Russ Cochran has been an EC fan for more than 50 years. It was his love of
the comics he read as a child that led to his meeting with EC publisher Bill Gaines in the 1960s, and it was his friendship with Gaines that led to his decision to quit his day job as a physics professor to become a publisher in
his own right. Cochran's most ambitious publishing project was the EC
Library, which reprinted all of EC's comics in black-and-white in a series
of slipcased hardcover sets. In the mid 1990s, Cochran sold his business to
Steve Geppi's Gemstone Publishing. He retained his position as publisher, in
much the same way that Gaines stayed on as publisher of MAD after selling
the magazine to Warner Bros. Gemstone's latest project is one close to
Cochran's heart: the EC Archives. The busy publisher recently took some time
out of his schedule to answer some questions about these eagerly anticipated
books.
Tales Of Wonder: You've been involved in a couple of EC reprint projects
over the past 30 years, most notably the EC Library sets. Why another one?
How will this one be different?
Russ Cochran: Yes, I have reprinted the EC material in several formats, but
they all have one thing in common: They were done for the direct market,
i.e., for sale in comic shops. People who go to book stores like Barnes &
Noble and Borders have never had a chance to buy these. I wanted to find a
format which would be attractive to book stores, in addition to the direct
market. Also, this is the first project to treat the EC material with proper
respect: Full color printing, quality paper, in a permanent hardcover
format. Comic books are an important part of America's cultural heritage,
but it is hard to find them in libraries around the country. The EC Archives
series is designed especially for libraries and educational institutions.
And DC's archive series, including The Spirit Archives and Marvel's
Masterworks series, have paved the way for the acceptance of these books. I
believe that the EC Comics represent a high point in the history of comics
in America and deserve to be in permanent collections everywhere.
TOW: What kind of publication schedule do you hope to maintain? How long do
you anticipate it will be before all of EC's output has been 'archived'?
RC: The first four EC Archives books will be available by January 2007.
After that the schedule calls for a new book every two months.
TOW: How far ahead are you thinking in terms of what titles will be
published? Will you concentrate on the New Trend titles first, or mix in
some New Direction books as well? What about the Pre-Trend?
RC: Naturally, we want to start with the best material, which is the New
Trend. If we finish the New Trend and there is sufficient demand for New
Direction and/or Pre Trend, we will do those as well.
TOW: Many fans of reprints of this type are extremely critical of the
coloring, claiming that it often looks too garish, or doesn't resemble the
original comics closely enough. How has the coloring for the EC Archives
been done? Was the intent to be as faithful to the original comics as
possible? If not, what sorts of changes have been made?
RC: I remember when I saw the Nostalgia Press book HORROR COMICS OF THE
'50S. I was very disappointed in the color. It was garish and so strong in
some cases that it tended to obliterate the artwork. The original ECs were
printed on the cheapest grade of paper which absorbed the colors and kept
them from being too garish. When these same color separations were printed
on a better quality paper, the color was too strong. This has been a problem
in virtually all the Archives projects from DC and Marvel and I wanted the
EC Archives to solve that problem, and I believe it has. First of all, the
earliest EC Comics from 1950 were not colored by Marie Severin. They were
colored by employees of Chemical Color Engraving and this coloring left a
lot to be desired. Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein were very unhappy with the
coloring from Chemical. Toward the end of the first year John Severin
mentioned that his sister, Marie Severin, could do a better job of coloring
all the ECs. She was hired and subsequently colored all the EC product.
Every page in the EC Archives has been re-colored using modern computer
technology to include fades and blends, modeling on faces and clothing, and
other modern techniques to achieve a more pleasing color page. But in doing
this Marie's original color schemes and style were followed.
TOW: The EC Library sets reprinted all editorial content - the letter pages,
the house ads and the text pieces - in addition to the stories. Will the EC
Archives do the same? Will you also be reprinting the notes and interviews
that appeared in the EC Library?
RC: Yes, the EC Archives will include Letters pages and house ads. Some of
the material from the interviews in the EC Library sets will be used in the
EC Archives.
TOW: You have some impressive names providing forewords in the first couple
of volumes - George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. How did they become involved
in the project? Can you give us any hints as to who we might see in future
volumes?
RC: I met George Lucas and Steven Spielberg approximately 30 years ago and
have helped both of them with their collections of original artwork. Lucas
purchased many Alex Raymond FLASH GORDON originals and Frazetta paintings
from me and Spielberg has purchased the original cover of MAD #1, several
Carl Barks paintings, and more than a hundred pieces of vintage Disney
animation art. I also knew that they were EC readers. I contacted them both
to write Forewords, and they happily agreed. Since then, I have received a
Foreword for TALES FROM THE CRYPT by John Carpenter and one for the VAULT OF
HORROR from R.L. Stine.
TOW: A few of the stories in the EC Library were reproduced from printed
comics because the original artwork had disappeared. Did any of this missing
artwork ever turn up? If not, how will these stories be handled in the EC
Archives?
RC: No, the missing art has not turned up. So these stories will be handled
the same way as in the EC Library.
TOW: This is a real golden age for comic reprints, with comic books and
comic strips from all eras being reprinted in every conceivable format:
hardcover and trade paperback, color and black & white. Aren't you worried
that this is too much of a good thing, and that the EC Archives might get
lost in the shuffle?
RC: No. The other Archives projects preserve material which is important for
historical and cultural reasons, but is not necessarily great examples of
the art of the comics. As an art form, the EC comics maintained a higher
level in terms of quality of writing and artwork than any comics before or
after. EC consistently achieved this higher level and the quality of that
product will make the EC Archives stand out. Also, there are a few things
that I found lacking in the other books of this type, problems which I
believe we have solved in the EC Archives. Furthermore, the EC Archives is
the only series of its type to be reproduced directly from the original
artwork, and you can see the difference on the page.
TOW: In many people's opinion, EC's output peaked, in terms of quality, 3 or
4 years into the New Trend. Are you concerned that potential fans might be
turned off by the lesser quality of the earlier material, which is being
reprinted first?
RC: I was concerned about this, but we decided that it would be better to
put out the EC Archives in chronological order.
TOW: In my most recent re-reading of the EC Library, I noticed a few
differences between the original comics and the reprinted stories. For
instance, in the splash panel for 'I, Rocket' (Weird Fantasy #20), the text
'Adapted From A Tale By Ray Bradbury' is missing. (I presume that this was a
paste-over that fell off the original art at some point). Are there any
plans to restore missing elements like this for the EC Archives?
RC: You are correct, and we will try to fix these for the EC Archives.
TOW: Russ, many thanks for taking the time to talk to us.
RC: Thanks very much for your interest. I'm sure you and your readers will
enjoy the EC Archives. We have worked very hard to make them the best they
can be.
Interview conducted by Jim Pattison.
Now Available:
EC Archives Weird Science Vol 1 HC
