Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: pre-code horror, Youthful Publications

Attack of the Vampire Planet in Captain Science #7, at Auction

In Captain Science #7, Captain Science & Luana take on a Vampire Planet that intends to suck the life out of earth, Galactus style.

The last time we posted about an issue of the obscure Pre-Code Horror title Captain Science, it turned out to be an absolute gem of an issue that fused science fiction and horror in a way that only 1950s-era American Cold War pop culture could achieve.  Captain Science #7 is another surprisingly great entry in this obscure short-lived series from Youthful Publications.  Of course, it has the kind of cover that Pre-Code Horror collectors appreciate by an unknown artist from Adolphe Barreaux's Majestic Studios, featuring the titular hero trying to free his assistant Luana from bondage before a living skeleton drags her off to parts unknown.  There are several very compelling science fiction/horror stories among the interior features, but the Captain Science tale Heads of Horror by artist Harry Harrison is the real stand-out.  In Heads of Horror, an enormous "vampire planet" approaches Earth with the intent of feeding off of the planet, Galactus-style.  An overlooked issue of atomic age horror, there's a Captain Science #7 (Youthful Magazines, 1951) Condition: GD/VG up for auction in the  2023 July 13 – 14 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40227 at Heritage Auctions.

Essentially a space-traveling hero in the Buck Rogers mold, Captain Science was created by Wally Wood, Gustav Schrotter, and Walter Johnson, for his debut in Captain Science #1.  Published by Youthful Publications with an October 1951 cover-date, Captain Science #7 is a testament to the company's brief but impactful existence from 1949 to 1954. Youthful Publications was part of a constellation of publishing companies with loose connections to DC Comics founder Harry Donenfeld. One principal of the company, William Friedman, had acted as Donenfeld's lawyer on numerous occasions, while another, Adrian Lopez, had previously co-founded a magazine publisher with Donenfeld. Over the course of its operation, Youthful Publications released 21 comic book titles, amassing a total of 125 issues.

Much of the Youthful Publications lineup has that quality of being greater than the sum of its parts.  Their material really tended to capture the zeitgeist of that early Atomic Age era, and this issue is a good example of what makes it work.  A textbook example of the Pre-Code era, there's a Captain Science #7 (Youthful Magazines, 1951) Condition: GD/VG up for auction in the  2023 July 13 – 14 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40227 at Heritage Auctions.

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