| Impact | |
|---|---|
 Jack Davis cover, issue #1 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | EC Comics |
| Schedule | Bimonthly |
| Format | Anthology |
| Publication date | March/April 1955 – November/December 1955 |
| No. of issues | 5 |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | William Gaines Al Feldstein |
Impact was a short-livedcomic book series published byEC Comics in 1955 as the first title in its New Direction line.
The bi-monthly comic, published byBill Gaines and edited byAl Feldstein, began with an issue cover-dated March–April, 1955.[1] It ran for five issues, ending with the November–December, 1955 issue. The sub-title "Tales Designed to Carry an..." ran above the titleImpact. The book was dedicated to stories with shock endings, and was seen as a toned down,Comics Code era version of EC's earlierShock SuspenStories. Front covers were byJack Davis, and the stories wereillustrated by Davis,George Evans,Jack Kamen,Graham Ingels,Joe Orlando,Reed Crandall andBernard Krigstein.
There are two versions of the cover toImpact #1. One logo is yellow and the other is white.
The first issue featured the short story "Master Race", co-plotted by Gaines & Feldstein and illustrated by Krigstein.[2] "Master Race" is one of the first comic book stories aboutThe Holocaust, and has been described as theCitizen Kane of comic books.[3][4]
Impact was reprinted as part of publisherRuss Cochran'sComplete EC Library in 1988. Between April and August 1999, Cochran (in association withGemstone Publishing) reprinted all five individual issues. This complete run was later rebound, with covers included, in a single softcoverEC Annual.Dark Horse reprintedImpact as part of theEC Archives series in 2020.[5]
| # | Date | Story | Story artist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March/April 1955 | Tough Cop | Reed Crandall |
| The Diamond Pendant | Graham Ingels | ||
| The Dress | George Evans | ||
| Master Race | Bernard Krigstein | ||
| 2 | May/June 1955 | Mother Knows Best | Reed Crandall |
| Divorce | Jack Davis | ||
| The Suit | Graham Ingels | ||
| Paid in Full | Joe Orlando | ||
| 3 | July/Aug 1955 | Life Sentence | Reed Crandall |
| The Debt | Jack Davis | ||
| Totally Blind | Jack Kamen | ||
| The Good Fairy | Graham Ingels | ||
| 4 | Sept/Oct 1955 | The Lonely One | Jack Davis |
| Fall in Winter | Graham Ingels | ||
| The Bitter End | Reed Crandall | ||
| Country Doctor | George Evans | ||
| 5 | Nov/Dec 1955 | Heart Interest | George Evans |
| The Travelers | Joe Orlando | ||
| The General | Graham Ingels | ||
| So Much More | Bernard Krigstein |