Three Dimensional E.C. Classics

Three Dimensional E.C. Classics
Cover to Three Dimensional Tales from the Crypt of Terror. Art by Al Feldstein.
Publication information
Publisher	EC Comics
Schedule	Quarterly
Format	Anthology
Publication date	Spring 1954 - March 1954
No. of issues	2
Main character(s)	The Crypt-Keeper
Creative team
Written by	Al Feldstein Harvey Kurtzman
Artist(s)	Johnny Craig Jack Davis Bill Elder George Evans Al Feldstein Graham Ingels Bernard Krigstein Harvey Kurtzman Joe Orlando Wally Wood

Three Dimensional E.C. Classics was a quarterly comic book anthology series published by EC Comics in 1954. It began publication with its Spring 1954 issue and ceased with its March 1954 issue, producing a total of two issues. The stories it contained were classics in that they were recyclings of stories that had already appeared in earlier EC comic books. They were three-dimensional because they were presented in Anaglyph 3-D. Two 3-D viewers were included with each issue.

Three Dimensional E.C. Classics was conceived in 1953, when 3-D comic books were enjoying a period of great popularity. Its conception was a direct response to the popularity of the form. When Three Dimension Comics, the "World's First" 3-D comic book, sold a million copies, other comic book publishers were naturally eager to carve out their own pieces of the market pie. EC Comics was no exception. They began to lay plans for a 3-D comic series of their own.

That series, Three Dimensional E.C. Classics, was launched in early 1954. One could argue that it was two one-shots instead of a series, but in fact the issues were numbered sequentially: "3-D No. 1" and "3-D No. 2." Only the first issue was called Three Dimensional E.C. Classics. It was a general EC sampler, recycling stories from EC's non-horror lines: Crime SuspenStories, Frontline Combat, Mad and Weird Science. The second issue's reference title was Three Dimensional Tales from the Crypt of Terror. It recycled stories from EC's horror lines exclusively: Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror. It also recycled the Tales from the Crypt Crypt-Keeper as host. But in all other essentials these books were the same: new packages of old stories with all new art, often demanding script changes, for the 3-D format.