*paull*

As too many of you know, I've been looking for a copy of Weird Mysteries #5 for months now, with no luck. As a result of my searching, which consisted of calling a dozen dealers in the Overstreet book, watching websites of my preferred dealers, putting the book on my want list with a few of them, watching ComicLink, watching eBay, going to numerous shows including the Philadelphia Wizard show, local Philly shows and a Big Apple show, this is what I located: 2.0 copy with major chunks missing from the cover 3.0 (apparent) copy with glue on the cover, possible color touch, and amateur piece replacement on back cover 4.0 (apparent) copy with tear seal and possible color touch None of these were possibilities for me. I could have dealt with major chunks missing out of the back cover, but not the front, and I don't buy books with any kind of restoration, and the latter two books were from a very disreputable dealer. Heritage has never sold a copy, and I've never seen one on ComicLink or eBay (at least in the past six months). My pals here at the Boards, Aces and Shrunkenhead, pointed me to Metro which just received a copy. The book was on my want list with Metro, but they didn't notify me for some reason. Dealers have told me that the book, if they had one, would sell for 3x guide. I paid about that with Metro. It sounds like crazy money, but it's a book that I absolutely had to have for my collection and I was turning up nothing over a long period of time. The more I wait, the more I would have to pay. My prediction is that this book is going to catch up in guide, and regardless, will probably be an $800-$1000 book in VG within a couple of years. I just received the copy today and I'm quite pleased... It's exactly what I was hoping to find... an unrestored copy with a good cover image and no chunks missing. There's a bit of scuffing on the outer edges, but nothing that mars the cover image. No tears, but a light reading crease at the bottom middle of the cover. Cover is attached at both staples, with one of them not so solidly. I'm going to have to be careful opening it. Consider me thrilled to have this book... I've been waiting a while... It makes a beautiful companion to my Weird Mysteries 2 in 3.5 and my Weird Mysteries 6 in 3.5. As far as I'm concerned, this book has one of the classic covers of the pre-code era, and is one of, if not the premier, iconic horror covers. The cover is not the only selling point of the book... one of the interior stories, "Swamp Monster" by Wolverton is simply amazing. The rest of the stories are of high caliber as well.

Nice Voodoo #1 ! I really like the Farrell books, and Voodoo in particular. Are the stories all horror-related or is some sci-fi mixed in?

Thanks for the info, POV... I haven't been following those books, so I'm not sure what they sell for. Although, I consider all Mister Mystery issues to be underpriced in guide. Agreed on Beware Terror Tales #1... I love that Baily cover! He created some great covers with montages of ghostly images.

I think there's a difference between "undervalued in guide" and "underappreciated by fandom". I would consider the Menace issue, Mister Mystery 13 and Beware Terror Tales #8 in the latter category. The question is, are these books selling for way over guide now? We may believe that they _should_ be more appreciated than they are, but that's different than the guide not recognizing regular sales of the books for premium prices.

I'm convinced that out of all the artists in the pre-code era, Bernard Baily had a love for that kind of material. Compare his work on the Spectre to his horror stuff... the former is cool, but the latter is classic. His covers are gruesome... there's a special kind of nastiness that he included in the majority of them... from the ghastly heads on Weird Mysteries #2 to the disgusting severed head on Weird Mysteries #6 to the red hot poker of Mistery Mystery #12.

Good choice, SH! That Beware Terror Tales #8 cover is great! I hadn't really noticed that one before.

I mentioned this on another thread, but Weird Mysteries #5 is ridiculously undervalued in guide. What is most likely the most recognizable non-EC pre-code horror cover easily sells for 3x guide. How could the guide so badly miss the value of this book? I saw two of these with amateur restoration going for 2x-3x guide. I would say that almost all the Weird Mysteries issues are undervalued in guide. P.S. : this is not my copy... found this one on the web....

Any pre-code horror book... although my main gripes with the guide are key books that should be obvious to the advisors. I agree with the Comic Media books. Horrific, as an example, is very hard to find in high grade. The prices in guide are simply laughable! Horrific #3 is probably a 3x guide book. Who has seen a Horrific #2? Horrific #1 in VG for $100? HAHAHA! The later issues also are really tough in high grade. I find them regularly in VG but don't recall seeing anything better.

How about what you consider to be the most underpriced pre-code horror book in the current OS guide? I've mentioned some in this thread, but I'm curious to hear what you guys think. I have a few of them.

Thanks for posting all the great scans! I love the Toth cover above... great stuff! Here's a book I posted on a GA thread. I've been looking for a nice copy of this one for a while and found it... a Master Comics #27 with classic Raboy cover from the "Lost Valley" pedigree (brand new CGC approved pedigree). Book has not been CGC graded, but it would probably grade at between a 7.5 and 8.0. Has a reading crease on the cover (not visible in scan), but other than that, it's in great shape. This book is too nice in comparison to the bunch of VG pre-code horror books I have!

I agree about the cover image.... I really like it a lot... it's got to be one of my favorite pre-code covers. There are a number of books that have a macabre "dance of death" theme... I can't remember issue numbers off the top of my head, but I know there are a couple Farrell books that used this theme on the cover, one of them with a witch prompting male and female marionettes to dance... "Move my puppets, this is the dance of death, you know!" or something like that. I normally don't buy books with interior defects, but this one is so seldom seen, and the price was right. I believe I paid $80 for it.

And this is the one that looks like Iger....

And another...

Funny you should ask! Here's some interior shots... The text on the third page "Aye my brothers, he will come! But soon I know our waiting is to be ended!" sounds a lot like the Iger Studio Farrell cover voices used by skeletons and zombies.

Here's another recent pre-code purchase: Horrific #1 (Comic Media) in approximately 3.0 condition. Cover is glossy and flat, a couple of small tears on the cover and a couple of interior tears. Otherwise in nice shape. I find this to be a scarce book. Gerber lists this as a 5 in scarcity I believe, and I can't comment on how many copies are out there, but I can definitely say that this book is seen much less frequently than #4 and up, and some of those are given 6 scarcity by Gerber. #1-3 are really tough. We all know about Horrific #3, but have you ever seen a Horrific #2? I don't believe I've seen one for sale since I've been collecting pre-code books.

I would guess that it's difficult to find 8.0 Atlas books even though they are much more plentiful than other titles from the same time period. Most of the ones that I see are typical pre-code books: 2.0 - 5.0. I'm not attempting to complete any pre-code horror runs... it's difficult enough finding certain issues of titles that I like let alone having them in sequence!

That's a sharp Spellbound.... Are you attempting to do complete Atlas runs?

I wouldn't say it's grey-tone, but it is realistic and a bit dark... a bit in the Alex Raymond mold (Raboy's idol, according to Steranko's "History"). I'm not a Golden Age superhero collector but I've seen a ton of reprints. That might have been the best Golden Age interior artwork that I've ever seen.

Me either... this is my first Fawcett. I was really moved by Raboy's artwork and wanted what I considered to be his best cover. Man alive, was I surprised at how good the interior work is. I usually expect interior art to be of less quality than the cover. Not in the case of Raboy... now I'm wondering if I can resist buying other issues in the 20s and 30s so I can enjoy more of it.

Thank you... I am super happy with this purchase because not only is it one of my favorite all-time covers, but the interior artwork by Raboy is stunning. It's even better than I expected. Hopefully I can resist buying more of these in the short term... my wallet can't take it. You're right about the deep reds and the shadows. For some reason, this cover really resonates with me. If I were to make a list of the greatest covers ever, this would have to be in my top 5. Have these Master Comics stories by Raboy ever been reprinted in a quality format? These are classics...

I'm with you on Atlas... There are just too many books. I'm sure that the stories are fine based on the quality artists that worked for them, but I can't say that I'm a fan of the Atlas cover designs. I prefer one large cover image instead of the tiered approached that Atlas used for most of their books.

Same here... I like the cover on Spook 30, but there are just too many other LB Cole books that I would prefer to have at this point.

Thanks, guys... Hey 143, that's a great, action-packed gorilla cover!

Here's a recent purchase of mine... the Lost Valley copy of Master Comics #27. I've been looking for a copy of this book and just had to have this one. It is tight, sharp, and bright with beautiful pages. The back cover looks just as good as the front. There is a cover reading crease that runs down about 1/3 of the middle of the book. It only slightly breaks color in two very small spots. I think this book would probably grade at about 7.5 and maybe 8.0 if the cover crease wasn't viewed as being so significant. It's stunning to see a Mac Raboy cover in this condition... he was the master and his work deserves to look this good. The interior Raboy artwork is just ridiculously good! I hope that it's only his lack of longevity that keeps him from the ranks of Kirby and Eisner. Even Frazetta gets more credit than Raboy does. Hopefully this will change with time.

The werewolf one is one of my favorites in the run.... I like the blood dripping from his teeth.... great stuff!