What do you think?
Rate this book
The EC Artists' Library #25
The Woman Who Loved Life and Other Stories
Mood, mayhem, murder—and zombies, too!
Johnny Craig emerged from the earliest days of EC Comics with a crisp, elegant, contemporary graphic style that set a mood and took a surprisingly sophisticated approach to the mischief, mayhem, and murder of so many of the stories he drew.
This collection of Craig’s pioneering work for the company collects all of the stories he illustrated for War Against Crime and Crime Patrol plus his earliest outings for EC’s terror triumvirate—Crypt of Terror, Haunt of Fear, and Vault of Horror. Also included are all of the legendary stories that Craig and EC great Al Feldstein collaborated on under the pseudonym “F.C. Aljon.”
Of special interest to collectors, we present two stories for the first time since their initial publication more than 70 years ago: “Moon Girl,” EC’s first (and only) superhero and one of EC’s earliest horror stories, “Zombie Terror,” both scanned from the original art. Plus “Edna Sunday,” the story of a vicious woman murderer, restored for the first time ever with its original, never-before-printed shocking splash panel.
Twenty-six stories in all, with essays and commentary by EC experts.
Johnny Craig emerged from the earliest days of EC Comics with a crisp, elegant, contemporary graphic style that set a mood and took a surprisingly sophisticated approach to the mischief, mayhem, and murder of so many of the stories he drew.
This collection of Craig’s pioneering work for the company collects all of the stories he illustrated for War Against Crime and Crime Patrol plus his earliest outings for EC’s terror triumvirate—Crypt of Terror, Haunt of Fear, and Vault of Horror. Also included are all of the legendary stories that Craig and EC great Al Feldstein collaborated on under the pseudonym “F.C. Aljon.”
Of special interest to collectors, we present two stories for the first time since their initial publication more than 70 years ago: “Moon Girl,” EC’s first (and only) superhero and one of EC’s earliest horror stories, “Zombie Terror,” both scanned from the original art. Plus “Edna Sunday,” the story of a vicious woman murderer, restored for the first time ever with its original, never-before-printed shocking splash panel.
Twenty-six stories in all, with essays and commentary by EC experts.
232 pages, Hardcover
Published September 10, 2019
4 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 26, 2021
The Woman Who Loved Life and Other Stories contains 28 stories featuring work by Johnny Craig.
Johnny Craig isn't one of my favorite EC artists but he does draw a few of my favorite tales. This one is kind of a Johnny Craig junk drawer but I needed it for my growing EC library.
The stories in this collection lean heavy toward crime, though there are five or six horror tales and a couple westerns. Craig did inks on some, or collaborated on the art as FC Aljon with Al Feldstein. Feldstein, Gardner Fox, Richard Kraus, and Craig himself wrote the tales.
Craig's art doesn't really stand out to me compared to other EC artists but he still had some chops. I think he was at his best when he was drawing someone losing his or her shit after things go pear shaped. The two zombie stories and the Idol's Revenge were my favorite tales. The Wall wasn't bad either, a combination of several Edgar Allan Poe stories. I have to wonder if a woman did Craig wrong some time in the past considering how many of his stories feature double dealing women getting their comeuppance.
The Woman Who Loved Life and Other Stories is a mish mash of Johnny Craig stories but still worth a read. Three out of five double dealing dames.
Johnny Craig isn't one of my favorite EC artists but he does draw a few of my favorite tales. This one is kind of a Johnny Craig junk drawer but I needed it for my growing EC library.
The stories in this collection lean heavy toward crime, though there are five or six horror tales and a couple westerns. Craig did inks on some, or collaborated on the art as FC Aljon with Al Feldstein. Feldstein, Gardner Fox, Richard Kraus, and Craig himself wrote the tales.
Craig's art doesn't really stand out to me compared to other EC artists but he still had some chops. I think he was at his best when he was drawing someone losing his or her shit after things go pear shaped. The two zombie stories and the Idol's Revenge were my favorite tales. The Wall wasn't bad either, a combination of several Edgar Allan Poe stories. I have to wonder if a woman did Craig wrong some time in the past considering how many of his stories feature double dealing women getting their comeuppance.
The Woman Who Loved Life and Other Stories is a mish mash of Johnny Craig stories but still worth a read. Three out of five double dealing dames.
March 28, 2024
I liked the range of stories: westerns, true crime, and horror. The crime stories were the best with lots of tough acting dames not afraid to get their hands dirty.
January 9, 2023
Ultra pulp! Waaay cooler than I thought it was going to be. "Captain Crime" had me right away! Flamethrowers! Burning airplanes! All the FC Aljon stories drawn with Craig and Feldstein together are great, great tales of ladies gone bad, bad, bad! Ahhhh, if you like this sort of thing you know who you are, but I gotta say the black and white artwork really adds to the lurid enjoyment. If you think of Craig as the 'clean horror' guy, get ready to see cops getting shot in the face, belly, and back! Deadly dames getting burned alive in a speedboat! Craig's style cleaned up and the stories classed up in the later volumes, some of which feature more ambitious inks and plots, some not as much. This is a fantastic Craig title for this series, though ('Fall Guy For Murder' is actually the weakest, 'Voodoo Vengeance' and 'Deadly Beloved' are amazing). Contains the very first EC horror tales, too!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews