*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: In the early 1950s, a small number of horror comics (around 40) were produced by a variety of UK publishers reprinting US pre-code horror stories in black and white. Just as in the USA, these became notorious and subject to censorship which led to their discontinuation. There’s a lot of information online about the banning of UK horror comics if you want to know more, and I particularly recommend a youtube video by Canadian Dave Dustin on the subject (see the Links page in our Extras section for more information). These UK horror comics have become both extremely rare and much sought after in recent years, and we’re delighted to have two #1 (and only) issues fresh in this week.
PICTURED: BOTH SOLD
ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS #1 FA £60 Published by Heritage Productions and distributed by Thorpe & Porter; it’s undated but believed to be 1952. (There’s rumoured to be a #2, but we have no proof of this). It features the content and cover of the US Adventures Into Weird Worlds #8 from Atlas, as well as content from #6, Spellbound #5 and Astonishing #15. Artists include Dick Ayers, Jim Mooney and Jack Keller, with a Bill Everett cover. This is a low grade copy missing the back cover, but all story pages are complete. The front cover has edge wear, small creases and nicks, but isn’t at all bad. Firmly held together by strong staples, the page quality is quite decent.
COMICS TO HOLD YOU SPELLBOUND #1 PR/FA £60 From Thorpe & Porter 1953, reprinting the cover and contents of Atlas’s Spellbound #3. Plus, since this comic is double the size of a standard US comic, there are also stories from Astonishing #13 and Adventures Into Weird Worlds #6, also from Atlas. Cover by Russ Heath, art by Ogden Whitney, Fred Kida, Sol Brodsky, Manny Stallman, Mike Sekowsky, Bernie Krigstein, Joe Sinnott, Ross Andru and others. This low grade copy is missing the rear cover, but all story pages are complete. The front cover has chips out and wear at all edges, including colour-breaking creases and is off at the bottom staple with a spine split from there to the base of the spine. Pages are okay, but a little dingy with some edge tears and dog-earring, but are completely readable.