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dantastic's review against another edition
4.0
Came the Dawn and Other Stories is a black and white collection of all of Wally Wood's crime and horror stories from EC Comics.
My teaser sums it up pretty well. Came the Dawn presents Wood's crime and horror works in chronological order in stark black and white. While I prefer Wood's science fiction work for EC, it's damn good.
It's interesting watching Wood improve as an artist as the collection rolls forward. The stories all have the trademark EC "bite you in the ass" ending. Some of the stories, particularly the early ones, are only average. The title story is one of the standouts, the tale of a man arriving at his woodland cabin to find the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. But there's also reports of a woman having escaped from an insane asylum nearby...
Some of the stories are a product of their time, with the women being femme fatale liars, but there are a handful of progressive tales that still have an impact today. Bill Gaines wasn't shy about pointing out the evils of racism and ignorance. Anyone who says the comics of yesteryear weren't political needs to read this collection.
I've seen some people put off by the black and white artwork but I think stripping away the color shows how good Wally Wood's artwork was. He was as at home drawing rotting corpses as he was buxom women. His use of perspective was great and he also drew some realistic looking '50s cars. Basically, the man could do it all and did a lot of it in this volume.
Fantagraphics did a great job with this so I'll be seeking out the rest of their EC reprints. Came the Dawn is an easy four star book.
My teaser sums it up pretty well. Came the Dawn presents Wood's crime and horror works in chronological order in stark black and white. While I prefer Wood's science fiction work for EC, it's damn good.
It's interesting watching Wood improve as an artist as the collection rolls forward. The stories all have the trademark EC "bite you in the ass" ending. Some of the stories, particularly the early ones, are only average. The title story is one of the standouts, the tale of a man arriving at his woodland cabin to find the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. But there's also reports of a woman having escaped from an insane asylum nearby...
Some of the stories are a product of their time, with the women being femme fatale liars, but there are a handful of progressive tales that still have an impact today. Bill Gaines wasn't shy about pointing out the evils of racism and ignorance. Anyone who says the comics of yesteryear weren't political needs to read this collection.
I've seen some people put off by the black and white artwork but I think stripping away the color shows how good Wally Wood's artwork was. He was as at home drawing rotting corpses as he was buxom women. His use of perspective was great and he also drew some realistic looking '50s cars. Basically, the man could do it all and did a lot of it in this volume.
Fantagraphics did a great job with this so I'll be seeking out the rest of their EC reprints. Came the Dawn is an easy four star book.
jackb_93's review against another edition
Fascinating look into mid-century pulp art, the stories are lurid and high pitched, but sometimes surprisingly subtle. The art is so good that it has encouraged me to dive down a Wallace Wood rabbit hole. The suburban homes and rain soaked streets are lushly detailed in a way that provides genuine intensity, aiding the economical story structures by loading each panel with just enough intrigue. I must say that the presentations of these stories in black and white, without their original colouring, really adds to the Noirish starkness of the stories in the latter half of the book. The fact that this collection is sort of lopsided by design is something I’m in two minds about. The fact of the matter is that this book starts off a bit slowly because the earlier stories (the first 5-6) have the principles involved still finding their feet. This resulted in me starting this book then giving up on it for a while, before picking it up again. Very glad that I did! However the argument in favour of this ‘lopsidedness’ is that the stories are presented in chronological order so you can track the development of the creators involved, something I am a sucker for. If chronological presentation results in a slow start to the volume then so be it. This is fine work after all, and you appreciate the good stuff more if you work up to it. Will be checking out Wood’s science fiction stuff next, reportedly his most creative work
rickklaw's review
Beginning in the late 40s through the mid-50s, Wallace "Wally" Wood created memorable stories for the legendary EC stable of crime, horror, and science fiction comics. Came the Dawn and Other Stories collects all 26 of Woods horror and crime tales from that period. The initial stories, usually with the aide of artistic partner Harry Harrison (the same one who later created The Stainless Steel Rat) and written by Gardner Fox, offered fairly run of the mill horror riffs on werewolves, ghosts, and the like. The relatively crude art pales in comparison to Wood's later brilliance but the occasional extraordinary image or panel crops up. The first story to offer a glimpse of the future EC and Wood tales, the Al Feldstein-scripted "Death's Double-Cross" delivers an excellent romantic thrill that effectively showcases Wood's talents. The creepy "Judy, You're Not Yourself" ushered in a sea change in the quality of stories. The tale effectively shatters the illusions of the supposed idyllic suburban life in a story that could only be described as an EC-type tale. The further stories tackle controversial topics such as racism, anti-semitism, police brutality, and sexual morality, all subjects that were not discussed openly in the uptight, restrictive morality of 50s polite society. Beautifully crafted, as typical for a Fantagraphics book, Came the Dawn and Other Stories showcases the creative evolution of one of the true masters of the form. Further rounding out this excellent collection are an introductory essay examining each story, creator bios, and a short history of EC Comics.
katytron's review
5.0
Brilliant, tragic, captivating, shocking, gorgeous, compelling, campy, weird and wonderful. I can't choose a favourite but reading those social commentary issues from the 50s was incredible.
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