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

The Final Golden Age Issue of Silver Streak Comics, Up for Auction

Published Sat, 05 Nov 2022 14:27:09 -0500

Silver Streak Comics #23 was an issue that should never have happened. After publisher Lev Gleason's apparently expensive plans to launch the Saint into comic books in Silver Streak Comics fizzled, the series ended with issue #21. The numbering on the title was then taken over by the now-legendary Crime Does Not Pay series with issue #22. That series ran until 1955, but Silver Streak Comics resumed its original numbering in 1946 for two final issues. The scarce last issue of an important Golden Age series, there's a Silver Streak Comics #23 (Lev Gleason, 1946) Condition: VG/FN up for auction in the 2022 November 6-7 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122245 at Heritage Auctions.

Silver Streak Comics #23 (Lev Gleason, 1946)

After some fantastically weird adventures in the revived title for issue #22, which included giving the Silver Streak character a talking falcon sidekick named Zoom, King of Falcons, the series attempted to settle down to business in the new post-war era with Silver Streak Comics #23. With the war over, Silver Streak himself is tasked by the Allied Commission with fighting crime in post-WWII Europe. Interestingly, both his story in this issue and the story of another character named Peter Gritt involve recovering stolen artwork and other treasures looted by the Nazis. A large part of the point of this issue seems to be to firmly launch the title into a world no longer at war, and now dealing with the consequences of that war.

Alas, it seems that this reboot attempt was less than a smashing success, as the title ended (again) with that issue. That might be why this issue is tougher to get than many of the era, but there's a Silver Streak Comics #23 (Lev Gleason, 1946) Condition: VG/FN up for auction in the 2022 November 6-7 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122245 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.

#23 (Lev Gleason, 1946) Condition: VG/FN. Lou Ferstadt bondage cover on this last issue of the title. Gerber rates the issue a "7" ("scarce") on the Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books' Scarcity Index. Overstreet 2022 VG 4.0 value = $212; FN 6.0 value = $318.