Auctions: comic books April 1952

Chamber of Chills (1951 Harvey) 7 CGC 4.0

Paper: Off white to white

Label #4723167009

Cover by Al Avison. Stories and art by Bob Powell, Howard Nostrand, Abe Simon, Don Perlin, Manny Stallman, John Giunta and Joe Certa. Harvey Comics joins the parade of pre-Code horror comics pioneered by EC in the 1950s. The owner of a carnival tries to summon real monsters for his new exhibit. A cursed vase kills any plant placed in it, but disposing of it isn't so easy. A gambler makes a deal with the devil. Pit of the Damned!; Crawling Death; Garden of Horror; The Seal of Satan. 36 pages, full color. Cover price $0.10.

Four Color (1942-1962 Dell 2nd Series) 386 CGC 3.5

Paper: Off white to white

Label #4570980006

Cover art by Carl Barks. Only a Poor Old Man; When the Beagle Boys erect a building next to Scrooge's money bin, with plans to puncture the bin and drain out the money, Scrooge secretly transfers his money to an old reservoir, where he hides it underwater; Learning of this stratagem, the Beagle Boys try to destroy a dam so that Scrooge's money will flow onto their land. Coffee for Two; Scrooge takes a bum to a diner for a "free" cup of coffee. Soupline Eight back cover strip; Scrooge decides to "take a chance" on the Soupline Eight car. Scripts and art by Carl Barks. 36 pages, full color. Cover price $0.10.

Shock Suspenstories (1952 EC) 2 GD/VG 3.0

Cover oxidation. Water damage.

Cover art by Wally Wood. Kickback!, script by Bill Gaines (co-plot) and Albert B. Feldstein (co-plot, script), art by Jack Kamen; A young woman marries an older man for his money and gets tried of caring for him after a heart attack leaves him paralyzed; She comes up with a plot to stock the cellar with canned goods for three weeks and then pretends to be locked inside while her husband starves to death. Gee, Dad... It's a Daisy!, script by Bill Gaines (co-plot) and Albert B. Feldstein (co-plot, script), art by Wally Wood; pace explorers land on a planet teeming with intelligent carnivorous plants and fall victim to a demonstration of "She loves me...She loves me not..." Time to Kill! text story by Albert B. Feldstein. Hiding Place text story by Albert B. Feldstein. The Patriots!, script by Bill Gaines (co-plot) and Albert B. Feldstein (co-plot, script), art by Jack Davis; A mob at a military parade to honor wounded Korean War soldiers, whipped up by anti-communist sentiment, beats to death a blind war vet when he doesn't doff his hat to the flag during the parade. Halloween!, script by Bill Gaines (co-plot) and Albert B. Feldstein (co-plot, script), art by Graham Ingels (as Ghastly); On Halloween night, when a new matron at an orphanage discovers the manager has been stealing the state's allotment for the children and threatens to strangle her to keep her quiet, the children take matters into their own hands and use his hollowed-out head as a pumpkin. 36 pgs. $0.10. NOTE: This issue was reprinted by East Coast Comics with a $1 cover a 1970's copyright date (see E.C. Classic Reprints # 12). These and other changes make the reprint easy to distinguish from the original which has a 10-cent cover price and a 1950's publication date. Cover price $0.10.

Strange Tales (1951 1st Series) 6 CGC 3.0

Paper: Cream to off white

Tape on Spine.

Label #3957850001

Cover art by Russ Heath. Uninhabited, art by Russ Heath; The moon is a living organism like Ego, the living planet. Eyes of March, art by Sy Grudko; A man gets a pair of glasses which make everyone appear to have his own face. Death of a Vampire text story. The Back Door, art by Pete Morisi; A salesman tries to make a pitch to the dead of a funeral parlor but they tell him that they buy nothing and stay for free. The Killers, art by Harry Lazarus; Scientists invent a virus which turns people into crazy killers without reflection in mirrors; The Ugly Man, art by Vernon Henkel. 36 pgs. $0.10. Cover price $0.10.

Strange Worlds (1950 Superior) Canadian Edition 5 CGC 6.5

Paper: Off white to white

Canadian Edition.

Label #2001430019

Canadian Edition. Cover by Wally Wood and Joe Orlando. "Kenton of Space Control - Sirens of Space" - Art by Wally Wood and Joe Orlando; "End of His Service" - Art by Norman Nodel, John Rosenberger, and Werner Roth; "Shining Sands of Death" - Art by Ed Goldfarb and Bob Baer; "The Abduction of Earth" - Art by Gene Fawcette and Steve Kirkel.

War Comics (1950 Atlas) 9 CGC 5.5

Paper: Off white to white

Label #4728829006

"Cease Fire" (art by Joe Maneely), "The Monster" (art by Russ Heath), "Aftermath," "Inchon" (art by Joe Maneely), and a two-page text story, "G.I. Ingenuity." Cover price $0.10.