<< • >>  Selected, edited and with commentary by Jim Trombetta; with an Introduction by R.L. Stine << • >>  Next, we have the Abrams ComicArts entry.  This cleverly named tome presents readers with a smorgasbord of brain searing graphics and more.  The Horror! is a nicely put together 300+ page full color flexi-bound collection that comes complete with a running commentary by editor Trombetta to provide a "you are there" context.  It is heavy on covers and single page examples and much lighter on actual stories than Four Color Fear, but the covers, pages and stories that are here are generally well selected, and taken together do provide an excellent survey of the period (sans EC, of course – except for a few covers; presumably because EC stories are already under separate reprint agreements).  Perhaps the biggest surprise are the excellent stories by "artist unknown."  Let's hope that some well-informed comics sleuths can deduce the correct creators.  The reproduction here is nice as well:  good quality, full color scans printed on flat white stock.  And the icing on the cake is the bonus DVD slipped inside the back cover which contains the 30-minute TV show that originally aired on October 9, 1955, Confidential FIle, about the "evils" of comic books!  Taken all together, it makes for a great introduction to the comics and cultural climate of the early 1950s in the US of A.