Whether it’s The Halloween Tree or The October Country or Something Wicked This Way Comes, autumn is a wonderful time to read (or reread) Ray Bradbury’s classic works. It’s an especially perfect time of year, then, for Fantagraphics to publish Home to Stay!: The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories (featuring 28 Bradbury stories adapted by EC Comics in the 1950s), and we’ve been provided with “The Handler” story for Daily Dead readers to enjoy in its entirety ahead of the collection’s October 18th publication!
Based on Bradbury’s short story of the same name that was published in the 1947 collection Dark Carnival, “The Handler” (with artwork by Graham Ingels and a script by Al Feldstein) can be read in its entirety below!
We also have the official press release with additional details, and to learn more about Home to Stay!: The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories, visit:
“Between 1951 and 1954, EC Comics adapted 28 classic Ray Bradbury stories into comics form, scripted by Al Feldstein and interpreted and illustrated by all of EC’s top artists: Johnny Craig, Reed Crandall, Jack Davis, Will Elder, George Evans, Frank Frazetta, Graham Ingels, Jack Kamen, Bernard Krigstein, Joe Orlando, John Severin, Angelo Torres, Al Williamson, and Wallace Wood. This fall Fantagraphics will publish Home to Stay!: The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories, featuring all 28 stories alongside the stunning art. A special companion to their New York Times best-selling classic reprint series, Fantagraphics’ latest collection features all the Ray Bradbury stories adapted by EC Comics—including the unauthorized ones!—for the first time in one volume.
Highlights in this singular volume include:
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“Home to Stay”— a clever combination of two Bradbury science fiction stories that Bradbury himself proclaimed topped his originals (available in no other form or medium), masterfully woven together by Al Feldstein and Wallace Wood.
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“A Sound of Thunder” — the classic time-travel-gone-wrong story brilliantly illustrated by Al Williamson and Angelo Torres.
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“Touch and Go” — an obsessive psychological thriller tautly executed by Johnny Craig.
And many more, including “The Million Year Picnic” (Elder), “I, Rocket” (Williamson and Frazetta), “Zero Hour” (Kamen), “Mars Is Heaven” (Wood), and “There Will Come Soft Rains…” (Wood). Plus three bonus stories inspired by other Bradbury tales!
With black-and-white illustrations throughout, Home to Stay!: The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories is a superb, sumptuous showcase for these classic comic book masterpieces that have never before been collected together in one volume, reproduced in generously oversized coffee table dimension.
Home to Stay!: The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories will be in stores on October [18], 2022. For more info, follow Fantagraphics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
About the creators
Ray Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois, in 1920. Growing up during the Great Depression, Bradbury began writing at the age of 11. Unable to join the military in World War II due to his poor eyesight, he began publishing science fiction stories. In 1947 he married Marguerite McClure and they had four daughters. His career as a writer included such notable works as Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, and I Sing The Body Electric. Primarily known for his successes in science fiction, Bradbury also worked on various horror and mystery stories, as well as screenplays and television scripts. During his lifetime he received numerous awards, including a Pulitzer in 2007. Bradbury passed away in 2012.
Wallace Allan Wood (1927–1981) is widely considered to be America’s greatest science fiction cartoonist, but he was also one of the brightest lights of the early Mad comic and, later, a pioneering alternative/underground cartoonist/publisher with his magazine witzend.
Will Elder was an American illustrator and comic book artist who worked in numerous areas of commercial art but is best known for a frantically funny cartoon style that helped launch Harvey Kurtzman’s Mad comic book in 1952. He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2003.
Frank Frazetta (1928–2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He is often referred to as the “Godfather of fantasy art”, and one of the most renowned illustrators of the 20th century. He was also the subject of a 2003 documentary Painting with Fire. Frazetta was inducted into the comic book industry’s Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame, the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame, the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame, the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, and was awarded a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention.
Bernard (B.) Krigstein (1919–1990) was trained as a classical painter, but early on he recognized the artistic potential of the comics medium. His work is widely recognized as among the most innovative and cinematic in comics history. He was inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2003.”
