Graham J. Ingels (; June 7, 1915April 4, 1991) was a comic book and magazine illustrator best known for his work in

EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950 ...

during the 1950s, notably on ''

The Haunt of Fear ''The Haunt of Fear'' was an American bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics, starting in 1950. Along with '' Tales from the Crypt'' and '' The Vault of Horror'', it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies. ''T ...

'' and ''

Tales from the Crypt Tales from the Crypt may refer to: * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (album), by American rapper C-Bo * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (comics), published by EC Comics during the 1950s ** ''Tales from the Crypt'' (film), a 1972 Amicus film starring Ralph Ric ...

'', horror titles written and edited by

Al Feldstein Albert Bernard Feldstein ( ; October 24, 1925 – April 29, 2014) was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satirical magazine '' Mad''. After retiring from ''Mad' ...

, and '' The Vault of Horror'', written and edited by Feldstein and

Johnny Craig John Thomas Alexis Craig (April 25, 1926 – September 13, 2001),John T. Craig
at the ...

. Ingels' flair for horror led EC to promote him as Ghastly Graham Ingels, and he began signing his work "Ghastly" in 1952.

Pulp illustrator

Born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Ingels began working at age 14 after the death of his father, commercial artist Don Ingels. Graham was 16 when he entered the art field drawing theater displays. He studied at New York's Hawthorne School of Art Graham and Gertrude Ingels married when he was starting as a freelancer at age 20. He entered the U.S. Navy in 1943, and he began working that same year for

Fiction House Fiction House was an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. It was founded by John B. "Jack" Kelly and John W. Glenister.Saunders, David"JACK BYRNE (1902-1972),"Field Guide to Wild American P ...

Publications, both in their pulp magazines and their comic book division. Black and white illustrations signed G. Ingels appeared in ''

Planet Stories ''Planet Stories'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published by Fiction House between 1939 and 1955. It featured interplanetary adventures, both in space and on some other planets, and was initially focused on a young readershi ...

'', ''Jungle Stories'', ''North-West Romances'' and ''Wings''. He contributed one painted cover to a 1944 issue of ''Planet Stories'' as well. For ''Planet Comics'', he illustrated stories in the "Hunt Bowman" series and the "Aura, Lord of Jupiter" series. He also painted a mural at the United Nations building. The Ingels had two children, Deanna (born 1937) and Robby (born 1946), who was named after a character created by child impersonator Lenore Ledoux for the ''

Baby Snooks ''The Baby Snooks Show'' was an American radio program starring comedian and ''Ziegfeld Follies'' alumna Fanny Brice as a mischievous young girl who was 40 years younger than the actress who played her when she first went on the air. The series ...

'' radio program. Artist

Howard Nostrand Howard Nostrand (May 13, 1929Nostrand, Howard. "Nostrand by Nostrand", ''Graphic Story Magazine'' #16 (Summer 1974), p. 18–August 1, 1984)Fanny Brice show, ''Baby Snooks''. Baby Snooks had a little kid brother named Robespierre. They called him that when he was a little kid, and the name stuck. A regular in ''Planet Comics'' and ''Rangers Comics'' in the late 1940s, Ingels worked for

Magazine Enterprises Magazine Enterprises was an American comic book company lasting from 1943 to 1958, which published primarily Western, humor, crime, adventure, and children's comics, with virtually no superheroes. It was founded by Vin Sullivan, an editor at Co ...

and other publishers of comic books and pulps. He became an art director at Better Publications (Ned Pine's Comics Group later known as Nedor), where he gave early comic book assignments to George Evans, with whom he would form a long friendship, and a young

Frank Frazetta Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He i ...

, who credited Ingels as the first in the business to recognize his talent. During this period, Ingels created covers and stories for the company's ''Startling Comics'' and ''Wonder Comics''; these and other Better Publications comics reveal certain panels by other artists have been redrawn by Ingels to improve the artwork. Ingels drew crime comics for Magazine Enterprises (''Manhunt'', ''Killers'') and Westerns for a variety of companies, including Magazine Enterprises (''Guns''), Youthful Magazines (''Gunsmoke''),

Hillman Periodicals Hillman Periodicals, Inc., was an American magazine and comic book publishing company founded in 1938 by Alex L. Hillman, a former New York City book publisher. It is best known for its true confession and true crime magazines; for the long-runni ...

(''Western Fighters'') and D.S. Publishing Co. (''Outlaws''). D.S. also published crime stories drawn by Ingels in ''Underworld'', ''Gangsters Can't Win'' and ''Exposed''. There were also short stories and one painted cover by Ingels in

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark" ...

' ''Heroic Comics'' around 1947.

EC Comics

In 1948, Ingels was hired by

, the editor of EC Comics, to provide artwork for their titles which included ''

Gunfighter Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the t ...

'', ''

Saddle Justice The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to Mammal#Anatomy, an animal's back by a girth (tack), girth. The most common type is List of equestrian sports, equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been crea ...

'', ''

Saddle Romances The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not kn ...

'', ''

War Against Crime War is an intense armed conflict between State (polity), states, governments, Society, societies, or paramilitary groups such as Mercenary, mercenaries, Insurgency, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violenc ...

'', ''Modern Love'' and ''A Moon, A Girl... Romance''. The company's Western and romance comics were later canceled or converted to horror and science-fiction titles. In

Grant Geissman Grant Geissman (born April 13, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist and Emmy-nominated composer. He has recorded extensively for several labels since 1976 and played guitar on the theme for ''Monk'' and other TV series. Career Geissman was born i ...

's ''Foul Play'', Feldstein explained that Ingels' early work for EC was disappointing, but publisher

Bill Gaines William Maxwell Gaines (; March 1, 1922 – June 3, 1992), was an American publisher and co-editor of EC Comics. Following a shift in EC's direction in 1950, Gaines presided over what became an artistically influential and historically import ...

was fiercely loyal to everybody, which is why Ingels remained at the company. When EC introduced ''Tales From the Crypt'', '' The Vault of Horror'' and ''

'', it soon became apparent to both Gaines and Feldstein that Ingels was an ideal choice as an illustrator of horror. Ingels' unique and expressive style was well-suited for the atmospheric depiction of Gothic horrors amid crumbling Victorian mansions in hellish landscapes populated by twisted characters, grotesque creatures and living corpses with rotting flesh. A trademark image was a character with a thread of saliva visible in a horrified open mouth. As the lead artist for ''

'', he brought to life the Old Witch, horror host of "The Witch's Cauldron" lead story, and he also did the cover for each issue from issue 11 through 28. A prolific artist, Ingels also drew the Old Witch's appearances in

Tales From the Crypt Tales from the Crypt may refer to: * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (album), by American rapper C-Bo * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (comics), published by EC Comics during the 1950s ** ''Tales from the Crypt'' (film), a 1972 Amicus film starring Ralph Ric ...

and The Vault of Horror, plus stories for ''

Shock SuspenStories ''Shock SuspenStories'' was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. The bi-monthly comic, published by Bill Gaines and edited by Al Feldstein, began with issue 1 in February/March 1952. Over a four-year span, it ran for 18 issues, ending wi ...

'' and ''

Crime SuspenStories ''Crime SuspenStories'' was a bi-monthly anthology crime comic published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. The title first arrived on newsstands with its October/November 1950 issue and ceased publication with its February/March 1955 issue, produc ...

''. The Old Witch's origin story was told in "A Little Stranger" (''

'' #14). "Poetic Justice" in the 12th issue was adapted for the 1972 ''

'' film from Amicus studios in England, with

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...

as the kindly old junk collector, and Ingels' "Wish You Were Here" (''

'' #22) was also adapted. When EC cancelled its horror and crime comics, Ingels drew for EC's New Direction titles: ''

Piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

'', ''M.D.'', ''

Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Impac ...

'' and ''Valor''. He later contributed to EC's short lived Picto-Fiction line. After EC ceased publication in the mid-1950s, Ingels contributed to ''

Classics Illustrated ''Classics Illustrated'' is an American comic book/magazine series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as ''Les Misérables'', '' Moby-Dick'', ''Hamlet'', and '' The Iliad''. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication ...

'' but otherwise found little work, as discussed by Nostrand in ''Foul Play'': "He was kind of a sad case, because when the horror stuff went out, Graham went out with it. His forte was strictly doing horror comics, and there weren't any more horror comics being done". Ingels took a teaching position with the Famous Artists correspondence school in Westport, Connecticut. He later left the Northeast and became an art instructor in

Lantana, Florida Lantana is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is 37 miles north from Fort Lauderdale. This town is part of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 10,423 at the 2010 United States Census. History The first settlers c ...

, refusing to acknowledge his work in horror comics until a few years before he died. Journalist Donald Vaughan documented Ingels' life in Florida: :His relationship with Gertrude became increasingly strained, possibly due to his heavy drinking, and apparently Ingels simply couldn't bear the life he was living. So in 1962, he quietly packed up and moved to Lantana, where he painted and taught fine art from his tiny home. Oddly, he never officially divorced Gertrude, probably because both were devout Catholics. Relations between Ingels and his children were painfully strained for decades, but he finally reconciled with Deanna in the mid-'80s with the help of George Evans, who had stayed in touch with the Ingels family. However, Ingels never reconciled with his son, Robby, who couldn't forgive his father for running out. It was a situation that hurt Ingels to the very end. In Florida, Ingels became extremely reclusive and went to great lengths to avoid any association with his comic-book past. Evans recalls an incident in which a couple of comic-book fans found out where Ingels was living and flew to Florida to meet him. "He refused to talk to them," says Evans, "and he told William Gaines to put out the word that if anyone bothered him that way again he would take legal action to stop it."... There's no question, however, that Ingels' life changed dramatically once he settled in South Florida, thanks in great part to a girlfriend named Dorothy Bennett. An artistic soul in her own right, Bennett handled the day-to-day aspects of Ingels' teaching business, cherished his artistic talent and encouraged his various endeavors. The couple lived next door to each other for years and finally moved in together.

Awards and tributes

"Horror We? How's Bayou?" in ''

'' issue #17 won an award as best EC horror art at the 1972 EC Fan-Addict Convention. In 2004, the webcomic '' Is This Tomorrow?'' featured Ingels in its series of comic book trading cards. Started in 2011, the Ghastly Awards adopted their name from Ingels's non-de-plume. The award, which honors excellence in horror comics, is presented annually. Ghastly Graham Ingels was the first Hall of Fame inductee.

References

External links

Toonopedia: ''Tales from the Crypt'' and ''The Haunt of Fear''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ingels, Graham 1915 births 1991 deaths American comics artists Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees People from Lantana, Florida EC Comics Catholics from Florida Golden Age comics creators Science fiction artists Pulp fiction artists People from Cincinnati