Rusty staples and sunken treasure! by Hibou

[Griff]

That's one Pretty #48 & one of the harder issues in grade ! grats mano !! Oh and thanks for the journal plug !

[Hibou]

No problem Griff! And there are only 3 graded copies on the Census. I own the lowest one ...

 

My 6.5 and then a 9.0 and a 9.6.

[Griff]

yup Walclark owns the 9.6. one day i'm gonna con him into selling it to me:)

[Hibou]

"My God," she said. She separated her hands and slapped them on her lap, then slowly brought them back together. "I couldn't go back out there — I was scared to death. Don't you know what they did to us?"

 

...

 

These were the words of the late Janice Winkleman.

 

What was it that she couldn't go back to and what was it that had frightened her so?

 

Again, back to a familiar and fascinating theme for me... it was the 50's and the congressional hearings on delinquency and comic books.

 

"I think Hitler was a beginner compared to the comic-book industry."

 

Those words uttered (written) by Dr. Frederic Wertham would certainly grab any headline and perhaps they did.

 

Reading about the hearings and Wertham's book, 'Seduction of the Innocent' is such an incredible journey into the heart of youth pop-culture during those times in the mid 50's.

 

By now, the story of Dr. Frederic Wertham should be common knowledge and I linked some videos earlier while talking about the Tales from the Crypt #40.

 

I'll link them again here:

 

 

 

Just recently a couple of different board members linked the actual audio from the Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency and Comic Books from 1954... I've listened to just over a half hour of the 2 hour recording and here again is that link...

 

http://nycma.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/detail/RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~26~26~1327586~134606:MUNI-MISC-1954-04-21-73027-2-LT3024?qvq=w4s:/what/Comicbooks,strips,etc.;q:comic;lc:RECORDSPHOTOUNITMAY~7~7,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~31~31,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~33~33,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~22~22,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~29~29,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~30~30,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~32~32,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~13~13,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~17~17,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~6~6,RECORDSPHOTOUNITMAY~8~8,RECORDSPHOTOUNITBRO~4~4,RECORDSPHOTOUNITBRK~1~1,RECORDSPHOTOUNITMAN~2~2,RECORDSPHOTOUNITQUE~1~1,RECORDSPHOTOUNITSTA~1~1,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~36~36,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~20~20,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~35~35,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~16~16,RECORDSPHOTOUNITMAY~1~1,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~5~5,RECORDSPHOTOUNITMAY~2~2,RECORDSPHOTOUNITMAY~6~6,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~15~15,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~24~24,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~9~9,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~19~19,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~21~21,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~34~34,RECORDSPHOTOUNITMAY~5~5,RECORDSPHOTOUNITMAY~9~9,RECORDSPHOTOUNITMAY~4~4,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~26~26,RECORDSPHOTOUNITMAY~3~3,RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~25~25&mi=0&trs=20

 

While listening to the recording, I remembered one point that Dr. Wertham made that actually gave me pause for a moment.

 

He stated (and I'm paraphrasing) that there was danger in advertising as the comic book companies were compiling newspaper strips into one format and contained ads that the newspaper editors would probably not include in their own papers. That point was one that perhaps gets overshadowed by his other arguments that many (myself included) believe to have been selective.

 

What I'm trying to illustrate here is not what the environment was across the country as that's been pretty much documented, rather what the environment was like for the artists whose livelihood was based on these 'horrible' comic books!

 

Can you step back for a moment and imagine what it must've been like (as the country is washed over by a tide of anti-comicbook sentiment) to be identified as one contributing to these controversial comic books...

 

Personally, I get lost in that scenario for many reasons relating to my interests, passions and personality.

 

And so this brings me back to Janice Winkleman.

 

 

She passed in December of 2013 at the age of 90.

 

The above quoted text at the top of this post was taken from the wonderful book:

 

The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu

 

 

Janice Winkleman was her married name.

 

She was Janice Valleau... born in New Jersey in 1923.

 

Again from the David Hajdu book on Janice Valleau Winkleman...

 

"She had been painting almost every day for nearly thirty years. Having shown artistic talent at an early age, she had taken some formal training in fine art and illustration, and, at age nineteen, she began working professionally, drawing for Quality Comics in Manhattan. Then, one evening eleven years later, she came home from work and never went back."

...

 

"At age eighty-one, Winkleman was a fragile woman, weakened by age and illness, though she still painted when she felt up to it, usually one or two days each week. "I like art — it's important to me," she said in a small but firm voice. Her eyes were bright behind grand, squarish glasses that covered most of her face. She sat straight-backed in a thin-cushioned metal chair that went with the desk in a half-room that also had her easel and taboret, a few boxes of art supplies, and a tea set. Her hands formed a teepee on her lap. She wore a pressed linen house dress and well-used tennis shoes, and she kept her legs crossed tightly with her calves angled back under the chair, as if to hide the shoes. Hanging in a frame on the wall to her right was the original pen-and-ink art to the first page of a Blackhawk comic-book story drawn by one of her old studio mates, Reed Crandall. In the days when they were working together, Winkleman had sneaked the page home in her portfolio, because she admired Crandall's dynamic compositions and sure line."

 

And this is what captures my spirit.

 

A peaceful soul driven from what she loved by a perceived 'belief' that caught fire...

 

So where am I going with this?

 

Janice Valleau...

 

"She’s probably best known to Golden Age fans for her work on Toni Gayle, a strip featuring a glamorous model-detective that appeared in Novelty’s Young King Cole comics, but she was a regular artist in 1940s Archie comics, drawing stories starring Betty & Veronica, Ginger and Gloomy Gus."

(Again, taken from the 'Ten-Cent Plague')

 

...

 

She was a very talented artist and when I saw this cover by her... a book that was sold here on the boards... I had to have it.

 

She signed her work as Janice S or Ginger.

 

I bought it raw as a VF and with the book in hand, I agreed with the grade but it came back a bit less... and what's funny is that in the slab, I agree with the assigned grade but when it was actually in my hands, I thought it had a nice chance at a higher grade.

 

Still...

 

This isn't about CGC or the grade of the book.

 

To me, this is about a wonderful artist who was scared out of something she loved to do by nothing more than politics and hysteria.

 

Were some of Wertham's arguements, founded?

 

I'm sure they were.

 

Maybe EC led the charge... maybe not.

 

But here is a terrific cover on a Charlton book, illustrated by Janice Valleau (Janice S.).

 

The comic book industry lost a very valuable talent when Janice walked away... never to return.

 

And it's a Jungle book, nonetheless...

 

My first!

 

 

 

Nyoka the Jungle Girl 21 by Charlton Comics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's so much to like about this cover, from the giant sea-turtle to the sunken ship... the colors, the draftsmanship of the female figure... however, it would've been great if Charlton didn't decide to take up valuable art space by their use of the huge circular ad device.

 

 

As for a scale, this one looks to be an 80.

 

 

 

[Hibou]

I can't believe I spelled Wertham's first name incorrectly twice in the above post. I have gone back and corrected it.

 

Anyways, I have an extra soft cover copy of the David Hajdu 'Ten-Cent Plague' book and if anyone would like it, I can send it to them free of charge... just shoot me a PM.

 

EDIT- The book has been claimed.

[Hibou]

EDIT- Book was sold in the 2014 summer sale.

 

 

This is going to be one of those long winded stories but what else is new...

 

 

 

So one of the things I never posted in here is what I do for work.

 

I've worn many hats and have been working continuously for the past 30 years at various types of jobs. From a newspaper route when I was 10 or 11 to banking... various sales and customer service, art gallery framing, veterinary assistant, computers... I volunteered as an art instructor in a prison for a year... that was interesting... but the hat that I've worn the longest is what I'm currently doing now.

 

I'm pretty much on the road for 55-60 hours a week.

 

I've been at my current place of employment for 10 years now and for 10 years prior to that, I was doing the same thing on and off for another business.

 

Of course I've altered this picture a bit with the logos, but this is what I do for a living and what I call my home away from home for 12+ hours a day... I do get back home every night so I do feel fortunate for that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some years ago, I was able to take my daughter with me for the day... it was on a Saturday and she really enjoyed that day.

 

This is a picture from back then and I'm thinking it was probably about 7 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

I really enjoy doing what I do, for the most part, but the industry seems to be constantly changing faster than I can acclimate myself to it. A lot of it is regulatory but it seems that's prevalent everywhere now. Maybe I'm just stubborn. Anyways, if there was one thing that I missed about the 'office environment' it was the constant access to a computer and the instant connectivity that's found with that. Many years ago, not having a laptop with me and with wireless internet access in it's infancy, I would have to stop at various truckstops through different states to use an internet kiosk to check eBay auctions I was bidding or selling on.

 

But so much has changed in these past years and now through smartphones, internet connectivity is no longer an issue for me. It's quite amazing...

 

So this is where the story turns back towards comics.

 

I was going to hold off talking about this next book (as it was just purchased within the past 2 weeks) but I was very excited to get it!

 

Last August, my friend Rob sent me a link to a book that he thought I would like. Needless to say, I loved the book and it was on the monthly auction at MyComicShop. I wanted the book but was outbid in the end by $30. I figured I could find a copy soon enough, but I didn't realize how difficult it would be to find just the right copy.

 

So, fast-forward to 2 weeks ago and I'm minding my business, driving down the road when I decided to stop for some coffee. I pulled into a truckstop and thought to check the boards here while I had a few minutes. When I pulled up the forum on my phone, I saw that I had a PM from Miraclemet. He had sent me a message letting me know about this cool book that was just listed for sale in the sales section. I clicked the link and there it was... the book that I wanted to get last August!

 

The price was right and the book looked beautiful to me.

 

I had been selling a few things to fund another book I have on my radar so I had a little bit in my PayPal account and figured I would make it up down the road. I couldn't thank Miraclemet enough for letting me know about the sales thread and this book I received from board member Heresy, hits all the right marks with me. Very brilliant colors, perfectly centered and nice PQ. There are certain books I tend to be more lenient on, but I knew this one had to have those qualities thereby making a nice bookend to my Tales from the Crypt 40.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the book I missed out on last year but I like the centering of the logo much better in this one I picked up from Heresy...

 

https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?ItemID=24298781

 

As for the cover, it's another great one by Jack Davis. I love the perspective in this one and the color scheme works so well for the image. I like the frog jumping across the leg of the standing figure and you really get a sense of being underwater as you look at the ripples of the water above!

 

This one is a 60 on my scale but it's such a powerful image as Jack Davis seems to easily create. Here is a very nice interview with him and Harvey Kurtzman conducted by Stan Lee...

 

 

 

 

 

 

So finally, after almost a year, I now have these two together!

 

 

 

 

[miraclemet]

Love seeing those two books together!

 

And Heresy's sales thread was just chock full of nice presenting, well centered copies of so many nice EC books! I didnt even mind violating my focus to grab a VOH35.

 

 

[Hibou]

It certainly was a great sales thread and I'm glad you picked up that VOH35... that's a very nice looking copy!

[Hibou]

Well I have another book to talk about but I'll have to put that off for a day or so... I've decided to go after this book that's driving me insane and so I'm working on a few eBay sales.

 

I did want to mention that the Ten-Cent Plague book has been claimed!

 

 

And I just have to post this...

 

Violin mixed with dubstep. Or is it technically drum and bass? I get confused... but anyway, I love the imagery of this video and she gets to find the sunken treasure!

 

One scene in here that has grabbed my imagination is where she finds (her younger self?) the girl underwater and when she takes her hand the cosmos seems to open up.

 

...

 

Interesting...

 

[Hibou]

The fish that got away.

 

And an insanely long story...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I guess it was fitting that this was the first story that I read this past Saturday morning after I woke up.

 

Apparently this lancetfish was found alive on a North Carolina beach...

 

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/oddnews/nightmarish-looking-deep-sea-fish-washes-up-on-nc-shore-211554405.html

 

...

 

So I wasn't sure how I was going to write this or if I even should.

 

I considered letting it all go and just moving on but I feel that I learned something through this experience and maybe it's given me something to build on.

 

Part of these entries revolve around some type of collecting evolution of mine as I go through various interests and decisions.

 

So it was on April 1st when I was made aware of this book through a PM by Miraclemet. When I saw the book, my jaw dropped and I immediately knew that I would have to do whatever I could to obtain this book... the only problem is that I would have to wait about 6 weeks as it was featured in this past weeks Heritage Auction. At the time, I thought that would actually work in my favor as it would give me ample time to gather the financial resources to get the book as well as research it. I was barely familiar with the title but I did know of the featured cover character... it was enough to work on for me.

 

The Heritage Auction featured a blurb about this book indicating that it was rare and that they had only seen one other copy, which was about 8 years ago.

 

Well that certainly intrigued me when I read it.

 

And so began my search.

 

What was this book?

 

It took me about a week to come with a dollar figure as to what I thought it would take to win it. The OSPG had it listed as roughly an $80 book and so I thought that if I went up to 5 times that... maybe 6... I should be able to acquire it. And maybe, that's where my first lesson here was taught!

 

The book that caught my imagination like no other was...

 

Prize Comics 18.

 

It was graded a CGC 2.5 and the only copy on the census.

 

Heritage mentioned that they found it to be extremely rare and mentioned that even a publisher was looking for a copy. And so, I went searching and it didn't take me long to find the original publishers request for this book.

 

That was found here...

 

http://lucaboschi.nova100.ilsole24ore.com/2013/04/20/sy-barry/

 

I did some searching here on the boards as well and even saw that same request forwarded by a member sometime late last year.

 

I started to wonder just how rare this book may be and so I went searching even more so. Now that I can take a step back... no other book has consumed me as much as this one did!

 

The first thing I did, was look up all the online copies that I could find.

 

And this is what I found...

 

There really weren't that many.

 

Heritage mentioned that they sold a copy of this book around 8 years ago and I went and found that one. It sold for just over $30 but here is what pushed my interest even further. The copy that sold was raw and in Fair condition... and it happened to be a Crippen copy.

 

I found that to be a little revealing and very interesting!

 

http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=16124&lotNo=16310#Photo

 

From there, I went searching all over the place online.

 

I searched Google images, MyComicShop, eBay and many other sites. I saw that the same image of this one particular book, was being used on all these websites, Where did that copy come from?!

 

To me, the image of the book that kept getting passed around looked like it could grade around a VG+ or rather a 4.5. The front cover image looked like it might've come from Comicbookplus.

 

http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=39820

 

I started to wonder if whoever uploaded this issue, actually had this copy and what kind of condition would it be in now? I started a thread in the Gold section asking about that and was interested to hear that sometimes books are bought in low grade specifically to be used to scan and upload and therefore the grade becomes almost irrelevant. But I also learned that sometimes front cover images are borrowed as well.

 

With some time, I also managed to find another listing of a copy of this book by a well known board member who also found this book to be very intriguing.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Prize-Comics-18-v2-16-SCARCE-1942-Hard-to-Find-NO-CGC-copies-/331029898126

 

...

 

And so, within a matter of weeks, this is what I had compiled...

 

 

 

 

HA (2006)

 

 

Crippen Copy

 

 

http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=16124&lotNo=16310#Photo

 

 

 

 

Sold by Filter81 last year...

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Prize-Comics-18-v2-16-SCARCE-1942-Hard-to-Find-NO-CGC-copies-/331029898126

 

 

 

 

With this information in hand, I started to think that maybe I was getting into some very unfamiliar territory as I do consider myself a novice when it comes to many GA books.

 

And so I looked a little further...

 

I thought that I should check the Gerber guide but there was one problem... I don't own the Photo-Journal. So I looked online to see if there were any other resources available to obtain some insight as to what this book would be ranked as. I found this site...

 

http://members.shaw.ca/dtreble/gerber7project/g7_titleissue.htm

 

I was surprised to see that only issues 17 and 20 of Prize Comics shows up with a Gerber rating of 7 plus.

 

This is a breakdown of the scarcity rating as established by Ernest and Mary Gerber:

 

1 - Very Common (new comics)

2 - Common (80's books)

3 - More Than Average (70's, some 60's)

4 - Average Scarcity (1,000-2,000 existing copies)

5 - Less Than Average (200-1,000 existing copies)

6 - Uncommon (50-200 existing copies)

7 - Scarce (21-50 known copies)

8 - Rare (11-20 known copies)

9 - Very Rare (6-10 known copies)

10 - Unique (less than 5 known copies)

11 - Nonexistent (but known to have been printed)

 

So if Prize Comics 18 wasn't rated as a 7 or higher... why couldn't I find anything through this endless searching?

 

Again, I do realize that my experience with GA books is very limited as I just didn't have the exposure to them from the time I first got into 'collecting' comics.

 

So I knew that I was quickly trying to play catch-up and educate myself as best as I could. I started a quick thread in the Gold section here on the boards, asking if the Gerber index is accurate. I got some interesting responses and I followed some links upon links relating back to older posts pertaining to the subject. By the time I went through all of that, I was still stumped.

 

I couldn't come right out and post a thread proclaiming "Hey, I want this Prize Comics 18 really, really badly but I need help". Another problem I had is that the book was quickly bid up to where I thought my maximum would be and I found myself getting into a bit of a bidding war. At one point I wondered if I was bidding against that publishing company working with Roy Thomas.

 

Once I was bidding far past what I thought was comfortable, I started another thread in the Gold section basically asking 'how much is too much for a book'.

 

In that thread I learned a lot more... there were dealers and collectors who had gone up to 10 times guide and then even higher! This was very eye opening to me because if this book were to be one of those cases then it's possible that this book could go off the charts. I was very discouraged but I decided that I would still go after it. I started some sales threads between here and eBay determined to secure enough to purchase the book. As I was getting very close, I started to have some doubts about just what I was doing.

 

All I had was 2 sales to go by for this book:

 

A Fair copy 8 years ago for $31...

 

A Poor copy from last year for $57...

 

I started to think, "What if there are more copies out there?"

 

"What if once I pay top dollar for this 2.5 copy... I find a nice VG copy or better?"

 

It was quickly coming down to the 11th hour and so I felt that I needed some help. I asked Miraclemet for his opinion and he was gracious enough to tell me what the book was rated in the Gerber guide.

 

It was listed as a 5.

 

And based on the scale, that would indicate that there could be anywhere from 200-1000 existing copies. I told him that I was thinking of walking away from this book as I was just having a lot of second thoughts.

 

He thought it very interesting that the Crippen copy was so bad but thought that walking away might be the right thing to do if I was apprehensive about the sale.

 

It was after this discussion that something hit me once again.

 

The Crippen copy.

 

Once again, I failed to noticed similarities in books right away as had happened with my Captain America Comics 26.

 

The image that was being used on all of these websites WAS the Crippen Copy.

 

It had been cropped!

 

And so now I felt stuck again...

 

After all this time and searching, there were actually only 3 different images that I could find. The Crippen copy, the one that Adam (Filter81) sold last year and now this CGC 2.5. At this point I started to believe that maybe this book was indeed a true rarity.

 

I decided to ask one more board member for assistance and I decided to turn to someone who I felt knew a great deal more than I and had dealt with a wide assortment of GA books.

 

I sent a PM to Cheetah, asking for his opinion and he offered up a couple good points that I hadn't considered. He thought that the market was very different today than it was 8 years ago when the Crippen copy sold. Today, it seems to be a more cover-centric market and I could certainly attest to that! He also brought up another point that really grabbed my attention.

 

I could bid up the book... but what if I lost out? I would be effectively making the next one more expensive. I realized that this sale would be setting some sort of floor with GPA but maybe not if more become available.

 

If there are more out there...

 

...

 

I decided to walk away.

 

It was a painful decision to watch the internet portion of the auction end but I decided I would watch the live part as well. I thought that if something should happen at the last minute to persuade me to bid one last time on the book... I would do just that.

 

I was very unfamiliar with the live bidding aspect of Heritage Auctions.

 

I watched the book come up in the live feed and thought about it again... if I put in a bid, it would put the book at roughly 9 times guide.

 

I guess I thought about it too long because the book passed and when I went back, I saw that it had sold for where the internet portion last had it.

 

$657.00... roughly 8 times guide.

 

http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=7093&lotNo=93294

 

I do sincerely congratulate the new owner of this book! I've thought about it for weeks and it's just a great book to me.

 

The Frankenstein story is very cool as is the Black Owl and Doctor Frost stories. (Thank goodness for comic book uploaders!)

 

So although I missed out on this (possibly very rare) book, I feel like maybe I grew a little as a collector.

 

 

 

Now on to the next book.

 

 

[Hibou]

I just wanted to add or correct an item from the above post referring to Roy Thomas' search for Prize Comics 18...

 

Yes, I've still been looking into this book and will be for quite a while I'd imagine. Like I posted above, it just seems to have captured my imagination for many reasons. So anyways, here is an early request from Tony Isabella's blog:

 

http://tonyisabella.blogspot.com/2013/04/help-roy-thomas-needs-frankenstein.html

 

In September of 2013, PS Artbooks published Volume 3 of Roy Thomas presents Frankenstein. On their website you'll find this little disclaimer:

 

http://psartbooks.com/catalog/frankenstein-comics-tabbed.html#tab3

 

(Go to tab 3 on that page for Volumes 1 and 2)

 

"Frankenstein - Volumes 1 & 2

 

WE NEED YOUR HELP IN COMPLETING THESE VOLUMES...

 

It turns out that some of the early issues of D ick Briefer's wonderful creation are harder to find than a perfectly square piece of sand on your local beach. And then some. In addition to our resident Skip Tracer, Roy 'Bring 'em back alive Thomas, we've had lots of fantastic helpers looking for issues of Prize Comics containing the start of the Briefer run but, so far, with only limited success. So we figured, instead of holding up the proceedings, we'd start out with volume 3 which contains issues 1 through 5 of the actual Frankenstein book. The earlier yarns for Volumes 1 and 2 will come along as soon as we get our greasy mitts on 'em. If you know of the whereabouts of any copies of Prize containing Frankie then drop us a line at info@psartbooks.com. If the info leads to a success then, hey . . . you'll get a mention in dispatches and a copy of the finished book."

 

...

 

 

PS Artbooks are a Golden Age collectors dream for collected volumes of these once loved but scrutinized books...

 

http://www.play.com/stores/PSARTBOOKS/

 

Hopefully they finally got their book!

 

[Hibou]

This next book was the second one given to me by Miraclemet as a Secret Santa (the first being Don Winslow of the Navy 48) and would be the first Crimebuster book that I've read and owned... since getting this one, I've acquired two more.

 

I guessed right at what I thought the grade would come back as... overall, it's a pretty solid book. I took some interior pictures but can't seem to locate them, so below, I used comicbookplus once again.

 

The cover features a really nice Charles Biro illustration with Iron Jaw in a generic diving bell / sphere and Crimebuster pinching off the oxygen line. A nice composition with many elements to keep your eyes moving throughout, this one turns out to be 80 points on my scale.

 

 

...

 

 

 

 

 

I really enjoyed the cover story... "Iron Jaw's Treasure Hunt" and this one in particular has a great splash page!

 

(Image cropped from here: http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=14963 )

 

 

 

 

 

The interior was done by Hi (Hiram) Mankin and it looks like he used the Beebe / Barton Bathysphere as his inspiration as did Jerry Robinson in the classic Detective Comics 70!

 

(1934 Bathysphere)

 

 

 

I found a little more detailed information here:

 

https://sites.google.com/site/cwilliambeebe/Home/bathysphere

 

 

Anyways, the story is quite good and the panels showing Iron Jaw's descent in the Bathysphere are very well detailed...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The full story can be read here: http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=14963

 

[vaillant]

That is very nice! Never saw that issue before.

What’s the "secret Santa", BTW?

 

My entrance in the Golden Age happened thanks to Biro's Daredevil, I have just a pair of Boy Comics, among which this one which is one of the most offbeat early stories:

 

 

I am still on the lookout for this one, I would need a nice front cover as I want to scan it, so if it happens you see one around, give me a whistle…

I am trying to remember some underwater themed cover/stories for you but hard to recall…

 

[vaillant]

BTW, I suppose you are already familiar with Maureen Marine from Blue Circle Comis – I have her stories (especially the origin story) on my wantlist as well, but in no hurry whatsoever:

 

[Hibou]

What’s the "secret Santa", BTW?

 

It takes place around the holidays in December (Comics General) and is a wonderful way to share the spirit of giving and encourages camaraderie!

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7333782&fpart=1

 

That Boy Comics 9 is such a great cover... best of luck in your search for a Boy Comics 13 and should I come across one, I'll certainly keep you in mind!

 

I have to admit, I do not know about Maureen Marine but that splash page you posted is fantastic! Thank you for pointing that one out, Vaillant!

 

 

 

 

[Hibou]

I just wanted to point out that on the cover of Boy Comics (Illustories) 78, Charles Biro depicts Crimebuster pinching off an oxygen line as he thinks to himself...

 

"Any other human would be unconscious by now!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

The oxygen tube is generally correct for diving bells, but the Bathysphere had oxygen within the unit itself and the 'tube' actually contained telephone and electrical lines.

 

 

 

[vaillant]

Thanks!

 

Maureen Marine is a truly original serial: it starts as Maureen’s father is killed by nazist soldiers while on a boat, she goes underwater and gets unconcious, but she is rescued by King Neptune (if I recall correctly) and becomes the princess of the underwater realm. Something you should surely dig, even if it’s not on the covers…

 

I’d love to have the first episode, which is directly related to the war event, but then suggest the young readers there are wonders which can have their vindication on the war.

[miraclemet]

So glad the book came back unrestored, and as expected!

 

That Biro cover is so much fun, as most of his covers are.

 

 

[Hibou]

EDIT- Book was sold in the 2014 summer sale.

 

 

Old Time Radio was something that I've enjoyed on and off for some years. Mostly I would listen to the gothic / horror stuff like The Weird Circle and enjoyed all of the Edgar Allen Poe material.

 

I love the introduction to this 1940's radio show and it had a few variations. I found this on YouTube where someone did a short animation of the show's intro...

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways, what I never realized until recently was how some of these shows either came from comics (like Superman of course in The Adventures of Superman) or went the other route and comics were created from the popular radio shows.

 

While reading through a boardies wonderful thread in the Gold section, Marty Mann wrote of some memories of listening to some of these as a youngster. Marty's thread of his own "original owner" GA collection can be found here and it truly is a fascinating glimpse into the world of comics through the 40's and 50's!

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=5715473#Post5715473

 

Shortly after going through that thread, I believe I read another board member's comment that he was thinking of starting a collecting theme of old time radio comics. If that is what I read, that would be a really cool focus as the range would be rather receptive to that.

 

Anyways, I guess I hadn't really realized or paid attention that I had a couple of old time radio books in my collection already and had another on my 'to get' list.

 

This next book I happened to find at a local flea market here back in January. It was a beat up reader copy but I loved the cover and it was a title that I never came across before... mostly because I never had an attraction to the genre. The story was pretty good but it was really the cover that I liked and so I sought out a nice copy that I could put into my collection. I found one that had nice eye appeal and was inexpensive at MyComicShop. They had it graded as a Fine- or 5.5. When I got the book in hand, it actually looked a bit nicer and as it turned out, CGC graded it a full point higher than it was purchased at which I thought was a pleasant surprise.

 

John Prentice may be mostly known for his work on Rip Kirby following Alex Raymond's death in 1956 as he worked on the strip for over 40 years, but he also happened to do the cover for this book that I became instantly attracted to.

 

Everything comes together nicely on this book, from the bright yellow picture frame to the circular inset of the Sergeant operating the radio and then of course the beautifully illustrated underwater scene!

 

This one ranks as a 70 on my scale...

 

 

 

 

Gang Busters ran as a radio show from 1935 (as G-Men / 1936 as Gang Busters) until 1957. Here is an episode of the radio series.

 

The dramatic introduction is certainly worth listening to...

 

 

 

 

In 1942, the radio series was made into a serial movie...

 

 

 

 

And then in 1947 DC Comics introduced the title as it's first attempt to get into the crime comics genre.

 

 

The TV series began in 1952...

 

 

 

 

 

The following images were taken from this site ( http://www.otrcat.com/gang-busters-p-1305.html ) where you can read more about the Gang Busters radio show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Marty Mann]

Thank you for your very kind remarks.

Here is a look at an "exciting announcement".

 

 

mm