Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: l.b. cole, pre-code horror

The Early L.B. Cole Horror of Suspense Comics, Up for Auction

Suspense Comics #3 may get all the attention, but Suspense Comics with L.B. Cole covers are worth Pre-Code Horror collectors' time.

Published Fri, 14 Jul 2023 13:15:14 -0500

by Mark Seifert

Last updated Fri, 14 Jul 2023 13:22:39 -0500

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In 1989, comic book dealer, collector, and inventor of the Mylar Snug Ernie Gerber published his original two-volume The Photo-Journal Guide To Comic Books, which showed photographs of 21,000 comic books from the Golden Age. In an era during which one can see any published Golden Age comic book cover with a few seconds of Googling, it's difficult to wrap your head around the impact this had on Golden Age comic book collecting three decades ago. Of course, Suspense Comics #3 with its now-legendary Alex Schomburg cover is infamous for having been featured prominently in the Photo-Journal Guide, resulting in it coming to the wider attention of collectors, a frenzy to unearth copies, and prices rising into the stratosphere based on Schomburg's cover art. But the entire Suspense Comics series as well as L.B. Cole covers in general got a boost from the Photo-Journal Guide, and that popularity has only increased over the subsequent decades as more and more collectors have become aware of these covers. While issue #3 gets much of the spotlight, and deservedly so, Suspense Comics #4 is a great early L.B. Cole cover, and a tougher get as well, but there's a Suspense Comics #4 (Continental Magazines, 1944) CGC Apparent VG 4.0 Moderate (B-3) Off-white pages, plus another early Cole cover with Suspense Comics #7 (Continental Magazines, 1944) Condition: VG and other issues of the series up for auction in the 2023 July 13 – 14 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40227 at Heritage Auctions.

Suspense Comics #7 (Continental Magazines, 1944)

Suspense Comics #4 is only the second-published cover credited to Cole, after Terrific Comics #3 from the prior month, also from Et-Es-Go/Continental. Cole would provide the covers for the entire rest of the Suspense Comics series issues #4-12. It's pretty clear that he had paid close attention to the previous covers of the series, as issues #1, #3, and Cole's issue #4 cover all have very similar themes. The character Mr. Nobody has been added to the background here and as the central character of issue #7, a narrator/host type of character who was being introduced to the series and who would appear on most of Cole's Suspense Comics covers as well.

Despite the attention this series gets for its covers, Suspense Comics is underappreciated for its early attempt at a sort of crime/horror/thriller hybrid title. A tough issue deserving of every Pre-Code Horror collector's attention, there's a Suspense Comics #4 (Continental Magazines, 1944) CGC Apparent VG 4.0 Moderate (B-3) Off-white pages, plus another early Cole cover with Suspense Comics #7 (Continental Magazines, 1944) Condition: VG and other issues of the series up for auction in the 2023 July 13 – 14 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40227 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.