Mystery Comics Digest #18: "Doom By Prediction" (Reed Crandall art)

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Reed Crandall (1917-1982), like Lou Fine, was an illustrator and not a cartoonist. His early influences were book and magazine illustrators such as Howard Pyle, Henry Pitz, and N. C. Wyeth. When he started in comic books in 1940, he produced pages that stood out from those of many of his contemporaries. He was one of the most proficient artists in the field and a master of drawing the figure in action. Crandall was the best artist to draw Blackhawk in that militant's long career, and he did first-rate work on everything from Dollman to horror tales for EC and Warren.

Coming to Manhatten from out of the Midwest, he worked briefly for the Eisner-Iger shop before signing up with Busy Arnold's Quality line. Arnold later referred to Crandall as "the best man I ever had." In addition to Dollman, Crandall also illustrated Uncle Sam, Stormy Foster, Firebrand, and The Ray. When Quality shut down inn the early 1950s, he moved to EC. He excelled at every type of story, including crime, horror, adventure, and science fiction. EC publisher William Gaines loved his work, saying, "He was a fine, fine craftsman and did some of our very best stuff." The 1960s found Crandall working for markets ranging from Catholic Treasure Chest to Warren's Creepy and Eerie. Teaming with George Evans, he drew The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Julius Caesar for Classics Illustrated. Crandall also illustrated several of the Canaveral Press editions of Edgar Rice Burroughs' novels. By the 1970s he was out of comics. Beset by illness and personal problems, Crandall ended his days doing menial jobs somewhere in the Midwest.

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Credits

Script: Unknown
Pencils: Reed Crandall
Inks: Reed Crandall

Reprinted:

• from Four Color (Dell, 1942 series) #1173 (March-May 1961)
• in Twilight Zone (Gold Key, 1962 series) #25 (April 1968).