Three for the Money And Other Stories

Three For The Money And Other Stories by Al Feldstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three for The Money and Other Stories collects twenty-two EC crime stories illustrated by Jack Kamen, as well as four stories drawn by Sid Check and six drawn by Fred Peters.

Aside from the elusive 50 Girls 50, I've read and shelved all of the Fantagraphics EC Library so far so it was only natural I'd pick this up.

Jack Kamen isn't my favorite EC artist, with his romance comics gone wrong style, but the guy has some chops. Most of the twenty-two stories of his in this collection are of the love gone wrong type, with a husband or wife wanting to bump off his or her spouse. Otto Binder, Al Feldstein, and Carl Wessler come up with endless variations on the James Cain Postman Always Rings Twice/Double Indemnity plot and Kamen makes hay with most of them.

The Sid Check bones stories are very good. I'm surprised he never became an EC regular. I read Ship Shape decades ago in a Gladstone reprint and it remains a fun EC horror tale. I didn't really care for Fred Peters' style in his eight stories. It was a little too rough for me.

Double dealing spouses are the order of the day in Three For the Money And Other Stories and Jack Kamen gives everyone their money's worth. Four out of five stars.


View all my reviews