Description

Came the Dawn and Other Stories illustrated by Wallace Wood

Hardcover – Fantagraphics – May 2022 – 194 pages

The 20th century had hit its exact midpoint. Social upheaval–sexual, social, racial, cultural–was in the air; and the fledgling EC comics line was about to become a vital part of it.

Working within the horror, war, crime, and science fiction genres, publisher William Gaines and editor/writer Al Feldstein combined a deliciously disreputable, envelope-pushing sensibility with moments of genuine, outraged social consciousness, which shone a hard light onto such hot-button topics as racism, anti-Semitism, mob justice, and misogyny and sexism.

The 1950s were also a launching pad for some of the greatest comic book artists in history, many of whom worked for EC–including Wallace Wood, whose hypnotically detailed, lushly expressive brushwork brought to life menacing thugs, ominous cityscapes, and small-town America, as well as Everyman grappling with profound moral issues–not to mention some of the most heart-stoppingly beautiful women ever to sashay across a comic book page.

Came the Dawn collects all 26 Wood-drawn horror and crime stories–including the full baker’s dozen of EC’s most courageous and politically charged dramas.