Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: alex hillman, Clue Comics

The Gun Master Who Hated Guns in 1946's Clue Comics #10, at Auction

Clue Comics #10 from Hillman Periodicals contains the debut of a character the likes of which one wouldn't expect to find in a late Golden Age comic book: the Gun Master, who swore to "crusade against the gun."  The title page blurb sets the stage:

There was once before a great threat to the life of the world… yes… a threat of unlimited destruction… and as much feared as today's atomic power! It all began ages ago with a blinding flash of light in the silent regions of forbidding Tibet… it was the birth of the gun.

From there, the story develops a character that was highly unusual in the context of the comic books of the time.  With the popularity of crime comic books on the rise, Hillman's Gun Master set himself apart with an explicit anti-gun message. There's a copy of this historically unusual comic book, Clue Comics #10 Davis Crippen ("D" Copy) Pedigree (Hillman Periodicals, 1946) CGC VF 8.0 Off-white pages, in this week's 2021 July 11-12 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122128 from Heritage Auctions.

The Gun Master saga begins with a flashback to the inventor of gunpowder, named Kattak Po in this story. The tale essentially combines the invention of gunpowder and guns into simultaneous developments by Kattak Po.  The inventor is fatally wounded by a thief who wants the destructive power of guns for himself, but before he dies, Kattak Po writes a letter to his eldest son, telling him to destroy the villain and his "destructive implement before it destroys mankind."

The attempt to stop the usage of guns eventually passes to Kattak Po's grandson, who vows, "I will devote my whole life to stopping the use of this murderous tube that fires projectiles."

And so it goes down through the generations, with this comic book story showing the increasingly destructive use of more and better guns, with Kattak Po's descendants vowing to carry on the fight against them throughout the generations.

The Gun Master series lasted until the end of the short-lived Clue Comics title, with the legendary Jack Kirby handling the final two installments. While the original thrust of the feature had been diluted by the end, overall this was surprising content from a mainstream comic book publisher in the post-war era, let alone one who would add a U.S. Senator who was Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee to its board of directors during this period. There's a copy of this historically unusual comic book, Clue Comics #10 Davis Crippen ("D" Copy) Pedigree (Hillman Periodicals, 1946) CGC VF 8.0 Off-white pages, in this week's 2021 July 11-12 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122128 from Heritage Auctions.

Clue Comics #10 Davis Crippen ("D" Copy) Pedigree (Hillman Periodicals, 1946) CGC VF 8.0 Off-white pages. Origin and first appearance of the Gun Master. Content changes to crime. Overstreet 2020 VF 8.0 value = $222. CGC census 7/21: 1 in 8.0, 3 higher.

View the certification for CGC Certification ID 759368007 and purchase grader's notes if available.

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