THE ARTISTS OF THE TALES FROM THE CRYPT COMIC BOOK
Al Feldstein
Before EC Comics, Al used to teach art at Brooklyn College. He often painted murals for money while in the Army. After he left the army, he started working for Eisner & Iger, a comic company he worked for prior to the army. Dissatisfied with the pay, he worked freelance. He worked for such comic books as Hap Hazard and Western Thrillers as well as numerous junior comics. It was his work with these comics that made Bill Gaines of EC Comics pick him up. In his career he also formed the magazine MAD. He is considered by many Tales from the Crypt fans as the "blood of the Crypt", a title that still remains long after his retirement from comics in the year 1985.
Jack Davis
Like Al, Davis spent most of his life in service (the Navy in his case) and drawing when he could. He joined EC in 1951 without any real professional comic experience. Al was most impressed by his rather rough style of drawing and his superb line work. When EC Comics became too big for Al to remain as head artist for all three of the characters, Jack became the head artist for the Cryptkeeper .
Joe Orlando
Always with the knack for comic book drawing, Joe had a small artist studio with teo similar artists: Wally Wood and Harry Harrison. The studio had some success, but Joe, detrmined to go for the big time, submitted his artwork to EC Comics in the early 50's. He was often considered eccentric because he received his inspiration for horror from the blood of matyered saints. (In the book Tales From the Crypt:The Official Archives it was said that Joe would go to church and "concentrate on the bloody wounds of the saints-arrows in the chest, blood pouring out, and all the rest." He was known to be rather rough around the edges, and it was this nature that got him a job at Marvel Comics with Stan Lee in 1957. He is now at MAD Magazine (according to most recent source I can find: which was Tales From the Crypt: The Official Archives
Marie Servin
Marie was the colorist for all the EC comic books. I couldn't find much about her prior work experience before EC Comics, however after her EC Comics she did work at Marvel Comics on The Incredible Hulk and Not Brand Echh.
Wally Wood
As previously stated, Wally Wood and Joe Orlando had a small studio together prior to working at EC Comics. He worked almost exclusively on Weird Science and Weird Fantasy. He was a master at shadowing , bringing a sinisterly appearance to the comic books (in fact, he is part of the reason I even read the comics at all...I'm not a sci-fi fan in the least.) His artistry was very realistic and therefore found work with MAD Magazine as well drawing carictures of celebrities.
Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey is probably most known for being the editor of MAD magazine, but he's had a rather fascinating career as well. He never did work on the Tales From the Crypt comic, but h did work for EC Comics on a comic book called Lucky Fights it Through which indeed was about gonorrhea (and that's good enough for him to be mentioned here). For you Marvel fans out there, he did indeed do a one page comic strip entitled Hey Look!
Johnny Craig
When The three evil EC characters were becoming too much for Al to deal with, Johnny tok over drawing The Vault of Horrors. He was a very crisp artist and most of his comics evolved around average people getting into horrific situations (and away from demons, monsters, and ghouls). He wrote all of his own stories, something no other artist at EC Comics has done.
Ghastly Graham Ingels
Ingels was basically the creator for the "Old Witch", one of EC Comics three running characters. He worked for EC Comics since practically the beginning. He drew the Witch in each of the EC comic books, including the ever popular Tales From the Crypt He became so well known for his horrific style that the pressure of his performance got so great and he quit.
Al Williamson
Al is most known for his work for his work on Flash Gordon, Secret Agent Corrigon, and the Star Wars comic strip. However he wasthe primary penciler for the Tales From the Crypt comic book. He also worked on Vault of Horror as a pencil artist. It was his work on Forbidden Worlds that prompted EC Comics interest in his form, and later led to his hiring.
