BLACK MAGIC Volume 4

Black Magic was one of the very earliest horror comics, but with a supernatural twist from the wonderful Simon & Kirby shop. Five thick issues of yet another title entirely overseen by the two creators and their shop mates, these are fun to look at and good, solid reads. It's more about the scary and strange, than the gore and grimmer works from competitors. Solid storytelling, and wonderful early Jack Kirby artwork where he's clearly having a great time thinking up better freaks (for the cover story), monsters, giant insects, sorcerers and more spooky stuff every issue. Black Magic was so popular by this point, it went monthly during this run...a rarity for even the most popular pre-code horror titles. Even EC's Tales from the Crypt et al were never more than bi-monthly. Black Magic had one of the longest, most successful runs of the horror books, next to ACG's two powerhouse titles. Although the first series ended in December 1955, a six year run, it started up again in 1957 and ran until 1961, again under the editorial control of Joe Simon.