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The EC Archives
The EC Archives: Piracy
Collecting the complete run of the EC Comics cult classic Piracy in color; featuring stories about the violence and cruelty of the pirates that sailed the seven seas.
Across these pages sail plunderers, pillagers, buccaneers, whalers, smugglers, pearl divers, treasure hunters, mutineers, and many more, in these brutal tales of life on the water.
Across these pages sail plunderers, pillagers, buccaneers, whalers, smugglers, pearl divers, treasure hunters, mutineers, and many more, in these brutal tales of life on the water.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published March 5, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 10, 2020
Great EC art and stories in this collection as always. Nice read that entertains the eyes and brain at the same time. Recommended
January 6, 2022
#ThrowbackThursday - Back in the '90s, I used to write comic book reviews for the website of a now-defunct comic book retailer called Rockem Sockem Comics. (Collect them all!)
From the August 1998 edition with a theme of "Reprinted and Repackaged":
INTRODUCTION
I'm feeling nostalgic, folks. Howzabout a few trips down memory lane this month?
When I was a young kid buying comics off the spinner rack at the my small town drug store or the magazine rack at the county seat's big grocery store, missing an issue of ARCHIE, RICHIE RICH or SUPERMAN was a tragedy. There were no comic stores with back issue bins in Shullsburg, Wisconsin. And heck, the only other comic book collector in town bought only those trashy Marvel titles, such as X-MEN and FANTASTIC FOUR, which I snubbed. (Hey, I was ignorant of the concepts of appreciation in value and comic book price guides. Give me a break!) If Jackson's Drug Store or Dick's Supermarket didn't get a particular comic, this little farm boy was plain outta luck.
Nowadays, the comics collector has a multitude of solutions available to him. Somewhere in the midst of all the back issue bins, comic conventions, classified ads, mail order companies, fan clubs, and distributor restocking systems, a missing comic book is sure to turn up with a little effort . . . even for little snot-nosed nerds living on isolated Wisconsin dairy farms. As a grown-up, snot-nosed nerd living in isolation in Colorado, I still agonize over a missing issue of a beloved comic book series, but now I'm flexible enough to consider the one solution that is becoming more and more common and, therefore, much easier to obtain. For those willing to bypass first-edition, serialized comics, the Golden Age of publisher reprinting and repackaging is upon us.
ADRIFT UPON THE SEA-MINUS
PIRACY #1-7 (Gemstone Publishing/EC)
The first pirate comic I ever read was actually embedded in the pages of a superhero comic. How many readers out there remember the "Tales of the Black Freighter" sequences included in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' classic WATCHMEN series? The first time I read WATCHMEN I despised "Tales of the Black Freighter" and resented the time it took away from the main superhero story, which I loved so much. After several rereadings, during one of which I read only the "Tales of the Black Freighter" panels, I have learned to appreciate the dimensions this sub-plot adds to the overall tale of WATCHMEN and have become intrigued by the possibilities of a genre of pirate stories. Unfortunately, pirate stories are virtually extinct nowadays. Fortunately, Gemstone Publishing recently reprinted EC Comics' PIRACY title of the Fifties, giving me the chance to finally scratch that nagging little itch that WATCHMEN provoked.
The bad news about PIRACY is that the writing is below par. Yes, each issue of PIRACY contains four solid short stories (five if you count a one-page, non-illustrated text-piece) about pirates, mutiny, marooning, looting, and general villainy. Typical of EC, the stories have obligatory twist endings. Alas, most of the twists are far too obvious and become tedious when ingested in large doses. Also, the writing is as dry as the subject matter is wet. Long, overblown narrative captions cripple the pacing of the stories, ruining what little merit the plots might have. While the captions aren't entirely redundant with the pictures or dialogue balloons, they don't add much of importance; half of them could easily be chopped out, leaving a leaner and better story. Finally, PIRACY was produced after EC was forced to cancel their horror and crime books and tone down the gore EC had made infamous in titles such as TALES FROM THE CRYPT. This is too bad for PIRACY because the gore and poor taste of the earlier EC's scripts were the only elements -- other than the art -- that gave those comics any charm.
The good news about PIRACY is that it contains the artwork of that legendary stable of inkslingers who toiled on almost every comic EC produced. Wally Wood, Reed Crandall, Al Williamson, Angelo Torres, Jack Davis, Bernie Krigstein, George Evans, and Graham Ingels are among the greatest artists of the Fifties and rank high when compared to the artists of subsequent decades. In PIRACY these gentlemen are at the top of their form despite rigid page layouts that limit their freedom of imagination and ponderous captions and word balloons that attempt to drown their artistic brilliance under wave after wave of text. And while the coloring of PIRACY is serviceable, it is a detriment to linework which is so meticulous. Despite my love of full-color comics, the art of PIRACY would be best viewed and savored in a black-and-white format. It's a testament to the prowess of this group of artists that their skills raise the art above the flotsam and jetsam floating through the rest of the book.
PIRACY is a disappointing example of the pirate genre, but an encouraging promise of the potential that exists in pirate stories. I'd say PIRACY has historical value too, but heck, it was canceled after only seven issues back in the Fifties, so how significant could it truly be? No, PIRACY's significance is in showing that it is possible to make comics that are not about superheroes, and that any comic -- regardless of its genre -- will fail if it is not written well. If only Alan Moore would take another crack at writing about the Black Freighter . . .
Grade: C-
From the August 1998 edition with a theme of "Reprinted and Repackaged":
INTRODUCTION
I'm feeling nostalgic, folks. Howzabout a few trips down memory lane this month?
When I was a young kid buying comics off the spinner rack at the my small town drug store or the magazine rack at the county seat's big grocery store, missing an issue of ARCHIE, RICHIE RICH or SUPERMAN was a tragedy. There were no comic stores with back issue bins in Shullsburg, Wisconsin. And heck, the only other comic book collector in town bought only those trashy Marvel titles, such as X-MEN and FANTASTIC FOUR, which I snubbed. (Hey, I was ignorant of the concepts of appreciation in value and comic book price guides. Give me a break!) If Jackson's Drug Store or Dick's Supermarket didn't get a particular comic, this little farm boy was plain outta luck.
Nowadays, the comics collector has a multitude of solutions available to him. Somewhere in the midst of all the back issue bins, comic conventions, classified ads, mail order companies, fan clubs, and distributor restocking systems, a missing comic book is sure to turn up with a little effort . . . even for little snot-nosed nerds living on isolated Wisconsin dairy farms. As a grown-up, snot-nosed nerd living in isolation in Colorado, I still agonize over a missing issue of a beloved comic book series, but now I'm flexible enough to consider the one solution that is becoming more and more common and, therefore, much easier to obtain. For those willing to bypass first-edition, serialized comics, the Golden Age of publisher reprinting and repackaging is upon us.
ADRIFT UPON THE SEA-MINUS
PIRACY #1-7 (Gemstone Publishing/EC)
The first pirate comic I ever read was actually embedded in the pages of a superhero comic. How many readers out there remember the "Tales of the Black Freighter" sequences included in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' classic WATCHMEN series? The first time I read WATCHMEN I despised "Tales of the Black Freighter" and resented the time it took away from the main superhero story, which I loved so much. After several rereadings, during one of which I read only the "Tales of the Black Freighter" panels, I have learned to appreciate the dimensions this sub-plot adds to the overall tale of WATCHMEN and have become intrigued by the possibilities of a genre of pirate stories. Unfortunately, pirate stories are virtually extinct nowadays. Fortunately, Gemstone Publishing recently reprinted EC Comics' PIRACY title of the Fifties, giving me the chance to finally scratch that nagging little itch that WATCHMEN provoked.
The bad news about PIRACY is that the writing is below par. Yes, each issue of PIRACY contains four solid short stories (five if you count a one-page, non-illustrated text-piece) about pirates, mutiny, marooning, looting, and general villainy. Typical of EC, the stories have obligatory twist endings. Alas, most of the twists are far too obvious and become tedious when ingested in large doses. Also, the writing is as dry as the subject matter is wet. Long, overblown narrative captions cripple the pacing of the stories, ruining what little merit the plots might have. While the captions aren't entirely redundant with the pictures or dialogue balloons, they don't add much of importance; half of them could easily be chopped out, leaving a leaner and better story. Finally, PIRACY was produced after EC was forced to cancel their horror and crime books and tone down the gore EC had made infamous in titles such as TALES FROM THE CRYPT. This is too bad for PIRACY because the gore and poor taste of the earlier EC's scripts were the only elements -- other than the art -- that gave those comics any charm.
The good news about PIRACY is that it contains the artwork of that legendary stable of inkslingers who toiled on almost every comic EC produced. Wally Wood, Reed Crandall, Al Williamson, Angelo Torres, Jack Davis, Bernie Krigstein, George Evans, and Graham Ingels are among the greatest artists of the Fifties and rank high when compared to the artists of subsequent decades. In PIRACY these gentlemen are at the top of their form despite rigid page layouts that limit their freedom of imagination and ponderous captions and word balloons that attempt to drown their artistic brilliance under wave after wave of text. And while the coloring of PIRACY is serviceable, it is a detriment to linework which is so meticulous. Despite my love of full-color comics, the art of PIRACY would be best viewed and savored in a black-and-white format. It's a testament to the prowess of this group of artists that their skills raise the art above the flotsam and jetsam floating through the rest of the book.
PIRACY is a disappointing example of the pirate genre, but an encouraging promise of the potential that exists in pirate stories. I'd say PIRACY has historical value too, but heck, it was canceled after only seven issues back in the Fifties, so how significant could it truly be? No, PIRACY's significance is in showing that it is possible to make comics that are not about superheroes, and that any comic -- regardless of its genre -- will fail if it is not written well. If only Alan Moore would take another crack at writing about the Black Freighter . . .
Grade: C-
June 17, 2022
PIRACY was one of the last "New Trend" EC comics to be launched before the formation of the Comics Code Authority. It actually survived the transition to "New Direction" better than I thought it would, though the visual storytelling takes a hit once the CCA seal starts showing up on the covers (which is a very depressing sight). Weapons have been obviously removed from hands in the original art, faces have been redrawn to be less grotesque, etc. Poor Jack Davis seems to have gotten it especially hard.
The stories themselves are more of EC's trademark twist-ending morality tales. And like most EC titles, they start repeating themselves fairly quickly. But the art is terrific, and it's especially fun to watch Reed Crandall and Bernard Krigstein in particular really hit their stride as comics artists over the course of these seven issues.
(I had it in my head that Joe Orlando drew some of these, probably because of WATCHMEN. But nope!)
The stories themselves are more of EC's trademark twist-ending morality tales. And like most EC titles, they start repeating themselves fairly quickly. But the art is terrific, and it's especially fun to watch Reed Crandall and Bernard Krigstein in particular really hit their stride as comics artists over the course of these seven issues.
(I had it in my head that Joe Orlando drew some of these, probably because of WATCHMEN. But nope!)
April 30, 2022
I like pirates. I like pirate stories. Cool ships. Lots of death. Utter bastards screwing with people and getting what's coming to them. This collection can feel repetitive- man be pirate, man crime and steal, man die, over and over and over again. But as I kept reading more and more stories stood out to me. The art is pretty neat, though variable in quality. The set-ups became less shock-value ill-intentioned evil scheming and more madness, mental illness, and plain old wild crazy stuff.
June 7, 2022
CN: Depictions of the transatlantic slave trade.
June 3, 2020
OMG, this is fun!
EC became famous for their horror comics, but they were forced to stop publishing them because they were deemed too shocking for children. (Comic books are just for kids, right?) So they turned their attention to other genres. These comics weren't as financially successful and ultimately they threw all of their effort at turning their comic Mad into a very successful magazine, but they are a lot of fun.
Here you get the typical EC attention to detail. The drawings have been digitally converted, and it's fun to zoom in on the graphics to appreciate the detail. The stories are all extremely well told, if somewhat predictable (you know with EC you will always get a "twist" ending). Nautical terms ("jib", "fos'cle", "keelhaul", etc.) are thrown around like crazy. It's a wild ride, and terrific escapism. Bottle of rum is optional.
EC became famous for their horror comics, but they were forced to stop publishing them because they were deemed too shocking for children. (Comic books are just for kids, right?) So they turned their attention to other genres. These comics weren't as financially successful and ultimately they threw all of their effort at turning their comic Mad into a very successful magazine, but they are a lot of fun.
Here you get the typical EC attention to detail. The drawings have been digitally converted, and it's fun to zoom in on the graphics to appreciate the detail. The stories are all extremely well told, if somewhat predictable (you know with EC you will always get a "twist" ending). Nautical terms ("jib", "fos'cle", "keelhaul", etc.) are thrown around like crazy. It's a wild ride, and terrific escapism. Bottle of rum is optional.
October 10, 2023
Quite the A-list of artists this one has: Crandall, Davis, Evans, Ingels, Krigstein, Williamson, Wood. Most are at or near their peaks, as well, though I was a bit disappointed with the Wood--his heart did not seem to be in it. Narratively, though, these stories are mediocre, for the most part, and several are pretty lame. Some bode well but generally can't pull it off in the end. The inevitable twist ending gimmick is, as it often is, far too obvious for it to have any impact. The stories also get a bit repetitive after a while. One would think that there would be more room for variety with stories of the sea, but the writers don't generally get creative with the possibilities.
October 21, 2025
Un título menor en el catálogo de la célebre EC, comparte la notoria gráfica común a su casa editorial y el consabido formato antológico, de historias cuyo desenlace suele deslizar una lección moral. Pero si dicha estructura reforzó sus hoy clásicas series hermanas de terror y crimen, en los relatos marinos ofrecidos (no todos sobre piratería) peca de repetitiva y tiende a aburrir. Una colección de nicho para los realmente interesados en EC Comics o las historias de piratas.
March 29, 2019
It says a lot about the quality of EC's output that this book ranks below all the others, excepting only Extra, in the EC Archives line. These are solid if not essential stories of betrayal, paranoia, and murder, featuring strong artwork throughout.
August 22, 2020
I really like this collection. The art looks great. The oversized edition is nice. The stories are a lot of fun and have the familiar twist endings. There’s a ton of stories packed into these seven issues with a nice variety. I definitely see this as a go to Pirate comic when I need a fix.
November 12, 2022
Disegni di pregevolissima fattura e storie coinvolgenti, anche se talvolta un po’ scontate, in un albo spesso poco apprezzato. Parliamo di una raccolta che mostra, tuttavia, gli anni che ha. Ma resta una lettura consigliata, perfetta per un pomeriggio di relax.
February 1, 2022
Probably the best series of the whole EC archives, not ever story is a hit, but most are, they generally employ the trademark EC twist ending.
September 7, 2021
An easy read between novels.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews