{"id":33793,"date":"2025-09-13T08:00:38","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T08:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=33793"},"modified":"2025-09-11T10:45:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T10:45:09","slug":"fall-guy-for-murder-and-other-stories-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/09\/13\/fall-guy-for-murder-and-other-stories-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Fall Guy for Murder and Other Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Johnny Craig<\/strong>, with Ray Bradbury<\/strong>, Bill Gaines <\/strong>& Al Feldstein<\/strong> (Fantagraphics Books)
\nISBN: 978-1-60699-658-4 (HB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

Forgotten giant Johnny Craig died today in 2001. He was a graphic titan and should be remembered for more than a stellar run on Iron Man in the 1960s – although that alone is worth your attention…<\/em><\/p>\n

From 1950-1954 EC was the most innovative and influential comic book publisher in America, dominating the genres of crime, horror, adventure, war and science fiction. They even originated an entirely new beast: the satirical funnybook. After a shaky start, following the death of his father (who actually created the modern comic book in 1933), new head honcho William Gaines and his trusty master-of-all-comics trades Al Feldstein turned a slavishly derivative minor venture into a pioneering, groundbreaking enterprise which completely altered the perception of the industry and art form.<\/p>\n

As they began co-plotting the bulk of EC\u2019s output together, intent on creating a \u201cNew Trend\u201d of stories aimed at older and more discerning readers – and not the mythical 8-year-old comic books ostensibly targeted – they shifted the ailing company\u2019s emphasis towards dark, funny, socially aware and absolutely more adult fare. Their publishing strategy also included hiring some the most gifted writers and artists in the field. One of the very best, most undervalued and least remembered today was writer, artist, editor John Thomas Alexis \u201cJohnny\u201d Craig (1925-2001).
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\nThis lavish and eternally appealing monochrome hardcover\/digital volume is part of Fantagraphics\u2019 EC Library. It gathers a chilling collection of Craig\u2019s supernatural suspense and especially his superbly Noir-drenched crime stories in a wonderful primer of peril packed with supplementary interviews, features and dissertations, beginning with the informative and picture-packed \u2018Brilliant Good Guys, Even More Brilliant Bad Guys\u2019<\/em> by lecturer Bill Mason. A parade of classic genre tales begins with \u2018One Last Fling!\u2019<\/em> from Vault of Horror<\/strong> #21 October\/November 1951. Craig was a sublime master of pen-&-ink illustration, and his scripting was just as slick and deceptively, hilariously seductive.<\/p>\n

In his initial yarn here, a circus knife-thrower refuses to let the fact that his beloved assistant has become a vampire drive them apart, whilst from Crime SuspenStories<\/strong> #8 (December 1951\/January 1952), \u2018Out of the Frying Pan…\u2019 <\/em>is a wry gem of deception and misdirection, with a temporarily blind killer allowing the wrong little old man to plan his escape from hospital for him…
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\nOriginating in Vault of Horror<\/strong> #22 (December 1951\/January 1952), \u2018Fountains of Youth!\u2019<\/em> is a straightforward supernatural thriller about a vitality-leeching monster, but \u2018Understudy to a Corpse!\u2019<\/em> (Crime SuspenStories<\/strong> #9, February\/March 1952) offers a brilliantly twisty murder-plot involving a penniless actor who kills his uncle and diverts subsequent police attention by impersonating the victim post mortem. It does not go according to plan…<\/p>\n

\u2018A Stitch in Time!\u2019<\/em> (Vault of Horror<\/strong> #23, February\/March 1952) is a grotesque classic in which a tyrannical sweatshop boss pays a ghastly price for abusing desperate seamstresses in his employ, before \u2018…Rocks in His Head!\u2019<\/em> (Crime SuspenStories<\/strong> #10, April\/May of the same year) sees a harassed, hard-pressed surgeon with a greedy young wife making a disastrous choice when faced with a jewel-bedecked corpse to autopsy. In that same month prolific Craig graced Vault of Horror<\/strong> #24 with \u2018A Bloody Undertaking!\u2019<\/em>, taking the same theme into supernatural territory when a pretty young thing turns the head of an old country doctor… who really should know better…<\/p>\n

Regarded as one of the company\u2019s slowest creators, Craig nevertheless found time to illustrate scripts by Gaines & Feldstein such as \u2018…On a Dead Man\u2019s Chest!\u2019<\/em> (Haunt of Fear<\/strong> #12, March\/April 1952) wherein, after a sordid affair and brutal murder, retribution from beyond the grave seeks out the victim\u2019s wife and philandering brother…<\/p>\n

Cover-dated June\/July 1952, Crime SuspenStories<\/strong> #11\u2019s \u2018Stiff Punishment!\u2019<\/em> is all Craig, and again dealt with avaricious ingenues who wed staid old doctors. This time, though, when the medical lecturer finally snaps, his assumption that he\u2019d found the perfect way to hide the body proved utterly erroneous. In \u2018S\u00e9ance!\u2019<\/em> (Vault of Horror<\/strong> #25, June\/July) a couple of conmen kill a mark who learns too much, but are ultimately undone when his widow consults their own spiritualist for answers, after which Gaines & Feldstein script a shocking tale of gluttony and a vengeful sword-swallower in gloriously macabre fable \u2018Fed Up!\u2019<\/em> from Haunt of Fear<\/strong> #13 May\/June.<\/p>\n

The riveting tension of \u2018The Execution!\u2019<\/em> (Crime SuspenStories<\/strong> #12 August\/September 1952) – wherein a death row inmate waits for the witness who could save him from the chair – came from one simple shocking fact. In Craig\u2019s stories the good guys didn\u2019t always win, and justice was frequently derailed and even cheated. \u2018Two of a Kind!\u2019<\/em> (Vault of Horror<\/strong> #26 August\/September 1952) offered a sexually charged love story of the most extreme kind of sacrifice, whilst in \u2018Silver Threads Among the Mold!\u2019<\/em> (VoH <\/strong>#27 October\/November 1952) an avaricious model regrets making a fool of a sculptor who adores and supports her, and \u2018Sweet Dreams!\u2019<\/em> (CSS <\/strong>#14, December 1952\/January 1953) reveals the dire lengths an insomniac will stoop to in search of a little rest.<\/p>\n

As first seen in VoH <\/strong>#28 (December 1952\/January 1953) \u2018Till Death…\u2019<\/em> is, for many fans, the ultimate zombie story, as a besotted plantation owner loses his new bride to disease and soon learns to regret using voodoo to restore her to his side, whereas \u2018When the Cat\u2019s Away…\u2019<\/em> (CSS <\/strong>#15 February\/March 1953) is pure undiluted Crime Noir. Here a cuckolded husband attends to his wife and best friend with finesse and grim finality, whilst \u2018The Mausoleum!\u2019<\/em> (VoH <\/strong>#29, in the same month) sees an English landowner sell his family castle to a ghost-crazy American; lock, stock and damning evidence of the murder he committed to inherit everything…<\/p>\n

\u2018Rendezvous!\u2019<\/em> (Crime SuspenStories<\/strong> #16, April\/May 1953) brilliantly outlines the sheer dumb luck that scotched a perfect murder\/insurance scam, before \u2018Split Personality!\u2019<\/em> (VoH <\/strong>#30 April\/May) details the incredible lengths to which a con artist strives to deprive identical twin sisters of their fortunes. Then, \u2018Touch and Go!\u2019<\/em> (CSS <\/strong>#17 June\/July) delivers Craig\u2019s sublimely paranoiac and compulsive adaptation of the Ray Bradbury vignette about a killer who leaves damning fingerprints whilst in the same month romantic obsession underpins the tragic tale of an artist-turned-mugger who only stole to pay for true love\u2019s medical bills in \u2018Easel Kill Ya!\u2019<\/em> (VoH<\/strong> #31).<\/p>\n

This awesomely addictive compilation concludes with the devilishly convoluted tale of a Private Eye set up to take the blame for a perfect crime. Written by Gaines & Feldstein, eponymous epic \u2018Fall Guy for Murder!\u2019<\/em> comes from Crime SuspenStories<\/strong> #18 (August\/ September 1953) and is the quintessential 1950s crime story: smart, scary, devious and utterly morally ambiguous…<\/p>\n

The comics classics are followed by more background revelations via S.C. Ringgenberg\u2019s in-depth personal history in \u2018Johnny Craig\u2019<\/em> – complete with a stunning selection of Craig\u2019s most eye-catching and controversial covers – and a general heads-up on the short-lived but world-shaking phenomenon in \u2018The Ups and Downs of EC Comics: A Short History\u2019 <\/em>courtesy of author\/editor\/critic\/comics fan Ted White. Also Educating Consumers is comprehensively illuminating feature \u2018Behind the Panels: Creator Biographies\u2019<\/em> by Mason, Tom Spurgeon & Janice Lee.<\/p>\n

The short, sweet but severely limited comics output of EC has been reprinted ad infinitum in the decades since the company died (or was it murdered?). These titanic tales revolutionised not just our industry but also impacted the greater world through film and television and via the millions of dedicated devotees still addicted to New Trend tales.<\/p>\n

Fall Guy for Murder<\/strong> was the fifth Fantagraphics compendium highlighting contributions of individual creators, adding a new dimension to aficionados\u2019 enjoyment whilst providing a sound introduction for those lucky souls encountering the material for the very first time.<\/p>\n

Whether an aged EC Fan-Addict or the merest neophyte convert, this is a book no comics lover or crime-caper victim should miss…<\/p>\n

Fall Guy for Murder and Other Stories<\/strong> \u00a9 2013 Fantagraphics Books, Inc. All comics stories \u00a9 2013 William M. Gaines Agent, Inc., reprinted with permission. All other material \u00a9 2013 the respective creators and owners.<\/p>\n

Also today in 1982 the legendary Reed Crandall passed away. His presence was seen all over the Golden and Silver Age of Comics, but some of his finest work appeared in Piracy: The Complete Series 1-7 (The EC Archives Library)<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Johnny Craig, with Ray Bradbury, Bill Gaines & Al Feldstein (Fantagraphics Books) ISBN: 978-1-60699-658-4 (HB\/Digital edition) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. Forgotten giant Johnny Craig died today in 2001. He was a graphic titan and should be remembered for more than a stellar run on Iron Man in the … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Fall Guy for Murder and Other Stories”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[75,239,122,66,225,93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime-comics","category-drama","category-historical","category-horror-stories","category-mystery","category-war-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8N3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33793"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33800,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33793\/revisions\/33800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}