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Spider-Man

Pre-code horror comics among highlights of PBA Galleries sale, Aug. 3

Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Steve Ditko’s personal copy of Amazing Spider-Man No. 1, estimated at $8,000-$12,000
Steve Ditko’s copy of Amazing Spider-Man No. 1, estimated at $8,000-$12,000

BERKELEY, Calif. – PBA Galleries will hold an auction titled Comic Books: Atlas, Pre-Code Horror, Steve Ditko Collection, and More to take place on Thursday, August 3. PBA’s ninth comic book sale contains more than 300 lots of pre-Code Atlas comic books, pre-Code horror comics, the last 19 Amazing Spider-Man comics from Steve Ditko’s personal collection, as well as some Marvel keys and original Eric Stanton artwork. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

Sale highlights include Menace #1-11, with Bill Everett’s classic “Zombie!” cover and seven-page story in issue #5, Atlas’s all-time horror highlight; a purple label Astonishing #30 with the classic melting man cover by Joe Maneely; more than 20 issues of Strange Tales, including #28 and #89; Blue Bolt Weird Tales issues #114 and #115, both featuring classic L.B. Cole psychedelia covers; 27 pages of original Eric Stanton artwork from the story “Blundie in Blunderland;” the early R. Crumb tabloid comic Yarrowstalks #3, his first cover-to-cover solo publication; four issues of Venus, including #17 and #19, both with classic Bill Everett horror covers featuring skeletons; and Ditko’s own personal copy of Amazing Spider-Man #1, one of the best-looking 0.5 grades on the market.

Blue Bolt Weird Tales No. 114 with classic L.B. Cole Psychedelia cover, estimated at $5,000-$8,000
Blue Bolt Weird Tales No. 114 with classic L.B. Cole Psychedelia cover, estimated at $5,000-$8,000

Silver Age marvels on offer include some classic keys, such as Amazing Spider-Man #9, with the debut of Electro; #13, the first featuring Mysterio; #14, with the debut of Green Goblin; #15, the first outing for Kraven; Annual #1, which introduced the Sinister Six; Avengers #4, featuring Captain America’s revival, and #8, which has the first appearance of Kang; Daredevil #1; Journey Into Mystery #85, distinguished by the debut of Loki; and X-Men #1.

More Fun Comics No. 32 featuring an ad for Action #1, estimated at $800-$1,200
More Fun Comics No. 32 featuring an ad for Action #1, estimated at $800-$1,200

DC diehards will find a few Golden and Silver Age treasures, including More Fun Comics #32, its cover dated June 1938 and featuring an ad for Action Comics #1; and Showcase #22, which has the first SA Green Lantern. Cheesecake chasers will appreciate a high-grade copy of Vampirella #1, and horror hounds will thrill to an original art page by “Ghastly” Graham Ingels from Vault of Horror #40, Ghastly’s Goodbye, one of the very last horror pages drawn by the master of gothic chills.

Venus No. 19 with a Sex & Death Soiree cover by Bill Everett, estimated at $1,500-$2,500
Venus No. 19 with Bill Everett Sex & Death Soiree cover, estimated at $1,500-$2,500

PBA Galleries also has a major announcement for the comics collecting world. Starting in November, the auction house will offer the DC Universe Collection, comprising every single DC comic book published for retail sale from 1934 to 2014. It includes more than 40,000 comic books, among them Action Comics #1, Detective Comics #27, Superman #1, Batman #1, Sensation #1, All-American #16, and Wonder Woman #1.

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