Auctions: comic books published by Ziff Davis, graded by CGC

Lars of Mars (1951 Ziff Davis) 11 CGC 6.5

Paper: Off white to white

Label #0194699013

Painted cover by Allen Anderson. Stories and art by Gene Colan, Jerry Siegel, and Murphy Anderson. Sent to Earth to prevent nuclear war, Lars of Mars must first convince TV producer June Conway that he's a real Martian. "Rascally totalitarian scientist" Dr. Raskov creates a freezing gun that threatens to upset the balance of power in the Cold War, unless Lars can destroy it. Lars tries to help a baseball pro live up to a little boy's admiration of him. The writer for the Lars stories is Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, who said, "I knew people would have difficulty forgetting a Martian with a Swedish name." Captain Ken Brady, Rocket Pilot, investigates the mystery of The Boy Who Wasn't There, in a story with early art by future Marvel legend Gene Colan. In another Colan story, a family goes on a weekend outing to the Moon, a routine occurrence in the year 2000. Plus fun facts about Mars and the Universe, and Amazing Prophecies. Another terrific painted cover by Allen Anderson, a highlight of the short-lived series. Our Amazing Universe; The Terror Weapon!; The Crucial Game!; Amazing Prophecies; A Certain Type of Magic; Week-End on the Moon; Captain Ken Brady, Rocket Pilot: The Boy Who Wasn't There; This Weird World; The Earthshaker! Final issue of the series; some stories were reprinted in 3-D in the 1980s. 32 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Perfect Love (1951) 3 CGC 9.4

Paper: Cream to off white

Label #0019513039

Painted cover art by Allan Anderson. "The Wheel of Fate!", pencils by Alice Kirkpatrick; Elaine convinces her fiancé Paul to give up his career as a test pilot for a safer job with an airline; When hes killed in a crash, Elaine blames herself and has a nervous breakdown; Her doctor sends her to recuperate at a fishing village. "The Pharaoh's Curse!", pencils by Bob Oksner; Teacher Fay falls in love with archeologist Stephen and accompanies him on an expedition to Egypt; Theyre separated by a flood and Fay thinks hes dead. "Long-Distance Date" text story. "The Princess and the Pirate"; At a Paris costume ball, American teacher Laura falls in love with another disguised guest, also an American; Theyre separated and since they dont know each others names (or even what they look like out of costume), Laura returns to the USA and her job. "Heaven on Wheels," pencils by Art Peddy; Roller derby participant Daisy is offered a job in a skating show by Jim, who makes himself her agent and her boyfriend; When shes injured doing a stunt, Daisy is surprised to learn Jim has replaced her in the show and has also been cheating her out of much of her salary; She takes a job in a drugstore to make ends meet. Back-cover pinup. 36 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.10.