We continue our stroll through the cemetery of past comics with the
appropriately titled Ghost Comics published by Fiction House.
Ghost Comics ran for 11 issues from 1951 to 1954. The particular reason I
chose this series has everything to do with the wonderfully creepy cover art
of Maurice Whitman. He had quite the career going from Fiction House to
Chartlon, then to Warren Publications, and then to DC!
Ghost Comics made the hit list of the
1954 Hearings before the Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile
Delinquency
being placed in the "Very Objectionable" category along with 60+ other titles.
Some speculate the comic was judged objectionable from its covers which have
"sexy implications", that being one of the things that could land a comic on
the list.
Obviously our standards today are quite different but looking through a
cover gallery, there's no denying there's quite a few damsels in distress wearing high (or
low) cut dresses. But what really caught my eye is the way Whitman makes his
monsters otherworldly and how they look just a little off from the "real
world" parts of his covers.
You can read the full 11 issue series of Ghost Comics for free at
Comic Book+.
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ReplyDeleteHas Ghost ever been released in a collection? I wouldn't mind having that in my library.
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