*Horror 1940-1959: The Bute Collection delivers more thrills and chills this week. Harvey’s Black Cat started out in 1946 as a super-heroine comic, before later becoming Black Cat Western, then Black Cat Mystery, ending its life in the early 60s with Giant reprints of the original titular character. Here we are concerned with the pre-code horror phase. This series featured some of the most infamous covers of the genre and the content was full of gore, graphic violence and supernatural themes. Issue #46 from 1953 features a pretty gruesome mad scientist/disembodied head in a flask cover by Lee Elias. Whilst not all the creative credits are known for the contents, we can confirm that artists include Manny Stallman, Howard Nostrand and Bob Powell (among others). This is a pretty rough copy, with the covers detached and separated and with several chips missing at the spine. There’s also a large spine split throughout all the pages, although the staples hold the body of the comic together. The cover is only affected at the spine and edges, and the lurid cover colours are strong. Nevertheless, really a reading copy or placemarker only in this state.
PICTURED: BLACK CAT MYSTERY #46 PR £50 SOLD