Almost two weeks ago, there came news that veteran cartoonist Jack Davis had passed away at the age of 91. To a certain generation, Davis was best known for his work on various movie posters, paperbacks, magazine covers for Time and TV Guide, and of course his massive body of work at Mad magazine from the 50s through the 90s.
But Davis first gained attention as one of the artists illustrating the classic horror comics published by EC Comics back in the 1950s. His art would grace the pages of such titles as Tales From The Crypt, The Haunt of Fear, and The Vault of Horror between 1950-1956.
A few years back, Fantagraphics Books published a collection of stories drawn by Davis in black and white from the Tales From The Crypt magazine. ‘Tain’t The Meat…It’s The Humanity! features 25 stories, plus an Introduction by William Stout and a biography of Davis by S.C. Riggenberg.
Davis’ art shines, especially when depicting small-town surroundings, such as in the title story, where a butcher makes a big mistake in selling tainted meat to citizens during World War II in exchange for kickbacks. By The Fright Of The Silvery Moon finds two young brothers hunting a werewolf. And Undertaking Palor has a group of young kids uncovering a murder conspiracy plot hatched by the local undertaker and druggist.
Davis was also good at depicting urban areas as well. Fare Tonight, Followed By Increasing Clottyness has a cab driver becoming convinced his passenger may be a vampire! “Telescope” set on a deserted island, is a frightening battle of wits between a lone shipwreck survivor and a really huge rat. And Grounds For Horror, about an abused boy’s seemingly imaginary friend who may be harassing the kid’s nasty stepfather, packs a wallop with its gruesome climax!
The stories, written by EC editor Al Feldstein, along with Otto Binder and Carl Wessler, are good, solid thrillers with some intermittent humor. Give this one a try, particularly if you’re a Jack Davis fan!
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