Gallery 27: Rocky Mountains and gouache

[BradleyX2]

A new newsletter for the month of June sees a new column about the CGC DigiGallery by our own head of QC Michael McFadden! Here's what he has to say about some recently graded books

 

 

Greetings from under the warm, summer Florida sun, my fellow comic-book-collecting meat armatures. Michael McFadden here with another peculiar perusal of the latest passes to our peerless CGC DigiGallery. When I was imported from the fine fannish town of St. Louis for this gig, my new boss voiced his concern that I could well burn out on comics from looking at thousands of them every week. After all, I see more books than anyone else at CGC. Banana oil, you punk, said I as my first official communication at CGC. Boys and girls, if anything, I am more stoked on comic collecting and comic book fandom today than ever before. The diversity and the depth, the strength and the resilience of our shared and expanding hobby never ceases to amaze me. And while the DigiGallery is obviously good PR for CGC, it is also a labor of love for my pal and esteemed colleague Gemma Adel and myself. I write these columns every month on my own time. Why? It’s simple: I dig comic books and comic book fans. My wish for you is that you enjoy this hobby as much as I do, for as many years as I have!

 

More stunning Rocky Mountain books came in this month, the newest collection recognized by CGC. Hawkman #3 at 9.4 is a pretty elite book. Only two 9.6 copies have certified higher than this copy of the Murphy Anderson illustrated Molting Marauder. DC’s Brave and the Bold began as a historical adventure book, became a showcase-like tryout book with issue #23, an innovative team-up book with #50 before morphing into a Batman title in 1966 and ‘67. A nice Rocky Mountain run we added begins with #65 (Flash and Doom Patrol, 9.8), which as I recollect is the late Giordano’s first art at DC, an assignment he completed shortly before becoming Charlton’s editor-in-chief. The rest are all Batman team-ups, including #69 (Green Lantern, 9.8), #71 (Green Arrow, 9.8), #75 (Spectre, 9.6) and #76. (DC is still trying to find a Silver Age audience for Plastic Man, 9.6.) DC’s newest superstar discovery, Neal Adams, had been petitioning Carmine Infantino for a shot at drawing Batman since joining the firm, and his Brave and the Bold stint issues, #79 through #86 and #93, are generally acclaimed as classics. The Rocky Mountain copies of #80 (Creeper) and #81 (Flash) both notched 9.6. Rounding out the run are copies of 100-page spectacular Brave and the Bold #s 114 and 116 in 9.6 and a jaw-dropping 9.8 on a Brave and the Bold #113. As longtime St. Louis fan Steve Houska, a fellow who used to pluck ‘em from a drug-store rack, told me the other night, “I didn’t think World Color Press could even manufacture one of those 100-page books in 9.8 in 1974, much less that one still exists thirty-five years later. Cool!” I can’t really add to that glowing assessment, except to say a scan just doesn’t compare to seeing the near perfection of the actual copy!

 

 

 

 

Edgar Church’s copy of Spy Smasher #9 earned a 9.6, highlighted by a World War II propaganda cover of the Fawcett hero serving up some bare-knuckle bombast to Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo. Adolph is gonna need his Third Reich dental insurance after this one. Spy Smasher was then popular enough to be one of the first comic book characters to rate his own live-action screen portrayal. On Church’s 9.6 Blue Bolt v4 #1, cover-featured Cole, no Spy Smasher he, can only dream about giving the Axis its just rewards. Eventual Superman mainstay Al Plastino drew that one. And the Mile High Spitfire Comics #133, the second and final issue, earned 9.8 with its war cover. We don’t see a lot of Golden Age Nova Scotia copies, and really, there are only seventy or so of them. But the collection’s More Fun Comics #76 (Dr. Fate) certification of 9.4 is exceeded by only one other copy at 9.6.

 

 

 

 

Among Gaines File Copies, what was to be the first issue of a fourth horror title and wound up as their last published horror book, Tales From the Crypt #46 ties for the top at 9.4. Weird Science #11 was 9.6, followed by a #22 at 9.4. Also tied for highest certified honors is Whiz #150, from the File Copy collection of Fawcett editor Wendell Crowley. That one, cover featuring the fondly remembered Captain Marvel every month, got a 9.4. From 1960, we have a couple of those Dell Giants, both 9.8, both Disney with those wonderfully painted covers. I suspect the medium the cover artists used was gouache, which, for you who aren’t art-materials geeks, is best described as an opaque watercolor. I’ve held off putting a lot of these on the DigiGallery until I could catch up writing thorough art and key comments on them. These two are notable because each cover is from a Carl Barks layout. With a cover photo of Van Williams and Bruce Lee taken from the 20th Century Fox television show, the 9.6 Boston Copy of Gold Key’s Green Hornet #3 is one of an upsurge in Hornet submissions we’ve seen in anticipation of the movie due this Christmas. Also from Boston, the 9.8 Captain America #111 is stunning in grade, cover art and interior art. There were a lot of exciting things that happened in comics in the late ’60s; we’ve mentioned Neal Adams earlier, whose well-deserved buzz was no less than Jim Steranko’s, an artist/writer who did a classic three-issue stand on Cap.

 

 

 

 

We had some other Golden Age entries too, including several more issues of Shadow Comics, like v8 #4. And who amongst you groovy hipsters and chicks doesn’t find arcane cultural slang all reet? Hear what I’m puttin’ down? You gotta be hip to the jive to dig the cover gag on an Archie Comics #48 from 1951. Pin this crazy 8.5 copy, hepcats. It’s on our outta-sight site now! Seldom seen New Adventure Comics #23 is bested by only one other copy at 6.0, and Adventure Comics #56 was 7.5. A 7.5 Action Comics #15, the fifth Superman cover, ties for highest certified, while a 9.4 #109 is the number-two copy. Star Spangled Comics #2 was 8.5. Another exquisite Carl Buettner cover highlights Carl Bark’s story and art on “The Terror of the River,” a Donald Duck appearance in Four Color #108, which earned a 9.4 grade. A Sub-Mariner #11 hit 8.5, as did Detective Comics #55. #57 got a 9.0, equaled by the last issue of Human Torch from Atlas in 1954. Torch’s next appearance would be as the junior member of the Fantastic Four in November of 1961.

 

 

 

 

When discussing the Silver Age, you don’t hear much about All-Star Western, which continued its numbering from the classic All Star Comics beginning with #58. Julie Schwartz continued to edit this title until its demise in 1961, regularly featuring art and writing by John Broome, Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino and Gil Kane. A 1959 copy of #104 certified at 9.2. Amazing Spider-Man #42 and #62 were 9.8. So was Superboy #128, #138, Flash #158, Green Lantern #41 and Justice League of America #60 with, I think, the first Batgirl crossover. Great book for that Yvonne Craig SigSeries submission, right? Fantastic Four #62 tied for highest graded at 9.8…that’s a tie shared by 21 other books, fen. And a bit more exclusive tie for top spot was accomplished by a 9.4 copy of Batman #120.

 

 

 

 

 

We have been inundated with SigSeries submissions at our Secret World Headquarters. Must be summer, huh? Two months ago we had a New Mutants #98 hit 9.9 for only the second time. This month we have a third, and it is signed by the book’s artist/co-writer. An absolutely gorgeous 10.0 Batman: The Cult #1 is signed by both artist Bernie Wrightson and writer Jim Starlin. I hope they both practiced their penmanship before inscribing this gem! Marvels Project #1 seems to be the most popular blank cover of late for sketches. Gene Ha does a nifty tonal marker rendering of the Punisher, signed in a distinctive and clever manner on a 9.8 copy. I don’t recall what Stuart Sayger draws, but if his Wendigo on a 9.6 copy and an illo that we’ll post next month are any indication of the quality of his work, I’d better find out quick. It’s dynamic.

 

 

 

 

We don’t see many copies of Wally Wood’s Witzend around the office, and that’s a shame. Was it a fanzine? A prozine? An alternative comic? An underground might be a stretch. Fortunately, our magazine guru, Dangerous Dave Couillou, doesn’t have to define it…he just has to finalize it, in the case of #3, a robust 9.6. Whatever it was, it was stellar. Wood published and edited the first four issues, which gave some powerhouse contributors a chance to do something outside of the corporate comic book world. In 1966, that was a radical concept. Witzend #3 has a Wally Wood cover, one not apt to front an issue of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and a story as well; it included the first appearance of Ayn Rand’s philosophical adherent Mr. A by Steve Ditko (who later, with a change of name, became the Question, Alan Moore’s Rorschach inspiration); an unpublished, rewritten Frank Frazetta EC science fiction story; short works by Will Eisner and Art Spiegelman; and a back cover by Al Williamson. All in stunning black-and-white photo-offset, by mail only, for a buck!

 

 

 

 

Some cool pop-culture curiosities surfaced in the office. Today, the name of Bob Hope doesn’t have the cachet it once did. He, John Wayne and Frank Sinatra were for decades perhaps the most famous American entertainers in the world. Groundbreaking and innovative in his day, fifty years after his apex, his influence on stand-up comedy is still felt every weeknight when David Letterman or Jay Leno take the stage. And how many great stand-up comics also had successful movie careers? Bob Hope, Richard Pryor and Woody Allen would comprise most of that list…and Woody (who guested with the Maniaks for one issue of Showcase) and Richard (who once tried to emulate the Human Torch) never headlined their own comic book for 109 issues. Adventures of Bob Hope #3 is one of the few photo covers in the run, this 9.2 copy from when DC was trying to sign popular film stars to buttress its image of respectability in an era when the comic book industry was buckling under vigorous attack from the political right.

 

 

 

 

 

While Mickey Mouse in Pigmy Land #1 may be the first Mickey Mouse bondage cover, (which, thank goodness, we didn’t note on our label!), it was so adorable I had to have it added to our gallery for its rarity. That one earned a 9.4. For you Christmas-in-June folks, here’s a terrific pop culture submission: The very first appearance of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer anywhere…even pre-dating the perennial Christmas-favorite song. The song, incidentally, was popularized by Gene Autry, who headlined well over a hundred Dell comics himself. This unnumbered 32-page booklet was a free promotional for the Montgomery Ward department stores in 1939. Robert L. May, an employee of the retailer, created Rudolph and wrote the book, and it was given to Denver Gillian to illustrate. Almost 2.5 million copies were produced, and today not even his very shiny nose can help you find one easily. This one is a 6.0. You may recall that DC, beginning in the ’50s, published a Rudolph comic every Christmas for thirteen consecutive years, culminating in what is arguably the publisher’s most obscure annual in 1962. I’m still looking for that one myself!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, we had a copy of More Fun Comics #101 come across our desks, the origin and first appearance of Superboy and the last appearance of the Spectre until 1966. On the surface, it’s a 9.2, which makes it the second highest certified copy ever, beat only by a lone 9.4 copy. But its second cover — this treasure is a double cover — is the highest graded we’ve ever seen, at 9.6. Wow! This copy is today both the number-one and number-three copy ever certified. Many are the bags of loot it’ll take to land this one. I predict this’ll wind up in the collection of either Richie Rich or Scrooge McDuck. CGC primary grader, Mark Haspel, was so excited that we had to take off his shirt and sponge him down with cold water before he could compose himself for the next book. Gee, that sure wasn’t in my job description when I signed on here, but I’m a fan — I understand! All in a day’s work at CGC!

 

 

 

 

 

Comments and questions regarding the gallery? We’re fans, too. We enjoy hearing from you, unless we don’t. You can contact me at mmcfadden@CGCcomics.com. Thank you for your time, and do remember — do you want a success-winning voice? Give the Fuechtinger Voice-Method a chance to help you develop more POWER, VIGOR and CHARACTER in your voice! Self-training lessons, mostly silent. Mail this coupon today! Be good to yourself and be CGC-ing you!

 

[benz]

great books and great write up. now i want to get myself a rocky mountain ped book.

[DrWatson]

Ha! Mine! Yes!

 

[G.A.tor]

Ha! Mine! Yes!

 

[swapto]

nice new adventure #23!

 

and great post brad. thanks for keeping us informed of some great books getting graded (thumbs u

 

B.

[the420kid]

cool article thanks

[ghengishahn]

 

I swear this issue is impossible to find with white pages in a 9.6.

[joeypost]

Ha! Mine! Yes!

 

 

Saygers work is sick. I keep looking for examples of characters for him to do. Not to steal any of Doc's thunder, but this is his rendition of Werewolf By Night he did for me at C2E2.

 

[DrWatson]

Not to steal any of Doc's thunder, but...

[supapimp]

that NM 98 CGC SS, i want for $400.

[namisgr]

 

I swear this issue is impossible to find with white pages in a 9.6.

 

Pineapple pedigree copy purchased off the boards from Comixcroz, who in turn bought it from Blue808