Al Feldstein interview Tales From the Crypt EC Mad Tribute RIP (10-24-1925 – 4-29-2014)

Here's another archival video from the time I was able to interview the one and only Al Feldstein, artist and editor of EC Comics at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC. Forgive the potato quality, but that was what we had to work with at the time.

Al Feldstein was born October 24, 1925, in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish household. He was the son of Max, who made dental molds, and Beatrice Feldstein. After winning an award in the 1939 New York World's Fair poster contest, he decided on a career in the art field and studied at the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan. During World War II, he served stateside in the Army Air Forces. Arriving at EC in 1948, Feldstein began as an artist, but he soon combined art with writing, eventually editing most of the EC titles. Although he originally wrote and illustrated approximately one story per comic, in addition to doing many covers, Feldstein finally focused on editing and writing, reserving his artwork primarily for covers. From late 1950 through 1953, he edited and wrote stories for seven EC titles. As EC's editor, Feldstein created a literate line, balancing his genre tales with potent graphic stories probing the underbelly of American life. In creating stories around such topics as racial prejudice, rape, domestic violence, police brutality, drug addiction and child abuse, he succeeded in addressing problems and issues which the 1950s radio, motion picture and television industries were too timid to dramatize. While developing a stable of contributing writers that included Robert Bernstein, Otto Binder, Daniel Keyes, Jack Oleck and Carl Wessler, he published the first work of Harlan Ellison. EC employed the comics industry's finest artists and published promotional copy to make readers aware of their staff. Feldstein encouraged the EC illustrators to maintain their personal art styles, and this emphasis on individuality gave the EC line a unique appearance. Distinctive front cover designs framing those recognizable art styles made Feldstein's titles easy to spot on crowded newsstands. Those comic books, known as EC's New Trend group, included Weird Science, Weird Fantasy, Tales from the Crypt, The Haunt of Fear, The Vault of Horror, Shock SuspenStories, Crime SuspenStories, Panic and Piracy. After the New Trend titles folded in 1955, Feldstein edited EC's short-lived New Direction line, followed by EC's Picto-Fiction magazines. Follow me: Comic-Jutsu: https://comicjutsu.blogspot.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jtmcroberts Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jtmcroberts/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jtmcroberts/ MVP Mutant Radio: https://mvpmutantradio.blogspot.com/