Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: fiction house, maurice whitman

Kaanga Comics #8 With Maurice Whitman Cover, at Auction

Kaanga Comics #8 appears to be one of the toughest Fiction House comics in high grade, and features a spectacular cover by Maurice Whitman.

Published Sun, 01 Oct 2023 01:27:10 -0500

by Mark Seifert

Last updated Tue, 31 Oct 2023 22:41:15 -0500

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Kaanga Comics #8 appears to be one of the toughest Fiction House comics in high grade, and features a spectacular cover by Maurice Whitman. This issue is a recent breakout among serious vintage comic book collectors, as high grade copies are unheard of on the public marketplace. Five years ago, a slightly higher-graded copy sold in the $50 range, while this current CGC 5.5 copy stands at $2500 and counting, with the auction yet to close. Cover-dated Summer 1951, this comic features some of the early cover work of underappreciated late Golden Age superstar Maurice Whitman. Rather surprisingly, a copy in this condition is a rarity, and it is clear that collectors are willing to pay a premium for this issue. There's a Kaanga Comics #8 (Fiction House, 1951) CGC FN- 5.5 Cream to off-white pages up for auction in the 2022 October 13 The Fiction House Showcase Auction #40199 at Heritage Auctions.

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

Maurice Whitman (June 10, 1922 – May 9, 1983) worked via a number of the major studios of his day including Funnies, Inc., Chesler Studio, and Iger Studio among others, creating comic book art for publishers including Charlton, DC Comics and Fiction House. He is best known for his gorgeous Good Girl art comic book covers which practically define the late Fiction House era.

There are six universal entries for Kaanga Comics #8 on the CGC census, with none higher than CGC 6.5. Only a couple of CGC graded copies of the issue have traded on the public market over the past 20 years. A surprisingly tough-to-get comic featuring a stand-out cover by Maurice Whitman, there's a Kaanga Comics #8 (Fiction House, 1951) CGC FN- 5.5 Cream to off-white pages up for auction in the 2022 October 13 The Fiction House Showcase Auction #40199 at Heritage Auctions. In addition to the items listed in this post, you can check out Fiction House titles such as Planet Comics, Jumbo Comics, Jungle Comics, Fight Comics, Rangers Comics, Wings Comics and much more. New to collecting Fiction House or want to learn more? Bleeding Cool is doing an ongoing deep dive into the history behind Fiction House in the run-up to this auction. 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.