COVER STORY: Horrific #8

What makes the best comic book covers? It is a great topic for debate. For us, as individuals, there is no wrong answer, of course; it is purely subjective. But, with a little thought it’s possible to explain what it is about a particular image that grabs you. The best images are the ones that make you stop and check out something you weren’t previously planning to purchase – and in some cases, you even end up picking up a title you’ve never even heard of before.

A little bit of info first: the makers of Horrific was a short-lived comic book publisher owned by a man named Allen Hardy. Publishing in the 1950s, one of comic’s darkest times, it had in its talent pool the man who would become the main artist across Comic Media’s various titles, namely Don Heck.

In 1955, Heck would be scooped up for Atlas Comics (Marvel’s predecessor) by the late, great then-editor Stan Lee. Before then, though, Heck illustrated covers and interiors like those found in Comic Media’s Horrific #8.

In this 32-page issue, which features pre-Code horror comics by the Iger Shop, Horrific introduces the title’s new horror host, The Teller of Tales. All the fun a reader can scare up in full color for – at the time – a mere 10¢. Nowadays, though, it costs much, much more money for this must-have book.

And, at the same time, it garners a lot more fun, too!

-Scott Braden