JOHNNY CRAIG EC CRIME SUSPENSTORIES #15 ORIGINAL BLACK & WHITE COVER PROOF 1953!

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(SC) Here’s a black and white EC cover proof. This one is for CRIME SUSPENSTORIES #15, dated Feb.-Mar. 1953, published by EC Publications. Be sure to keep an eye out every week for my other eBay auctions as we continue to sell EC COMICS, SCIENCE FICTION and MONSTER MAGAZINES from the collection of JERRY WEIST. We also sell COMIC BOOKS, EC COVER PROOFS, SPIRIT SECTIONS and VAULT KEEPER, DRUSILLA and other original art every week from the collection of Johnny Craig.This original EC cover proof for CRIME SUSPENSTORIES #15 measures 7 1/4" x 10 1/2" in size and is actually what is known as a "silverprint." These type of prints would be sent from the printer to the EC offices so that BILL GAINES and AL FELDSTEIN could get a first glimpse of what a cover was going to look like. The next step in the process was to have EC's colorist, MARIE SEVERIN, hand color the print and send it back to the printer so that a color cover proof on cover stock could be made. This proof is made on a porous type of paper which allows watercolor to be applied during the coloring process. No more than a few of these type of silverprints were ever made and most were thrown away. These proofs are untrimmed with a white border all around and have nothing printed on the opposite side. Some fading is apparent overall, even though it has been stored in the dark for the past 60 years by the artist who drew it.....JOHNNY CRAIG! We are offering this rare cover proof on eBay this week with NO RESERVE. These silverprint cover proofs offer the chance for a collector to have an EC comic cover image, totally intact and untrimmed. Frame it up in your EC den at home and know that you've got an EC collectible that few others have ever seen or will ever own.Many years ago I contacted Johnny Craig and arranged to do an interview with him in person about his career in comics. It was in 1968 when I visited him and his family at their home in Pennsylvania. Later on that interview appeared in the fanzine called SQUA TRONT. Shortly after that visit, I commissioned Johnny to do a Vault Keeper oil painting for me, which he beautifully executed and sent to me a few months later. That was the beginning of Johnny doing specialty pieces and cover recreations for EC fans who remembered and loved his comic work. Several years later I found out that Johnny, like most professional artists, was in the habit of working up several preliminary pencil drawings (some inked and some in color) before he would start the final painting on canvas. During the 1970s to 1980s Johnny turned out quite a few VAULT KEEPER and DRUSILLA paintings while working his regular job at Krone Art Service in Pennsylvania. He also worked on other horror-related works of art for fans, but held onto most of the preliminary renderings. A few were finally offered and sold to fans privately in the early 90s and most of these have remained buried in collections ever since. The good thing about these originals is that Johnny took the time to sign most of them many years ago when he was thinking of selling them. Besides this cover proof, I am also selling these original drawings by JOHNNY CRAIG on eBay each week at NO RESERVE. Many of these original drawings and cover proofs will be featured in a book that is now in works on the life and career of Johnny Craig.This cover proof comes with a CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY, signed by long time EC historian, collector and friend of Johnny Craig, Roger Hill. In the coming weeks we will be offering more comic books, EC cover proofs and original art on eBay from the Craig collection. These items will be sold over the course of the next year with NO RESERVE.Johnny Craig (1926-2001) was born in Pleasantville, New York and grew up in New York City. During his youth he was influenced by many artists, including Milton Caniff and Will Eisner. He broke into the comic’s business as an assistant working with Golden Age artist Harry Lambert and went on to become an Assistant Editor to Sheldon Mayer at All American Comics. After serving in the Merchant Marines and the U.S.... read more

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