When I was a kid who only really read French, my mom used to get me these Jumbo superhero books, which reprinted in black and white (and in French) a number of DC and Marvel comics, more or less randomly. The same book might have an issue of the Flash right next to Thor or Hands of Shang-Chi Master of Kung Fu. In between the superhero "chapters" were short horror tales from a number of sources like House of Mystery/Secrets and I BELIEVE Black Magic. At least, I seem to remember the look of these Simon & Kirby stories. I never appreciated these dark, twisted tales at age 10. At age 41, I'm pretty happy they can be found in a 70s reprint book!
Back when they were affordable, I'd pick up reading copies of 50s horror comics like UNSEEN and BM for three or four dollars each. Then Wizard took over the Chicago Comic-Con, raised dealer table prices, and that was it for reading copies. (I also have about 25 issues of BLUE BEETLE, but enough of that.)
ReplyDeleteI just picked up the Showcase edition of TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED, which started in 1956. There's some pretty fun stuff in there, and it is taking me awhile to read. 516 pages and it only covers the first 20 issues. Remember when comics were BIG? sigh.