vaillant

I post the covers to these few "books" I am sending to sacentaur (thanks for your patience, Steve!). They are italian editions of Centaur books, undated but almost surely from 1945. They are almost surely unauthorized, extremely poor italian post-war publications, with redrawn (traced) artwork, and they are part of a series where the Blue Beetle, Batman and Green Lantern were featured for the first time in Italy (and no, I don’t have any of these issues and neither I have ever seen them). Each book features 8 pages of the main characters of the original antologic titles, which in these cases is either the Masked Marvel or the Fantom of the Fair. I have been unaware such things existed until not so much time ago, what makes them unique is that they are very likely the very first publication in Italy of comic book material (previous Superman stuff published since 1939 were newspaper strips), and the fact that they came out very likely slightly after the end of the war, when ravaged Italy was still economically off-balance (in the first issue, No. 6, you can read a price difference for "Italia centro meridionale", reflecting the effects of the division created after the downfall of fascism). I decided they made little sense in my hands, so I’m glad to send them to someone with the know-how to appreciate them. The only one I have been able to identify is No. 7, which judging from the cover, seems to be Keen Detective Funnies V2 #7, but the other eludes me since the covers have redone artwork. Sorry if I made mistakes, I am totally ignorant on Centaur titles, and these italian publications are among the "obscura of the obscura"… And… yes, I know: they are ugly, I guess they represent Italy at its poorest… BTW, size is not comic book average size, but rather digest size.

Can you tell why price guides are so low compared to actual market prices on books which are effectively so rare?

I paid €4 for shipping, so I don't think I did too badly for €5 overall, with shipping from Italy Surely not, I was just saying in these cases shipping costs have an enormous weight on the final price. When I purchase from the US, I try always to add books or something to combine shipping.

Although generally speaking What If is somewhat underrated by collectors (and with good reason, considered also that Marvel turned his work into a big, unending "What If" in the last 15 years), I would also recommend the What If issue (old series) where the hypotesis the Invisible Woman died is taken into account. Art is by Ron Frenz and Joe Sinnott.

Nonetheless you agree that somewhat the two crooks are hurling the guy on the train tracks, right? I think Biro knew how to represent a scene. He’s somewhat inconsistent, but when needed he knows how to illustrate clearly, and with impact, the various scenes. I’m more of the opinion that he kept the poses unusual to give the cover a sense of "unreality" if you see what I mean…

@Moondog: I agree the drawing is a little ambiguous, but if you look with attention the two crooks are pushing the amputee on the rail tracks. Ugh!

I thoroughly agree. These have been among my favorite stories (especially #53) as I read them, and Klaw is a well conceived villain. This reminds me I still miss #52 and my #53 (which has been the very first silver age Marvel comic I happen to buy) is not in such a good shape… I would add the King Size Annual #6: Annihilus and the birth of Franlkin, is definitely too underrated in favor of "silly" Hulk vs. Thing Battles…

@CentaurMan: Which are the ones which "does not seem to exist"? I am a sucker for rare things.

Thanks for the info. The above only cost me €1 on eBay, so I'm not too dissatisfied Said this, you’ve very likely paid more for shipping than for the book. @Liaton: Corno editions have been the best, in terms of paper/binding/printing, etc. Unfortunately, being in the heyday of the Marvel age in Italy, translations were occasionally either full of mistakes or poor, with an alternation of the good with the bad. Star Comics edition were very good in terms of adaptation, translation, etc. but initially very poor graphically speaking (and with the cardboard covers). Marvel Italia picked up where Star Comics left, and since then translation have become often very accurate in their vocabulary, but culturally poor and done sometimes in a "stiff" italian, without the spontaneous quality dialogues should have, if you understand what I mean. It’s ironic, since certain important runs or series of the past which are being reprinted get often a worse treatment than the modern material which qualitatively wouldn’t require such a care.

@Kenners: With a little patience, I’m sure a better copy can be found. Yes, those cardboard covers were not so good, although if well handled they vere very nice. By that time, however, I already stopped collecting in italian and went for the original editions.

Hi Dan, I’m sure it’s a great book. About what’s allowed in NM, I see "spine is flat and tight (no spine roll)". On the other hand, description of the grade states "Minor imperfections that are allowed in this grade include tiny corner creases or staple stress lines, a few color flecks, bindery tears, tiny impact creases or a combination of the above where the overall eye appeal is less than Mint. Only the most subtle binding and/or printing defects allowed.", so I guess that otherwise the spine creases must be a stunning book. It‘s among my favorite issues, personally I’d be more than happy with a FN copy, and would break it immediately free…

Are those tiny spine creases on the book? I thought they weren’t allowed in NM. Or maybe it‘s just what I remember, surely I prefer other defects over spine creases…

I suggest picking some up next time you're in the States. Which would be, um, say… never? Seriously, I hardly doubt I will travel once again to the States, at least not in useful time to bag my most treasured comics… @oakman29: Thanks, I’ll check that. Is that better or is better to buy directly from the producer? I ask because of shipping prices (I don’t even mention customs).

Awesome, now I just need to read it in full and see the most economic way to purchase Mylites & stuff from Italy. Thanks a lot to the OP!

I just asked because I recalled The Comic Book Marketplace was all in B/W when I used to buy it (early 1990s). Very nice they turned to color. I have to look for this issue.

Must be a very interesting issue. Is it all in black and white?

I figured it was being delivered by gondola... Sorry… (You may not believe it, but actually Modena had canals, and was connected to Venice in the middle ages).

I’m tracking this to remind myself I have yet to send something Centaur-related to sacentaur (which I promised) …

Hi Ernie. You mean you are of italian origin or do you speak italian? Either way, it shouldn’t be difficult to get you one (and neither exaggerately costly, depending on the grade). Let me know if you’d like me to look for it on your behalf, I’d be glad to to so. Omigosh! Awesome, although I would take the same both the US and/or the Canadian edition without making a difference (it’s way out my price range).

And of course Daredevil was turned into Devil because the term would have not made much sense in italian, so it’s become known as "Il diavolo rosso" (the red devil).

Nice thing is they kept the "D" yellow, and the belt et al in brown leather color. Italian colorists (they recolored all the stories based on the original color schemes) were pretty fine.

I don’t think it was a question of being "fun". Biro tried to stir awareness on each and every subject he treated in the stories. The more or less shocking covers representede a scene, more or less extremized compared to the story content. Maybe they weren’t so fine for children but, again, the consciousness, and thus the Comics Code, was yet to come. "Crime does not pay", however, is more problematic, on how you should draw the line between artistic representation and excessively disturbing imagery. I don’t seem to recall the inside story is related, so it’s basically the cover depicting them, right?

Daredevil was presented in full-red since the beginning in Italy as well. (this is a stock image, my copy is low grade)

Hmm… No, basically Biro (in each and every one of his creations) tried to bring every darker side of human behavior to the light. This is fascinating compared to the role played by freudian psychology in american post-war culture. Biro was very optimistic in portraying redemption, but at the same time showed evil as evil, no matter the mystery surrounding it. Airboy, for example, presents himself as a really tough teenage character, sometimes with little to no compassion. Crimebuster is better…

But you have one of the best covers among the first 25 issues… Although they are often a departure from the actual stories inside, we were talking right now about this with CB, as he already pointed out. And a NM 9.8 with white pages is pretty insane on those. Wow. I have the impression paper is worse as the United States entered the war, my Daredevil #6 (cover date: December 1941) has really nice paper.