Author:
Title: PANIC No. 1
Place Published:
Publisher:EC [Indicia: Tiny Tot Comics Inc.]
Date Published: February-March, 1954
Description: CGC certified: VF- (7.5). Off-white to white pages. Grader notes: Spine stress lines breaks color; wear left top of front cover; wear spine; light crease right bottom of front cover; light foxing to cover.

CGC Census: 115 graded copies (108 Universal, 1 Qualified, 6 Restored).

GPAnalysis: A 7.5 sold for $840 in 9/23.

Credits: Cover: Al Feldstein. Scripts: Al Feldstein and Charles Clement Moore. Art: Marie Severin, Jack Davis, Joe Orlando, Jack Kamen, and Bill Elder.EC's Nightmare Before Christmas: The launch of EC's own MAD knock-off, the Feldstein-edited Panic, caused a great deal of friction in EC's offices. MAD's editor, Harvey Kurtzman, was already rankled that rival publishers were aping his humor mag, without his own employer getting in on the act. "I was pretty bitter about it," Kurtzman said in 1965. "The publisher and I got into a series of ever-increasing arguments going around in ever diminishing circles."

Panic's debut also sparked a media firestorm that caused the title to be banned in Massachussetts. The trouble was caused by Will Elder's parody of "The Night Before Christmas," which indignant critics accused of mocking America's favorite holiday.

"The trouble we had on the Santa Claus story was Bill Elder. He had put a sign on the sleigh of Santa Claus, 'Just Divorced'. Now how do a bunch of iconoclastic, atheist bastards like us know that Santa Claus is a saint and that he can't be divorced and that this is going to offend Boston? [Laughter.]" – Bill Gaines, interviewed by Gary Groth, Dwight Decker and Peppy White, "An Interview with William M. Gaines." The Comics Journal #81, 1983.______________________________________________________________

A limited edition of ten hardcover catalogues is available, in addition to a few dozen softcovers. Fun reference, great keepsake, fully illustrated, chockablock with obscure facts, gags, bon mots. Softcovers are $40, deluxe hardcovers with dust jackets and limitation plates are $200. These books always go fast so don't delay. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Consignments welcome for PBA's Summer 2024 Comic Book sale. Top prices for Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age, Silver Age, original art and ephemera. Find out why PBA is the new fan-fave of funnybook fiends. "This is some of the best commentary I've yet seen on the quality of the content of comic books... Priceless." – R. Crumb. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Coming Soon: The DC Universe Collection Part 3: The Golden Age (August 2024) and Weird Tales and Amazing Stories: The PBA Pulp Sale (September 2024). Contact ivan@pbagalleries.com to get on the notifications list.