Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Ace Comics, David McKay Publications

First Comic Book App. of Prince Valiant in Ace Comics #26 at Auction

Hal Foster was enormously influential on the foundational comic book creators of the Golden Age and highly regarded by everyone who read comics in that era and beyond. Two years after the debut of the Prince Valiant Sunday strip on February 13, 1937, David McKay Publications' Ace Comics #26 collected the first few pages for the first time in comic book format.  The comic book debut of highly influential work that is widely considered among the most important comics published in any form, there's an Ace Comics #26 (David McKay Publications, 1939) CGC VG- 3.5 Cream to off-white pages for auction in this week's 2021 August 22-23 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122134 from Heritage Auctions.

The Ace Comics series is comprised almost exclusively of King Features Syndicate newspaper strip reprints, and this issue also includes Jungle Jim by Alex Raymond, Barney Google by Billy DeBeck, The Phantom by Lee Falk, and Krazy Kat by George Herriman among others. The cover features the Katzenjammer Kids by Joe Musial.  As Heritage Auctions says in their auction description for this item, this is not an easy comic book to obtain in any grade, and rather remarkably, they note that this copy is "the nicest of the three copies we've encountered, and the first we've seen in more than ten years."  The census numbers bear that out, as there are only 7 CGC Universal listings for the issue on the CGC census, with only two of those above this CGC 3.5 copy — and none above CGC 7.5. An extremely tough-to-get Golden Age comic that is full of historically important material, there's an Ace Comics #26 (David McKay Publications, 1939) CGC VG- 3.5 Cream to off-white pages for auction in this week's 2021 August 22-23 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122134 from Heritage Auctions.

Ace Comics #26 (David McKay Publications, 1939) CGC VG- 3.5 Cream to off-white pages. Gerber rates this book a "7" ("scarce") in its Scarcity Index. One of only three copies to receive a grade above GD+ 2.5 to date. The nicest of the three copies we've encountered, and the first we've seen in more than ten years. Origin and first appearance of Prince Valiant. Katzenjammer Kids cover by Joe Musial. Jungle Jim by Alex Raymond. Blondie, Krazy Kat, and the Phantom appearances. Overstreet 2021 VG 4.0 value = $310. CGC census 8/21: 1 in 3.5, 2 higher.

View the certification for CGC Certification ID 3727552001 and purchase grader's notes if available.

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