Auctions: comic books 1953

Adventures into the Unknown (1948 ACG) 44 CGC 7.5

Paper: Off white to white

Label #4363506011

"Red Moonlight," "The Creeper," "The Phantom Fiend," and "The Devil and the War Bride." Edited by Richard E. Hughes. Cover by Ken Bald. Stories by Jon Blummer, Ken Bald, Paul Gattuso, and Pete Riss. Spine-chilling tales of suspense, horror, and the supernatural—prepare yourself for Adventures into the Unknown! 36 pages, full color. $0.10. Cover price $0.10.

Archie (1943 Archie Comics) 64 GD+ 2.5

Cover coming loose at both staples. Moisture damage. Oxidation. Writing on interior pages.

52 pages. Cover price $0.10.

Atom Age Combat (1952 St. John) 4 GD- 1.8

4" cumulative spine split. Cover oxidation.

Cover by Doug Wildey. Stories and art by Howard Larsen and others. Capturing the paranoia of the Cold War, this series portrayed a future where "atomic" weapons replaced conventional ones. "Security patrolman" Frank must prevent escaped Nazi war criminals from detonating an atomic bomb in Washington. Captain Buck Vinson and his team lead an atomic-rocket assault on the Soviet "iceberg forts" of the frozen North Atlantic. Modern-day Marines Dawes and Gannon are fighting the Civil War all over again. Impressively detailed cover by Doug Wildey. X-40s Defy the Frozen Army; Pickett Rides Again; Peril on the Potomac; Lighter Side; Replacement. 32 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Beware Terror Tales (1952 Fawcett) 5 GD- 1.8

Centerfold detached. Water damage. Cover oxidation.

Cover by Bernard Bailey. Stories and art by Sheldon Moldoff, Bill Woolfolk, Maurice Gutwirth and Bob McCarthy. Classic pre-Code horror from St. John. A police detective encounters a magical clock that sends people to Hell when it strikes thirteen. Traveling the polar wastes, two explorers are trapped in an igloo for months, and one of them is slowly going insane... or is it both? Gangsters force a Romani witch to use her powers to bring a ganglord back from the dead. The Horrors of the 13th Stroke; The Lonely One!; The Ghoul at Eldritch Manor!; Gray Matter; Return of the Dead! 32 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Black Magic (1950-1961 Prize/Crestwood) Vol. 3 #3 CGC 6.0

Paper: Off white to white

Label #4363506004

Cover by Jack Kirby. Art by John Prentice, Alden McWilliams, Manny Stallman, George Roussos, Bob McCarty, Bill Draut, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Captain America creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby present their own contribution to the horror comics trend of the 1950s, featuring tales of ghosts and the paranormal. Issue # 21 on cover; listed as Vol. 3, issue #3 in indicia. A feathered snake god appears to a tourist at an ancient ruin. A scientist sends a volunteer 500 years into the past. A visitor to Germany's Black Forest encounters a Brigadoon-like enchanted village, but only for one night. The Feathered Serpent; Warning Voice!; The Practical Joker; Vigil; Valley of Phantoms!; The Mind Reader; The Magic Million; A Ghost Story! 32 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Black Magic (1950-1961 Prize/Crestwood) Vol. 4 #1 CBCS 7.5

Paper: Off white to white

Label #23-1D5E6A6-001

# 25 on cover. Vol 4 No 1 inside. Cover art by Jack Kirby. Strange Old Bird!, art by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; Did Miss Stewart find a Phoenix bird that allowed her to start her life over? The Human Cork, art by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. The Light text story. The Romantic Souls!, art by Al Eadeh. The Crash text story. Human Bloodhound!, art by Harry Lazarus. A Beast Is in the Streets!, pencils by Jack Kirby. 36 pgs. $0.10. Cover price $0.10.

Black Mask (1939-1953 Atlas Publishing 2nd Series) British Reprint Edition Sep 1953 VG+ 4.5

Water damage with staple rust/migration.

British Edition. September 1953, Vol 10 #10. A Magazine of Gripping, Smashing Detective Stories. Stories include: Cash Wale's Second Massacre by Peter Paige, Toast the Poison Princess by D.L. Champion, ...And Hope to Die by J.L. Bouma, and The Fifth Hood by John G. Pearsol. 6 1/2" X 9 1/2". 68 pages. B&W.

Crime Suspenstories (1950-55 E.C. Comics) 19 CGC 4.0

Paper: Cream to off white

Label #4386574004

Cover art by Al Feldstein. "The Killer," script and art by Reed Crandall; Jonathan worked hard at his work, never wanting to follow in the footsteps of his father. Then he met Elsie, whom he intended to marry after he had established himself; However, because Jonathan's father was not a member of a guild, Jonathan was denied his opportunity to make a living, and reluctantly accepted doing his father's line of work. "Wined-Up!", script by Bill Gaines (plot) and Albert B. Feldstein (plot, script), art by George Evans; Charles, in a wheelchair since an auto accident, learns that the accident was no accident at all, and that his wife Laura wanted to kill him because she was sick and tired of living with him; She now informs him that is going to try again by wheeling him out on a pier, attaching a wire to it so that she can pull the chair into the lake as she goes swimming. "Rendezvous!" text story, script by Albert B. Feldstein, art by Marie Severin. "Murder May Boomerang," script and art by Johnny Craig; Nearly inseparable, a father and son did everything in life together until that one day when a prisoner from a nearby penitentiary discovers the pair's cabin, where he steals clothing and nearly beats the father to death. "About Phase," script by Albert B. Feldstein, art by George Evans; 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.10.

Famous Funnies (1934) 209 PR 0.5

INCOMPLETE. Majority of 2 pages missing (affects Dickie Dare story). 7" cumulative spine split. Oxidation.

Cover by Frank Frazetta. Stories and art by Rick Yager, Colton Waugh and Harold LeDoux. The long-running series that introduced "comic books" to the world, featuring reprints of comic strips. Seminal sci-fi strip Buck Rogers returns to Famous Funnies, ushering in the first of a series of iconic Buck Rogers covers by fantasy and comics legend Frazetta that ran during the title's last years. A series of short "True Heroic Stories," featuring real-life tales of wartime action. Buck Rogers; Dickie Dare; The Terrible Titans; The Smoke Eating Marine; The River Secret; Star Scout in Star Act; The Best Automobile Sticker. 36 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Forbidden Worlds (1951 ACG) 23 VG+ 4.5

Cover oxidation. Water spotting.

Cover by Ken Bald. Edited by Richard E. Hughes. Art by Charles Nicholas, Bill Walsh and Harry Lazarus. An anthology series featuring tales of fantasy, horror, and science fiction from legendary early independent comics publisher ACG. A mad scientist creates horrifying insect-animal hybrids; A robot falls in love with a woman and goes on a rampage; A ghost ship appears over the South Pacific with a crew of undead privateers. Nightmare for Two!; The Mummy That Lived; The Machine That Fell in Love; The Thing in the Bottle!; Terror of the Deep! 36 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Mystery in Space (1951 1st Series) 17 CGC 8.5

Paper: White

Label #2139595013

"The Last Mile of Space" (cover/story art by Murphy Anderson), "The Man in the Moon," "The Thought Pirate," and "The Magnetic Duel" (art by Anderson). Carmen Infantino art? Anderson cover. 36 Pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Red Hawk (1953) 11 GD 2.0

(A-1 Comics #90) Stories by Gardner Fox and others. Art by Bob Powell, L. B. Cole, Paul Parker and Ogden Whitney. Cover by Bob Powell. Sometimes listed as A1 Comics (1944 Life's Romances) #90. Tales of Western adventure featuring Cheyenne warrior Red Hawk. A blinded Red Hawk must guard a mountain pass against an approaching enemy tribe; Red Hawk and his friends mess with a Ute medicine man's dolls and end up framed for the death of a fellow Cheyenne warrior; Red Hawk's tribe doesn't understand when he adopts a panther and makes it his pet, Sharp Fang. Wonderful World; Perilous Pet; The Helpless Warrior; The Death Dolls; Tests For A Warrior. 32 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Sensation Mystery (1952) 113 CGC 3.5

Paper: Cream to off white

Label #4348396006

Cover pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by John Giunta. The End of Death, script by Robert Kanigher, pencils by Jerry Grandenetti, inks by Frank Giacoia; A criminal tries to convince Johnny Peril that he is being haunted by Death himself. The Sea Girl!, pencils by Jim Mooney, inks by Bernard Sachs; Jim Spencer is marooned on an enchanted island; He lives in the company of an undine, a dryad and a sylph; Spencer falls in love with Celia, the mermaid. Lantern in the Rain!, script by Jack Miller, art by Irwin Hasen; Did the ghost of John Logan flash his ghostly signal lantern to stop Luke Brownell from crashing his train? The Man Who Sold His Soul article, script by Jack Miller, art by Raymond Perry; Account of a strange story happening in Lima, Peru, in 1715. Legacy of Horror!, pencils by Murphy Anderson, inks by Sy Barry; Ralph Edgerton inherits millions from a distant relative, but has to spend time in a haunted house. 36 pgs. $0.10. Cover price $0.10.

Space Adventures (1952 1st series) 7 CGC 4.5

Paper: Off white

Label #4006900009

Cover art by Dick Giordano. "Transformation," art by Dick Giordano; Anticipating nuclear war that would leave Earth barren of life, Lars Kranston convinces his colleagues to go to Mars; His paramour Betty Stone insists that she go as well; The ship crashes on Mars. "The Doomed Civilization," script by Carl Memling, pencils by Frank Frollo, inks by Vince Alascia; Commander Krait's crew begins receiving transmissions from an inhabitable planet called X-3-Z; Dr. Triple interprets the message; The message states society living there faces immanent destruction through war; Krait sends ships to stop the senseless destruction. "Simtone Saves the Space Officers" text story. "Homecoming," art by Stan Campbell; In the summer of 1953, Edmund Cranston presents his designs for a rocket ship to Dr. Corning at a large aircraft corporation; Cranston's only request is to be on the spacecraft maiden voyage to the moon. "Fateful Fluid," art by Art Cappello; When a professor perfects an elixir to transmute all it touches into gold, Kryn uses a "paralyzo ray" to freeze the professor; Kryn takes the potion for his own purposes. "Eternity in Space," art by Art Cappello; The Earth-Moon space station is a city floating between the Earth and the Moon; The city is constructed on an artificial wheel; Dr. Tero and Dr. Orso create two synthetic children; One is named Nors, the other Gri. Lars works on a fuel for spaceships; Both plan to win a contest for amazing feats. "Invasion" one-page story, art by Tony Tallarico. 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.10.

Vault of Horror (1950 E.C. Comics) 34 GD/VG 3.0 (R)

Restored (see item notes)

RESTORATION. Color touch. Cover oxidation. Slight glue along spine.

Cover by Johnny Craig. E.C. Fan-Addict Club promo. "Star Light, Star Bright!", script and art by Johnny Craig; As falls in sheets, Hartley stands over the open coffin as he nervously and sickeningly watches people run up to the corpse and do terrible things to it. "While the Cat's Away...", art by Jack Davis; John and Frank work their little travel agency scam for almost a year; they book trips for wealthy clients, then clean out their homes of valuables while they are away. "Sudden Death!" text story. "Smoke Wrings," art by Reed Crandall; Nervously, Hubert waited to see Miss Jackson about the Llama Cigarette account, and when he did get to see her, he proffered ideas to her concerning new revolutionary billboard ads using live steam; someone gets scalded to death. "Where There's a Will...", art by Graham Ingels (as Ghastly); The relatives of Harold Farber are gathered in his house, awaiting his certain death while Dr. Crotty and lawyer Walker go upstairs to see the old man, and tell him what vultures they really are. 36 pages, full color. Cover price $0.10.

Weird Terror (1952) 3 CGC 3.0

Paper: Cream to off white

Label #4405340001

Don Heck cover. Includes the particularly gruesome "Den of Horror," in which an evil playboy transforms his lavish drawing room into a...well, you know. Plus text pieces on sin eating and dowsing. Edited by Allen Hardy. Stories by Pete Morisi, Don Perlin, Abe Simon, and Rudy Palais. Horror, suspense, and Weird Terror tales patterned after the classic EC comics. 36 pages, full color. Cover price $0.10.