Out of the Night: Volume 1: American Comic Group(ACG) Collected Works

by Roy Thomas

Volume 1

Hardcover

First published June 1, 2011

About the author

Roy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel--After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes — particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America — and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.

Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.

Reviews

[Philip of Macedon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection includes the first six issues of Out of the Night, a cult classic horror magazine from the 50s. The tales are dated and the writing is stiff and somewhat predictable, but the stories are amusing and perfect for generating a nice Halloween atmosphere, the art is that cool pulp style from the era which is really the highlight here, and there's so much packed into this volume that it lends itself well to casual reads for a long period of time.

I suppose these were targeted at a niche audience that didn't have many competing options back in the day, which may explain the writing quality. But these issues remain fun to read in short bursts, both for what they are and for the glimpse into the early days of mass produced pulp horror comics.

I read the stories in the order they appear in the collection, which is chronological, but there's no reason to read them in any particular order, or to even read the issues in any particular order. Many of the original ads from the original prints are included here, which is great, because it throws you back seamlessly into the period. Roy Thomas provides some notes in the volume.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as non-EC Pre-Code Horror goes, Out Of The Night is near the top of the pile. The emphasis is on the supernatural, with things like vampires, werewolves, zombies, and ghosts being recurring topics. There is a lot of faux occult type stuff here. I honestly enjoy all of the faux-Black Magic, zodiac sign, and witchcraft nonsense to “real” stuff. It's all good, silly fun.

While the writing is inferior to EC, the stable of artists that the American Comics Group (or ACG) used are no slouches. Al Williamson does some brilliant work on #1's The Return Of The Werewolf. His work on #2's Drums Of Doom is equally great, and that one boasts a superior story than the aforementioned one.

I found issue 6's The Wolf-Children Of Bengal to be the best in the book, one of those “twist ending” type of stories that aren't so much a twist to use “sophisticated” 21st century readers. I enjoy the execution of these stories even if a lot of them are fairly predictable by modern standards.

This was some great reading during the week of Hallowe'en. It blows my mind how many great comic books were on the stands during the early 1950s. Thanks to these PS Artbooks I am slowly but surely reading them. My wallet hates them but my heart sings. Kidding aside, there is no way that I could afford to buy all of these vintage comic books. Collected editions have brought once obscure and scarce material and given the world another chance to see it in a deluxe format.