Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: crime comics, golden age, prize comics

Notorious Harry Tracy Brings Prize Comics to a Grisly End, at Auction

Published Mon, 22 Aug 2022 14:48:11 -0500

By early 1945, it had become clear that Prize Comics was a title looking for a new direction. The covers began to cycle between medieval humor/fantasy Sir Prize, boxing adventurer Boom Boom Brannigan (including a cover by Simon & Kirby), established heroes Black Owl and Yank & Doodle, and even Dick Briefer's Frankenstein finally got his first Prize Comics covers before the end. Eventually, Prize Comics turned to crime. The publisher had already launched Justice Traps the Guilty by Simon & Kirby by that time and transformed Headline Comics into a crime comic book title with Simon & Kirby work as well. Would Prize Comics become a third crime title from the publisher? They gave it a try, as Prize Comics #67 was the first crime cover on the series, and followed that up with an even more grisly cover feature about "the true story of one of the most cold-blooded killers of all time" in Prize Comics #68. That cover blurb turned out to be no exaggeration, as this story was about the final exploits of the notorious Harry Tracy. The very last issue of Prize Comics before it became Prize Comics Western, Prize Comics #68 (Prize, 1948) Condition: GD/VG as well as 59 of that original 68-issue Prize Comics run are up for auction in the 2022 August 21-22 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122234 at Heritage Auctions.

Prize Comics titled this feature "Last of the Western Bad-Men", which is a designation that most histories about Tracy agree with. His exploits span the period of what is generally considered the "closing" of the American frontier in the early 1890s, through to the early 20th century. As the Seattle Times put it in 1902, "In all the criminal lore of the country there is no record equal to that of Harry Tracy for cold-blooded nerve, desperation and thirst for crime. Jesse James, compared with Tracy, is a Sunday school teacher."

This cover story focuses on Tracy's final infamous exploits, as he escaped from the Oregon State Penitentiary on June 9, 1902, killing three corrections officers and three civilians in the process. A massive manhunt to recapture Tracy ensued to much media coverage for the next two months, during which he killed fellow escapee David Merrill after a disagreement, ambushed and killed two law enforcement officers and two additional posse members pursuing him, took hostages, and escaped capture during a July 3 shootout. Tracy was finally tracked down again and wounded on August 6, and killed himself rather than be apprehended.

In the end, Prize decided they didn't need a third crime comic book series, and Prize Comics was ended, to be continued as Prize Comics Western. But Harry Tracy made that ending memorable, and there's a Prize Comics #68 (Prize, 1948) Condition: GD/VG as well as 59 of that original 68-issue Prize Comics run up for auction in the 2022 August 21-22 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122234 at Heritage Auctions. If you've never bid at Heritage Auctions before, you can get further information, you can check out their FAQ on the bidding process and related matters.