''Tales of the Incredible'' is a

mass-market paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, lea ...

collection of eight science fiction comic stories gathered from the pages of the

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 ...

comic books of the 1950s. It is one of five collections published by Ballantine Books between 1964 and 1966 (the others are ''

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 ...

'', '' The Vault of Horror'', ''

The Autumn People ''The Autumn People'' is a mass-market paperback collection of comic adaptations of eight short horror and crime stories by Ray Bradbury, gathered from the pages of the EC Comics comic books of the 1950s. It is one of five EC collections published ...

'' and ''

Tomorrow Midnight ''Tomorrow Midnight'' is a mass-market paperback collection of comic adaptations of eight short science fiction stories by Ray Bradbury, gathered from the pages of the EC Comics comic books of the 1950s. It is one of five EC collections published ...

''). The presentation of the material is problematic at best, since the color comic book pages are represented in black and white and broken into horizontal strips to fit the mass-market paperback format. Still, the collections are historically important. They were the first attempt to resurrect the EC comics, only a decade after public outcry had driven them off the racks. They were the first introduction of those comics to a generation of readers too young to remember them in their first run. The stories are drawn from the comic books ''

Weird Fantasy ''Weird Fantasy'' is an American dark fantasy and science fiction anthology comic that was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. The companion comic for ''Weird Fantasy'' was '' Weird Science''. Over a four-year span, ''Weird Fantasy'' ra ...

'' and '' Weird Science''. The writer was not credited in the original publications but was probably

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' ...

, the editor of the books. The artists were such EC stalwarts as Feldstein,

Joe Orlando Joseph Orlando (April 4, 1927 – December 23, 1998) was an Italian American illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades. He was the associate publisher of '' Mad'' and the vice president of DC Comics, ...

Al Williamson Alfonso Williamson (March 21, 1931 – June 12, 2010) was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western, science fiction and fantasy. Born in New York City, he spent much of his early childhood in ...

and

Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as '' Weird Science'', '' Weird Fantasy'', and ''MAD Magazine'' fr ...

. The cover painting by

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 ...

, himself an EC alumnus, is original to this collection.

* "Spawn of Mars" (Wood) * "Plucked" (Wood) * "By George" (Williamson) * "50 Girls 50" (Williamson) * " Judgment Day" (Orlando) * "Chewed Out" (Orlando) * "Child of Tomorrow" (Feldstein) * "The Precious Years" (Wood)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tales of the Incredible 1965 short story collections EC Comics publications Ballantine Books books

Contents

References