A look back at the early days of comic books

I knew that E.C. Comics adapted several Ray Bradbury stories during the 1950s, but what I didn't know is that some of those comics were later reprinted in paperback format in two volumes, the Autumn People and Tomorrow Midnight. I was lucky enough to score the first one of those at a used-book store yesterday. In honour of that find, here's an interesting database of 1950s comic books.

Keeping with the comics theme, here are some more links for your edutainment. The first is to a site that honours black superheroes. The second is the fascinating Dial B for Blogs comics blog. It's not a blog about comics, it is a blog that is a comic. It's oddly compelling.

When I think of those early comics, I always think of the pulp magazines which they ultimately replaced. This nifty gallery of pulp covers that feature octopi could easily have been one of comic-book covers. A few years back I was fortunate enough to see some The National Library's collection of Canadian pulps held in Ottawa. And finally, this is an intriguing collection of pulp photographs that are thought to be used by cover artists illustrating some of the detective magazines of the era.