Psychoanalysis - The Complete EC Series (Dark Horse)

EC Comics ("An Entertaining Comic") was never a publisher that I bought comics from (mainly because that company stopped publishing comics well before I was born!).  When I would come across titles in the back issue bins of comic stores and at comic conventions, I would see titles such as The Vault of Horror, Tales from the Crypt, Crime SuspenStories, Two-Fisted Tales, Shock SuspenStories, Weird Fantasy, and the like.  None of these particularly appealed to me, and I viewed the as merely trash comics that could never rate the same as those published by the "big" companies, DC and Marvel.  Well, as an adult, I look back and realize those some of those comics I wrote off as garbage were actually not as bad as I thought.  Dark Horse publishing has been collecting some of these EC series, and after enjoying the Modern Love collection (Modern Love), I began to seek out some of the other collections.  

Psychoanalysis was a four-issue series published bi-monthly in 1955.  The book was a result of the shake-up that occurred in the comic industry after the publication of Dr. Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, which cast a disparaging light on comics at the time, claiming they were contributing to juvenile delinquency.  EC ended up canceling a number of its titles and started up a line of new titles referred to as their "New Direction" line.  This included the fantasy title Valor, the war title Aces High, the medical title M.D., among others.  Psychoanalysis, was one of the five titles that launched this new line under cover date of March/April 1955.  Sadly, it was also the first of these titles to end, after only the fourth issue bearing a cover date of September/October 1955.

The comic was certainly unique for its time, as it did not deal with fantasy at all.  No superheroes in colorful tights.  No horrific tales of terror with frightening creatures of the night.  No over-dramatized stories of war or western adventure.  As described by the editors in the first issue, EC, with this series, intended "to portray, graphically and dramatically, the manner in which people find peace of mind through the science of psychoanalysis" (p. 12)  The second issue came with a disclaimer, indicating "these portrayals are fictional people with fictional problems, and with fictional solutions for these problems!  In no case should the solutions to their problems be applied to problems which might appear to be similar" (p. 44).  One can assume after the publication of the first issue, EC grew concerned that readers might actually take the advice given by the fictional psychiatrist to heart and act upon it!

I have to think the series was geared towards older readers, as I cannot imagine too many pre-teens finding these stories to be interesting.  As the editorial said, the patients who come to see the psychiatrist in these stories are dealing with very life-like issues that plague people in society, and even though these comics were published back in the mid-1950s, it is interesting to see how the same issues are still talked about today.  Dan Keyes and Robert Bernstein authored the stories, while the very talented Jack Kamen provided both the interior art at the cover art for all four issues.  The book was set up so that each issue has three case files - with each patient taking a different number of sessions (issues) to resolve their problems.  Case No. 101 (Freddy Carter) took four sessions, while Case No. 102 (Ellen Lyman) only took three sessions and Case No. 103 (Mark Stone) took five sessions.  Originally, it was intended that when Ellen's story completed, a new patient would take her place, and then when Freddy's story finished in the next issue, another new patient would take his place, and so on, as patients cycled in and out; however, since the comic was cancelled after only four issues, these original three case files are the only patients we get to read.

The first page of the first issue was devoted to the unnamed psychiatrist.  It was an interesting choice of storytelling to leave the pivotal character in all of the stories unnamed - he is merely referred to as "the psychiatrist," and the patients simply refer to him as "doctor."  Instead, we get introduced to this ambiguous man who is to be our host through the stories, who will be listening to all of the problems and doling out advice to set his patients on the path to recovery.  Each of the three stories begin with a file card at the top, indicating the case number, the gender of the patient, and the subject's name, as well as identifying what number session it is.  The formality of it all gives the reader a very real feeling of professionalism and makes the reader think they are actually right there in the office with the doctor and patient!

Case No. 101 - Freddy Carter.  Young Freddy is a teenager, fifteen-years old, whose problems clearly stem from his parents (which is made obvious after just the first two pages).  A mother who coddles him too much and an overbearing father who expects his son to excel at everything and follow in his footsteps as an engineer.  It's even neither parent is really thinking about their son.  But Freddy spends all four issues working through his feelings, not only towards his parents, but towards his own goals in life and how he handles his emotions.  The time period really shines through here, because the author makes it clear Freddy has to stop being a child and "man-up" - and although the treatment is supposed to be leading Freddy to a place of healing, it reads more like a path to becoming what the 1950s deemed to be a "man."

Case No. 102 - Ellen Lyman.  Ellen is described as a nineteen-year old woman, but the way she is drawn makes her appear to be a twenty-something librarian or secretary.  Once again, her issues stem back to her family life, where, as a child, she was always out-shined by her older sister, which led to resentment towards her sister, as well as her parents.  Ellen definitely is written as the weakest of the three characters, always breaking down, crying, and claiming helplessness.  While there are moments where it seems the doctor is leading her to independence, by the end of her three sessions, it all boils down to Ellen wanting to get beyond her past so she can have a relationship with a man - again, a very 1950s theme.

Case No. 103 - Mark Stone.  To me, Mark is probably the most interesting of the three cases (which is why, perhaps, he has the most sessions - a total of five, with one in each of the first three issues, and two in the fourth and final issue).  A writer, Mark writes scripts for Hollywood (mostly television shows), but his issues also go back to his parents (see the common theme here?).  A son of Jewish immigrants, he resents his mother's needling him to always eat and is angered that he has never been able to meet up to his father's expectations of success.  What is interesting about his sessions is that he deals with a lot of internal hatred, not only towards his parents, but towards himself - lashing out at others before they can hurt him, a defense mechanism I've seen in a lot of people (including myself!).  This one came across as probably the most realistic, and while the doctor was rather harsh at times, I think a lot of his advice here actually made sense.  What was also interesting about this series of sessions is that Mark changed over the course of the four issues.  While he started out overweight and rather frumpy, by the end, he was drawn much slimmer and a much sharper dresser.  While not addressed in the dialogue, it was a distinction that was clearly drawn to make the reader realize the changes happening to Mark as he continued therapy.

It's actually rather sad this comic did not continued.  Perhaps it was ahead of its time.  I wonder if, given time, the series might have actually provided a name for our psychiatrist host, and just what other psychological matters would have been addressed.  I guess we'll never know...

One thing I do feel I have to mention.  The third issue contained the first actual letter column, with thirteen letters from fans of this new series.  What I found amusing is that one of the letters came from "Nelson Bridwell" from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  I checked, and yes, E. Nelson Bridwell, a rather prolific comic book writer who wrote a number of titles I enjoyed back in the day (Inferior Five, Super Friends, The New Adventures of Superboy, etc.), did reside in Oklahoma City as a young man - he would have been in his early 20s in 1955 when this comic was published.  I always find it fun to see future comic writers have letters published in comic books before they eventually entered the industry themselves.

A big thanks to Dark Horse Comics for collecting these EC series, and I look forward to more of them!

RATING:  9 dreams of walled-off gardens out of 10 for daring to publish "an entirely novel and unique kind of reading experience!"

Modern Love - The Complete EC Series (Dark Horse)

When I first started reading and collecting comics back in ... well, no, that would be telling - let's just say my first comic book ever was a Super Friends comic - back when it was first published and on the spinner rack at the convenience store ... anyway, I was never a fan of the romance comics. Even though I liked soap operas (All My Children, General Hospital, Santa Barbara, Passions, Dynasty, Dante's Cove, etc.), I could just never get into the romance comics. They were way too cheesy for me. Flash forward quite a few years, and now, as an adult (uh...hmmm), I have discovered romance comics in a whole new light! Private Secretary by Dell, Soap Opera Romance and Soap Opera Love from Charlton, Night Nurse by Marvel, Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love and Secrets of Sinister House by DC, among others - and so it is that I came to purchase this Dark Horse hardcover collection of the EC Comics' romance series, Modern Love.

With only eight issues, Modern Love was not a long-running series, but each issue featured three stories of 7 or 8, or even more, pages, as well as a prose story or two, including features such as "Dear Diary" and "Advice from Adrienne..."  While the lead/cover story for each issue was allegedly a "true love story" as told by readers, there was always a blurb on the first page indicating that "the names in this true love story have been fictionized for obvious reasons!"  I had never heard of this series before seeing the solicit for this collection in Previews magazine, but then again, I was never really one to pick up EC comics.  The writers and artists for the eight issues worth of tales are mostly unknown to me, with the exception of Gardner Fox and Wally Wood, who contributed as writer and artist, respectively, for several of the stories.

The series was originally published from 1949 through 1950, published bi-monthly by Tiny Tot Comics, Inc. under the "EC" label ("An Entertaining Comic").  As the inside front flap for the dust jacket of this collection proudly proclaims, Modern Love was ahead of its time in a number of ways - the artists for the series were allowed to draw in their own style and not be forced to draw in a similar style to every other artist in the company.  The stories also featured some, what would have been at that time, highly controversial subjects, such as racial bigotry and strong-willed women who put their career above their men!  Of course, most of the stories featured your standard soap opera, romance tropes - cheating boyfriends/husbands, conniving sisters/best friends, thought-dead husbands returned to life, long-buried secrets come to light, and just about any other ideas that you can imagine that would throw a monkey-wrench into what appears at first to be the perfect romance.

The first issue starts off with a bang, featuring a story of a mean-spirited woman who tries to steal her younger sister's beau away!  It is the third story, however, that really caught my eye, as it not only features a young girl searching for love, but also involves a mystery surrounding muggings that happen just outside of a dance hall where the girl works! It's Nancy Drew ... er, Nina Foster! ... to the rescue! The second issue's strongest tale is about a meddling aunt who believes her niece should only marry for money - and when Janet Mason falls for a kitchen worker, her Aunt Mary will do whatever it takes to keep them apart!  For the third issue, it's mining family vs. farming family in a Romeo & Juliet type tale of star-crossed lovers from two very different families.  The fourth issue, surprisingly enough, features a lead story about an older sister who tries to steal her younger sister's boyfriend - very similar to the one in the first issue.  Of course, it's the title of that story, "Three-Cornered Romance" that caught my eye, since it reminded me of the Dana Girls' mystery, A Three-Cornered Mystery. As far as romance stories, though, it's the last story in that issue, "I Gave My Love Away" that is by far the best one - a female author is looking for new inspiration for her latest romance novel, so she takes a bum off the street, cleans him up, and has him pretend to be the hero of her latest adventure - the only problem is, she never expects to fall for him!  And, of course, as with any good soap, he is not everything that he seems, providing for a rather unexpected outcome to this tale.

The fifth issue features a rather controversial tale called "Shame." While it never comes out and directly says it, the heroine of the story ends up pregnant by a man who takes off and leaves her, so she turns to the neighbor she's known all her life, where she knows she can be safe and secure - but what happens when the baby's father returns? An interesting story for the time, since an unwed mother (and a man marrying a woman pregnant with another man's child) was not your typical comic story fare!  That same issue also features a story about a woman on a game show who wins $45,000!  Yes, you read that right.  Can you imagine the value of that back in 1950?  And yet, in the story, she manages to blow through all that money, but still find love by the end of the story ... and then there's the story of the woman released from jail, who takes a job in a city where no one knows her.  She falls in love, only to have her past come back to haunt her, threatening to expose her and destroy her happiness!  Issue six has another career girl story, but it also features one of the first tales without a happy ending - a woman who falls in love again after her husband dies - only to come face to face with him again, and must give up the one she truly loves now in order to stay faithful to the husband she thought was dead.  Issue seven gives readers a repeat of the dead husband come back to life story with another sad ending, but it also features a tale of bigotry and racial bias, when a father refuses to allow his son to become involved with a Mexican girl who works for the family.

The eighth and final issue of the series has a few surprises.  One is a third tale of a widowed woman who finds love, only to have her "dead" husband come back to claim her - only this time, a second tragedy gives Katha Trenton the happy ending she longs for.  Another is a mystery at a ranch, where someone keeps causing dangerous accidents - and it's up to the new girl to figure out who before she becomes the next victim! And the issue (and series!) ends with a satirical tale that pokes fun at the whole romance comic genre, allegedly written by (and starring) the office boy of the T. Tot Comic Magazine Publishing Company - a story about a comic book publisher that decides to take on romance comics after falling in love himself; but when that love turns out to be a lie, he puts an end to the line of romance titles (just as it signals the final issue of Modern Love comic magazine...)

The stories are fun, serious, sad, happy, over-the-top, and subtle - just about covering anything and everything you'd expect to find in a regular soap opera-type story.  The art varies from issue to issue and story to story, by artists such as Al Feldstein, Graham Ingels, Johnny Craig, Ed Waldman, Lou Morales, John Sink, Harry Harrison, Rudy Palais, Wally Wood, Jack Kamen, and S.M. Iger, but it despite the different styles, there remains a consistency of bold colors, simple backgrounds, and outstanding expressions on the characters (so easy to see what they are feeling just by looking at their faces - you don't even need to read the word balloons!).  All together, the writing and art make this book a fantastic read, and leaves the reader wishing there were more stories to come...

RATING:  9 mine cave-ins out of 10 for telling truly "modern" love stories, highlighting topics and issues that weren't necessarily so open for discussion back in the day.