One of the best parts of old-school comic books is seeing how often the first issue isn’t actually a number one issue. Your Major Spoilers Retro Review of The Vault of Horror #12 awaits!

THE VAULT OF HORROR #12

Writer:  Johnny Craig/Gardner Fox/Harry Harrison/Al Feldstein
Penciler: Johnny Craig/Harry Harrison/Harvey Kurtzman/Al Feldstein
Inker: Johnny Craig/Wally Wood/Harvey Kurtzman/Al Feldstein
Colorist: Harvey Kurtzman
Letterer: Jim Wroten
Editor: William M. Gaines
Publisher: EC Comics
Cover Price: 10 Cents
Current Near-Mint Pricing: $5,500.00
Release Date: January 9, 1950

Previously in The Vault of Horror: Captain Marvel debuted in Whiz Comics #2, the first issue of that volume. The only issue of Amazing Fantasy was number fifteen, Spider-Man’s debut. The Golden Age Amazing-Man appeared for the first time in Amazing-Man #5, while issues one through four simply don’t exist. So, you may be asking, what’s the reason for all this? As with almost every story about the comic publishing industry, the answer is simple: Money. Since the United States Postal Service charged publishers to send their publications through the mail, publishers would sometimes reuse the Second Class postage permits. Harvey Comics’ solo superhero book Black Cat became Black Cat Mystery as the superhero craze began to wane, while Timely/Marvel debuted Captain America’s Weird Tales. Perhaps the best example came in 1949, as EC Comics’ superhero book Moon Girl took advantage of the new romance comics boom, becoming A Moon, A Girl, Romance…

Almost a decade earlier, though, this issue allowed EC to transition from the waning crime comics scene into pioneering horror comics, with a little help from… The Vault-Keeper.

That page, featuring Vault-Keeper’s first appearance, is actually from the tenth issue of War Against Crime, the title whose numbering The Vault of Horror took over. Like The Crypt-Keeper, host of Tales from the Crypt, and the Old Witch, the majordomo of The Haunt of Fear. 1950 was a banner year for horror comic books throughout the industry, but it’s always fun to check out an EC title and see supernatural suspense from the same people who gave us MAD Magazine.

This issue’s first story is the work of writer/artist Johnny Craig, who, in addition to having one of the cleanest styles at EC, was the creator who drew the infamous cover depicting a woman’s severed head, the centerpiece of EC publisher Bill Gaines’ disastrous testimony in front of the United States Senate. Its story, depicting a murderous wax museum owner/sculptor, is heavily drawn from 1933’s Mystery of the Wax Museum. (A tale similar to Craig’s story would eventually turn up in season 4 of The Twilight Zone, in case you’re wondering why it seems familiar.) In the second story, British gentleman Walter Mallory lives a nightmare, awakening one night to find himself transformed… into a werewolf!

This story and the pencils are by Harry Harrison, creator of The Stainless Steel Rat and the writer whose story Make Room! Make Room! became the film Soylent Green in 1973. The inks are by a young Wally Wood, though I don’t really see the hallmarks of his later style. It’s nice to see a really successful twist ending, even if it all wraps up far too quickly, especially given that the next tale, Horror in the Night, doesn’t… make much sense?

The writer of the piece isn’t known, though the Grand Comics Database credits it to Ivan Klapper. Tom Hawkins’ strange dream-of-murder-with-a-twist-ending is drawn by Harvey Kurtzman, still two years from debuting MAD, and his detailed art makes the crazed eyes of Emily and her husband “John Smith” disturbing to look at. Kurtzman reputedly didn’t care for the horror books, worrying about their effect on young audiences, something that led to his transition to humor. (Later works, including Little Annie Fanny, would avoid the issue of impressionable young children by being marketed to adults.)

Harvey’s story is followed by one by Al Feldstein, who would succeed him as the head honcho of the Usual Gang of Idiots at MAD.

The final story of Lucille-Ball-lookalike, Gloria, and her attempts to escape the nefarious Ralph, only to wind up committed due to her paranoid delusions, is kind of mean-spirited, more Outer Limits than Twilight Zone, wrapping up our Number Twelve #1 with an ending that might be the best one in the issue. This debut issue doesn’t quite have the joie de vivre that would eventually define EC’s horror line. Still, The Vault of Horror #12 has many talented creators writing the rules of horror comics. Unlike many comics of the era, there aren’t any complete failures of story or art within the selections, earning 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. As The Vault-Keeper and the other GhouLunatics evolved into their more recognizable sardonic and ghoulish selves, the EC Horror line just got better and better, which eventually led to their demise… but that, as they say, is another review.

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