History Creator / ECComics

* CaptainErsatz: ''Animal Fables'' No. 3, one of EC's early FunnyAnimal comics, features a bug character called "Freddy Firefly", whose design is obviously pilfered from Hoppity the Grasshopper, from FleischerStudios ''WesternAnimation/MrBugGoesToTown''.

* CaptainErsatz: ''Animal Fables'' No. 3, one of EC's early FunnyAnimal comics, features a bug character called "Freddy Firefly", whose design is obviously pilfered from Hoppity the Grasshopper, from Creator/FleischerStudio's ''WesternAnimation/MrBugGoesToTown''.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Shock Suspenstories'' in comparison to the other horror titles. While stories in the other titles would usually end with the death of an AssholeVictim, ''Shock'' had quite a few stories where TheBadGuyWins, often due to a CruelTwistEnding.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Before EC made its iconic horror and science fiction classics, it was a fairly standard comic label called Educational Comics, which had titles like ''Picture Stories From The Bible'' and ''Animal Fables'', the total antithesis of the kind of stories and art that would put EC on the map.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Before EC made its iconic horror classics, it was a fairly standard comic label called Educational Comics, which had titles like ''Picture Stories From The Bible'' and ''Animal Fables'', the total antithesis of the kind of stories and art that would put EC on the map.

The black-and-white Magazine/{{MAD}}, which had switched from the color-comic medium for reasons unrelated to the Code, ultimately became the sole surviving EC publication and went on to decades of success. But the influence of EC has continued through multiple reprints, homages by subsequent horror and SF writers, a pair of early-'70s British [[Film/{{EC Comics}} feature films]], and the television series ''TalesFromTheCrypt''.

* KarmaHoudini: It happened quite often in "Crime Suspense Stories" but the darkest example has to be "A Kind of Justice".

* AllGermansAreNazis: ''Desert Fox'' a kind of biographical story of Erwin Rommel is an ironic portrayal of the famous general, especially deconstructing his WorthyOpponent status among the allies. The panels, contrast his general nobility as a field general with various atrocities committed by the Nazis and ends up noting that Rommel, and other "decent" Nazis couldn't escape the poisonous nature of Nazism.

* HumansAreBastards: A running theme in many of the more preachier tales of 'Shock [=SuspenStories=]'', particularly those that deal with mob violence. Notable examples include ''A Kind of Justice'', ''Hate'' and ''The Patriots''.

Despite this, EC Comics wasn't forgotten by its readership who sustained its influence through a cult like devotion. Many of them, indeed became underground comics artists as well as original talents who later worked on mainstream comics bringing the EC influence with them, among them Robert Crumb, Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, Art Spiegelman and Alan Moore to name a few. Indeed this cultlike popularity played a role in the development of comics fandom and today EC endures as one of the greatest contribution to the comics industry.

** One of the most famous cruel twists is the story ''Master Race'' where an old man rides a subway reeling under trauma of his memories of his time at a concentration camp and his sudden recognition of a familiar face at the subway. [[spoiler:The twist is that the old man, the protagonist, is a Nazi Commandant of a concentration camp and the person who he recognized and runs from is a Holocaust survivor from the same camp, who on Liberation Day vowed revenge. He suffers a horrific KarmicDeath.]]

* TakeOurWordForIt: In Crime SupenStories #5, a mystery writer discovers an airtight way to sneak in a house, commit a murder, and sneak out with all doors and windows shut in a locked room. Naturally, although it drives the ensuing plot, the method is never revealed.

A combination of evocative (if sensationalistic and florid) writing and excellent art by some of the top comic book artists of the time, combined with outreach to the fans, quickly caused EC's sales to skyrocket. In addition to a strong theme of often gruesome poetic justice, EC's titles often tackled social issues of the day, especially in their science fiction and suspense books. At its height its roster included the legendary Harvey Kurtzman, Al Feldstein, Wally Wood, Bernard Krigstein, Bill Elder, Jack Davis and several other legendary talents who revolutionized the history of comics. The style of EC Comics, with its personalized editorials created a sense of give and take between readers and creators that would later be imitated by the Marvel Bullpen. EC was also groundbreaking for featuring profiles of some of its creators in its pages and for its broad range of subject matter which made it perhaps the only major comics publishing imprint with a regular adult audience. They benefited greatly from the post-war climate which saw superheroes displaced in popularity. Put it simply, the struggle for AlternativeComics to justify their existence in a market dominated by superheroes did not exist then, this allowed them to tackle a range of subjects and ideas with a freshness not seen in comics at that time and rarely afterwards.

A combination of evocative (if sensationalistic and florid) writing and excellent art by some of the top comic book artists of the time, combined with outreach to the fans, quickly caused EC's sales to skyrocket. In addition to a strong theme of often gruesome poetic justice, EC's titles often tackled social issues of the day, especially in their science fiction and suspense books.

But it was too good to last. A groundswell of outrage from the MoralGuardians of the mid-1950s led to a Congressional investigation of possible ties between comic books and juvenile delinquency. To protect themselves from possible government censorship, the comic book publishers established UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode in 1954. William Gaines, although he'd initially been in favor of the idea, felt the code adopted was far too restrictive and gave the Code authorities too much opportunity for ExecutiveMeddling.

* FinalSolution: The strip, "Master Race" drawn by Bernard Kriegstein was one of the few times American popular culture addressed the Holocaust in TheFifties. It was also addressed in the Frontline Combat.

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