Spawn of Mars and Other Stories (The Fantagraphics EC Comics Artists Library, 12) Hardcover – January 20, 2015

Although I may pick up a comic book occasionally, I have not been a big fan since I was a kid decades ago. Although much artwork in comics is marginally interesting, the stories are juvenile in spite of occasionally mature subject matter and are dull, uninspired and cliched (yes, including "Dark Knight Returns" and "Batman: Year One"). However, the stories in "Spawn of Mars" are a pleasure. The title story and "Transformation Completed" are particularly good, and would have been downright consciousness expanding had I read them as a child of 8 or so. This is the only "comic" that I recall ever having read as an adult that I savored every story and hoped that the volume would not end. Some of the stories may be predictable to anyone who is well-read in science fiction, but they are unique as a comic.Even though I eschew most current comics, I have taken lessons in drawing comics with a brush. In this respect, the work of Wood excels, and his style has an intricate, sensual, realistic style and is inspiring.

These books are awesome. At first, I considered this series optional... kinda cool to have the stories collected by artist and the EC scholarship is always interesting. But now I pre-order every volume. This series has really grown on me. They've kept up the pace of the releases, the quality is consistent. These artists look AWESOME in b&w (though they'd look even AWESOMER a skootch bigger). The inconsistent and weird colors on the hardback complete EC books now being published by Dark Horse make Wally Wood, Graham Ingals and Al Williamson specifically look bad and then their stuff looks so incredibly beautiful in these volumes. I'm a total convert! I love this format and these books are a GREAT way to appreciate the incredible hot streak happening at EC comics in the early-mid 50's. Oh, this volume: some of the most important and fun pre-code sci-fi comics looking beautiful collected with love. Eleven genetically enhanced thumbs up!!

I was lucky enough to purchase the Russ Cochran cased reprints of EC Comics' entire sci-fi run (Wierd Science, Weird Fantasy, and later, Weird Science-Fantasy)from the fabulous "golden age" of the 1950s.This was back when they were first offered and were pricey, but not prohibitively so. Recently, you'd have to pay several hundred dollars per set. The full boxed sets are rather inconvenient for fireside or bedtime reading. This (and the other sci-fi compilation of this series, Judgement Day, by Joe Orlando) is a welcome alternative. I keep this handier compilation of Wally Wood's work (imho he and Joe Orlando were the premier illustrators for EC's space-themed works) on my night table for casual reading. It was EC, and more specifically Wood's meticulously depicted space-ships, robots and visions of space exploration, that awakened the sci-fi bug in this 75-year old. I was 12 years old and looking for something a bit more exciting than the usual "boys' adventure" type juvenalia available to pre-adolescents in 1952. Then I caught a glimpse of a Weird Science peeking out from among the "Field and Stream"s and various "man's saga" and True Detective pulps on my local newsstand. The cover was a typical Wood rocket interior, with amazingly intricate dials, panels, piping and gizmos surrounding a spaceship portlight through which a menacing alien was peering. I was hooked. Of course there was some prurient interest, in that WW had a penchant for depicting pulchritudinous female astronauts in revealing skin-tight space suits. It wasn't merely the artistry--thought this was a big part of it. The stories were quite thought-provoking and led me to explore further the writings of Ray Bradbury (a frequent author of the tales), Sturgeon, Clarke, Heinlein, Welles, Verne, and a host of other classic sci-fi authors. Re-reading these caringly illustrated tales some 60+ years later, I am struck by how the promise of space exploration--boldly predicted in the famous Colliers magazine articles of 1952-53, by Wernher von Braun and Chesley Bonestell--kind of fizzled after the Apollo moon landing of July 1969. Sure, we've had robotic probes, landers and rovers but the tales encapsuled in Spawn of Mars thought we'd have men on Mars well before 2015. By this late date, our astronauts would be embarking on multi-generational starship journeys to Earth clones circling Alpha Centauri and kindred solar systems. Ah, well, thanks to this wonderful bit of nostalgia for yesterday's tomorrows, I can rekindle the hope. Even if there's not much chance of seeing it happen in my lifetime, I can nostalgically recollect how it might have been--and still might be generations hence.

The book arrives well packaged, no damage, and, the book itself is a must for science fiction Wally Wood fans!!! Winner all-the-way around.

Book arrived quickly and in stated conditiion. Contents are great and size and format make for easy reading.

This is my first time purchasing a book like this it's kind of the size of a notebook not really big and it has smaller comics that run back to back and it's all in black and white so if you're into it and you love wollywood and the storytelling of the old school it's pretty nice The quality of the book overall is very sturdy and industry quality

I spent a good ten minutes just marveling over this volume when I got it in the mail. Beautiful cover and gorgeous illustrations throughout. A fascinating and breathtaking glimpse into early science fiction.

The best comic books of all time are here again. The EC line from the 1950's is unparalleled in quality and scope. I love this series. I recommend you buying EVERY last volume of anything EC related. I have this one and so should you. Nice!