Supernatural & “Sexy Implications” of Ghost Comics

Posted in: Comics, Comics History, Heritage Sponsored, Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: fiction home, ghost comics, Matt Baker, maurice whitman

Early Fifties Fiction House collection Ghost Comics rivals even EC Comics for horror, suspense, and grownup conditions within the pre-Code comics period.

In June 1953, a corporation calling itself The Committee on Evaluation of Comic Books, which claimed to have 84 “trained reviewers”, evaluated 418 comedian e-book titles which had been then out there on the newsstands of America.  These reviewers positioned the output of American comedian e-book publishers into one of 4 classes:  no objection, some objection, objectionable, and really objectionable.  This analysis subsequently turned a component of the 1954 Hearings earlier than the Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency in the course of the mid-Fifties ethical panic in opposition to comedian books.  The 65 comedian e-book titles which had been positioned within the “very objectionable” class are for probably the most half pretty acquainted to trendy readers. EC Comics titles like Haunt of Fear, Shock SuspenStories, and Tales from the Crypt; Fawcett title This Magazine is Haunted; and even enduring Marvel Comics titles like Strange Tales have all transcended the politically-motivated witch hunt stigma of the Fifties to be thought-about well-crafted classics within the modern-day.  But a couple of of these 65 comedian e-book titles proceed to be missed, and the short-lived eleven-issue Fiction House title Ghost Comics is chief amongst these nearly-forgotten mid-Fifties gems.  There’s a whole set of this uncommon Pre-Code horror collection up for public sale within the  2023 July 13 – 14 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40227 at Heritage Auctions.

The “Very Objectionable” class as designated by The Committee on Evaluation of Comic Books was very expansive.  The class may embrace:

• Grotesque, unbelievable, unnatural creatures.
• Persons dressed indecently or unduly uncovered.
• Any scenario having a horny implication.
• Stories and footage that are inclined to something having a sadistic implication or suggesting use of black magic
• Portrayal of mayhem, acts of assault, or homicide.

“Implications” would appear to have been an operative precept for the Committee within the case of Ghost Comics, because the title is a good bit much less horrifically graphic than rivals corresponding to Haunt of Fear or Tales from the Crypt.  One suspects that the Committee drew its conclusions from the spectacular Maurice Whitman covers, which do certainly have “sexy implications”.  That mentioned, Ghost Comics featured subtle suspense that generally surpassed the comics tales of EC Comics and different rivals.  The title manages to convey horror, suspense and sexual conditions in a classy method that’s underappreciated to this present day.

Some of the fabric in Ghost Comics initially appeared within the characteristic The Ghost Gallery which recurrently appeared in Jumbo Comics #42-167 (1942-1953).  The collection adopted the instances of a kind of John Constantine-style investigator of the supernatural named Drew Murdoch. Lily Renée‘s spectacular Werewolf Hunter from Rangers Comics makes some appearances right here.

In addition to Maurice Whitman, a premiere Fiction House cover-artist who’s deserving of rather more credit score than he has obtained, the title options work from notables corresponding to Matt Baker, Jack Abel, Jack Kamen, Lily Renée,  and even perhaps Will Eisner. A Pre-Code Horror collection that’s getting much more consideration nowadays, there is a full set of this uncommon Pre-Code horror collection up for public sale within the  2023 July 13 – 14 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40227 at Heritage Auctions.

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