Weird Fantasy, Vol. 1, No. 18: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Weird Fantasy, Volume 1, Number 18, March-April 1953 edition, published by William Gaines and Albert Feldstein. The front cover of the magazine is predominately red, blue, and yellow. The top third of the cover features the comic’s masthead in white, black shadowed, stylized text that reads [WEIRD / FANTASY] set against a dark red background. The word [SCIENCE] is printed vertically, in red text, in a thin white box down the left side of the masthead. The publisher’s logo is printed in the top left and right corners. It features the letters [EC] in an inner circle with an outer circular band with the text [AN ENTERTAINING / COMIC] printed in black text inside. Below left side logo is the issue number and date are printed in white text that reads [NO. 18 / MAR. -APR.]. The price [10¢] is printed in white text below the right-side logo. The bottom two-thirds of the cover features a large graphic of a rocket ship floating above a space station in orbit around the Earth. The space station is yellow, and ring shaped with a large telescope at the center that attaches to the outer ring in three areas. A rocket ship is laying on its side on the surface of the outer ring of the station. The rocket ship floating above the station is white with two (2) red rings around the nose. Astronauts are floating all around the rocket ship applying panels and other hardware. Some astronauts are working on the surface of the ship. In the top left corner of the illustration is a blue text box with white text in varying fonts that reads [IN THIS ISSUE: / E.C.’S ADAPTATION OF A STORY BY / RAY BRADBURY / AMERICAN’S TOP SCIENCE-FICTION WRITER!]. The comic book has four stories titled “Counter-Clockwise,” “Zero Hour,” “Homesick!,” and “Judgement Day!;” as well as a short story called “The Ashtray,” and a section of letters to the editor called “Cosmic Correspondence.” The forth story is titled “Judgement Day!,” written by Albert Feldstein and illustrated by Joe Orlando. The story is about a planet called Cybrinia where the inhabiting robots are divided into orange and blue robots. An Earthman named Tarlton is touring the planet to determine if the robot civilization is ready to join Earth’s Galactic Republic. However, he learns that the blue robots are segregated and are given less rights and resources than the orange robots, and as a result he denies them entry into the republic. The back cover of the comic book features an advertisement for Motor’s Auto Repair Manual. AT the top is red block text that reads [HOW TO FIX / ANY PART OF ANY CAR]. Below is a graphic of a car resting on top of the manual. The bottom half of the page is black text with red and green text headers advertising the book and a mail in coupon for a seven-day free trial. The interior pages are off-white with color illustrations, advertisements, and text. The comic book has thirty-two (32) pages and is staple-bound.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: March - April 1953
• Written by: Al Feldstein, American, 1925 - 2014
• Illustrated by: Joe Orlando, American, 1927 - 1998
• Edited by: William Gaines, American, 1922 - 1992
• Published by: EC Comics, American, founded 1944
• Subject of: Ray Bradbury, American, 1938 - 2012
• Type: comic books
• Medium: ink on paper with metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Closed): 10 1/4 × 7 1/16 × 1/16 in. (26 × 18 × 0.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Open): 10 1/4 × 14 3/16 × 5/8 in. (26 × 36 × 1.6 cm)
• Place printed: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Comics and graphic novels
• Topic: Literature
• Topic: Race relations
• Object number: 2019.61
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © William M. Gaines Agent, Inc All Rights Reserved Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.