Jack-'O-Lantern for Jack: A Countdown to Halloween (Day 21)

JACK CO-CREATED THE CRYPT-KEEPER, A CREEPY, SLIMY GRAVEDIGGER WHO HAD A PENCHANT FOR SPINNING TALES AND A VERY NASTY SENSE OF HUMOR.

Jack Davis was the last surviving EC artist.  The last of that group of artists that were making comics too scary for the minds of the parents of children hungry for good, shocking comics in the 1950s post-war America.

Jack's death earlier this year at the age of 91 marks the end of an era in the history of comic book illustration and illustration in general.

I’ve harped on and on about how great Mr. Davis was, how he was, quietly, the most relevant pop culture artist of the last 50 years.  Not because of the quality of his work, which was unsurpassed, but because of the sheer span of his work.  No one else has been as successful as a comic book, card, album cover, movie posters, advertisement and animation artist all in one career.

CLICK TO ENLARGE THE ILLUSTRATIVE DETAIL

CLICK TO ENLARGE THE GOOFY GREATNESS OF THIS MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN

All the while, Davis straddled the complete span of genres—everything from horror, to comedy, to sports, to westerns—he could draw it all equally convincingly.  Though, probably his most apt quality was the ability to perfectly capture the horror/comedy on the page.  And that’s what I’d like to focus on today at THE GOODS.

THIS IMAGE FROM A TOPPS CARD SET FEATURES JACK'S ILLUSTRATIONS THROUGHOUT

JUST THE RAISED PINKY ON THE MONSTER'S FINGER SETS THE MOOD FOR THIS IMAGE 

SPACEMAN MEETS SPACE LOVER?

NOT SURE WHAT THIS IS FROM, BUT ENLARGE IT AND YOU CAN MAKE OUT THE WORD "TRUMP" ON THAT THING IN KING KONG'S HAND.  I GUESS THE ORANGE MAN MAKES KONG SMILE...

Just simply look, click on, enlarge, and enjoy the quality of both the illustration and the comedy…

So, we have Jack Davis to thank for all these years of horror and comedy and unique funny-creepy goodness.

It's a bit cliche to say "They don't make 'em like Jack anymore.", but it is sadly all too true.

And, honestly, they didn't make 'em like Jack back in the day, either.

They only made the one.

COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN (Day 10): HAUNT OF FEAR

These days it's that shriveled up old Crypt-Keeper who gets all of the press, but back in the heyday of Entertaining Comics, it was attention divided between three hosts and the other two were The Vault-Keeper and The Old Witch!  EC Comics horror stable consisted of three magazines.  It was almost competitive in that multiple hosts would appear in each of the three mags—a professional rivalry that played to comic effect.

The Old Witch was created by Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein and inspired by Old Nancy, the witch of Salem, host of Alonzo Deen Cole’s radio series, The Witch’s Tale, that aired from 1931-1938 on WOR and Mutual.

The Old Witch was the last of EC’s Horror Hosts to make her appearance—in THE HAUNT OF FEAR’s second issue debuted The Witch’s Cauldron feature, with her introducing herself in a story drawn by Jack Kamen.  The third issue launched the letter column, “The Old Witch’s Niche”.  And so she presided over each issue thereafter, dropping in pun-filled commentary to make up for the horrific fates of the poor souls in the tales she told.

She would go on to be the most visible of the GhoulLunatics (the other two being the Crypt-Keeper and the Vault-Keeper) in their initial run as hosts.  Not only was she in nearly every issue of The Haunt of Fear, Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, she also appeared in the final story of Crime SuspenStories which ran from #3 through #16.

Her origin appears in THE HAUNT OF FEAR #14 in a tale that recalls her birth entitled “A Little Stranger!”.  In it, a vampire named Elicia and a werewolf named Zorgo were resurrected by other monsters using Satanic rites after a mob slew them.   And when the two awoke, they celebrated by having sex, which left Elicia pregnant.  The misshapen child she gave birth to would one day grow to become The Old Witch who delighted in frightening listeners with her tales of the macabre!

Very humble beginnings--we all have to start somewhere...