Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: black cat, golden age, Harvey Comics, Lee Elias

High Grades of Harvey's Black Cat Comics Cross Our Path, at Auction

Published Sun, 20 Mar 2022 12:32:10 -0500

In an era where classic female comic book characters ranging from Wonder Woman to Catwoman are getting the attention that they deserve, Harvey's Black Cat seems surprisingly overlooked. The character has been around since Pocket Comics #1, cover-dated August, 1941 — four months before the debut of Wonder Woman. The creation of Alfred Harvey and artist Al Gabriele, Black Cat would go on to become one of Harvey's most successful and longest-lived characters of the Golden Age. Shortly after the character's own series got underway in 1946 with work by the likes of Joe Simon and Joe Kubert, artist Lee Elias began to make his mark on the character with his detailed but slick style and exceptional storytelling abilities. There's a nice group of Black Cat Comics in high grade up for grabs in this week's 2021 July 4-5 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122127 from Heritage Auctions.

An underrated artist today despite having also worked on characters including Black Canary, Green Lantern, and Hawkman for DC Comics, Elias was born in 1920 in Manchester, UK, but moved to the United States while he was still very young. He studied art at Cooper Union and the Art Students League and made his comic book debut at Fiction House in 1943. Harvey's Black Cat Comics includes stand-out examples of Elias at his best, and there's a nice group of Black Cat Comics in high grade up for grabs in this week's 2021 July 4-5 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122127 from Heritage Auctions.

: #6 (Harvey, 1947)

: #3 (Harvey, 1946)

: #10 (Harvey, 1948)

: #13 (Harvey, 1948)

#3 (Harvey, 1946) Condition: VF. Al Avison cover. Lee Elias art. Overstreet 2021 VF 8.0 value = $222.

Black Cat Comics #6 (Harvey, 1947) Condition: VF+. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby art. Lee Elias cover and art. Scarlet Arrow appearance by Bob Powell. Origin of the Red Demon. Overstreet 2021 VF 8.0 value = $256; VF/NM 9.0 value = $428.

Black Cat Comics #10 (Harvey, 1948) Condition: VF. Lee Elias cover and art. Overstreet 2021 VF 8.0 value = $168.

Black Cat Comics #13 (Harvey, 1948) Condition: VF+. Lee Elias art. Cream to off-white pages. Overstreet 2021 VF 8.0 value = $168; VF/NM 9.0 value = $274.