Heading:
Author:
Title: SHOCKING MYSTERY CASES No. 51
Place Published:
Publisher:Star [Indicia: Star Publications, Inc.]
Date Published: November, 1952
Description:

CGC certified: G/VG (3.0). Off-white pages. Cover: L.B. Cole. Art: Jay Disbrow, Myron Fass. GPAnalysis: No reported sales in this grade. A 2.5 sold for $555 in December 2020; a 3.5 sold for $483 in October 2021.

Classic Cole cover: Severed heads, psychedelic swirls, an accusing eye, and a guilty conscience. What's it all add up to? Hundreds of thousands of dimes lining the publisher's coffers, that's what. L.B. Cole understood the economics of the newsstands better than any other cover artist of the pre-Code era. As he explained in a 1981 interview, "Being perfectly practical as a businessman and as a publisher, for me there was no other motive than to create a poster oriented to newsstand sales. The covers were mostly designed as posters, and when I speak of poster effect I mean that they should be seen.... I endeavored at all times to make the covers not so much attractive aesthetically, but to be as eye-catching on the stand as possible." — E.B. Boatner, "L.B. Cole: The Man Behind the Mask," Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide No. 11, 1981-82, p. A-60.

Consignments welcome for PBA's Fall 2022 Comic Book sale. Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age and Silver Age comics, original art, vintage comic-related photos and ephemera sought. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.