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Die Hard fans have long pondered the similarity between the name of Silent Night composer Franz Gruber and the name of Die Hard antagonist Hans Gruber.
Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: marvel tales, pre-code horror
The Issue of Marvel Tales That the State of New York Hated, at Auction
Marvel is not the first publisher to come to mind when we think of the Pre-Code Horror era of the late 1940s through the early 1950s, but perhaps it should be. Not only did the publisher enter the horror genre in earnest before EC Comics, it was also the driving force of the market — publishing around 389 comics which can be considered PCH, vs EC Comics PCH output of about 91 comic book issues. One of the early entries of these, Marvel Tales #97, ended up in a 1951 Report of the New York State Joint Legislative Committee to Study the Publication of Comics. There's a Marvel Tales #97 (Atlas, 1950) CGC VG- 3.5 Cream to off-white pages up for auction at the 2021 November 28-29 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122148 at Heritage Auctions.
The Joint Legislative Committee depicted panels and pages from a number of comics in this report, placing their examples into 3 groups:
- Brutality, violence and crime.
- Drawings which depict ways of bodily injury, plans for commission of crime and unlawful breakings.
- Sexually suggestive cartoons and in some instances semi hidden pornography.
The report shows several panels from the Marvel Tales #97 story Beyond the Grave, a story drawn by Don Rico in which a witch doctor transfers his mind into the body of a huge gorilla with brutal results. An interesting example of early Pre-Code Horror era history, there's a Marvel Tales #97 (Atlas, 1950) CGC VG- 3.5 Cream to off-white pages up for auction at the 2021 November 28-29 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122148 at Heritage Auctions.
Marvel Tales #97 (Atlas, 1950) CGC VG- 3.5 Cream to off-white pages. Sun Girl appearance. Mike Sekowsky cover and art. Don Rico and Sol Brodsky art. This issue was used in a New York Legislative anti-comic document. Overstreet 2021 VG 4.0 value = $194. CGC census 11/21: 5 in 3.5, 26 higher.
View the certification for CGC Certification ID 126239005 and purchase grader's notes if available.
Affiliates of Bleeding Cool buy from and/or consign to Heritage Auctions.
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