The EC Archives: Weird Science, Vol. 2

The EC Archives

by Al Feldstein (Editor), Harvey Kurtzman, Wallace Wood

The second volume of Weird Science features classic stories written by Al Feldstein, and illustrated by such master artists as Wally Wood, Joe Orlando, Jack Kamen, Harvey Kurtzman and Feldstein himself. This stunning collection reprints issues Weird Science #7-12, a total of 24 complete breathtaking EC science fiction stories, originally published in 1951 and 1952.

Genres: Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels

212 pages, Hardcover

First published May 8, 2007

About the author

Albert Bernard Feldstein was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satirical magazine Mad. After retiring from Mad, Feldstein concentrated on American paintings of Western wildlife.

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another great volume in the EC library of reprints. I can't say enough about these collections of comics that existed between the Gold and Silver ages of comics. Tons of fabulous talent make these a great read even today. The art and writing are far above anything else of that time. Check out a volume to see what I mean. EC did comics on EVERYTHING so you can find a set specializing to your tastes. Recommended

[EC Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoever chose the cover for this should be blamed for putting Gemstone out of business. Seriously, they chose the worst one. Past that, this has Feldstein's "Seed's of Jupiter", and if you like the "Alien" movie franchise, it may seem just a bit familiar. "The Grey Cloud of Death" is the best of the Wood stories in here, but his better stuff was all going to the other EC Sci Fi title, Weird Fantasy. Jack Kamen should get more credit for his Sci Fi work; his background tech in stories like "Only Human" holds up pretty well, as does the rest of his art. But again, his WF stories seem slightly better. Still, it's EC, just know that volumes 2 and 3 of WS are kind of the low point, get everything else first.

[Owen Hatherley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up working backwards from Daniel Clowes' 'Monica' and it's both fascinatingly visually peculiar and in that sweet spot for golden age American pop culture of being both incredibly dumb and incredibly clever at once.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too tired for much dissection, but this book is awesome. I never got into Wally Wood's JSA work, but his EC pages are INCREDIBLE!

[Al McCarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woody, Feldstein, Orlando, Kurtzman, Kamen…classics!

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another in the EC Archive series of collections of EC comics. Some material has been added in the form of articles on writers and/or artists, and the original ads are not reprinted.

The stories are a mix of science fiction, with a science fiction basis until the ending, and the ending usually turns out to be more along the lines of a horror story ending. It's also fairly typical science fiction for the time, with plenty of BEMs and misunderstandings and a beautiful woman thrown in here and there.

[Bart Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collecting issues 7-12 of the EC comic, this volume started off a bit more than uneven. My first impression was that I wasn't going to enjoy this collection-- after having finished numbers 7, 8 and part of 9. However, things soon took a dramatic turn for the better.
I also enjoyed the extra features, such as the short description of BEMs (Bug-Eyed Monsters) and EC Looks for New Artists, giving this collection of reprints a fresh feel.

[Stefanie Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember using these books in school and I think they are informative and fun for kids. A teacher could use this book to introduce new science to the classroom.

[Sylvester · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories were pretty predictable in this volume, hardly anything memorable.