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Weird Menace: The 1930s rise of the Shudder Pulps followed by the rise of the forces that ended them and transformed horror on the newsstand.
Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Harvey Comics, pre-code horror
The Interstellar Horror of Tomb of Terror #16, up for Auction
Tomb of Terror #16 from Harvey Comics in 1954 features an unusual mix of science fiction and horror behind a lurid Lee Elias cover.
Many Harvey comics began with an editorial at the front of the comic book during this 1950s era, and Tomb of Terror #16 started like this: "Dig in a messy grave, and you'd find terror, wouldn't you? Well, that's what we offer! Crawl through a dark dungeon with time-gnawed walls and you're bound to come out shocked. Right? Well, we give you that feeling . . . plus! Look through these stories, and you'll find the real thing . . . the intangible that makes your blood bubble and your eyes white. This is .. . TERROR!!"
The piece went on to explain that the series aimed to provide the distilled element of fear to readers. And in reality, Harvey has often been underappreciated as a publisher of some of the best horror of the Pre-Code Horror era, with uniformly good stories and some excellent covers and eyeball-blazing colors. The Lee Elias zombie cover here is a stand-out example of that, and there's a Tomb of Terror #16 Northford Pedigree (Harvey, 1954) CGC VF/NM 9.0 Cream to off-white pages up there's a number of Mysterious Adventures issues up for auction in the 2023 July 13 – 14 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40227 at Heritage Auctions.
Tomb of Terror #16 is the final issue of the series before the title changed to Thrills of Tomorrow. The contents here telegraphed where the series was headed, leading off with The Report by Bob Powell, a very Star Trek meets 2001: A Space Odyssey type of science fiction story about deep space exploration and finding mankind's place in the universe — and where that quest might lead.
This beautiful copy is from the Northford Pedigree, best known for its high-grade Pre-Code Horror focus. A great PCH example with a fantastic cover, there's a Tomb of Terror #16 Northford Pedigree (Harvey, 1954) CGC VF/NM 9.0 Cream to off-white pages up there's a number of Mysterious Adventures issues up for auction in the 2023 July 13 – 14 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40227 at Heritage Auctions.
Tomb of Terror #16 Northford Pedigree (Harvey, 1954) CGC VF/NM 9.0 Cream to off-white pages. Special science fiction issue. Final issue before title changed to Thrills of Tomorrow. Lee Elias underwater, zombie, skull cover. Bob Powell, Joe Certa, and Howard Nostrand art. CGC notes, "Slight tanning edges interior front and back cover". Just two copies have ever received higher grades from CGC. Overstreet 2022 VF/NM 9.0 value = $847; NM- 9.2 value = $1,200. CGC census 7/23: 5 in 9.0, 2 higher.
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