*Horror 1940-1959: L B Cole was one of the most famous of Golden/Atomic Age cover artists. He drew in a variety of genres, and was artistic director at Star, illustrating 95% of the company’s covers; his lurid, feverish style, almost hallucinogenic, graced horror, science-fiction, jungle and romance alike. Star took over the venerable title Blue Bolt in 1949 (previously it had been a classic anthology title starring the titular character, with much work by Simon & Kirby, Everett etc, lasting throughout the war years and beyond). The title on the cover changed to Blue Bolt Weird Tales with this issue, #111, although the indicia remained as Blue Bolt. #111 was the last to feature Blue Bolt himself regularly, and the emphasis of the series had changed to horror, according to the zeitgeist of the time. Indeed, the title was rebranded as Ghostly Weird Stories from #120 onwards. In #111, with the usual mix of new and reprint material, the stories are either horror or science fiction with strong horror overtones. But of course it’s the wonderful L B Cole cover for which these issues are prized, here a face of horror surrounded by ghouls, skulls, guttering candles, a snake, a demon and clutching hands emerging from dark water. This is a very decent copy, with just very minor spine ticks and a couple of creases in the top right corner which do not break colour. The vivid colours pop out from the solid black background. The spine has a lower cover split of less than 3 cm. Staples are tight at the spine, but the centrefold is detached. Pages are a supple off-white to cream. High resolution images are available on request. PICTURED: BLUE BOLT WEIRD TALES #111 VG £900 SOLD