Image: EC Comics

Comic book covers were a sheer delight in the early Fifties. "No… No… Don't leave me floating out here in space!" a man in a bubble helmet pleaded to a departing rocket. Or, three googly-eyed, orange aliens stare agog at an exploding Earth with a headline screaming, "Cosmic Ray Bomb Explosion!" Both of these appeared on issues of Weird Fantasy, an anthology comic series from EC Comics, the clever minds that brought us sensational titles like MAD Magazine, Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror. Books like these were the perfect accompaniment to the B-movies playing on movies screen. Their shocking content also led to the introduction of censorship and the Comics Code Authority in 1954.

Three decades ago, HBO turned Tales from the Crypt into a cult television series. Now, news comes that Weird Fantasy is being adapted into an anthology television series.

Hivemind, the company behind Syfy/Amazon's space epic The Expanse and upcoming adaptations of The Witcher and Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark, will produce the series, as reported by Deadline.

Just 22 issues of Weird Fantasy were printed from 1950–53. Ray Bradbury complained the EC was plagiarizing his work, so the comic worked out a deal to publish official adaptations of his stories, including "There Will Come Soft Rains" and "The Million Year Picnic." Behind those fantastic covers, issues of Weird Fantasy featured art by legends such as Harvey Kurtzman and Frank Frazetta.

With a reboot of The Twilight Zone arriving in April, this looks to be a great year for fans of eerie anthology television.