Eerie (Avon)
| Eerie Comics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Avon Periodicals |
| Format | Standard |
| Genre | horror |
| Publication date | January 1947 |
| Number of issues | 1 |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Edward Bellin |
| Artist(s) |
Fred Kida George Roussos |
| Penciller(s) | Joe Kubert |
Eerie was a one-shot horror comic book cover-dated January 1947 and published by Avon Periodicals as Eerie #1. Its creative team included (among others) Joe Kubert and Fred Kida. Eerie holds the distinction of being the first true, stand-alone horror comic book and is credited with establishing the horror comics genre.[1][2]
After the initial issue, the title went dormant for a number of years but returned to newsstands as an ongoing title in 1951.
Description, contents, and creative team
Eerie is a full-color, 52 page, standard format, one-shot horror comic published by Avon Periodicals with a price of US$0.10 and cover-dated January 1947. The book was released as Eerie #1.[1][3]
The comic book's glossy,[3] cover depicts a red-eyed ghoul clutching a dagger and a rope-bound, voluptuous young woman in a derelict moonlit ruin. The book's contents comprised six full-length horror feature stories and a two-page humorous tale.
The issue featured six stories that were fairly tame in the depiction of the gore and violence generally found in horror fiction.[2] "The Eyes of the Tiger" follows a man haunted by the ghost of a stuffed tiger;[2][3] "The Man-Eating Lizards" (with a script by Edward Bellin and pencils by Joe Kubert), tells the story of an island infested with flesh-eating lizards;[2][3] and another, "The Strange Case of Henpecked Harry" (with art by Fred Kida), follows a man spooked by the bloody corpse of his murdered wife.[2][3] Other feature stories include "Dead Man's Tale", "Proof", and "Mystery of Murder Manor". A two-page humorous tale starring Goofy Ghost rounds out the issue.[3] Members of the creative team include Fugitani[1] and George Roussos.[2]
Following the January 1947 issue, Eerie disappeared from newsstands shelves.
Ongoing series
| Eerie Comics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Avon Periodicals |
| Format | Standard |
| Genre | horror |
| Publication date | May/June 1951 – Aug./Sept. 1954 |
| Number of issues | 17 |
| Creative team | |
| Artist(s) |
Joe Orlando Wallace Wood |
In 1951, Eerie #1, cover-dated May/June 1951, was published by Avon and saw a run of seventeen issues.[2] The first issue of Eerie reprinted "The Strange Case of Henpecked Harry" from the 1947 Eerie one-shot as "The Subway Horror",[3] and issue #12 printed a Dracula story based on the Bram Stoker novel. Several covers featured large-breasted women in bondage. Artists Joe Orlando and Wallace Wood were associated with the series. The title saw a run of seventeen issues, ceasing publication with its August/September 1954 issue.
Eerie then morphed into the second iteration of the science fiction anthology Strange Worlds with issue #18 (October/November 1954).[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 Overstreet, Robert M.. (2004). Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. Random House. 527.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Goulart, Ron. (2001). Great American Comic Books. Publications International, Ltd.. 173.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Smith, Keith (2009). "GCD Issue Details: Eerie #1". Grand Comics Database. Retrieved 2009-02-07.