Auctions: comic books November 1953

Beware (1953 Trojan/Merit) 6 FR 1.0

7" cumulative spine split. Cover detached. Oxidation.

Stories and art by Henry Kiefer, Al Tyler, John Belfi, and Myron Fass. Pre-Code horror comic from Trojan Magazines really gets into gear with this issue. In fact, this issue was used for an illustration in the anti-comics classic Seduction of the Innocent (illo #12, with caption, "Children are first shocked and then desensitized by all this brutality."). A mad scientist builds a robot and programs it to think, then is surprised when it attacks him with a yen for taking over the world. In one of the more original "poetic justice" horror stories, a man murdered in a paper pulper returns from the grave to avenge his murder through paper products. Hugo seeks revenge on those who have slighted him. Plus a grisly article about real-life decapitations and what happens after. The Thing from Beyond; Almost Human; The Paper Ghost; Life After Death?; The Phantom of the Moor. 36 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Haunted Thrills (1952) 12 VG- 3.5

Cover oxidation.

Pre-Code horror comics from Ajax-Farrell and their anonymous talents. A murdered ganglord returns for revenge. A political mission to Central America is sabotaged by voodoo chieftains. A practical joker encounters a humorless ghost in a Spanish castle. Terror Below; Badge of Glory; Goodbye Earth!; Death Laughs Last; Voodoo Vengeance. 36 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Horrific (1952) 8 VG+ 4.5

Cover by Don Heck. Stories and art by Pete Morisi, Rudy Palais, and Don Heck. Pre-Code horror comics by the talents at the Iger Shop. Horrific introduces its new horror host, like in the EC horror comics: The Teller of Tales, who looks like a sinister Dr. Strange. Grimm, ghost doctor, investigates after a plastic surgeon is murdered by the ghost of a former patient. A creature travels through the vastness of space and survives millions of years on Earth, only to stalk the sewers in search of hapless maintenance workers. Also featuring a cover by future Marvel legend Don Heck. The Teller!; Hirschels Hair; Coffin Corner; Blood Suckers; Portrait of Death; Sewer Horror. 32 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.