Terror Illustrated

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Terror Illustrated
Reed Crandall cover, issue #1
Publication information
PublisherEC Comics
ScheduleQuarterly
FormatAnthology
Publication dateNovember/December 1955 - Spring 1956
No. of issues2
Creative team
Created byWilliam Gaines
Al Feldstein

Terror Illustrated was a black-and-white magazine published by EC Comics in late 1955 and early 1956. Part of EC's Picto-Fiction line, each magazine featured three to five stories.[1] The format alternated blocks of text with several illustrations per page.

The first issue appeared with a cover date of November–December 1955, but the second issue was the last. A third issue existed but was not printed by EC. The Picto-Fiction magazines lost money from the start, and the line was cancelled when EC's distributor went bankrupt.

Terror Illustrated was edited by Al Feldstein. As with EC's comics, Feldstein was the most prolific writer of the title, and generally wrote up to three stories per issue. In addition to the stories credited to him, Feldstein also wrote under the pseudonyms Maxwell Williams and Alfred E. Neuman. Feldstein included multiple retellings of previous stories, a move suggested by publisher William Gaines. This included "The Basket" and "The Gorilla's Paw" in the first issue and "Horror in the Freak Tent" and "Reflection of Death" in #2. Other contributing writers included Jack Oleck (who had worked as a writer on EC's earlier publications) and John Larner.[2]

Featured illustrators included Reed Crandall, Joe Orlando, George Evans, Graham Ingels, Johnny Craig, Charles Sultan and Jack Davis.

In 2006 Terror Illustrated was reprinted along with the other Picto-Fiction magazines by publisher Russ Cochran (with Gemstone Publishing) in hardbound volumes as the final part of his Complete EC Library. The reprint volume included the previously unpublished third issue of Terror Illustrated. Dark Horse reprinted Terror Illustrated as part of the EC Archives series in 2022.

Issues

# Date Cover Artist Story Story Artist Story Writer
1 Dec 1955 Reed Crandall The Sucker Reed Crandall Maxwell Williams
Sure-Fire Scheme Joe Orlando John Larner
Rest in Peace George Evans Jack Oleck
The Basket Graham Ingels Al Feldstein
The Gorilla's Paw Johnny Craig Alfred E. Neuman
2 April 1956 Reed Crandall Horror in the Freak Tent Reed Crandall Al Feldstein
Requiem Graham Ingels John Larner
Mother Love Charles Sultan Maxwell Williams
Head Man Jack Davis Jack Oleck
Reflection of Death George Evans Alfred E. Neuman

References

  1. ^ Schelly, William (2013). American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1950s. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 137. ISBN 9781605490540.
  2. ^ Cochran, Russ. Complete EC Library: Terror Illustrated. Gemstone, 2006.