Number 2211: The Most Dangerous Island of Death Game

I imagine a conversation between Harvey Kurtzman and Bill Gaines or Al Feldstein...or Bill and Al together: “Harvey, we need you to write and draw a horror story for the new book, Vault of Horror.” This would be in 1950, and so far EC Comics had dabbled a bit in horror, some horror stories in their crime comics titles (soon canceled), and finally in titles of their own. Kurtzman might have pulled a book off the shelf, an anthology with “The Most Dangerous Game,” written by Richard Connel. (I am still imagining.) Since its original publication in 1924 it has become a very famous short story, its plot swiped more times than I can count, from desperate writers who need to get a project done. It has also been made into movies more than once (the first time in 1932).

Harvey did a few stories for Feldstein’s books before being given editorial responsibilities. “Island of Death,” from The Vault of Horror #13 (actual #2, 1950) is not a horror story; not even a suspense story like “The Most Dangerous Game,” so it fails under both categories. But Harvey Kurtzman went on to create Mad and his war books for EC, The Jungle Book for Ballantine Books in 1959, “Little Annie Fanny” for Playboy...the list goes on. This story does not cry out with originality, but it is by Kurtzman, and therefore interesting to me.*

The scans come from the 1990 Gladstone reprint, The Vault of Horror #3.

*The New Yorker did a tribute to Harvey Kurtzman in their March 29, 1993, issue. It takes up four pages: a full-page illustration by Will Elder,  a tribute with a brief history of Kurtzman’s work by Adam Gopnick, then a two-page tribute by Art Spiegleman. This is Elder’s page:

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