Dark Horse Comics; $19.95

Right off the bat, it’s only fair that I acknowledge a preference for the hardcover version of this book, which we at Gemstone published in 2006; that said, I’ve always been a proponent of as many people seeing and reading these great stories as possible, so what’s not to like about a $19.95 cover price version of this collection?

Weird Science was and is one of the great, classic EC Comics titles and next to Tales From The Crypt is probably the second best known from the historic comic book line.

The bulk of the stories were written by editor-writer-artist Al Feldstein (with additional contributions from publisher William M. Gaines and fellow EC editor-writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman). They were illustrated by Kurtzman, Jack Kamen, Harry Harrison, Wally Wood, Graham Ingels, and Feldstein himself.

While not as edgy or as genre-defining as EC’s horror titles, their science fiction work was imaginative and the stories were well told. The stories contained in this first volume are just the tip of the iceberg, as the series would fly to lofty heights with additional (and equally famous) artists, as future volumes will show. The faithfully recolored pages are dynamic, capturing the full glory of the stories.

This volume collects Weird Science #12-15, and #5-6, though if you can follow the numbering sequence on this title you’ll want to consider joining our Overstreet Advisors group. The series had previously been known as Saddle Romances, and after #23 would be known as Weird Science-Fantasy, again ostensibly continuing the numbering. These sorts of changes were generally done to avoid the cost of purchasing another mailing permit, which were a premium expense against the thin margins of publishing comics in those days.

This Dark Horse softcover version includes the foreword George Lucas wrote for the Gemstone hardcover edition, and there’s an introduction by EC expert Grant Geissman as well.

– J.C. Vaughn