Books like The EC Archives: The Vault of Horror, Vol. 1

The followng review has NOT been approved by the Comics Code Authority\ \ Remember the good old days when horror comics had absolutely no redeeming value except that they were completely awesome. Back before Dr. Fredric "UptightaDouche" Wertham got his panties all sweaty and bunched up and went accusing the comics industry of seducing the innocent. Back before the funny book publishers had their spines surgically removed and “voluntarily" adopted the CCA...which sounded the death knell of the “golden age” of comics. Well here comes a breath of rewind because the EC Archives series is a time-machine back to a bygone age. Back to a time when kids could steal candy from the local drugstore, play hooky from school and sit around smoking their parents’ cigarettes (which were healthy back then) while they read the “good stuff.” This first volume includes complete, full color reprints of the first 6 issues of the Vault of Horror published between April 1950 and March 1951. 24 stories in all (30 if you include the bonus vignettes which I do). This is pulp horror at its most pure without a shred of social conscience. Just nasty things happening to nastier people for no other reason than because. For example, you’ve got: \ -- A double dealing flesh stain acid-melting an artist’s face so he could steal his work and pass it off as his own; --An evil wifey and her homicidal boy toy killing hubby and then being terrorized by his boomerang corpse;--An anatomy professor’s nefarious corpse-snatching scheme going completely FUBAR and ending with him as school supplies; and --A freaky monster boy breaking out of his in-home dungeon so he can turn daddy’s face into a Scooby snack.\ Yes, these stories are the very good stuff. All of the stories were written by the legendary Al Feldstein based on story concepts conceived by Al and EC publisher, Bill Gaines. Oh…and did I mention the artwork by greats like Wally Wood and Johnny Craig?. Expressive, in your face and a perfect compliment to the stories. Just superb. Bottom-line, this collection is definitely worth your time. So grab a copy, turn off (or at least down) your moral compass and just enjoy whoring horroring with tasty tales with plots like:\ --Mind-shattering premonitions of a double homicide haunt a motel clerk;-- Eager beaver scientists try pulling a Frankenstein deep in the swamp and end up…doing just that;-- A cuckolded husband rains down voodoo vengeance on his strumpet wife; and --A werewolf hunter turns out to be the last man standing…upright.\ EC Archives: Vault of Horror #1. 6 complete issues…30 complete stories... 1 complete HORRORgasm of happy.4.0 TO 4.5 stars. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!