REVIEW: Tales from the Crypt

Jack Davis’s Tales from the Crypt

By Jack Davis

First published in 1950, reprint published in 2012

Tales from the Crypt

·         This reprint of the original Tales of the Crypt comic is in the same style as the 1950’s comic that was sold on the comic shelves during that time. This was printed as a Halloween special under Fantagraphics Books for promotion.

·         The reprint was given as part of Halloween goodies for people who trick-or-treated. Given that Hurricane Sandy happened for New York City however, the comic was given as part of thank you present for those who donated canned food and water to their local comic store. In my case, it was Forbidden Planet, NYC.

·         The series was originally started by William Maxwell Gaines and Albert B. Feldstein. The printed comic viewed, however, focused on Jack Davis’ work.

·         The stories are the same as other horror and terror and supernatural stories in that they are introduced by a narrator, who in this comic is the Crypt Keeper. In the comics, the Tales from the Crypt stories may have been part of an anthology of other horror comics as the Crypt Keeper usually hands over the comics’ continuation to “an old witch” who is not part of the print.

·         The Crypt Keeper himself has a back story that is part of the printed comics’ tales as the child of an Egyptian mummy and a two headed horror.

·         Apparently, books like Tales from the Crypt were part of the justification of Fredric Wertham, M.D. as part of his writings in “Seduction of the Innocent” as comics being the cause (not correlate) to the moral decay of the American youth.

·         This comic has the mark of “An Entertaining Comic” as its seal. Ironic given that the Comic Code Authority was born from debate over titles like this and which’s seal was on comics for half a century since until its debunk in 2011.

·         In my modern eyes, the comic wasn’t that terrifying or morally disturbing, making it overrated as the comic series that placed censorship on all comics at the time. This may have been due to my contemporary cynicism and desensitization though.

·         As the Tales from the Crypt is supposed to be horror based, most stories understandably end in tragedy and deaths of characters save for the Crypt Keeper’s origins.

·         Violence is included with the death of women and the mutilation of characters. However, most deserved their horrible fates in their comics.

·         Overall, I enjoyed Tales of the Crypt though the hype of it being morally haunting may have been promoted too much by the doctor. In my opinion, this comic series wasn’t that terrifying even for kids at the time. Perhaps one day I’ll read the doctor’s work “Seduction of the Innocent” and see if it holds true as a good psychology paper by modern standards. Tales of the Crypt, on the other hand, is a great anthology of horror comics.

Bibliography

Davis, Jack. Tales from the Crypt. Seatte, WA: Fantagraphics Books, 2012. Print.