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{{outdated|date=February 2024}}
{{short description|Former American publisher}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
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| successor =
| foundation = {{start date and age|1944}}
| defunct = {{end date|1956}}{{efn|"[[E. C. Publications, Inc.]]" continues to publish ''[[Mad magazine|Mad]]''.}}
| founder = [[Max Gaines]]
| location_city = New York City, New York
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}}
'''Entertaining Comics''', more commonly known as '''EC Comics''', was an American [[publisher]] of [[comic books]], which specialized in [[horror fiction]], [[crime fiction]], [[satire]], [[war novel|military fiction]], [[dark fantasy]], and [[science fiction]] from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the ''[[Tales from the Crypt (comics)|Tales from the Crypt]]'' series. Initially, EC was owned by [[Maxwell Gaines]] and specialized in educational and child-oriented stories. After Max Gaines' death in a boating accident in 1947, his son [[William Gaines]] took over the company and began to print more mature stories, delving into the genres of horror, war, fantasy, science-fiction, adventure, and others. Noted for their high quality and shock endings,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Groth |first1=Gary |title=Entertaining Comics |url=https://www.tcj.com/entertaining-comics/ |website=The Comics Journal |date=January 23, 2013 |access-date=December 7, 2018}}</ref> these stories were also unique in their socially conscious, progressive themes (including [[racial equality]], [[Anti-war movement|anti-war advocacy]], [[nuclear disarmament]], and [[environmentalism]]) that anticipated the [[Civil Rights Movement]] and the dawn of the [[Counterculture of the 1960s|1960s counterculture]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Duin |first1=Steve |title=The enduring art of EC Comics |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf/2016/04/steve_duin_the_enduring_art_of.html |website=Oregon Live |date=April 30, 2016 |access-date=December 7, 2018}}</ref> In 1954–55, censorship pressures prompted it to concentrate on the humor magazine ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]'', leading to the company's greatest and most enduring success. Consequently, by 1956, the company ceased publishing all of its comic lines except ''Mad''.
In February 2024, [[Oni Press]] announced that it will revive the brand,<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kit |first=Borys |date=2024-02-19 |title=After 70 Years, EC Comics Returns from the Crypt in Oni Press Deal |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/ec-comics-returns-oni-press-1235829701/ |access-date=2024-02-21 |magazine=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |language=en-US}}</ref> starting with horror title ''Epitaphs from the Abyss'' and the science fiction title ''Cruel Universe''.<ref name="bc">{{Cite web |website=[[Bleeding Cool]] |date=2024-02-19 |accessdate=2024-02-22 |language=en-GB |title=More Creators Oni Press EC Comics Revival Include Brian Azzarello |first=Rich |last=Johnston |author-link=Rich Johnston |url=https://bleedingcool.com/comics/more-creators-oni-press-ec-comics-revival-include-brian-azzarello/}}</ref>
The titles are licensed by the Gaines family.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gustines |first=George Gene |date=2024-02-19 |title=It's Alive! EC Comics Returns |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/19/arts/ec-comics-oni-press.html |access-date=2024-02-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
== Educational Comics<!--'Educational Comics' redirects here--> ==
[[File:60 Spring St CG bank at Lafayette jeh.jpg|thumb|225 Lafayette Street, home of EC Comics]]
The firm, first known as '''Educational Comics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->, was founded by [[Maxwell Gaines|Max Gaines]], former editor of the comic-book company [[All-American Publications]], and it was initially a shell company of All-American. When that company merged with [[DC Comics]] in
== Entertaining Comics ==
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[[File:EC Judgementday.jpg|thumb|left|"Judgment Day" was first published in ''[[Weird Fantasy]]'' #18 (April 1953).]]
=== "Judgment Day" ===
Gaines waged a number of battles with the Comics Code Authority in an attempt to keep his magazines free from censorship. In one particular example noted by comics historian Digby Diehl, Gaines threatened Judge Charles Murphy, the Comics Code Administrator, with a lawsuit when Murphy ordered EC to alter the science-fiction story "Judgment Day", in ''[[Incredible Science Fiction]]'' #33 (February 1956).<ref name="SS1">{{cite web| last=Lundin|first=Leigh| title=The Mystery of Superheroes| url=http://www.sleuthsayers.org/2011/10/mystery-of-superheroes.html |publisher=SleuthSayers.org| location=[[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]] |date=October 16, 2011}}</ref> The story, by writer [[Al Feldstein]] and artist [[Joe Orlando]], was a reprint from the pre-Code ''[[Weird Fantasy]]'' #18 (April 1953), inserted when the Code Authority had rejected an initial, original story, "An Eye
The story depicted a human astronaut, a representative of the Galactic Republic, visiting the planet Cybrinia, inhabited by robots. He finds the robots divided into functionally identical orange and blue races, one of which has fewer rights and privileges than the other. The astronaut determines that due to the robots' bigotry, the Galactic Republic should not admit the planet until these problems are resolved. In the final panel, he removes his helmet, revealing himself to be a Black man.<ref name="SS1" /> Murphy demanded, without any authority in the Code, that the Black astronaut had to be removed.{{fact|date=July 2022}}
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Although that reprinted story did run uncensored, ''Incredible Science Fiction'' #33 was the last EC comic book to be published.<ref name="Diehl, p. 95" /> Gaines switched his focus to EC's Picto-Fiction titles, a line of typeset black-and-white magazines with heavily illustrated stories. Fiction was formatted to alternate illustrations with blocks of typeset text, and some of the contents were rewrites of stories previously published in EC's comic books. This experimental line lost money from the start and only lasted two issues per title. When EC's national distributor went bankrupt, Gaines dropped all of his titles except ''Mad''.<ref>Diehl, pp. 148–49</ref>
== Later years<!--'E. C. Publications, Inc.' and 'E. C. Publications' and 'E.C. Publications, Inc.', 'E.C. Publications', redirect here--> ==
{{See also|Harvey Kurtzman's editorship of Mad}}
''Mad'' sold well throughout the company's troubles, and Gaines focused exclusively on publishing it in magazine form. This move was done to placate its editor [[Harvey Kurtzman]], who had received an offer to join the magazine ''[[Pageant (magazine)|Pageant]]'',<ref>Diehl, p. 147</ref> but preferred to remain in charge of his own magazine. The switch also removed ''Mad'' from the auspices of the [[Comics Code]]. Kurtzman, regardless, left ''Mad'' soon afterward when Gaines would not give him 51 percent control of the magazine, and Gaines brought back [[Al Feldstein]] as Kurtzman's successor. The magazine enjoyed great success for decades afterward.<ref>Diehl, p. 150</ref>
Gaines sold the company, as '''E. C. Publications, Inc.'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->, in the 1960s, and it was eventually absorbed into the same corporation that later purchased [[National Periodical Publications]] (later known as [[DC Comics]]). In June 1967, [[Kinney National Company]] (it formed on August 12, 1966, after Kinney Parking/National Cleaning merge) bought National Periodical and E.C., then it purchased [[Warner Bros.-Seven Arts]] in early 1969. Due to a financial scandal involving price fixing in its parking operations, Kinney Services spun off its non-entertainment assets as [[National Kinney Corporation]] in September 1971, and it changed names to [[Warner Communications]] on February 10, 1972.<ref>{{
The ''Tales from the Crypt'' title was licensed for a [[Tales from the Crypt (film)|movie of that name]] in 1972. This was followed by another film, ''[[The Vault of Horror (film)|The Vault of Horror]]'', in 1973. The omnibus movies ''[[Creepshow]]'' (1982) and ''[[Creepshow 2]]'', while using original scripts written by [[Stephen King]] and [[George A. Romero]], were inspired by EC's horror comics.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}
In 1989, ''[[Tales from the Crypt (TV series)|Tales from the Crypt]]'' began airing on the U.S. [[cable TV|cable-TV network]] [[HBO]]. The series ran through 1996, comprising 93 episodes and seven seasons. ''Tales from the Crypt'' spawned two [[children's television series]] on [[Terrestrial television|broadcast TV]], ''[[Tales from the Cryptkeeper]]'' and ''[[Secrets of the Cryptkeeper's Haunted House]]''. It also spawned three "Tales from the Crypt"-branded movies, ''[[Demon Knight]]'', ''[[Bordello of Blood]]'', and ''[[Ritual (2002 film)|Ritual]]''. In 1997, HBO followed the TV series with the similar ''[[Perversions of Science]]'' (comprising 10 episodes), the episodes of which were based on stories from EC's ''[[Weird Science (comics)|Weird Science]]''
== Reprint history ==
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=== IDW EC Artist's Editions ===
In February 2010, [[IDW Publishing]] began publishing a series of Artist's Editions books in 15" × 22" format, which consist of scans of the original inked comic book art, including pasted lettering and other editorial artifacts that remain on the original pages.<ref name=TheComicsJournal>[[Doctorow, Cory]] (March 22, 2013). [https://boingboing.net/2013/03/22/mad-artists-edition-a-massi.html "MAD Artist's Edition: a massive tribute to Harvey Kurtzman"]. ''[[Boing Boing]]''. Retrieved May 20, 2019.</ref><ref>Rogers, Sean (July 19, 2011). [http://www.tcj.com/the-walter-simonson-interview/ {{"'}}I Thought It Was Worth Doing, and That Was Enough': The Walter Simonson Interview"]. ''[[The Comics Journal]]''. Retrieved May 20, 2019.</ref> Subsequent EC books in the series included a collection of [[Wally Wood]]'s EC comic stories,<ref>Nadel, Dan (March 26, 2012). [http://www.tcj.com/a-few-notes-on-wally-wood's-ec-stories-artists-edition/ "A Few Notes on Wally Wood's EC Stories Artist's Edition"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118051533/https://www.tcj.com/a-few-notes-on-wally-wood%27s-ec-stories-artists-edition/ |date=January 18, 2022 }}. ''The Comics Journal''. Retrieved May 20, 2019.</ref> a collection of stories from ''Mad'',<ref name=TheComicsJournal /> and books collecting the work of [[Jack Davis (cartoonist)|Jack Davis]]<ref>[https://comicbookrealm.com/series/33348/293339/jack-davis-ec-stories-artists-edition "Jack Davis: EC Stories – Artist's Edition"]. ComicBookRealm.com. Retrieved May 20, 2019.</ref> and [[Graham Ingels]].<ref>{{cite web| last=Johnston|first=Rich| title=How The Artist's Editions Won Comics – Wondercon| url=http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/03/30/how-the-artists-editions-won-comics-wondercon/ |publisher=[[Bleeding Cool]]|date=March 13, 2013}}</ref>
== EC publications ==
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