Comics, Pulps, and Paperbacks: Why such a discrepancy in values? 25 25

[Book Guy]

On 5/30/2022 at 6:34 AM, Blorgon scum said:

This is the start of my collection of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series edited by Lin Carter.  This series was instrumental in allowing me to discover other fantasy authors.

I may have posted the below photos before. I don't remember. I quite like the look of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, especially the Gervasio Gallardo covers.

This is the only thing really close to a 'Signed' copy for this book as CAS was RIP when it was published. The inscription is from his wife!

 

[Blorgon scum]

The cover for The Wood Beyond The World looks like Gervasio Gallardo's artwork.  He really did some nice covers for the series.

[Surfing Alien]

On 6/1/2022 at 10:06 AM, Blorgon scum said:

The cover for The Wood Beyond The World looks like Gervasio Gallardo's artwork.  He really did some nice covers for the series.

That version of "The King of Elfland's Daughter" was my first taste of Dunsany.

The Ballantine Lovecrafts were my initiation into his ouvre after being exposed through Marvel comics adaptations and I probably picked up the Dunsany book after reading that Lovecraft blurb on the back.

[Blorgon scum]

On 6/1/2022 at 4:31 PM, Surfing Alien said:

That version of "The King of Elfland's Daughter" was my first taste of Dunsany.

The Ballantine Lovecrafts were my initiation into his ouvre after being exposed through Marvel comics adaptations and I probably picked up the Dunsany book after reading that Lovecraft blurb on the back.

I started by looking for fantasy books after finishing Lord of The Rings. I read Lin Carter's book Tolkien:  A Look Behind The LOTR.  It helped me in my search for other authors to read.  So the Ballantine series sent me on my path.

[Surfing Alien]

On 6/1/2022 at 6:35 PM, Blorgon scum said:

I started by looking for fantasy books after finishing Lord of The Rings. I read Lin Carter's book Tolkien:  A Look Behind The LOTR.  It helped me in my search for other authors to read.  So the Ballantine series sent me on my path.

I'd have to rub my brain cells hard and fast to figure if I read The Hobbit before I was exposed to Marvel Conan comics and the subsequent Weird Tales author adaptations in their comics and mags but i'm betting on the latter... all around 1976-78

[Blorgon scum]

More from the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series.

[OtherEric]

A couple finds at a local store today.  We've already clearly established I'm 100% in the tank on the D-series Aces, and it's the first time I can ever recall seeing one of the Spider books in the wild:

[Surfing Alien]

Nice pickups @OtherEric I don't recall seeing those Spiders in the wild back when I was hunting in stores in New York either and they weren't even vintage then. Although they might not have been on my radar for that very reason.

Always on my radar has been finishing off the Avon Fantasy Reader set and I just got 10 and 18 in. I only need one more and I can post the whole set (and a copy of that one is on its way  I was determined to finish them off and very nice copies of these last three I needed just happened to show up in the market recently.

[Pat Calhoun]

I just finished my Fantasy Reader set and got SF Reader 1 & 2 ( already had 3) as an encore. When #2 came in the other day I read the cover yarn, and -wow- it is a superb novelette, 'Priestess of the Flame' by Sewell Peaslee Wright, from Astounding June 1932. It is one of ten 'Space Patrol' series yarns that Wright published in Astounding 1930-1933. Wollheim has another of his in SF Reader 1 and yet another in Fantasy Reader 13. 'Flame' is the masterpiece of the series, but I'm on my fifth of the ten (found a couple online): 'The Dark Side of Antri' in SF Reader 1, and all are colorful, exciting, well-written and plotted tales. The June '32 Wesso splash was found online. My theory is that the two Avon series ended when Wollheim took the offer to become PB editor at Ace...

[Pat Calhoun]

I also picked up a March 1932 Astounding as it is the only one to feature Wright's 'Special Patrol' series on the cover.

[Pat Calhoun]

[OtherEric]

On 6/3/2022 at 8:43 PM, Pat Calhoun said:

I just finished my Fantasy Reader set and got SF Reader 1 & 2 ( already had 3) as an encore. When #2 came in the other day I read the cover yarn, and -wow- it is a superb novelette, 'Priestess of the Flame' by Sewell Peaslee Wright, from Astounding June 1932. It is one of ten 'Space Patrol' series yarns that Wright published in Astounding 1930-1933. Wollheim has another of his in SF Reader 1 and yet another in Fantasy Reader 13. 'Flame' is the masterpiece of the series, but I'm on my fifth of the ten (found a couple online): 'The Dark Side of Antri' in SF Reader 1, and all are colorful, exciting, well-written and plotted tales. The June '32 Wesso splash was found online. My theory is that the two Avon series ended when Wollheim took the offer to become PB editor at Ace

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?23085

According to the isfdb, that"s exactly what happened.  They merged into one title under a new editor and then promptly ended after two issues, despite... or perhaps because... they switched to all new stories.

[OtherEric]

Coincidentally, I picked up that two issue run last weekend.  I showed them over in the pulp thread, not here, though:

[Blorgon scum]

Two novels by the artist Hannes Bok. The Sorcerer's Ship copyright states it appeared in Unknown Worlds and Beyond The Golden Stair appeared in Startling Stories as a shorter version called The Blue Flamingo.

[Surfing Alien]

On 6/3/2022 at 11:43 PM, Pat Calhoun said:

I just finished my Fantasy Reader set and got SF Reader 1 & 2 ( already had 3) as an encore. When #2 came in the other day I read the cover yarn, and -wow- it is a superb novelette, 'Priestess of the Flame' by Sewell Peaslee Wright, from Astounding June 1932. It is one of ten 'Space Patrol' series yarns that Wright published in Astounding 1930-1933. Wollheim has another of his in SF Reader 1 and yet another in Fantasy Reader 13. 'Flame' is the masterpiece of the series, but I'm on my fifth of the ten (found a couple online): 'The Dark Side of Antri' in SF Reader 1, and all are colorful, exciting, well-written and plotted tales. The June '32 Wesso splash was found online. My theory is that the two Avon series ended when Wollheim took the offer to become PB editor at Ace...

Congrats Pat! Those are proud sets to own! My Sci-Fi Reader set is complete already so just waiting on the mail to join the FR club. I love how "Priestess of the Flame" became "Sacrifice to the Lust Queen of the Flame Rite" in Avon/Wollheim's hands  

Wollheim was out of the pulps and knew exactly what sold magazines. He was Avon's pb editor during their Golden Age transformation from stodgy covers to becoming the pioneers in big pin-up girl art on paperbacks around 1948 (as can be seen right there in your set starting with issue #5) I touch on that peripherally in my upcoming article on Johnson.

Science Fiction Reader #1 is one of my favorite Avon Digest covers. Painted by Robert Crowl - another shadowy figure in the Avon art world who I've started to research a clearer picture of (possibly a small article in the future ) He very likely is the artist on #2 based on style cues and #3, of course, is Earl Bergey. Crowl also painted Fantasy Reader #14, 16 and the Avon pb of "Into Plutonian Depths" by Stanton Coblentz. His style is very similar to Ray Johnson's although a bit less refined. He may well have painted several other of the Avon Sci Fi covers that weren't done by Johnson.

Although I like the two combined Avon Sci Fi & Fantasy Readers, I'd bet even money that they failed easily as much for the year-long gap in publication from the first two series and change in cover art style as for the new stories.

And note that Ace picked right up with the pulp style art when Wollheim started editing that line.

Edited June 4, 2022 by Surfing Alien
punctuation

[Surfing Alien]

A few nice ones in the mail today

A super scarce Rainbow Digest. That's George Gross' signature hiding under the colophon. Love his color palette on this one

Two by Barye Phillips, "The King of Paperback Artists" as he was known back in the day. McGinnis has probably de-throned him on volume but it took him 50 years to do what Phillips did in 20. 

One for my "_______ Girl" collection

And an Avon I've never seen before

[Sarg]

On 6/6/2022 at 2:06 PM, Surfing Alien said:

A few nice ones in the mail today

A super scarce Rainbow Digest. That's George Gross' signature hiding under the colophon. Love his color palette on this one

 

 

 Just when you thought you've seen every GGA paperback, this appears...

[Surfing Alien]

On 6/6/2022 at 7:16 PM, Sarg said:

 Just when you thought you've seen every GGA paperback, this appears...

A lot of subtle goodness there. Gross often went a little over the top on sexy but this one just keeps giving the more you look at it. Must be the haystack! 

[Surfing Alien]

Took me a couple of years to get these Avon Fantasy and Science Fiction Readers in nice shape but now I have them all. @OtherEric get with it man! You're almost there!

They do look nice all together! Here's my copies with my artist commentary. I'm pretty sure if I search forever, we'll find that 3, 4 & 5 also have swipes from older pulps

 

#1 Artist unknown - somewhat in the style of Matt Fox   #2 Artist unknown, in the style of A.R. Tilburne, swipes from April 22, 1939 Argosy pulp (Dragon) and Harry Clarke (Harpy/Demon)

#3 Artist unknown - in the style of A.R. Tilburne              #4 Artist unknown - in the style of A.R. Tilburne

#5 Artist unknown - in the style of A.R. Tilburne, first GGA cover  #6 Artist unknown - in the style of A.R. Tilburne with swipe from April 15, 1940 The Shadow pulp (man with hands over face)

#7 Artist unknown                                                           #8 Artist unknown

#9 Copyright Office credited to Ann Cantor, who actually ran an Art Studio employing other artists  #10 Signed "L.S." in lower left corner, still trying to figure that one out.

#11 Signed "L.S." in the tree on far right about one third of the way up.  #12 Signed by either Manuel or Rey Isip

#13 Signed by either Manuel or Rey Isip                           #14 Copyright Office credited to Robert Crowl

#15 Copyright office credited to James Bama                 #16 Copyright office credited to Robert Crowl

#17 Signed by Harry Barton                                               #18 Artist unknown

 

#1 Copyright Office credited to Robert Crowl

#2  Artist unknown - bears a strong resemblance to Robert Crowl's shading

#3 Signed by Earle Bergey

 

[OtherEric]

On 6/7/2022 at 12:00 PM, Surfing Alien said:

Took me a couple of years to get these Avon Fantasy and Science Fiction Readers in nice shape but now I have them all. @OtherEric get with it man! You're almost there!

They do look nice all together! Here's my copies with my artist commentary. I'm pretty sure if I search forever, we'll find that 3, 4 & 5 also have swipes from older pulps

#3 Artist unknown - in the style of A.R. Tilburne              #4 Artist unknown - in the style of A.R. Tilburne

                                  

Isfdb credits the #3 to Hannes Bok.  Which I can see as possible.

I’m working on the run, may get one next paycheck.