Surfing Alien

The Long Wait by Mickey Spillane Signet 932 1st PB, 1st Printing May 1952 $20 SOLD to Norrin's Lawyer Tough gangster fiction with a great Lu Kimmell GGA bondage cover. I have several nice Spillane Signets to list this week. Fine Plus. Super glossy and new looking. Appears unread, other than a bit of rubbing on the spine edges and finger bend on back, only has some factory defects. A bit of the page edge dye on the cover and spine and a bindery tear at the top and bottom spine. Pages and inner covers are really nice for a Signet.

Troubled Star by George O. Smith Beacon Books #256 "A Galaxy Prize Selection" 1st PB Edition $30 Gorgeous GGA cover art by Ed Emshwiller. One of Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine's short lived attempts at slapping great GGA art on Beacon Books sleaze fiction line covers. I'm sure Beacon's readers were surprised to find Sci-Fi inside rather than sleaze lol. Probably why they only put a couple of them out like this. Shows Emsh could paint nice wimmen though Fine Plus/Very Fine Minus. Solid spine has very slight wear, pages tight, covers smooth. Only some minor creasing at the middle spine that you can barely see in photos keep it from the top grade. A nice higher grade copy of a classic.

Brak Versus the Sorceress by John Jakes Paperback Library 63-089 April 1969 $15 SOLD to goldust40 Gorgeous cover art by Frank Frazetta. Expanded into a a full novel for this edition. Fine Plus Glossy and new looking. Appears unread. Would be Very Fine but for the little corner crease.

The Mucker by Edgar Rice Burroughs Ace 54460 June 1974 & Return of the Mucker by Edgar Rice Burroughs Ace 71815 June 1974 $60 for the pair SOLD to goldust40 First Frazetta cover editions. Action packed covers with great detail. Both Very Fine/Near Mint, a grade I very rarely give out. Incredible copies that need to stay together. Blazing colors and gloss, super sharp and square with virtually no wear other than a light bump and micro flecking to bottom of "Return" that looks like a bindery defect from cutting the cover. Off white pages and the inside covers are off white too, which is very unusual. Whoever buys these will never have to worry about upgrading them. I don't think you can. Well worth a premium.

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs Ace F-204 1st print of the 1st US PB and also an only Ace edition. The only Frazetta edition. May 1963 $25 SOLD to mstrange Frank Frazetta art with beautiful color scheme. The Lion is killer. Very similar condition to the previously listed Ace. Very Fine minus. Glossy and new looking/feeling. Unread. Great color strike. Has a couple of tiny color flecks to the edges and corners and slight wave from improper storage in the past. Finger bend to back cover. Another striking copy.

Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs Ace F-206 1st print of the 1st US PB and the only Ace edition. This title went to Ballantine right after so this is the only Frazetta edition. June 1963 $25 SOLD to goldust40 Frank Frazetta ape attack cover. I love the colors and composition on this cover Very Fine minus. Glossy and new looking/feeling. Definitely unread. Great color strike. Has a couple of tiny color flecks to the edges and upper corner, a light pressure line on the front cover that is hard to see and slight wave from improper storage in the past. Finger bend to back cover. A striking copy of a 60 year old pb.

The Land Of Terror by Edgar Rice Burroughs Ace 46998 Date unknown per isfdb probably 1973 $15 SOLD to mstrange Killer Croc cover art by Frank Frazetta. Later print of the "Tall" Ace edition. Fine Plus/Very Fine Minus. Unread with great color and gloss. Light rubbing to spine edge and some tiny color flecks. No creases

The Dream Is Deadly by Carter Brown Signet S1845 First Printing. October 1960 $20 SOLD to jimjum12 Incredible Good Girl with a skull cover art by Barye Phillips. The early Brown books are much tougher than the later ones. Phillips, "The King", as dubbed by his fellow artists, was the first Carter Brown artist in the late 1950's and is probably the only artist more prolific than McGinnis. It is estimated that he painted over 1000 covers but he passed away in 1969 so didn't have the longetivity of McGinnis. I consider him the Babe Ruth of GGA compared to McGinnis' Aaron, to use a baseball analogy. He didn't paint quite as many covers but they were compressed into a much shorter career. Fine/Fine Plus. Bright and glossy. Spine is solid and tight, has slight slant. Nice page quality. Price penned out, light gum remnant on cover and a light crease on back cover keeps this from higher grades but is a nice example with the awesome cover image presenting nicely.

There's more

It sure is. I think artist sets are even more impressive than author sets but, of course, they only had to paint a cover, not write a book! Robert McGinnis is still alive. I think he's 97. He's painted over 1200 pb covers per wiki, which i'll say is accurate per my experience. The vintage pb world is vast.

Just don't get started and you'll be ok

Brazen Seductress by Hank Janson. Gold Star IL7-13 $25 SOLD to mstrange I like the directness of this front cover title. Killer Robert Maguire cover art. I'm gonna call this Fine/Fine Plus - Better and more perfect overall than "Hell's Angel" but has a small piece of another book stuck on the back cover. Easy job for a pro removal, but I'm not touching it. Priced accordingly. A spectacular GGA cover.

Maybe the only thing better than Carter Brown books are the Robert Maguire Cover Hank Janson Books? Hell's Angels by Hank Janson. One of 3? I believe Maguire Covers for the Janson 60's series with Gold Star Gold Star IL7-16 $30 SOLD to goldust40 Fine Plus - a super square, glossy copy with light surface wear and bends. A top tier GGA cover.

A Murderer Among Us by Carter Brown Signet P4081 Third print Undated. Late 1960's $20 SOLD to jimjum12 Sexy, trippy, hippy good girl cover art by Robert McGinnis Very Fine Minus. Bright, glossy, square and solid. Great page quality. A light crease on back cover keeps this from full VF status.

The Hellcat by Carter Brown Signet D3533 Third print with the white background. Undated. Late 1960's $22 SOLD to crassus Killer GGA cover art by Robert McGinnis in high grade. Sweet copy of the later print with white background. Fine Plus/Very Fine Minus. Bright, glossy, square and solid. Great page quality. Light edge wear. Excelsior!

Ok, I'm going to take a break for now. If I have energy later I'll come back with some more of that GGA been called for around here

Take Wise choice, among others today I look high and wide for vintage pbs and that is a tough find and about as blue chip a horror pb as there is.

The Lurking Fear by H.P. Lovecraft Avon Books 136 1947 $90 SOLD to mstrange First PB of this story/collection. Cover art by A. R. Tilburne swiped from Virgil Finlay's cover for Weird Tales, 1939 A cornerstone H.P. Lovecraft vintage pb and a condition rarity. If you collect this stuff, you'll know this book is impossible to find with a smooth uncreased cover. Fine plus. Solid spine has slant but tight and solid. Covers are smooth and super glossy. The front cover is spectacular for this book with hairline creasing at the upper edge and a few tiny color breaks. Back cover has a couple light finger bends and a small bindery type chip at upper left corner. An amazing copy of a 76 year old black cover top tier vintage pb that is always beat. I should probably keep it but I have a very slightly better one and so willing to let this go.

West World by Michael Crichton Bantam Q8441 Movie Tie In Edition March 1974 $50 SOLD to mstrange Scarce movie tie in with the Yul Brynner cover and 32 pages of photos. This book has dried up in top condition. Very Fine minus. Bright white covers, unread. Has a narrow bend/fold at the bottom cover, tiny stains to top spine and slight wear to the corners and edges but a very fresh copy with great page quality and no writing inside.

1984 by George Orwell Signet S798 1st Paperback Edition with the famous Alan Harmon cover art. 14th Printing with the Black border and Movie Tie-in from May 1956. The Black movie tie-in printings are much rarer than the later secondary Red border printings. $50 SOLD to goldust40 Not much to say except it's one of the most famous covers in vintage Science Fiction and one of the most significant anti-totalitarian writings of the 20th century. If you don't have one, you need one and this is a very reasonable price/condition ratio. Very Good/Very Good plus. Square and tight. Covers glossy. A fair amount of spine edge wear to the front edge is the biggest wear point, along with a light upper right corner crease. Pages toned as usual but solid in the binding, which is notorious for splitting and falling apart.

The Lenient Beast by Fredric Brown Bantam 1712 1st PB 1st Print January 1958 $18 First PB of one of Brown's inventive crime stories, told from a different POV in each chapter. Topped with a Killer Mitchell Hooks cover. Fine Plus/Very Fine Minus. Another tough Black cover book. Unread or lightly read. Great color. Sharp spine and corners. Has a hairline crease at the spine edge, some edgewear and surface rubbing that you can only see in hand. Couple very light finger bends. Fading to the page edge dye. Loose card insert from the Detective Book Club is present and very scarce. When the inserts are glued in they are usually present but you rarely see the loose ones still in the book.

The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer Pyramid G579 1st PB 1st Print January 1961 $15 SOLD to mstrange Sweet copy of this 1st PB of Rohmer's greatest creation. Cover art by Mort Engle Fine Plus/Very Fine Minus. From the High Grade Collection. Unread. Great color and gloss. Sharp spine and corners. Has a long light finger bend on front and minor feathering on the back. Tough black cover book.

Since I kind of transitioned into some Dell Sci Fi, I think I'll keep the Sci Fi going for a bit more Line to Tomorrow by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner & C.L. Moore) Bantam 1251 1954 1st PB Collection $15 A great collection, including "A Gnome There Was" by the Weird Tales & Astounding authors with a wild Mitchell Hooks cover Fine/Fine Plus. Square spine, pages tight, bright colors, nice cover gloss. Light reader crease and edge wear. A very nice copy.

The Long Loud Silence by Wilson Tucker Dell 791 1954 $12 SOLD to goldust40 Noted Post-Apocalypse novel by the Hugo winning fan/writer. More early Richard Powers cover art. Fine plus. Very nice square binding, light readers creases front and back and light edgewear. A nice copy.

Beyond Infinity by Robert Spencer Carr Dell 781 1954 $10 Collection of Carr's Science Fiction novelettes. Early Richard Powers cover art. Carr was an interesting character. He had stories published in Weird Tales as early as 16 years old and was a Hollywood screen writer at 20. According to his son, he fabricated the story of the Alien Autopsy at Roswell. Fine. Solid square binding, spine wear, mostly at top spine edge, and light edgewear. Couple of color chips. Hair of a reader crease along spine edge.