Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Marvel Comics, Vintage Paper | Tagged: atlas, gene colan, pre-code horror, suspense
When Gene Colan Was Locked In A Mansion With Murder, In Suspense #7
Suspense #7 has a lead story from the legendary Gene Colan, creator of Falcon, Carol Danvers and Blade, at the beginning of his comic book career.
Suspense was an anthology comic book published by Marvel Comics when they were still known as Atlas, and ran from 1949 to the mid-1950s. Initially a mix of crime and horror, it split with the third issue to focus just on horror stories, with the crime stories spinning off and continuing in Amazing Detective Cases #3, also from Atlas. A decade later, the existence of Suspense would provide the inspiration for the Tales Of Suspense comic book from Marvel Comics that would debut the Iron Man character. And today Heritage Auctions has a copy of Suspense #7 from 1951 in VG condition with a lead story from the legendary Gene Colan, creator of Falcon, Carol Danvers and Blade, at the beginning of his comic book career.
A Spider-Man-like cover by Sol Brodsky covers a series of stories in Suspense #7. I Was Locked in a Mansion with… Murder! by Gene Colan in which a banker receives a death threat from a friend. Behind the Mask by Don Rico in which a man scarred in an accident must wear a face mask, who is the target of an assassination plot by his wife's former lover, planning to take his place. The Web with unknown credits, in which a murderer is framed for another killing that he is innocent of. Terror in the Tent believed to be by Dick Briefer, in which a psychologist treats someone who believes they are persecuted by a hypnotist and who then dies with the hypnotist's calling card. The Phantom by Carl Wessler and Murphy Anderson, in which a man frames his wife for arson while she is sleepwalking to get her money. And Dracula Lives by unknown creators featuring, well, Dracula… The copy of Suspense #7 being auctioned by Heritage currently has bids totalling $75.
Suspense #7 (Atlas, 1951) Condition: VG+. Dracula story. Dick Briefer, Sol Brodsky, and Don Rico art. Overstreet 2022 VG 4.0 value = $100.