Tomb of Terror #1; Cover Art: Warren Kremer; Harvey Comics, June 1952.

Many of the artistic and editorial cast of characters from Harvey Comics’  Witches Tales return to bring us Tomb of Terror #1, another Harvey horror offering that was the start of a 16-issue run from 1952 to 1954. Howard Nostrand once again contributed his writing and inking skills, and Warren Kremer created the colorful and expressive cover art. Kremer spent most of his career with Harvey Comics, having been brought on board in 1948 to bring a more life-like quality to their comic panels, and he remained at Harvey until they ceased publication in 1982. His improvements, including better-defined figures and increased depth of field, raised the bar for artists at other publications and gave comics like Tomb of Terror a sophistication that was often at odds with the shocking content within. Pete Morisi of Weird Terror fame also contributed a one-page “Weird Facts” story to Tomb of Terror #1, which presented a series of unbelievable happenings as actual events. Common horror story concepts such as retribution from beyond the grave and the misunderstood monster are liberally employed in this inaugural issue. In “The Dead Awaken,” a drowned woman returns from her watery resting place to retrieve the fiancé who left her there, and in “The Wax Museum,” a man who encases his museum visitors in wax meets the same fate himself when his victims arise from the dead craving justice. “The Thing from the Center of the Earth!” depicts a group of reckless scientists summoning a monstrous being from underground, only to finally kill it when they can’t discern its motives. Pure horror gold!