Home To Stay!

I was late to the Ray Bradbury experience. I got hold of a copy of The Martian Chronicles when I was young, but it seemed just okay. In later years I got hold of more of his work and have come to appreciate him better. But truth told, I like Bradbury's stories best when they were adapted to comics form, and no one did it better than the guys at E.C. Comics, though they did it surreptitiously at first. Home to Stay! is an oversized collection from Fantagraphics of all the stories of Bradbury's adapted by William Gaines, Al Feldstein, and an amazing array of artists. 

In the early 50's comics were coming under fire, but the heat was not such that a writer of Bradbury's status considered it a problem to be associated with the format. In fact, he was a lover of comics and so after he was tipped off that some of his stories might have been lifted and altered ever so slightly, he  wrote a letter to the offices of Entertaining Comics and reminded them that they had "forgotten" to send him a check for fifty bucks for the secondary rights of the stories involved. (His letter is reproduced in this collection.) He then went on to suggest that EC and he enter a formal arrangement to bring his stories into comics form. And soon he had his fifty bucks and a new outlet to attract readers. 

EC lost no time in celebrating the new arrangement and the badge above soon began appearing on various issues of their comics when a Bradbury story was within. But after a few years, the war on comics became a bit too hot and Bradbury ask that his name no longer be used on the covers, though they continued to adapt his stories. It strikes me odd now that the writer of Fahrenheit 451 would wilt in the face of such a tirade, but as we see even today, it's hard to stand up for what's right, even when you know it to be true. Eventually EC folded and the adaptations stopped. But now we can enjoy them all over again. 

Here are the covers of the comics in which Bradbury's stories appeared. Few of the covers actually related to his particular contribution and I've noted when that's the case. 

(for the story "He Walked Among Us" based on "The Man")

(for the story "A Sound of Thunder")

(for the story "I, Rocket")

(for the story "The Screaming Woman", the only cover which features a Bradbury story with the badge)

(1965 Ballantine Books collection with Frank Frazetta cover)

(1966 Ballantine Books collection with a Frank Frazetta cover)

It was wise in the long run for Bradbury to allow EC to adapt his stories. It saved him the cost of lengthy and uncertain legal proceedings, and it proclaimed his name to comics fans for all time and spread his fame and influence. I enjoyed reading these stories, especially those rendered by Wally Wood and Joe Orlando. But other artists such as Johnny Craig, Reed Crandall, Jack Davis, Will Elder, George Evans, Graham Engels, Jack Kamen, Bernie Krigstein, John Severin, and Al Williamson are well represented. Whether you get to these stories in this collection or in any of the other EC reprints from across the decades, I wish you well. 

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Tower Of Shadows!

When I was a wee lad, first sampling the comic book universe there came into my ken the title Tower of Shadows. It was a mighty thing indeed, the first time I'd read a comic book of this kind with small creepy tales presented by an even more creepy host. I liked it immediately though circumstances prevented me from getting more issues for some years. A lot of great artistic talent appeared in the pages such as Jim Steranko, Johnny Craig, John Buscema, Don Heck, Neal Adams, Gene Colan, Marie Severin, Barry (Not-Yet-Windsor) Smith, George Tuska, Tom Sutton, Wally Wood, Bill Everett, Syd Shores, and Bernie Wrightson among others.

Digger was a depraved fellow for certain, but he told a good story. Eventually I'd learn that Digger was replaced by the members of the Bullpen itself, but that didn't stop some of these yarns from being really nifty little visits to a really horrifying places. Digger eventually ended up as a part of the Marvel mythos properly when he was introduced as a small-time villain in the pages of Captain America and elsewhere as part of the Night Shift.

Eventually the noble Tower of Shadows became the more vital Creatures on the Loose and began to be a comic which showcased weird barbarian heroes in the vein of Conan. We get Kull the Conqueror's comic book debut which is quickly followed by Gullivar of Mars and Lin Carters's Thongor Warrior of Lost Lemuria. Ironically it was Thongor Roy Thomas was thinking to bring to comics form when he learned he could instead get hold of the original Conan. The series wrapped featuring a spin-off from Spider-Man, the Man-Wolf.

Tower of Shadows had a sister comic book amigos!

(Thanks Groove! It was a timely addition.)

More on that tomorrow. For more Marvel fearsome wonders today see this Groovy Link.

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