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Author: [ EC - Original Comic Art] Craig, Johnny
Title: Original Pencil Sketch of the GHOULUNATICS, Including DRUSILLA, by Johnny Craig
Place Published:
Publisher:
Date Published: c. 1990s
Description:

Pencil on paper, measuring 11½x15½", signed "Johnny Craig." Excellent condition. Matted and framed behind museum-grade no-glare plexiglass to 20½x24½".

A detailed pencil sketch of the GhouLunatics, including Vault Keeper's mute concubine Drusilla, who cracks a rare smile as she toys with a dagger. VK, the big baller of the group, stirs the Old Witch's cauldron (no euphemism intended, you dirty-minded fiends). The Old Witch tolerates this familiarity with a smile, suggesting that the heated rivalry between the horror hosts died with their comic mags. Crypt Keeper strokes his pet rat with the satisfied look of a man with Hollywood residuals rolling in.

After EC's comic book line folded, Craig enjoyed success in the advertising world. He lamented that his ad work left little time for art, and he tried his hand at drawing superhero mags for Marvel and DC. Craig's style wasn't a good match for superheroics, though, and by the early '80s he was semi-retired. His private commissions featuring the GhouLunatics and other EC horror themes gave him great pleasure, and it's clear from the quality of his commissions that his brilliant technique was undiminished. He died in 2001, having lived to see the work that was once condemned now celebrated by a new generation of Fan-Addicts.

This sketch was made as a preliminary for the painted cover of EC fanzine Horror from the Crypt of Fear #10.

Consignments welcome for PBA's Spring 2021 Comic Book sale. Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age and Silver Age comics, original art and ephemera sought. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.