Judgment Day and Other Stories (digital) 

Fantagraphics, 2014, 190 pages

Illustrated by Joe Orlando

Written by Al Feldstein, Ray Bradbury et al.

Joe Orlando was a mainstay at EC, especially on science fiction, and this collects 23 of his best sci-fi stories. All of them, most scripted by Al Feldstein, serve up classic O. Henry-style endings, such as “I, Robot,” and “Fallen Idol.” The title story is one of EC’s most famous, with its blunt anti-racism message. When it was printed during the era of the Comics Code, publisher Bill Gaines and Feldstein had to fight to keep the story’s final panel “reveal” (and thus its whole point) intact. It was a pyrrhic victory, however, as “Judgment Day” became the last story in the last comic book EC published. This volume also features two of Orlando’s outstanding adaptations of classic Ray Bradbury science-fiction stories: “The Long Year” and “Outcast of the Stars.” Also included are all of EC’s “Adam Link” adaptations, a series which was later adapted for The Outer Limits TV show featuring Leonard Nimoy.

Should you ever feel like buying one of Fantagraphics super awesome books (and almost all of them are, imo), please visit their website http://www.fantagraphics.com/ (the 20/20 Club is a great deal), or ask your LCS guy to point you in the right direction (or get on the ball and order some stuff!)