MARVEL...THE NEW EC? (PART 1)

In 1968, after DC became aware of the success of Jim Warren's black and white comic magazines CREEPY (1964) and EERIE (1966) with no apparent push-back from any public or parental watchdogs, they thought it was time to throw their own pointy witch's hat into the ring. After all, the Comics Code Authority had zero say over regular-size newsstand magazines, only comic books. Bill Gaines was the first to skirt this issue when he thumbed his nose at the CCA and told them to f*ck off by turning the comic book-sized MAD into a standard magazine. The results were incredible and MAD soon entered the hallowed halls of popular culture.

While nothing near their so-called "implosion" of the 1970's, DC nevertheless seemed to always be struggling to keep up with the Mighty "M", despite having two of the most famous super-heroes of all time on board, Superman and Batman.

Marvel came into the picture when they saw the sudden popularity DC's re-launched mystery/horror books and -- never to be outdone -- Stan Lee jumped on the Marvel Monsterbus and ordered up two new horror comics that would emulate the style and format of the now-defunct EC line.

The first title, TOWER OF SHADOWS had a cover date of September 1969 and went on sale June 17, 1969. Marvel adopted the trope of using a gnarly-looking host named Digger who introduced each tale. Three stories were featured: "From Beyond the Brink!" with story and art by ex-EC alumnus Johnny Craig -- a fitting addition to a comic inspired by the legendary Pre-Code titles of which he was an integral part and "A Time to Die!", written by Stan Lee with pencils by John Buscema and inks by Don Heck (another Pre-Code horror veteran). While both were competently written and drawn well, they just didn't have the mojo of EC's trademark punch.

Page of original art by John Buscema and Don Heck.

Free-lancer Jim Steranko was tapped to provide the lead story and cover art. What Steranko produced was one of the most stunning visual comic book stories since Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT. Inspired by horror master H.P. Lovecraft, his intended title was "The Lurking Fear at Shadow House" (alternately titled "The Haunted Room" as noted on the original cover art). While some of Warren's artists were doing a similar thing with sequential action panels, Steranko took it miles further and created visual images that were entirely cinematic with panels seamlessly joined together and the action flowing effortlessly across the page. It was then and still stands as a remarkable piece of work.

After taking a look at Steranko's mini-masterpiece, Lee had some immediate issues. The first thing he did was reject Steranko's cover art. Second, the look of the entire story did not fit Marvel's house style. Along with numerous other changes he mentioned, Lee didn't care for the title and wanted to change it to "At the Stroke of Midnight". One imagines the look that must have been on Steranko's face when he was met with this fusillade of editorial license. Of course, the passionate creator that he was fired back, warning Lee, "Change one line or word and you can find yourself another artist!" Lee fired Steranko right then and there.

Jim Steranko's rejected cover art for Tower of Shadows #1.

Controversy erupted the size of Mt. Vesuvius when the book was published and Steranko saw that Lee followed through with his remarks and had made changes to his story despite his earlier vehement protestations. Steranko did one more story for Marvel after Lee brought him back and then beat feet to greener pastures

Steranko got his ultimate revenge when his story won the Alley Award for Best Feature Story in 1969. It was also made into a short film in 1973 entitled SHADOW HOUSE with John Carradine, scripted by Steranko and produced by the American Film Institute.

As a result of poor sales, TOWER OF SHADOWS ran for only nine issues, from September 1969 until January 1971 with a one-shot special edition in December 1971 containing reprints from previous issues and JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #61 (October 1960). Numbering would continue with CREATURES ON THE LOOSE #10 (March 1971).

Tomorrow: Take a trip into the CHAMBER OF DARKNESS!

SHADOW HOUSE (1973)