Shock SuspenStories #6

(December 1952 - January 1953)

Dead Right! (Table of Contents: 1)

A Crime SuspenStory / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

Bill Gaines (co-plot); Al Feldstein (co-plot, script)

Pencils

Jack Kamen (signed as Kamen)

Inks

Jack Kamen (signed as Kamen)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Brace yourself for the shocking final twist to this gripping tale of tension...

Genre

crime

Characters

Madame Vorna (fortune teller); J. Flag Marson (prison warden, mention only); Mr. Clayton (Cathy's boss); Cathy Finch Marno (office clerk, waitress, death); Charles Marno (villain, Cathy's husband, death)

Synopsis

A fortune teller predicts to a woman that a man who wants to marry her, but she finds repulsive, is going to inherit twenty-five thousand dollars and die shortly afterward, so she marries him. What the fortune teller doesn't tell her is that she wins the twenty-five thousand dollars as a prize, and when she tries to walk out on the slob, he murders her and inherits her money then dies in the electric chair.

Reprints

• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #1 (1981)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #3/1993 (uke 25 1993)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1992 series) #6 (December 1993)
which is reprinted
• in Shock SuspenStories Annual (Gemstone, 1994 series) #2 (1994)
• in EC Archives: Shock SuspenStories (Gemstone, 2006 series) #1 (2006)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #14 - Forty Whacks and Other Stories (November 2015) [Reprinted in black and white.]
• in Choke Gasp! The Best of 75 Years of EC Comics (Dark Horse, 2019 series) (2019)

Keywords

Daily Clarion; Netherlane Cafeteria

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-7. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.

Script revisions by Craig Delich.

Story inspired by "In the Cards!" by John Collier.

Under Cover! (Table of Contents: 2)

A Shock SuspenStory / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Bill Gaines (co-plot); Al Feldstein (co-plot, script)

Pencils

Wally Wood (signed as Wood)

Inks

Wally Wood (signed as Wood)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Here is an electrifying story with solid impact in its startling conclusion!

Genre

crime

Characters

Suzy Carson (death); Ed Fenton (newspaper editor); Sam Masters (newspaperman, death); Grand Master of the Black Vigilante Society (villain); two unnamed phony FBI agents (villains); unnamed Society members (villains)

Synopsis

When Sam Masters sees a secret society whip a girl to death he tries to contact the F.B.I. before they can catch him.

Reprints

• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #1 (1981)
• in Les Meilleures Histoires de... (Les Humanoïdes Associés, 1983 series) #[3] - Suspense (1983)
• in EC Classics (Russ Cochran, 1985 series) #4 - Shock SuspenStories (December 1985)
• in Gysertimen (Interpresse, 1987 series) #4 (13. september 1987)
• in Iskalde Grøss (Semic, 1982 series) #3/1991 (uke 16 1991)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1992 series) #6 (December 1993)
which is reprinted
• in Shock SuspenStories Annual (Gemstone, 1994 series) #2 (1994)
• in EC Archives: Shock SuspenStories (Gemstone, 2006 series) #1 (2006)
• in EC Sampler - Free Comic Book Day (Gemstone, 2008 series) (May 2008)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #2 - Came the Dawn and Other Stories (August 2012) [black-and-white reprint]

Keywords

Black Vigilante Society

Indexer Notes

Cover story.

Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-7. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.

Script revisions by Craig Delich.

Story inspired by "Beware of the Dog" by Roald Dahl.

The Bend! (Table of Contents: 3)

text story / 1 page (report information)

Script

Al Feldstein ?

Pencils

Marie Severin (spot illustration)

Inks

Marie Severin (spot illustration)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

typeset

Genre

crime

Characters

"Busher" Benton (villain, eventual death); five Apache Indians (villains)

Synopsis

"Busher" Benton had been getting rich off the gold he had stolen from hard-working prospectors, when he suddenly saw five Apaches coming at him. He took off on foot and was running the twelve miles to nearby Fort Rush, knowing that if the Indians captured him, he would be tortured and then burned head down on a stake! He made it to the Fort, but was in for a surprise.

Reprints

• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #1 (1981)
• in EC Archives: Shock SuspenStories (Gemstone, 2006 series) #1 (2006)

Keywords

Fort Rush

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 4)

Shock Talk / letters page / 1 page (report information)

Letters

typeset

Reprints

• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #1 (1981)
• in EC Archives: Shock SuspenStories (Gemstone, 2006 series) #1 (2006)

Indexer Notes

Letters to the Editors page in which readers wrote in their comments about the story, "Confession," which appeared in issue #4. Letters printed from Clinton Day, Jim Turner, Louise O'Brien, Everett Markholme, George Cotter, Arthur Crowley, Carole Flagg, Charles Laquidora, George Snowden III, and PFC Ronald B. Craig.

Not So Tough! (Table of Contents: 5)

A Science-Fiction SuspenStory / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Bill Gaines (co-plot); Al Feldstein (co-plot, script)

Pencils

Joe Orlando (signed)

Inks

Joe Orlando (signed)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

The wind-up to this science-fiction yarn should give you quite a jolt...!

Genre

science fiction

Characters

Lieutenant Robert Arden (Astro-Navigator, later Rocket-Man 3rd Class, death); Sergeant Coogan (ship crewman, death); Seeley (crewman, death); Vice-Commander Philip Forbes (death); Commander Horace Bergman (villain, death)

Synopsis

A space commander who is as tough as nails on his crew is reduced to soft putty in the grip of a large gravitational force.

Reprints

• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #1 (1981)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1992 series) #6 (December 1993)
which is reprinted
• in Shock SuspenStories Annual (Gemstone, 1994 series) #2 (1994)
• in EC Archives: Shock SuspenStories (Gemstone, 2006 series) #1 (2006)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #34 - The Planetoid and Other Stories (July 2023) [Reprinted in black and white.]

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-7. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.

Script revisions by Craig Delich.

Sugar 'N Spice 'N... (Table of Contents: 6)

A Horror SuspenStory / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Bill Gaines (co-plot); Al Feldstein (co-plot, script)

Pencils

Graham Ingels (signed as Ghastly)

Inks

Graham Ingels (signed as Ghastly)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Jim Wroten

First Line of Dialogue or Text

For sheer, stark terror, read this terrifying tale...

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Johnny (Margaret's brother, death); Margaret (Johnny's sister, death); a witch [aka The Crab] (villain)

Synopsis

A brother and sister lose their ball in the yard of an old woman whom they referred to as "The Old Crab". She eventually gave them the ball back, but warned them to stay away. On Halloween night, the two play a prank on this woman, with fatal results!

Reprints

• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1981 series) #1 (1981)
• in EC Classics (Russ Cochran, 1985 series) #4 - Shock SuspenStories (December 1985)
• in Shock Suspenstories (Russ Cochran, 1992 series) #6 (December 1993)
which is reprinted
• in Shock SuspenStories Annual (Gemstone, 1994 series) #2 (1994)
• in EC Archives: Shock SuspenStories (Gemstone, 2006 series) #1 (2006)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #7 - Sucker Bait and Other Stories (February 2014) [Reprinted in black and white.]

Indexer Notes

Letterer credit per Russ Cochran and added by Craig Delich 2013-12-7. Feldstein reports that Wroten used a K & E Lettering Stylus to do all the lettering with.

Script credit revision by Craig Delich, formerly Albert B. Feldstein.

Story is a contemporary re-telling of the story, "Hansel and Gretel".