*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. Shocking Mystery Cases (1952) lasted 11 issues from #50 to #60, and whilst ostensibly a crime title, all the content has strong horror overtones. Issue #51 follows a familiar Star pattern: a new lead story by the stylish Jay Disbrow, backed up with Fox reprints from the 1940s. However, as with all the comics in this Miasma feature, it is the L B Cole cover for which this is highly prized, and he is nowhere more psychedelic than here with a swirling two colour pattern emanating from a solitary, disembodied eye, a murderer, a corpse and two bloody heads. This copy is vibrant, fresh and colourful, with a beautifully intact spine (just very minor non-colour breaking creases), tight and firmly attached staples and gorgeous high quality white to off-white pages. Fairly minor defects include a tiny chip off the top right cover corner (see scan), and a tiny piece of tape inside cover sealing a 2 cm tear at the bottom right cover corner. High resolution images are available on request.   
PICTURED: SHOCKING MYSTERY CASES #51 VG+ £525 SOLD