Master Race and Other Stories

The EC Artists' Library #21

by Bernard Krigstein (Illustrator), Al Feldstein

This comics anthology includes Krigstein’s most famous story ― which broke both aesthetic and narrative boundaries ―plus material that’s never been reprinted since the 1950s. In addition to "Master Race,” this volume includes “The Flying Machine” (based on a story by Ray Bradbury). Other stories “Slave Ship,” an unpublished science fiction tale that was only discovered in the decades following EC’s demise, “The Monster From The Fourth Dimension,” a horror/science fiction shocker that has never been reprinted since its original appearance in 1954, and other Krigstein crime, horror, war, and science fiction stories covering the full gamut of EC titles, including Tales From the Crypt , Crime SuspenStories , Shock SuspenStories , Aces High , and Incredible Science Fiction . Black & white illustrations throughout.

Genres: Comics, Horror, Fiction, Comics Manga, Graphic Novels, Short Stories, Anthologies

232 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Master Race and Other Stories collects all 32 EC Comics tales illustrated by Bernard Krigstein.

I've slowly been chewing my way through the Fantagraphics EC Library. I had some Amazon points to burn and snapped this up. It was a winner on every level.

The stories, written by Al Feldstein, Carl Wessler, Johnny Craig, Otto Binder, Jack Olek, and Ray Bradbury, fall into all the classic EC genres. There are horror, science fiction, crime, and war stories. There are no romance stories but Krigstein wasn't with EC all that long before they folded. As usual, the stories are hit or miss, leaning more toward hits, although the war stories weren't really my cup of tea.

Master Race, the title story, had the most impact, but stories like Slave Ship and Pipe Dream will stick with me for a long time, both due to the subject matter and to the way Krigstein put it to the page.

Like Alex Toth, the Krigmeister altered his style to match the subject matter and tone of his stories, making this collection a visual feast. Krigstein used shading and crosshatching much more than other EC artists, making me think black and white is the best way to look at his work. I could see lots of detail being overshadowed when color was added. Some of the stories are drawn in a minimalist style, others have a more photo-realistic look.

While his output wasn't much compared to some of the other EC Artists, Bernard Krigstein was one of the best. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though EC Comics initially produced a mass of genre-heavy comics intended only to entertain, later creators would go on to use the medium to push more high brow concepts. These early trailblazers working for EC helped push boundaries and elevate the medium beyond its initial trappings. Under the leadership of William Gaines, EC Comics began to publish more mature stories that pushed for socially conscious and progressive ideals like equality, peace, environmentalism while still providing an undercurrent of counterculture. Though these stories were still mostly within the speculative fiction boundaries, the writing became much more refined. However, the quality of a comic soon became solely ascribed to the level of writing, with the artwork sometimes considered a bit of an afterthought. Enter Bernie Krigstein, an artist who demonstrated the prowess of visual language in comics. Very few comics are as well revered as Krigstein's "Master Race" (co-written by Al Feldstein and William Gaines) which centers on a former Nazi death camp commandant who managed to elude justice until he is spotted a decade later riding the subway in New York. The story made waves since the Holocaust was rarely discussed in media at the time, but Krigstein's approach was cultivated a template for comics about heavier subject matters.

Collected in this hardcover is not only the masterclass that is "Master Race", but the entirety of Krigstein's body of work at EC Comics. The stories vary substantially in genre such as crime, horror, war, sci-fi and more, but most of these stories at their core contain a very human element to them. Distilling down the 32 stories collected in Master Race and Other Stories, I'd have to classify much of them as falling for a film noir-esque design, whereby the endings are often sudden or bittersweet. Though "Master Race" will continue to be the most memorable of the stories, others like Ray Bradbury's "The Flying Machine", the unpublished "Slave Ship", "Pipe Dream", "The Catabombs", "You, Murderer", "Just Her Speed", and many more all have excellent and ever-lasting appeal. The comics feel substantially relevant nearly seventy years later, highlighting just how progressive Krigstein and his writing collaborators were.

Though the stories vary in genre, the unifying factor here is Krigstein's artwork. Artists like Ditko and Toth could be considered strong comparisons, but Krigstein stood above all with his use of space in comics. The tremendous use of blacks for backgrounds provides a vivid contrast for his grotesque designs in his horror and crime comics, but the use of negative space (though this was much more rare given the propensity for most writers of this time to overindulge in their word count) also created a strong sense of composition. The panel constructions are also what set Krigstein aside from his contemporaries, and it's all evident over this immense body of work. Though Krigstein's tenure in comics was not quite as long-lasting as some of the other big names at EC, his impact is undoubtedly unparalleled. Master Race and Other Stories is well worth the time for any fan of the comics medium.

[EC Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trailblazing, shockingly modern comics. If you want to call any of these guys 'ahead of their time', this is the one who deserves it. The quality, sadly, drifts off just at the very end, but it's so ridiculously high before that, it hardly matters. One highlight after another: "Derelict Ship", "Bellyfull", "Pipe Dream", "The Catacombs","Murder Dream", "Just Her Speed", and of course the title story. Strong, strong stuff.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

All comics creators are not the same. Pick up Bernard Krigstein's Master Race and Other Stories and you'll immediately understand. Krigstein was not content to follow pre-established formulas or go along with the crowd, but instead sought to challenge and defy conventions, all for the sake of advancing art in comics. He certainly succeeded.

[Nate]

I’m almost always more of a “story” guy, meaning that art is secondary to me when reading comics; first and foremost, I need good writing and a good story. But I read EC comics equally for the art as I do for the stories (which are damn good anyway). The artists who drew for EC are some of the best to ever do it. And these artist editions are the way to go. Black and white is absolutely the best format to read these comics, because it preserves the beautiful detail of the art. Color sullies the inking.

This one features stories drawn by Bernard Krigstein. They come from a variety of EC titles, mainly covering crime and horror. At first glance his art lacks the precision of guys like Wally Wood and Jack Davis, but it’s very distinct and expressive, resulting in some haunting and perfectly designed panels. His framing seems ahead of its time. Along with the powerful title story (which addresses the Holocaust at a time when little fiction did), my favorites are “Slave Ship,” “The Pioneer,” “More Blessed to Give,” “Just Her Speed,” “Numbskull,” and “Fulfillment.”

Krigstein came late to EC. His first stories were published in late 1953. As a result, much of the stories here were published after the comics code was introduced in 1954. Some of them do feel dumbed down (especially those from Aces High), but most are still evocative and memorable. The essays in the book are fascinating as always with these EC collections. Krigstein was a singular artist, and after dismissing comics as an art form, he vigorously championed them throughout his short career. He even tried to create a comics union. Krigstein’s intellectual background and classical art training brought a unique perspective to comics too, and he sought to elevate the medium to a higher level of art.

[Jason Grote · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of a four-volume slipcase edition bought impulsively in Los Angeles and hauled at great expense across the country (I've got similar unread books that have made the trip twice without being read yet, prefer not to think about this). I was surprised to find out these were black and white, which makes sense for an artist's edition, especially given Krigstein's innovations in storytelling and panel design, but as a reader, I miss the garish color of the 50s EC Comics.

These were so deeply mythologized for me as a kid, made more so by the fact that I could read about them more than I could read them. The individual panels and pages made me uneasy; the machine lettering seemed uncanny to be, like when I'd come across Christian fundamentalist comics, or the first time I read Dan Clowes. These are obviously meant for 13-year-olds, kids who had recently outgrown the comics written for 8-year-olds, pretty formulaic, each with a twilight zone twist at the end. Per the intro, Bill Gaines would set the typeface and panel design before sending to the artists, a truly weird way of working, especially given how Stan Lee was about to revolutionize the industry with the Marvel method (writer sends artist a brief plot, artist does everything, writer fills in the dialogue). The two most famous and widely-imitated comics herein, the title story and The Flying Machine (an adaptation of an orientalist Ray Bradbury story), are where Krigstein pushed back on Gaines' page designs, to great effect. Krigstein liked art house films and fine art, and sought to elevate comics as a medium. Like Alex Toth, he's been widely imitated, but sought to differentiate himself from his peers by imitating paintings and Chinese scrolls rather than making movies or TV shows on paper. I miss this generation of cartoonists, educated art lovers who made kid stuff because they had to make a living somehow, but who hadn't been marinated in obsessive fan culture. Of course, it's worth adding that 50s EC were the first time comics were any good; there were sui generis raw talents like Jack Kirby, Bill Everett, Jack Cole, and Will Eisner, but Gaines was rally the first comics editor who wanted to nurture talent. Which got him hauled before congress, lol lmao (bitter).

[_Liebert · Rating 3 out of 5]

unfortunately i still feel much more conscious of narrative than form - skeptical, really, about the perfect product this collection's editorial notes seem to be selling. i like the black and white, but it's also not where Krigstein ever expected the pieces to end. this era, particularly the dropoff after Master Race, has to offer multiple two-bit tales of self-thinking ergo selfish, ergo frigid, ergo unfaithful ergo unlovable, ergo sinful wives; i hardly accept calling what's preferable to dismiss "issues of the time", suggesting the forms of social justice too are in the end fashionable, the same want for comeuppance of the Comics Code Authority's fetters. i wish Master Race had gotten not simply to be a high but the initiation into unlocking the hope they had then.