in the March 25, 1948, issue Collier’s Weekly , [53] based on the symposium “Psychopathology of Comic Books” held a week earlier [53] by psychiatrist [56] Fredric Wertham ; and Wertham’s own features “The Comics … Very Funny!” in the May 29, 1948, issue of The Saturday Review of Literature , [57] and a March 19, 1948 symposium called “Psychopathology of Comic Books” which stated that comic books were “abnormally sexually aggressive” and led to crime. [58]
In response to public pressure and bad press, an industry trade group , the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers (ACMP) Was FORMED with the intent of prodding the industry to Itself police. The Association proved ineffective as few publishers joined and those who did not put up with the content of their titles. [59]
Seduction of the Innocent
In 1954, Dr. Fredric Wertham published Seduction of the Innocent , a volume that claimed horror, crime, and other comics were a direct cause of juvenile delinquency . Wertham asserted, largely based on undocumented anecdotes, that reading violent comic books. [59] Wertham painted a picture of a large and pervasive industry, shrouded in secrecy and masterminded by a few, which is used on the innocent and defenseless minds of the young. He further suggests the industry strong-armed vendors into accepting their publications and forced artists and writers into producing their content. [60]
Wertham Alias Comics Stimulated Deviant Sexual Behavior. He is a female proteaser in the field of provocative and special care. [60] A cover by Matt Baker from Phantom Lady was reprinted in the book with the caption, “Sexual stimulation by combining headlights with the sadist’s dream of tying up a woman”. [59] Boys interviewed by Wertham said they used comic book images for masturbation purposes, and one young comics reader confessed he wanted to be a sex maniac. Wertham contended comics promoted homosexualityby pointing to the Batman-Robin relationship and calling it a homosexual dream of two men living together. He observed that Robin was often pictured with his legacy spread and the genital region evident. [60]
Most alarming, Wertham contended that comic books turned children into deceitful little beings, reading funny-animal comics in front of their parents. Wertham warned of suspicious blinds and their clandestine back rooms where second hand comics of the worst sort were peddled to children. The language used evoked images of children in the face of gambling dens and whorehouses, and anxious parents felt helpless in the face of such a powerful force in the comics industry. Excerpts from the book were published in Ladies’ Home Journal and Reader’s Digest , lending respectability and credibility to Wertham’s arguments. [60]
A 14-page portfolio of panels and covers from across the entire comic book industry, murder, torture and sexual titillation for the reader’s consideration. The most widely discussed art was that from “Foul Play”, a horror story from EC about a dishonest baseball player whose head and intestines are used by his teammates in a game. Seduction of the Innocent Sparkle of Parents and Teachers of Parents; the subject was galvanized into campaigning for censorship. [59]
Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency
Public criticism brought matters to a head. In 1954, anti-crime crusader Estes Kefauver led the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency . Dr. Wertham insisted upon appearing before the committee. He first presented a long list of his credentials, and then, in his clipped German accent, spoke with authority on the pernicious influence of comic books upon children. His passionate testimony at the hearings impressed the gathering. Kefauver suggests crime comics indoctrinated children in a similar way to Nazi propaganda. Wertham noted Hitler was a beginner compared to the comics industry. [60]
Publisher William Gaines appeared before the committee and vigorously defended his product and the industry. He took full responsibility for the horror genre, claiming he was the first to publish such comics. He insisted that delinquency was the result of the real environment and not fictional reading materials. His defiant demeanor left the committee (which felt the industry was indefensible), astonished. [60] He had prepared a statement that read in part, “It would be difficult to explain the harmless thrill of a story to Dr. Wertham as it would be to explain the sublimity of love to a frigid old maid.” [59]
Crime Suspenstories , issue 22, April / May 1954, was entered into evidence. The exchange between Gaines and Kefauver led to a front-page story in The New York Times :
He was asked by Senator Estes Kefauver, Democrat of Tennessee, if he considered “good taste” the cover of his Shock SuspenStories , [61] which depicted an axis-wielding man holding the head of a blond woman. Mr. Gaines replied: “Yes, I do – for the cover of a horror comic.” [62]
Though the committee’s final report did not blame comics for crime, it recommended that the comics industry tone down its content voluntarily. [63]
The creation of the Comics Code
By 1953, nearly a quarter of all comic books were published. [64] In the aftermath of the hearings, however, several publishers were forced to revamp their drastically comic series. [59]
In September 1954, the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) and its Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed. The Code had many stipulations that made it difficult for horror comics to continue publication, since it would not be possible to find distribution. The Code forbade the explicit presentation of “single details and methods of crime … Scenes of excessive violence … brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gun play, physical agony, gory and crime gruesome … all scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism , masochism … Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, or torture “. [59]
Perseverance
As a result of the Congressional Hearings, DC Comics shifted its ongoing horror titles, House of Mystery (1951-1987) and House of Secrets (1956-1966), about the suspense and mystery genres, often with a science fiction bent. In fact, from 1964-1968, House of Mystery became a superhero title, featuring J’onn J’onzz, the Manhunter from Mars, and later, Dial H for Hero . Similarly, during this period Marvel Comics produced the Strange Titles Tales(1951-1968) and Journey into Mystery (1952-1966).
The Gilberton publishers , Dell Comics , and Gold Key Comics did not become signatories to the Comics Code, relying on their reputations as publishers of wholesome comic books. [65] Classics Illustrated HAD adapté Such horror novels as Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in comic book form, and Quickly Issued reprints with new, less gruesome covers. Dell began publishing the TV serial comic book Twilight Zone in 1961 and publishing a Draculatitle in 1962 (though only the first issue was related to the subsequent issues were part of the super-hero genre revival). Gold Key, in addition to releasing Boris Karloff Thriller , based on the TV series Thriller (and retitled Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery after the show went off the air), bought the Twilight Zone license from Dell in 1962. [65]
In 1965 Gold Key put out three licensed horror-themed comics, two based on the TV horror-comedies The Addams Family and The Munsters , and the other titled Ripley’s Believe it or Not! , “True Ghost Stories,” “True War Stories” (# 1 and # 5), and “True Demons & Monsters” (# 7, # 10, # 19, # 22, # 25, # 26, and # 29).
Warren Publishing continued the horror tradition in the mid-1960s, bypassing the Code Authority Comics restrictions by publishing magazine-sized black-and-white horror comics. [66] Under the leadership of line editor Archie Goodwin , Warren debuted the horror anthologies Creepy (1964-1983) and Eerie (1966-1983) Followed by Vampirella , an anthology with a lead feature starring a sexy young female vampire.
The low-rent Warren imitator Eerie Publications also jumped into the black-and-white horror business magazine, mixing new material with reprints from pre- Comics Code horror comics, most particularly in its flagship title Weird(1966-1981), more the magazines Tales of Voodoo (1968-1974), Horror Tales (1969-1979), Tales from the Tomb (1969-1975), and Terror Tales (1969-1979). Stanley Publications also published a line of black-and-white horror magazines from 1966-1971, including the titles Shock and Chilling Tales of Horror .
Resurgence
A number of supernatural mystery / suspense titles were introduced in the latter half of the 1960s, including Charlton Comics ‘ Ghostly Tales , The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves , and Ghost Manor ; and Marvel Comics ‘ Chamber of Darkness / Monsters on the Prowl and Tower of Shadows / Creatures on the Loose . At DC Comics , new House of Mystery editor Joe Orlando returned the title to icts horror roots with issue # 175 (July / August 1968), while the company debuted the new titles The Unexpected and The Witching Hour .
In 1971, the Comics Code Authority relaxed some of its longstanding rules regarding horror comics, which opened the door to more possibilities in the genre:
Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with, walking dead or torture shall not be used. Vampires, ghouls and werewolves shall be permitted to be used in the classic tradition of Frankenstein , Dracula , and other high-caliber literary works by Edgar Allan Poe , Saki , Conan Doyle , and other respectable writers. schools around the world. [67]
Following this, a scientifically created, vampire-like character, Morbius, the Living Vampire , [68] followed by the introduction of Dracula in Tomb of Dracula . This opens the floodgates for more horror titles, such as the anthology Supernatural Thrillers , Werewolf by Night , and two series in which Satan or Satan-like lord of Hell figured, Ghost Rider and the feature ” Son of Satan .” In addition, following Warren Publishing’s longtime lead, Marvel’s parent company in1971 began a black-and-white imprint magazine , which published a number of horror titles, including Dracula Lives! , Monsters Unleashed , Vampire Tales , Tales of the Zombie , Haunt of Horror , and Masters of Terror . Additionally, Skywald Publications offert the black-and-white horror-comics magazines Nightmare , Psycho , and Scream .
DC During this time continued to publish supernatural fiction and occasional horror stories in Such titles as Ghosts , The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love (later titled Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion ), Secrets of Haunted House, Secrets of Sinister House , Swamp Thing , Weird Mystery Tales , Weird War Tales , and Tales of Ghost Castle . Charlton continues in this vein, with Ghostly Haunts , Haunted , Midnight Tales , Haunted Love , and Scary Tales .
Underground cartoonists , many of them strongly influenced by 1950s EC Comics like Tales from the Crypt , [69] also tried their hands at horror. Titles like Skull ( Rip Off Press / Last Gasp , 1970-1972), Bogeyman ( Company & Sons / San Francisco Comic Book Company , 1969), Fantagor ( Richard Corben , 1970), Insect Fear ( Print Mint , 1970), Up From The Deep (Rip Off Press, 1971), Death Rattle ( Kitchen Sink Press , 1972),Gory Stories (Shroud, 1972), Deviant Slice (Mint Print, 1972) and Two-Fisted Zombies (Last Gasp, 1973) appeared in the early 1970s.
By the mid-1970s, the horror comics have been slowed down and only a few titles persevered. DC, Warren, and Charlton canceled the last of their horror anthologies by the mid-1980s.
1980s and 1990s
Beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s, independent publishers produced a number of successful horror comics franchises. FantaCo Enterprises and Millennium Publications boasted lineups almost exclusively devoted to horror, vampire, and zombie comics. For instance, 1985 saw the revival of Sink’s Death Rattle , followed by the beginning of the FantaCo’s horror anthology by Gore Shriek , edited by Stephen R. Bissette , who also contributed stories to each issue. Bissette also edited the acclaimed anthology Taboo , which ran from 1988 to 1995.
In 1982, Pacific Comics produced two series that, while admittedly inspired by the EC Comics of the 1950s, foresaw the form that horror comics would take in the coming decades. The Twisted Tales and Alien Worlds are a short-lived and hard- pressed series , but offered some of the most brutal and sexual stories yet to be distributed in a mainstream (“non-underground”) format. Both series Eventually Moved to Eclipse Comics , qui aussi Produced similar titles Such As The Twisted Tales of Bruce Jones and Alien Encounters(which they inherited from Fantaco). Later horror titles from DC’s Vertigo line have more in common with these Pacific / Eclipse efforts, and more success than DC’s sporadic efforts to revive or maintain the traditional horror comic title (eg Elvira’s House of Mystery ).
In 1982, DC Comics revived the Swamp Thing series, attempting to capitalize on the summer 1982 release of the Wes Craven movie of the same name . In 1984, Briton Alan Moore took over the writing on the title, and when Karen Berger became editor, she gave the title. Moore reconfigured Swamp Thing ‘s origin to make him a true monster as opposed to a human transformed into a monster. Moore’s (and artists Stephen R. Bissette and John Totleben’s ) Swamp Thing was a critical and commercial success, and in 1988 spun off the ongoing Hellblazer series, starring occult detective John Constantine .
In 1993 DC introduced its mature-readers Vertigo line, which folds into a number of popular horror titles, including Hellblazer and Swamp Thing . One of Vertigo’s Early Successes Was Neil Gaiman ‘s Sandman , qui reworked a number of DC’s old horror characters and fantasy added to the mix. A number of other horror titles is the carried at Vertigo, like Deadman , House of Mystery and Haunted Tank , gold Were Given a horror spin or an update like Kid Eternity and Jonah Hex .
In the mid-1990s Harris Publications aussi revived Vampirella , and Marvel, after-mostly Taking the ’80s off, published its ” Midnight Sons ” line of horror comics That included Such series have had revived Ghost Rider , Nightstalkers , Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins and Midnight Sons Unlimited .
Modern horror comics
North America
In addition to its long-running titles over the years, Vertigo published more like horror, like vampires in Bite Club (beginning in 2004 ), [70] and Vamps . In addition, from 1999-2001 they published their own horror anthology , Flinch.
At Image Comics , Robert Kirkman has created The Walking Dead . Steve Niles predominantly writes horror comics, and his 30 Days of Night has been released by IDW Publishing . [71] At Dark Horse , Mike Mignola has been working on Hellboy , and has created a large fictional universe with spin-off titles like BPRD and Lobster Johnson . [72]
In the 2000s and 2010s, Marvel produced Blade and the Marvel Zombies franchise . Marvel’s MAX adult imprint , introduced in 2001 , has also provided a reinterpretations of Marvel horror characters where more violence can be used, leading to the dead of miniseries based on Devil-Slayer , [73] [74] Werewolf by Night [ 75] and Man-Thing , [76] and Reworking of Zombie [77] and Hellstorm: Son of Satan . [78] [79] Richard CorbenHAS aussi beens writing Haunt of Horror , a number of series based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe and HP Lovecraft . [80]
Europe
Great Britain
In the post-World War II period, horror comics arrived in Britain, largely based on reprints of American material. This led to protests similar to those in the States. In 1955, the Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Actwas introduced, which led to the horror reprinting disappearing from news agents ‘ shelves. [81]
In the early 1970s There Were A couple of horror comics – IPC ‘s Shiver and Shake and Monster Fun – goal thesis Were aussi humor titles pitched at younger children. It was only DURING THE boom in British comics in the late 1970s and early 1980s horror comics That There Were pitched at older boys and girls -IPC / Fleetway ‘s Scream! and Misty , respectively. Whether it was because of the fears over the content, or the difficult financial times in the mid-1980s, Scream! stopped publishing in 1985, with only two of its stories being merged with the Eagle . [82] Lord Horror also was published.
After the comic industry bust in the mid 1990s, the only mainstream came Was 2000 AD , qui featured stories like Chiaroscuro and Cradlegrave , as well as Those drawing on the Cthulhu Mythos , like Necronauts and Caballistics, Inc. .
The British small press also publishes horror comics, like the anthology Something Wicked .
In 2008, the London Horror Comic launched, becoming the first full-color UK horror comic to be shipped worldwide through Diamond Comic Distributors . [83]
Italy
Italian horror comic series Dylan Dog has achieved great success, both in its homeland and abroad. From the late 1960s till the 1990s, Jacula , Sukia , Yra (all vampiresses), Ulula (were werewoman) and others.
Japan
Just like Gekiga , horror manga started to Appear in the lending libraries ( Kashihonya ) of the late 1950s and early 1960s and expanded into the mainstream through the works of artists like Shigeru Mizuki ( GeGeGe no Kitaro ) Jirō Tsunoda ( Kyōfu Shimbun ), Kazuo Umezu ( The Drifting Classroom ) and Shin’ichi Koga ( Eko Eko Azarak ). While most of them published in shōnen magazines and often with scary, yet sympathetic protagonists leading through tales about ghosts and demons, Umezu for instance got his start in shōjomagazines, where psychological depth was the main focus, a famous title being Hebi Shōjo .
The subculture also continues publishing horror manga. Hideshi Hino created lots of stories for the alternative magazine Garo and for the publisher Hibari Shobō , which specialized in horror manga in the 1970s. Suehiro Maruofollowed the traditions of the Ero guro movement of the 1920s and included extreme depictions of gore in his works.
Horror stayed in niche in mainstream manga. There was no magazine dedicated only to horror comics until the 1980s, when Asahi Sonorama founded Halloween magazine in 1986 due to the recent success of artists like Ryōko Takashina in mainstream shōjo magazines like Ribon . Junji Itō became the most famous contributor to the Tomie series. Similar publications like Horror M ( Bunkasha ), also targeted at women , started to appear. Magazines like Nemuki (Asahi Sonorama), Susperia Mystery ( Akita Shoten ) andApple Mystery ( Shufu to Seikatsusha ) were also founded as part of this movement, but concentrated on the subtle and less graphic depictions of horror. Artists drawing For Those like magazine Ichiko Ima ( Hyakkiyakō Shō ) Matsuri Akino ( Pet Shop of Horrors ) and Narumi Kakinouchi ( Vampire Princess Miyu ) est devenu famous.
Horror webcomics
Horror comics are also published on the web, with horror webcomics that include the pioneering work of Eric Monster Millikin and Zuda comics High Moon.
Other media
Comics have formed part of the media franchise for popular horror movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre , Friday the 13th , Halloween and Army of Darkness . They have also been adapted from horror games , like Silent Hill .
Horror comics have also been sources for horror movies, such as 30 Days of Night , Hellboy and Blade , and, of horror manga, such films as Uzumaki (2000), Z ~ Zed ~ (2014) [84] and two 1980s movies directed by comics creator Hideshi Hino adapted from his manga Guinea Pig : Flower of Flesh and Blood and Guinea Pig: Mermaid in a Manhole . Robert Kirkman’s comic-book series The Walking Dead was adapted in 2010 from an ongoing TV series on the AMC cable network.
Some horror movies and television programs have had comic-book sequels, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight , and other interstitial stories, such as Saw: Rebirth and 28 Days Later: The Aftermath , respectively.
Horror hosts
In the 1930s-1950s, radio dramatics anthology series devoted to horror and suspense plays, such as Lights Out , Quiet, Please , The Whistler , and Inner Sanctum Mysteries , had more or less sinister “hosts” who introduced and wrapped up the stories. This tradition was introduced into horror comics, many of which were also anthology titles, with many stories in each issue.
EC Comics used the concept of a character who “hosted” the book, often starring in a framing sequence at the beginning of each issue. The most notorious EC hosts were the “GhouLunatics”: The Crypt Keeper , The Old Witch, and The Vault-Keeper . In the 1960s, Warren came up with the hosts Uncle Creepy and Cousin Eerie , and DC followed with their hosts Cain and Abel (as well as such minor hosts as Eve , Destiny , Lucien , and the Mad Mod Witch ). [85]Charlton had a large cast of hosts for their various horror / suspense titles. Marvel Comics never really embraced the host character for their various titles, though for a short time they used Digger and Headstone P. Gravely.
The following is a list of hosts from various horror comics titles from over the years.
| title | Host | Publisher | Publication dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chamber of Darkness | Digger Headstone P. Gravely |
Marvel | 1969-1971 (with Monsters on the Prowl , with no host) |
| Creepy | Uncle Creepy | Warren | 1964-1983 |
| Spektor Presents Spine-Tingling Tales | Doctor Spektor | Gold Key | 1975-1976 |
| Eagle | The Collector | IPC Magazines | 1982-? |
| Eerie | Cousin Eerie | Warren | 1966-1983 |
| Elvira, Mistress of the Dark | Elvira, Mistress of the Dark | Claypool Comics | 1993-2007 |
| Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion | Charity (1972-1974) | DC | 1971-1974 |
| Ghosts | Squire Shade (1981-1982) | DC | 1971-1982 |
| Ghost Manor (2 vols.) | Old Witch (1968-1971) Mr. Bones (1971-1984) |
Charlton | 1968-1971 (vol.1, retitled as Ghostly Haunts ) 1971-1984 (vol 2) |
| Ghostly Haunts | Winnie the Witch | Charlton | 1971-1978 |
| Ghostly Tales | Mr. L. Dedd / Mr. IM Dedd | Charlton | 1966-1984 |
| The Haunt of Fear | The Old Witch | EC | 1950-1954 |
| Haunted | Impy Baron Weirwulf (1975-1984) |
Charlton | 1971-1984 |
| The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves | Dr. MT Graves | Charlton | 1967-1986 |
| House of Mystery | Cain (1968-1983) Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1986-1987) |
DC | 1951-1983, 1986-1987 (titled Elvira ‘s House of Mystery ), 2008-present |
| House of Secrets | Abel (1969-1978) | DC | 1956-1978, 1996-1999 |
| Midnight Tales | Professor Coffin (aka The Midnight Philosopher) Arachne Coffin |
Charlton | 1972-1976 |
| Plop! | Cain Abel Eve |
DC | 1973-1976 |
| Scary Tales | Countess RH Von Bludd | Charlton | 1975-1984 |
| Scream! | Ghastly McNasty The Leper The Coming Night (1986 Scream! Summer Special ) Ghoul (1989, Scream! Spinechillers Holiday Special ) |
CPI | 1984, various specials until 1989 |
| Secrets of Haunted House | Cain and Abel Eve Destiny |
DC | 1975-1982 |
| Secrets of Sinister House | Eve (issues # 6- # 16) | DC | 1972-1974 |
| Strange Cases in Judge Dredd Megazine | Judge Strange [86] | Fleetway Publications | 1991-1992 |
| Tales from the Black Museum in Judge Dredd Megazine | Henry Dubble [87] | Rebellion Developments | 2006-current |
| Tales from the Crypt | The Crypt Keeper | EC | 1950-1955 |
| Tales of Ghost Castle | Lucien | DC | 1975 |
| This Magazine is Haunted | Dr. Death Dr. Haunt |
Fawcett, Charlton | 1951-1958 |
| Tower of Shadows | Digger Headstone P. Gravely |
Marvel | 1969-1971 (retitled as Creatures on the Loose , with no host) |
| The Unexpected | Abel The Three Witches Mad Mod Witch (1969-1974) |
DC | 1968-1982 |
| Vampirella | Vampirella (1969-1970 as host; afterward as leading character) | Warren Harris Publications / Dynamite Entertainment |
1969-1983 1991-present |
| The Vault of Horror | The Vault-Keeper Drusilla (1952-1955) |
EC | 1950-1955 |
| Weird Mystery Tales | Dr. E. Leopold Maas (1972) Destiny (1972-1974) Eve (1973-1975) |
DC | 1972-1975 |
| Weird War Tales | Death | DC | 1971-1983 |
| The Witching Hour | The Three Witches | DC | 1969-1978 |
See also
- Lovecraftian horror comics
- Racism in horror movies
- Vampire comics
- Weird West comics
- Werewolf comics
- Zombie comics
References
- Barker, Martin (1992). Haunt of Fears: The Strange History of the British Horror Comics Campaign . Studies in Popular Culture Series. University Press of Mississippi . p. 256. ISBN 0-87805-594-0 .
- Benton, Mike (1992). Horror Comics: The Illustrated History . Taylor History of Comics. Taylor Publishing. p. 147. ISBN 0-87833-734-2 .
- Goulart, Ron (1986). Great American Comic Books . Contemporary Books: Chicago, Illinois . p. 314. ISBN 0-8092-5045-4 .
- Hajdu, David (2008). The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America . Farrar, Straus and Giroux . p. 464. ISBN 978-0-374-18767-5 .