They Came from the 50s

    (Eternity, 1990)
™ and © Eternity Comics, a division of Malibu Graphics, Inc.

In the late 1940s and early ‘50s, it seemed as if comic book readers could not get enough of the violent horror story—nearly 20 million horror comics were sold every month. Fearing government intervention and regulation similar to that of the motion picture industry, comic book publishers created the Comics Code Authority—a self-censoring organization—to calm parental outcry. Within months, violent horror comics had all but disappeared from store shelves and an era of creative abandon was brought to an end.

Malibu Graphics, Inc. revisits those classic days of comics in They Came From The ‘50s—a collection reprinting 16 pre-Code horror stories. While not quite as sleazy as one would think, the stories presented in this collection represent a small sample of what might have been devoured by children late at night hiding under their bed sheets with a flashlight. “The Fatal Scalpel,” “Elixir of Evil,” and “The Ghost’s Revenge” are just a few of the stories that, while some may not find scary, lend insight into a unique moment in American history.
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