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Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Chesler, Punch Comics
The Unusual Horror of Chesler's Punch Comics #19, Up for Auction
Chesler's Punch Comics #19 is underrated for its horror-focused cover that preceded the era when Pre-Code Horror boomed in the comics.
Article Summary
- Explore the underrated horror of Chesler's Punch Comics #19 from before the Pre-Code Horror era.
- Discover the impact of artists like Paul Gattuso and Gus Ricca on the series' horror allure.
- Learn about Jack Cole and George Tuska's key contributions to Punch Comics interiors.
- Uncover Wertham's critique of Gattuso's work in Seduction of the Innocent.
We've talked about the weird, wonderful, and often horrific world of the comic books from publisher Harry "A" Chesler a few times over the years, particularly the Dynamic Comics issues featuring Dr. Doom, and those wild Gus Ricca covers among others. But much of the rest of the Chesler line was equally amazing, and the Punch Comics series was one of the best of those. This is a tough-to-get series with Chesler's hallmark shock and awe covers by the likes of Ricca, Charles Sultan, and Paul Gattuso and interiors by Jack Cole, George Tuska, and others as well. But the Chesler line is even more underrated for its horror-focused covers that preceded the era when Pre-Code Horror boomed in the comic book industry, and Punch Comics #19 is one of the best of these. There's a CGC VG/FN 5.0 copy of Punch Comics #19 (Chesler, 1946) up for auction in the 2024 October 24 – 25 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40272 at Heritage Auctions.
The Punch Comics series started out as a fairly typical war-era hero adventure series, but the cover and interior artwork of Ricca and Gattuso in particular soon gave the series a horrific edge. Gattuso's cover for #19 in particular among the stand-outs of the series. Gattuso drew comics for a wide range of Golden Age publishers, but his Chesler work was used as an example of cruelty in comic books by Fredric Wertham in the book Seduction of the Innocent. An underappreciated series with unrestrained covers and interiors to match, there's a CGC VG/FN 5.0 copy of Punch Comics #19 (Chesler, 1946) up for auction in the 2024 October 24 – 25 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40272 at Heritage Auctions.
Punch Comics #19 (Chesler, 1946) CGC VG/FN 5.0 Off-white to white pages. Classic cover by Paul Gattuso. Overstreet 2024 VG 4.0 value = $452; FN 6.0 value = $678. CGC census 10/24: 2 in 5.0, 13 higher.
Affiliates of Bleeding Cool buy from and/or consign to Heritage Auctions.
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