AtlasT

As long as we're looking at Everett covers....

Lo and behold! I have an untrimmed World of Suspense 6, too. Enjoy!

Punyman: Here's an untrimmed cover for Strange Tales 60, along with a detail. I admire your taste. By the way, I admire those Heath covers as well.

Ah, well... you've got me there. There's no possible way of answering that question, except "Of course I do!" I was certainly hoping you wouldn't raise that point, but I can see you're more than a match for me! I was thinking in terms of books that started off as Atlas books, a la "Journey Into Mystery" and "Strange Tales," but, of course, you are correct!

Very good, VG+! The pre-hero Marvels are Strange Tales, Journey Into Mystery, Tales to Astonish, Tales of Suspense, and Amazing Adventures/Amazing Adult Fantasy, which evolved (devolved?) into titles featuring the Human Torch, Thor, Ant-Man, Iron Man and Spiderman. World of Fantasy 15 was dated Dec. 1958, and the final issue, 19, was dated August 1959. All 5 of these issues showed the same format, and contained art by the same artists, as the 4 contemporary pre-hero Marvel titles (Amazing Adventures 1 was dated June 1961).

Any Silver Age Marvel collector worth his salt can name the Pre-hero Marvels, which morphed into Marvel's Silver Age super-hero books...but...how many can name the title that survived beyond Jan. 1959, the month that Tales to Astonish and Tales of Suspense premiered, but folded before the super hero invasion? It began as a card-carrying (and globe-bearing) Atlas title, and is considered by many Atlas aficionados "the forgotten pre-hero Marvel."

Scrooge: Thanks for the info. I'm not sure I agree; the hand looks like Heath to me. The monster could be Everett, but the skulls on the wall behind it don't look like Everett to me. I suppose we're still guessing.

A pair of neat Uncanny Tales. No. 9 has the most uncanny signature on the front cover. Any guess as to who the artist could be? Issue 20 boasts what I believe to Robert Q. Sale's only Atlas horror cover, and it is a classic!

Hey Adamstrange! Glad you like the splash, and here's page 2. Who could that mysterious stranger be? "Pleased to meet you; hope you guess my name...."

Hey Povertyrow! I was actually responding to the question about whether I still consider the story a "Clasic Everett," even though Overstreet no longer lists it as such. I'm glad you like the cover with its Venus (who else could it be?) cover. For my money, Venus 13-19 are probably the neatest comic books PERIOD, with special emphasis on issues 16-19. I consider Everett's art in these 4 issues nonpareil. So fear not, I did not take your post as belittling in any sense.

Yeah, I still consider it a classic.

Here's one seldom offered for sale. It contains, as Overstreet formerly noted, a "Classic" Everett story.

Great Astonishing! Here's a book I've not seen without ink damage on the front cover, as if the books were assembled and stacked while the ink was still wet. Can anybody show a copy without such flaws?

Basil Wolverton's Atlas stories are in a class of their own.

...and 2 more.

Hey! I just got my new scanner working! Check it out!

I am really quite fond of Bill Everett PCH covers. His stories are not without appeal, either.

Adam, you're so right, but for the title of the book. By the way, that's a handsome copy!

I just posted a scan of Strange Tales 26 in the Pre-Hero Marvel thread (Silver Age section), and couldn't resist posting Strange Tales 28 in this thread. The cover is a masterpiece of pre-code horror by Harry Anderson, probably Atlas comics' best anonymous artist.

Thanks, rj. I've got the pre-code horror thread in my sights and will post scans there. Marvel never advertised their pre-heroes, to the best of my knowledge. I had a short correspondence with the office secretary(?) whose name, I believe, was Nancy Murphy, for several months in 1962 and '63. I bought maybe two dozen issues before they sold out. I'm pretty sure I got the GOOM and GOOGAM Tales of Suspense issues from her, but I vividly recall, and still own, the oldest book I purchased, Strange Tales 26. (My original copy is far more tattered than the copy shown below.) My brother and I were amazed by the totally alien appearance of the book and its stories; no hulking Kirby monsters clad in shorts, no Ditko surprise-ending stories, and that cover! I've often wondered if MMC sold all their back stock to Howard Rogofsky or somebody.

Nice JIM 1, Collectorsaurus, and a classic Heath cover! Another gem, Adam. Did you know that, back in the early 1960s, MMC was selling pre-heroes for 12c each through the mail? Around 1963, they increased the price to 20c @, and shortly thereafter, they were sold out.

I've been directed to this thread, and wonder if I might post some of my favorite Atlas covers, like this Everett masterpiece (IMHO)? This one is tough to find with unfaded red which, I presume, is due to the red ink being photo-reactive.

Thanks, Adam. I'll post some of my favorite Atlas covers (they're usually Everett or Heath) on that thread. In the early 1960s, I fell in love with a "Little Black Box" that I saw in a gift shop on the Boardwalk in Ocean City MD. It had a lever on the top; once the lever was pushed, the box rocked back and forth and whirred for 5 or 10 seconds. Then, ominously, the box stopped rocking, and a little green hand emerged from under a door on top, pushed the lever back to its original "Off" position, and snapped back inside, leaving the box again silent and still. When I saw this cover back then, I figured Stan Lee must have been inspired, as I was, by seeing this novelty. My parents found this toy in a Spencer's mail-order catalog, and I got it for Christmas that year (1962, I believe).

This is not the highest-grade copy of this book that I've ever seen, but it displays the brightest colors. What a magnificent Everett covert! If this doesn't belong in this thread because it's an Atlas, I will cease and desist posting such covers here.

Thanks for the warm welcome, Adam. I've been admiring your books for a while, and hope I can show you some that will be almost as impressive. Here's one of my all-time favorite covers, providing, as it does, a nice example of Ditko at his unrushed finest. By the way, your quick I.D. lf my avatar also impresses me. Now, can you tell me what book the li'l devil is reading (one of the reasons this is one of my favortite Everett stories)?