Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: fiction house, golden age

The Lost World of Fiction House's Jungle Comics, Up for Auction

Jungle Comics, published by Fiction House from 1940 to 1954, has one of the best cover runs of the Golden Age of comic books.

Published Mon, 16 Oct 2023 08:50:10 -0500

by Mark Seifert

Last updated Mon, 16 Oct 2023 08:53:42 -0500

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Jungle Comics, published by Fiction House from 1940 to 1954, is a genre-defining and iconic series in the realm of vintage comic books, especially for its incredible covers featuring artwork by Dan Zolnerowich and Nick Cardy, among others. Zolnerowich is one of the most underappreciated artists of this period, and he and Cardy, along with others including Bob Powell and John Celardo turned in what has to be considered one of the best cover runs of the Golden Age on this series. This week's 2023 October 19 The Fiction House Comics & Comic Art Showcase Auction #40235 at Heritage Auctions is a great opportunity to acquire 39 issues from this classic Jungle Comics comic book run.

The hero of the Jungle Comics series, Kaanga, was created by the artist Alex Blum with an unknown writer for his debut in Jungle Comics #1, cover-dated January 1940. The character began in a classic "boy raised by apes" hero in the Tarzan mold, and the comic book was the companion of Fiction House's Jungle Stories pulp title, similar to how Kaanga had a counterpart character in the pulp, Ki-Gor. Kaanga eventually got his own comic book series from Fiction House, which lasted for 20 issues from 1949 to 1954.

What really set Jungle Comics apart was its "Lost World" style of adventure. The series was decidedly different from titles like Fiction House's own Jumbo Comics, which featured the legendary Queen of the Jungle, Sheena. Where Sheena stories rarely attempted the strange, unknown elements of a "Lost World", Jungle Comics had no such inhibitions. Dinosaurs, prehistoric creatures, and an atmosphere of strange adventure become the norm for the series. The covers, illustrated by Zolnerowich, Cardy, and many others during its 163-issue run, definitely captured this sense of wild, unknown adventure.

The best covers of the run always go quickly on the marketplace, so the 2023 October 19 The Fiction House Comics & Comic Art Showcase Auction #40235 at Heritage Auctions is a great chance to acquire 39 issues from this classic Jungle Comics comic book run. in affordable condition. The auction details are available on the Heritage Auctions website, and prospective bidders should check out the FAQ to familiarize themselves with their bidding process.