RareHighGrade

It's always touchy with a high grade key book. But since apparently no one else had a low grade raw copy available, I decided to do it because it is such an interesting coincidence.

The Wizard foils the plot and defeats the "Jatsonians", who happen to look and dress exactly like Japanese sailors: The fact that this book was published in the Fall of 1939, and referred to an attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese lookalikes is intriguing, to say the least.

The Wizard learns of a "Jatsonian plot" to attack Pearl Harbor:

Thanks! Can we come over and read yours? We could add a category for oblique references to US involvement. Can you provide any more details? Is it just the super-hero fighting or is the US military involved? Where does the action take place? Are the attackers supposed to be Germans? Italians? Japanese? My copy is in a safe deposit box, so I'll have to get back to you on the details. Maybe Shield has an available copy and can share the details with us. I do recall that it struck me as being even more precient than National #18. In the meantime, here is the cover: I've retrieved my copy and will provide the details in my next two posts.

New Comics # 7, the title's first slick cover:

Adam, those cover proofs are great. What is the oldest one you have?

Another Platinum book from the fabled "S" collection:

Looks like this thread could use another post. Here is New Comics # 5:

The colors of scanned books always look better when they are not slabbed.

That's a beauty hkp. Congratulations.

Thanks! Can we come over and read yours? We could add a category for oblique references to US involvement. Can you provide any more details? Is it just the super-hero fighting or is the US military involved? Where does the action take place? Are the attackers supposed to be Germans? Italians? Japanese? My copy is in a safe deposit box, so I'll have to get back to you on the details. Maybe Shield has an available copy and can share the details with us. I do recall that it struck me as being even more precient than National #18. In the meantime, here is the cover:

Take a look at the first story in Top Notch #1 (Dec. 1939). Although it uses a fictional name for the nationality of the enemy, it is a clear reference to the U.S. getting involved in WWII.

Don't know. My copy only has 32 pages! It's either a typo in the Guide or one of the mis-directions to catch plagiarism. On page 38 of SOTI, Dr. Wertham observes: "And just as there were supermen, superwomen, superboys and superducks, so the industry now supplied a 'super-lover.' Studying these love confession books is even more tedious than studying the usual crime comic books. You have to wade through all the mushiness, the false sentiments, the social hypocrisy, the titillation, the cheapness." RHG

Wow!! What's the grade on your Action 1, Jon?

That's the Church copy again, isn't it RHG? Yes.

That's a tough question Adam; I don't think that I could pick just one. For Detective Comics, my favorites would probably be the covers of nos. 13, 15 and 18. For New Adventure and Adventure, probably the covers of nos. 26 and 37 (assuming the 37 is a Flessel). Another Flessel cover that has always been one of my favorites is the one he did for Adventure 32, which is the first issue after the series changed to Adventure after dropping the "New" prefix. Here is the Church copy of that book:

Here is a Flessel Christmas cover, New Adventure Comics 22:

Detective # 10:

Classic cover. Very nice!

While we're waiting for Jon's thoughts on Adventure 37, and to keep the thread rolling, here's another Flessel cover from 1938, More Fun 37:

I have never before heard that. What a wonderful and surprising piece of trivia. That's why these boards are so great. Thanks Jon.

Jon, great to have you back. I'm sure that you've got a lot more Flessel beauties that can be posted in this thread (the New Adventure 16, by the way, is a Joe Shuster cover). FFB, I concur with your assessment of the cover of Detective 18. It is a stunner. That book is near impossible to find in decent, unrestored condition. Since the Detective covers seem to be the crowd favorites, here's another one that's not seen too often. Detective 14 (Church copy):

Timely, thanks for the explanation. I'd still like to know how the Grand Comic Database reached that conclusion. If you look at the four jungle themed covers on Adventure 36 - 39, they all appear to have been drawn by the same artist. However, none of them are signed, which is an anomoly if they are Flessel covers. Every other cover that Flessel did, including his Sandman covers, is signed. In addition, as I mentioned in my earlier post, the style of drawing seems a little bit different from Flessel's style. If anyone else knows anything else about this, I would be interested to hear it.

Hkp, the bright colors on that Vol. 2 No. 8 are something else. Your Disney books are incredible; I've never seen so many in such amazing condition. Ft88, I've really been enjoying your books too. Keep posting.

Today's post is a cover that has been the subject of much discussion over the years. Early Golden Age collectors have long argued over whether the cover of Adventure 37 was drawn by Creig Flessel, Leo O'Mealia, Fred Guardineer or some other artist. Because the style is somewhat different from that of Flessel, O'Mealia and Guardineer, and because there is no signature identifying the artist (these artists routinely signed their work), the answer has remained a mystery. Recently, however, CGC has taken the position that the cover is by Flessel. It would be great if Timely or some other CGC insider could tell us what this recent decision was based on. In any event, in light of the CGC designation, here is a scan of Adventure 37: