JUSTIN’S PICK :: GRINDHOUSE: DOORS OPEN AT MIDNIGHT #1: Comics have a long-standing tradition of tastelessness, for better or worse. For better, EC Comics churned out some of the medium’s high watermarks in the 50s; for worse, see some of the small press books released in the 90s. But objectively, that freedom is what makes comics such an attractive creative endeavor. Alex de Campi‘s new Dark Horse series doesn’t sound very illuminating (first up: Bee Vixens from Mars, drawn by Chris Peterson, pitting a one-eyed sheriff’s deputy against a horde of alien seductresses!), but certainly – and more importantly – it will be entertaining. In a critical climate of mounting pretension, a book so pure in its mission is a welcome respite.

RICO’S PICK :: BEST OF EC ARTIST’S EDITION: This Artist’s Edition features some of the most beautiful art so far in this series of oversized art books from IDW. I’m going to enjoy seeing life-size reproductions of the original art from the hands of these masters! It features 50 Girls 50 by Al Williamson and Frank Frazetta, The Corpse by Harvey Kurtzman, The Flying Machine by Bernie Krigstein, Touch and Go by Johnny Craig, Judgment Day by Joe Orlando. All these plus more! And a cover gallery crammed with more EC goodness!

JUSTIN’S PICK :: EC JACK DAVIS HC TAINT MEAT IT’S HUMANITY: Jack Davis is the cartoonist’s cartoonist, a man whose sheer command of his craft is universally praised. His style is at once elastic and iconoclastic; whether it’s horror or humor (or somewhere in between), Davis’ inimitable work is instantly recognizable. As a youngster, he was one of the first cartoonists I knew by name. And here’s a book to treasure: a lovely volume collecting all of Davis’ seminal work from EC Comics’ Tales From the Crypt. These are the comics that set an incredibly high bar for sequential art, and also caused a national uproar for their daring and graphic content. By modern standards they may seem tame, but make no mistake: this was heady stuff for its time. Davis was at the epicenter of that controversy, turning out highly detailed, expressive work that is matchless in its quality. Pick up this book (or IDW’s MAD Artist’s Edition, or Fantagraphics’ Jack Davis Drawing American Pop Culture, et al.) to find out why.