Customer Reviews

Bob Powell's Terror: The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics Volume 2

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GN fans have been torn over the IDW-published, Craig Yoe-edited series of hardback books reprinting classic comics. Unlike most series of hardcover reprints, Yoe doesn't clean up the artwork with a computer for publication, he simply scans the actual pages in from old comics. Some say this is no way to treat this material, while others are glad to get this rare stuff any way they can. There are even those who say the off-register colors and muddy printing give the material an authentic feel... regardless of how one feels, Yoe has always presented the material in handsome books with great designing. Yoe's books seem mid-range, to an extent... not as good as a top flight series (I'm thinking Fantagraphics' Popeye), but better than cheap, bottom-of-the-barrel efforts by such outfits as Pure Imagination, who simply pick public domain material, wash the colors out and print them in schlocky, black and white softcover books. It should also be noted that Yoe has chosen material that possibly wouldn't get printed otherwise...

Having said all that, this book (Powell's "Terror") might well be Yoe's best outing to date... nice book design work (matching the previous volume, Dick Briefer's Frankenstein (Library of Horror Comics Master)) and a very informative intro depicting Bob Powell's career... Powell died tragically early, and, since he really didn't work on what one would call a defining character, little of his work has remained in print. These characteristics are normally found in Yoe's books, but "Terror" also has a 3-page, self-typed synopsis of Powell's career, written by Powell himself!! A great find, indeed!!

Most of the artwork is what you'd expect... pages scanned from comics. Some are relatively clear, some muddy... but all readable. However, there are two entire stories reproduced directly from the original art!! Somehow, someway, the artwork to both stories has survived since the 50s!! These pages are truly the gem of this collection! They are beautiful, as Powell even used a blue wash for shadows!! There is also a splash page that was never published in original art form. For anyone who is interested in Powell's artwork, this book is a must!!

As far as the actual stories go... well, these comics were certainly influenced by the EC horror comics. Some, if not most, of the stories are pretty silly, and relatively tame by today's standard... yet the stories, particularly combined with the somewhat grungy printing, have a subversive feel to them... much like the ECs or the recently released Blackjacked and Pistol-Whipped: A Crime Does Not Pay Prime... goofy to us today, these comics were deemed dangerous by yesterday's standards. So there is the sense of historical value to this collection as well.

Fans of ECs, horror comics or just plain good cartooning will like this Yoe-edited volume... even those who have been somewhat critical of his aesthetic decisions... whether said decisions were truly aesthetic in choice or financial. Highly recommended!

I purchased this volume without knowing anything about Bob Powell except for what's available in "Four Color Fear" by Fantagraphics and I found it to be a mixed bag. I've long been a fan of the wonderful EC comics that were done during the same period of time and negative references were often made about "the competition" in the EC letters pages. I've always wanted to read some of this "other" work so I could make up my own mind and Bob Powell was squarely in the field of other work. There are a few wonderful things to say about this volume "Bob Powell's Terror" but make no mistakes the stories presented here are in no way comparable to the EC classics and the poor quality reproductions can make this book a bit of a challenge to read.
First and foremost there's a great introduction and history to Bob Powell's life and art. It's informative and well worth reading. There are samples in black and white that allow Powell's talent to really shine. In particular I'm thinking of a page from a story "Dig That Grave" that was shelved by Harvey when the Comics Code Authority destroyed the entire genre. There are also two complete stories in black and white that really stand out from all the others because they are printed directly from the original art. The rest of the tales are pale and somewhat flat, scanned from the original aged comic pages, yet with that said, there are some truly bizarre stories well worth reading. 'The Wall of Flesh" is one of the strangest. It's about a Mad Doctor who has a flesh bank, a room with walls of flesh that need to be fed. "Rotting Demons" is another. It's about a couple of modern day treasure hunters who find themselves lost in a swamp where they encounter a band of rotting pirates from yesteryear. Unfortunately most of the stories are short (some are only four pages) and there's little depth of character...but the stories are so unsophisticated and so strange that they're entertaining. Almost everything in this book is from the Harvey publishing company...either Black Cat, Tomb of Terror, Witches Tales or Chamber of Chills and all of these titles are being reprinted with a really top notch reproduction quality by PS Artbooks. If you want to get the full experience of what this era was like outside of the EC classics check out http://www.harveyhorrors.com/ You'll be glad you did.