WORLDS OF FEAR Volume 1

Collects #1-5, 1951-52.

From Fawcett, it's 1952 and the best artists in the studio were working hard to outdo the competition over at EC Comics. Shelly Moldoff, Bernard Baily (with some killer covers), Bob Powell (four top-drawer stories), George Evans (in his best EC style), Mike Sekowsky, Bob McCarty (under-rated but fine artist), Harry Harrison (Wally Wood's studio-mate and collaborator) and painter Norman Saunders doing covers! Lurid, fun horror and sci-fi. Four, count them, four Bob Powell stories include: "Twice Alive, The Devil's Prize," "The Man Who Lost His Body" (a rare baseball story), and "Heartbeat House." But the standout among all this is George Evan's amazing 12-page story, "The Metamorphosis of the Gkmloooms." Evans could draw the nastiest, ugliest, creepiest, mutated creatures (see our scan) and this is one of his best efforts, even including his EC work. Bernard Baily is lesser known today, but his covers that feature multiple ghoulish creatures and leering faces are some of the most collectible of the period. He got his start at DC Comics on the big heroes, but in the fifties was doing some mighty wonderful horror stuff like this. DC stalwart and future Justice League artist Mike Sekowsky does "The Resurrected Head," and you can imagine what that's going to be like. He also draws several stories, including the superlative "Vengeance of the Living Dead" which looks very much like it was inked by Murphy Anderson, it is THAT beautifully done. Technically the first issue of the run is actually Worlds Beyond, then for some reason they changed the title to Worlds of Fear -- a change for the better, I'd say. Fawcett was always a step above the average pre-code work, and here they show their very best. This first volume has been meticulously compiled from the original source material and painstakingly digitally restored.