Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Atomic Age, Mighty Mouse, St John

Biggest Golden Age Comic: Mighty Mouse Adventure Stories, at Auction

Published Mon, 04 Apr 2022 04:32:10 -0500

In 1941, Captain Marvel comic book publisher Fawcett Publications touted their mammoth annual Xmas Comics and Gift Comics as "the largest comics in existence" at 324 pages. But in 1953, publisher St John topped them. Mighty Mouse Adventure Stories weighed in at 384 pages, and that just might be the largest American comic book to be published up to that time. A rebound edition of earlier unsold St John Mighty Mouse comics, Mighty Mouse Adventure Stories is the biggest squarebound giant from a publisher who released a lot of giant comics — some of them highly sought after. The biggest comic book of the Golden Age — and likely quite a bit beyond — there's a Mighty Mouse Adventure Stories nn (St. John, 1953) Condition: GD/VG up for auction in this week's 2022 April 3-4 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122214 from Heritage Auctions.

Mighty Mouse Adventure Stories nn (St. John, 1953)

Mighty Mouse made his comic book debut in Marvel's Terry-Toons Comics #38 in August 1942, and the publisher subsequently spun the character off into his own title. Publisher St John took over the numbering on both of those Marvel series in 1951. Throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, St John also utilized giant editions across its lineup of titles perhaps better than any other publisher of the era. St John published giant editions of Mighty Mouse, Little Audrey, and perhaps most notably used the format for the title Giant Comics Editions — which included the now highly-sought-after Giant Comics Editions #12 (Diary Secrets) and Giant Comics Editions #15, which are coveted for their Matt Baker covers.

Like many squarebound giants of this period, the higher price point and production costs meant that there were significantly fewer produced than the typical release for the title and publisher in question, and this one has long been considered scarce by serious collectors. More than just a Mighty Mouse comic, this is the biggest comic book of the Golden Age, and there's a Mighty Mouse Adventure Stories nn (St. John, 1953) Condition: GD/VG up for auction in this week's 2022 April 3-4 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122214 from Heritage Auctions.

nn (St. John, 1953) Condition: GD/VG. Only the third copy Heritage has ever offered of this hard-to-find book and the first we have seen in seven years. Giant 384-page tome of rebound issues. Gerber "7" or "scarce." Overstreet 2021 GD 2.0 value = $60; VG 4.0 value = $120.