Editing EC Comics (section)

{{outdated|date=February 2024}}
{{short description|Former American publisher}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox company
| name = E.C. Publications, Inc.
| logo = EC-Comics-classic.png
| logo_size = 100px
| genre = {{ubl|[[Romance comics|Romance]]|[[Crime comics|crime]]|[[War comics|War]]| [[Fantasy comics|Fantasy]]|[[Western comics|Western]]|[[Talking animals in fiction|Talking animal]]|[[Horror comics|Horror]]|[[Science fiction comics|Science fiction]]|[[Humor magazine|Satire]]|[[Adventure fiction|Adventure]]}}
| predecessor = 
| successor = 
| foundation = {{start date and age|1944}}
| defunct = 
| founder = [[Max Gaines]]
| location_city = New York City, New York
| location_country = U.S.
| location = 
| locations = 
| area_served = 
| key_people = Max Gaines<br />[[William Gaines]]
| trading_name = EC Comics
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| industry = [[Publishing]]
| products = [[Comics]]
| owner = [[DC Comics]] (company)<br>Gaines family (brand)<ref>{{Cite web|first=Cody |last=Komassa |url=https://bendgoods.com/blogs/blog/tales-from-ec-comics-span-behind-the-bend-span|title=Tales from EC Comics: Behind the Bend |website=Bend Goods |access-date=May 26, 2017|archive-date=September 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915042339/https://bendgoods.com/blogs/blog/tales-from-ec-comics-span-behind-the-bend-span|url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}

'''E.C. Publications, Inc.''',  ([[trade name|doing business as]] '''EC Comics''') is an [[American comic book]] [[publisher]]. It specialized in [[horror fiction]], [[crime fiction]], [[satire]], [[war novel|military fiction]], [[dark fantasy]], and [[science fiction]] from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the ''[[Tales from the Crypt (comics)|Tales from the Crypt]]'' series.  Initially, EC was founded as '''Educational Comics''' by [[Maxwell Gaines]] and specialized in educational and child-oriented stories. After Max Gaines died in a boating accident in 1947, his son [[William Gaines]] took over the company and renamed it '''Entertaining Comics'''. He printed more mature stories, delving into horror, war, fantasy, science-fiction, adventure, and other genres. Noted for their high quality and shock endings,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Groth |first1=Gary |title=Entertaining Comics |url=https://www.tcj.com/entertaining-comics/ |website=The Comics Journal |date=January 23, 2013 |access-date=December 7, 2018}}</ref> these stories were also unique in their socially conscious, progressive themes (including [[racial equality]], [[Anti-war movement|anti-war advocacy]], [[nuclear disarmament]], and [[environmentalism]]) that anticipated the [[Civil Rights Movement]] and the dawn of the [[Counterculture of the 1960s|1960s counterculture]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Duin |first1=Steve |title=The enduring art of EC Comics |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf/2016/04/steve_duin_the_enduring_art_of.html |website=Oregon Live |date=April 30, 2016 |access-date=December 7, 2018}}</ref> In 1954–55, censorship pressures prompted it to concentrate on the humor magazine ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]'', leading to the company's greatest and most enduring success. Consequently, by 1956, the company ceased publishing all its comic lines except ''Mad''.