Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Frank Bolle, Magazine Enterprises, pre-code horror

Zodiac and the Tim Holt #30 Death Wheel Connection, up for Auction

The "Death Wheel" in 1952's Tim Holt #30 cover by Frank Bolle has long been a matter of interest to people who research the Zodiac killer.

I've had a novelette-length draft about various comic book connections to the Zodiac killer kicking around in the BC backend for some time now, but I haven't yet completed the puzzle to my satisfaction. It's become something I noodle with and take a fresh look at once or twice a year.  But when I saw that there's a copy of Tim Holt #30 (Magazine Enterprises, 1952) Condition: VG in this  2023 July 13 – 14 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40227 at Heritage Auctions, I couldn't resist posting just a tiny bit about it.

Of course, there are countless books, movies, and websites about Zodiac, with fresh theories and proposed solutions coming up all the time.  So it's no surprise that there are theories involving comics, and several possible connections to comics can be found.  Perhaps most obviously, the infamous October 1969 sketch based on eyewitness descriptions shows a man wearing a hood and a chest symbol that certainly has comic book or movie villain vibes, and Neal Adams drew his own interpretation of the descriptions "based on material that was directly related to the crime" for the cover of the 1974 book Great Crimes of San Francisco. There's also the case of Donald Lee Bujok, a convicted killer and Zodiac person of interest, who in 1974 started a campaign against the Dick Tracy comic strip in his local newspaper.  A prolific letter writer, Bujok had a lot to say about pop culture and politics in general.

More interesting to me is the matter of Funnies, Inc. and Timely comic book writer Kermit Jaediker, also a contributor to Martin Goodman's magazine and paperback lines.  Jaediker also became a fairly well-known journalist, most famously from comic book history's perspective as the person who reported on the brutal murder committed by Crime Does Not Pay writer/editor Bob Wood for the NY Daily News. Jaediker's connection comes via the Albany Times Union newspaper, which received a purported Zodiac letter in response to an article Jaediker wrote claiming that Zodiac was likely dead in 1973 — the "You are wrong I am not dead" letter.

But there's an even more famous connection between comics and mail sent by Zodiac.  On October 27, 1970, the Zodiac killer sent San Francisco Chronicle writer Paul Avery a Halloween card. Avery had been covering the murders for that newspaper, and the card contains a taunt and an ominous implication that Zodiac has chosen his 14th victim.
The hand-written message contains the words "Paradise Slaves" written in the shape of a cross, with the words "By Fire, By Knife, By Gun, By Rope" written vertically on the sides of that cross.

Some years ago, it was noticed that those methods of murder correspond to entries on "The Death Wheel" on the cover of comic book Tim Holt #30, a 1952 comic book from publisher Magazine Enterprises, drawn by artist Frank Bolle. This comic has been a serious subject of discussion among those researching Zodiac for many years, and has become sought after by collectors as a result.

Missed by most is the fact that this is not the only comic book with this specific symbolism.  Most interestingly, a "Wheel of Misfortune" featuring knife, gun, and rope symbolism (with part of the wheel obscured) appears on the DC Comic book The Unexpected #111 with the cover drawn by Nick Cardy.  Perhaps notably, The Unexpected #111 hit newsstands around December 5, 1968.  The first verified Zodiac murders occurred two weeks later on December 20.

There's been quite a lot of interest in what this apparent comic book connection might mean in recent years, which has in turn driven collector interest in Tim Holt #30.  A fascinating mystery, there's a copy of Tim Holt #30 (Magazine Enterprises, 1952) Condition: VG in this  2023 July 13 – 14 Pre-Code Horror & Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40227 at Heritage Auctions.

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