The Stealth Marvel Boy Cover on Bell's Astonishing #29, Up for Auction

The Marvel/Atlas title Astonishing started life with the name Marvel Boy in 1950, with the series being renamed Astonishing with the third issue.  While the series still featured the Marvel Boy character until issue #6 (although his last cover on the title was with Astonishing #5), the rebooted series took a clear and harder turn towards horror.  The Pre-Code portion of this run includes some frankly incredible PCH covers.  Even during the early Marvel Boy issues, the covers were clearly designed to catch the industry's rising wave of horror as well, and the character's last appearance in the title in Astonishing #6 featured a horror cover that didn't include Marvel Boy at all — in the U.S. version, anyway.  But the Bell Features version of this title for the Canadian market does include a Marvel Boy cover (or more properly, a cover that features Bob Grayson, the character's real identity) that never appeared in U.S. comics.  There's a copy of this rare curiosity in Astonishing #29 (Bell Features, 1951) Condition: FN/VF up for auction in the 2023 January 15-16 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122303 at Heritage Auctions.

In the cover-featured story, Marvel Boy's father informs him of a stage magician on earth who seems to have incredible powers.  Bob Grayson is tasked with investigating this magician, Pasha Emit Erut-Uf, and determining the source of his powers "for the benefit of universal science".  Grayson attends one of the magician's performances as a civilian, which explains why he's dressed in a tux on the cover here.  Pasha Emit Erut-Uf quickly demonstrates that he is far more powerful than Grayson himself and captures a band of kidnappers and murderers, brutally dismembering them on stage in the process.  The magician ultimately vanishes, an obviously highly-advanced being of unknown origin that even Marvel Boy cannot understand.

The three interior stories in this issue are all by Bill Everett from the original Astonishing #6, but the artist of this mysterious cover is unknown, with GCD speculating the inker might be Marvel regular Christopher Rule.  There's a copy of this rare curiosity in Astonishing #29 (Bell Features, 1951) Condition: FN/VF up for auction in the 2023 January 15-16 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122303 at Heritage Auctions. 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.

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