Johnny Craig

This article is about the comic book artist. For the Canadian singer, seeJonny Craig.

John Thomas Alexis Craig(April 25, 1926 – September 13, 2001),was an Americancomic book artistnotable for his work with theEC Comicsline of the 1950s. He sometimes used thepseudonymsJay TayceeandF. C. Aljohn.

Johnny Craig
Johnny Craig and his wife Toni at anEC ComicsChristmas party in the early 1950s
Born	John Thomas Alexis Craig (1926-04-25)April 25, 1926 Pleasantville,New York
Died	September 13, 2001(2001-09-13)(aged 75)
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Writer, Artist
Pseudonym(s)	Jay Taycee F. C. Aljohn
Awards	Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame,2005

Biography

Early life and career

Born inPleasantville,New York,Craig studied at theArt Students League of New York.While attending classes, he began working in 1940 as an assistant ofHarry Lampert,co-creator ofAll-American Comics'Golden AgesuperherotheFlash.The following year, after Lampert was drafted to serve toWorld War II,All-American editorSheldon Mayerkept Craig on as an art department assistant,giving him progressively more responsible art duties. Between 1943 and 1945, Craig served in theMerchant Marinesand theU.S. Army.

EC Comics

Returning to comics after his discharge, he began drawing forEC Comics,beginning with thepencilingandinkingthe cover ofMoon Girland the Prince#1 (cover-datedFall 1947). He did additional work on the following issue of thatscience fiction/ superhero series, now titled simplyMoon Girl,and went on to draw stories for the ECWestern comicsSaddle JusticeandGunfighterand thecrime comicCrime Patrol;he later expanded intoromance comicswith EC'sModern LoveCraig additionally did a small amount of early work forMagazine Enterprises,American Comics Groupand, tentatively identified through thepen name"Jay", possibly forEastern Color'sNew Heroic Comics.When he teamed withAl Feldstein,they used the pseudonym F. C. Aljohn.

Craig later brought a clean, crisp,naturalisticapproach to EC's legendaryhorrorseries—The Crypt of Terror,The Vault of HorrorandThe Haunt of Fear— plusCrime SuspenStoriesandTwo-Fisted Tales.Wally Woodonce said Craig drew "the cleanest horror stories you ever saw".His first EC horror work came with the cover art forThe Crypt of Terror#17 (May 1950) and both the art and script for that issue's seven-page story "Curse of the Full Moon".

In being a writer as well as an artist, Craig differed from the majority of EC artists. He was responsible for the stories hosted by theVault-Keeper,and he also drew that horror host in the framing sequences of stories by other EC illustrators. He eventually concentrated onThe Vault of HorrorandCrime SuspenStories,doing the lead story in each of these bimonthly titles.

Craig became the editor ofThe Vault of Horrorearly in 1954, giving up his work forCrime SuspenStoriesat that time. Later that year, he created the Vault Keeper's attractive assistant, Drusilla. After the EC horror books came to an end, Craig edited EC'sExtra!in 1955, writing and drawing two stories in each bimonthly issue.

Craig's story "... And All Through the House" inVault of Horror#35 (March 1954) was adapted for theJoan Collinssegment of the 1972 omnibusfilmTales from the Crypt. Craig's many covers included that of the infamousCrime SuspenStories#22, shown during the 1950s Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency.U.S. SenatorEstes Kefauverasked EC publisherBill Gaineswhether he thought the cover, depicting an ax-wielding man holding a woman's severed head, was in good taste. Gaines responded, "Yes, sir, I do, for the cover of a horror comic" —a remark that became an oft-quoted example of comic books' alleged depravity.Ironically, Craig was one of the more wholesome EC artists, frequently choosing to show the reactions of characters rather than the horrific event itself.

One critic wrote of his work:

Craig was a meticulous craftsman and not a fast worker, but his stories are regarded as some of the best ever in comics. His art was relatively low-key and restrained, effectively staged and featured impeccable draftsmanship. The scripts he wrote tended to be literate and cerebral, and generally relied on solid construction and implacable internal logic, rather than on contrived snap endings. His horror work made more use of psychology and mood than of the supernatural, and his crime comics owed more toJames M. CainandCornell Woolrichthan togangster movies.

Later career

After EC's collapse in the wake of theUnited States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquencyhearings, Craig worked briefly forAtlas Comics,the 1950s predecessor ofMarvel Comics,then spent several successful years at anadvertising agencyinPennsylvania,though he lamented that his responsibilities there prevented him from drawing much.He returned to comics in the 1960s with art forACG'sUnknown Worldsand other titles.

His resurfacing promptedWarren PublishingeditorArchie Goodwinto have Craig draw for Warren's magazines from 1966 to 1968, during which time Craig (who still worked in advertising) used the pseudonym Jay Taycee, a phonetic pronunciation of his four initials. Of his attempts to work forDC ComicsandMarvel Comics,however, comics historianMark Evanierwrote,

By any name, the work was excellent, but Craig's efforts to work for the "big two" — DC and Marvel — were not as successful. In 1967, he applied at DC. Recalling the excellence of his EC stories, editor George Kashdan gave him an issue ofThe Brave and the Boldto draw — aBatman/Hawkmanteam-up. Craig handed the job in weeks late, whereupon his art was deemed too subdued, even for the relatively staid DC super-hero comics of the time. Before publication (in issue #70), the pages were heavily retouched and revised as to expunge any trace of Johnny Craig's style.

Evanier wrote that Goodwin, by now writing for Marvel, said that, "Every so often, we'd try having himpencilanIron Manor something, but it never worked out. He couldn't draw superheroes the way they wanted, and he couldn't hit the deadlines of a monthly book ".After penciling and inkingIron Man#2 and a supernatural story inTower of Shadows#1, heavily retouched byJohn Romita Sr.,Craig became primarily aninker.He did however complete Iron Man #2–4, 14, 24 and 25, the latter inked by Sam Grainger.

By the early 1980s, Craig stopped drawing for comics and was semi-retired until his death in 2001. He did do many paintings of the Vault-Keeper, Drusilla and other E.C. horror themes, for private commissions, E.C. fanzines and other publications, and these works showed excellent technique in oils. His last known residences wereCamp Hill,Pennsylvania,andShiremanstown, Pennsylvania.

Awards

Craig was posthumously inducted into theWill Eisner Hall of Fameon July 15, 2005, atSan Diego Comic-Con.

External links

• The Comic Treadmill:"The Brave and the Bold70–71, 73 (1967) "
• Fred Hembeck onThe Vault of Horror#35