WILLIAM M. "BILL" GAINES was studying to be a chemistry teacher when his father, M. C. Gaines, died, forcing him suddenly into the business of publishing comic books. By 1950, Bill had ended all the titles previously published by Entertaining Comics and had created new titles like Tales from the Crypt , pioneering a new era in comic books featuring horror and science-fiction stories. These new titles were immediately bestsellers, leading to other publishers flooding the market with similar horror-themed comics. Wallace "Wally" Wood was a legendary American Comics artist known for his expressive and influential work in various EC Comics titles such as Weird Fantasy and Weird Science , as well as his long-running humor work in MAD magazine. His decades-spanning career included work for comics, advertising, books, and magazines across all genres.