Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: golden age, harvey

Shock Gibson in Temerson & Brookwood's Speed Comics, Up for Auction

Speed Comics, a relatively famous name among Golden Age comic book titles, was started by a company named after a small AL town.

Brookwood is a small town near Birmingham, Alabama. While it was officially incorporated in 1977, comics industry pioneer Frank Z. Temerson considered it his hometown when he graduated from the Chattanooga College of Law in 1913.  Temerson must have had fond memories of the place, because he named the comic book publisher he formed with Maurice Rosenfield and Maurice's father J. A. Rosenfield Brookwood, after that small Alabama town.  It's widely known that comics publisher Et-Es-Go as a company name was inspired by shorthand for Temerson's sisters Etta, Esther, and Goldie, and lesser known that publisher Helnit is named after Temerson's nieces, Helen and Anita, who were Goldie's daughters. Temerson had yet another imprint called Nita as well.  Temerson's roots were obviously important to him, and while the historically important comic book title Speed Comics is usually associated with Harvey Publications, the title actually got its start at Temerson's Brookwood. There are several issues of the early Golden Age Speed Comics title from publisher Brookwood up for auction in the 2022 August 14-15 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122233 at Heritage Auctions.

Speed Comics star Shock Gibson was a pretty typical superhero in the Superman mold.  An experiment involving chemistry and electricity went awry and transformed a scientist into a superhuman.  Shock Gibson had incredible strength, but interestingly, he could not fly and seemed to have a limited degree of invulnerability.  The title reportedly did not sell well on the already-competitive comic book market of the time, and Brookwood published 11 issues before selling it to Harvey Publications.  All of these early issues have very modest CGC census numbers, but there are several issues of the early Golden Age Speed Comics title from publisher Brookwood up for auction in the 2022 August 14-15 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122233 at Heritage Auctions.

Speed Comics #4 (Harvey, 1940) CGC GD 2.0 Slightly brittle pages. Maurice Scott cover and art. George Tuska, Bob Powell, and Dick Briefer stories and art. Overstreet 2022 GD 2.0 value = $148. CGC census 8/22: 3 in 2.0, 9 higher.

Speed Comics #6 (Harvey, 1940) CGC Apparent GD- 1.8 Slight (B-1) Cream to off-white pages. Shock Gibson cover. Dick Briefer, Bob Powell, and George Tuska art. CGC notes, "Restoration includes: small amount of color touch on cover. (All three edges of cover trimmed.) Tape on cover and interior cover." Overstreet 2022 GD 2.0 value = $138.

Speed Comics #7 (Harvey, 1940) CGC FR 1.0 Cream to off-white pages. Shock Gibson cover. CGC notes, "Spine of cover completely split and cover detached." Overstreet 2022 GD 2.0 value = $138. CGC census 8/22: 1 in 1.0, 8 higher.

Speed Comics #8 (Harvey, 1940) CGC FR 1.0 Light tan to off-white pages. Bob Powell story, cover, and art. Klaus Nordling, Dick Briefer, and George Tuska art. CGC notes, "Spine completely split and back cover detached." Overstreet 2022 GD 2.0 value = $138. CGC census 8/22: 2 in 1.0, 9 higher.

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