Auctions: comic books July 1953

Action Comics (1938 DC) 182 GD/VG 3.0

Cover art by Wayne Boring and Ray Burnley. The Return of Planet Krypton starring Superman, script by Bill Woolfolk, pencils by Wayne Boring, inks by Stan Kaye. The Quiz Game of Death starring Congo Bill, script by Jack Miller, art by Ed Smalle. The Jinx Planet starring Tommy Tomorrow, script by Otto Binder, art by Jim Mooney. The Amazing Crimes of the Lariat starring Vigilante, art by Bob Brown. 44 Pages, Full Color. $.10 Cover price $0.10.

Lovers' Lane (1949) 35 VG 4.0

Water spotting.

Cover by Fred Kida. Stories and art by Robert Martinott, Al Luster, Al Wenzel and Eloise Taylor. From the publisher of Crime Does Not Pay, Lover's Lane offered somewhat edgier, more lurid tales than other romance comics of the era. Lorry falls for bullfighter Johnnie in Mexico, but his dangerous profession threatens to split them apart. Eddie pretend-dates Jeanne to get her to take romance more seriously, and winds up falling for her for real. Kate dates the foreman at her father's logging camp, and a jealous lumberjack tries to sabotage the whole operation. Romance In Mexico; Should You Write a Love Letter?; Love's No Gamble; The Flirt; Surrender to Love; Love Problems. 32 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Strange Mysteries (1951 Superior) 12 GD 2.0

2" Spine split from bottom due to oxidation. Cover detached at one staple, coming detached at second.

Jack Kamen-ish art and stories. "The Golden Skeletons"; A cemetery caretaker and his wife discover that the cemetery's skeletons have turned to gold; They take them to their house and grind them into gold dust. "One Second to Live"; A convicted murderer relives his life in the second of his hanging; He sees his mother murdered and his discovery that his father was the murderer. "Fatal Proof" text story by John Martin. "No Escape from Evil"; A woman marries an old man for his money; She pushes him off a cliff. The old man although dead returns to kill the widow's new boyfriend. "Devil's Festival"; The village of Walpurgen in Austria, destroyed by Turks, reappears every 100 years; An American couple chances upon it, sees hangings, torture and stonings, and is almost burned at the stake. 36 pgs., full color. $0.10. Cover price $0.10.

Thing (1952 Charlton) 9 GD 2.0

Cover oxidation. Water damage.

Cover by Bob Forgione. "Mardu's Masterpiece," script by Carl Memling, art by Bob Forgione; Etienne Mardu, Parisian art painter, gains success by painting with blood. "The Road to Madness," script by Carl Memling, pencils by Bob Forgione, inks by Vince Alascia; The sadistic and ruthless collector of gems, Francisco de Cobra, hears about the world's largest diamond; He travels to the Amazonian jungles to get his hands on the item. "The Skull Stretchers" text story. "Operation Massacre," script by Carl Memling, art by John Belfi; Madman Marko controls an army of robots by pure thought; On his way to world domination he makes one fatal mistake. "The Dead Man's Hand," script by Carl Memling, art by Bob Forgione; A cruel master pianist is killed by his wife and her lover; The maestro's hand, however, returns. This issue is mentioned in "Seduction of the Innocent" (by Fredric Werthem) pg. 388 & illo "Stomping on the face is a form of brutality which modern children learn early." 36 pgs., full color. $0.10. Cover price $0.10.

Tomb of Terror (1952 Harvey) 10 FR 1.0

Near-complete spine split. Spine brittle. Cover detached.

Cover by Lee Elias. Stories and art by Bob Powell, Howard Nostrand, Al Eadeh, Manny Stallman, and John Giunta. Tomb of Terror was one of Harvey Comics' notorious pre-Code horror comics. Practical jokers have fun and games scaring each other, until one of them gets his brain knocked out. A history of all the horrible things that have happened on a Monday. A man named Noah builds a boat to escape his nagging wife, in the hilariously titled "Noahs Arg-h!" Big Joke; Murder for Sale; Why We Call It Blue Monday; Noahs Arg-h!; A Rose Is a Rose; The Big Idea; Man Made Monsters; The Trial. 36 pages, full color. Cover price $0.10.

Vault of Horror (1950 E.C. Comics) 31 FR 1.0 (R)

Trimmed

TRIMMED. Full length spine split (taped). Oxidation.

Cover by Johnny Craig. Biography of writer Ray Bradbury with a photo. "Easel Kill Ya!", script and art by Johnny Craig; A lonely, unappreciated artist was going to jump from a bridge when a car slammed into a barrier, and from the crumpled wreck a woman staggered out. "A Peach of a Plot!", script by Al Feldstein, art by Jack Davis; Lieutenant Dolan looked at the roots of a peach tree that held the corpse in its roots, and ordered the corpse and tree be taken in for an autopsy. "One Shot" text story. "The Lake," script by Ray Bradbury (plot) and Al Feldstein (adaptation), art by Joe Orlando; Years ago, a little boy and his young girl friend, Tally played at the beach building sand castles together; One day, Tally swam out into the water and drowned. "One Good Turn," script by Bill Gaines (co-plot) and Albert B. Feldstein (co-plot, script), art by Graham Ingels (as Ghastly); Jennifer has a husband who has been paralyzed; She tells him about killing miserable people to make them happy. 36 pgs., full color. $0.10. Cover price $0.10.