Doohickamabob

Our next coloring contest?

This one is really cool! I want to know what music you were listening to when you drew this:

Kind of reminds me of the joke that begins, "What's green, skinny and smells like pork?"

This seems like a feasible theory to me. It certainly explains the significantly higher-quality work he did for St.John.

The new book on Baker suggests that this cover is by someone imitating Baker's style but not by Baker himself. Note that on the label CGC doesn't attribute the cover to Baker. On the other hand, there is a copy in this Sunday's HA auction and they do attribute the cover to Baker. Any thoughts by knowledgable Baker fans? (p.s. Any way you look at it, it's a sensational cover and this copy is superb.) I don't think it is by either Baker, Kamen or Webb. Someone else is imitating Baker. I always assumed it was Kamen, Baker, or the two collaborating. It has similarities to Phantom Lady #23 and there is nothing about the style that is so far off as to suggest it can't be Baker/Kamen (doing a rush job), except that there are some quirks with the way the body is composed (the awkward head position and the bizarre pelvic protrusion). Come to think of it, though, there do seem to be many Fox covers late in the run, before the company shut down in 1949/50, that look like imitation/wannabe Baker covers. Some of them are obviously done by A.C. Hollingsworth (usually crime titles) but other ones do not appear to have any noticeable style. I wonder if some of these might be done by the same artist who did many of the covers for Superior publisher out of Canada? Many of the mid-to-late-run Brenda Starrs, for example, appear to be done by somebody imitating Baker/Kamen.

glands > hands

I dunno, I think most of the time with the romance covers, the hands are pretty good. They are usually small elements of the composition so they don't get a lot of detail. But some of them are rendered nicely. Some examples... And... Then again, sometimes Baker is a little too good at drawing hand details:

This was an assignment in an art class. The assignment was to find a high contrast black-and-white photo and use the negative space of the image ("negative space" meaning, in this case, the white space) and use it to make other images. I decided to make images out of both the white and the black parts of the images.

Something I was doodling around with. Probably copied some of the eyes from magazine photos. The smudges are from rubber cement on the back of the paper.

Here's some stuff my dad found stuffed away in a box, and just gave to me. These are a couple decades old at least. First, an old image from my days of being a Mad freak:

Therapy may be in order. (Actually it's pretty cool...in an intense kinda way.)

Now that I've seen the posted photos, I have to agree with you.

I put a snipe in for around that amount (it didn't register as there were other similar bids that were seconds earlier). I wasn't going to bid higher than that, though, which as you surmised was par for the course. The scan was enough to show that the book wasn't a VG. Just curious what you would grade it? It has some staple tears, corner chip, etc.

You're addicted to clown balloons?

Full review: " Worst reprint volume I've ever seen November 19, 2012 By The Bibliophile Amazon Verified Purchase Truly terrible product. Simply reprints a lot of bad scans from the Internet with no attempt at restoration. Furthermore, this collection also often only reprints partial stories (three or four pages) and then ends abruptly (what kind of book only reprints the first few pages of a seven or eight page story?!?). Horrible layout, with nearly four comic book pages squeezed onto one of this book's smallish pages. This book feels like a complete cash grab, and is a dishonor to the artist and his fans. Couldn't imagine being more disappointed...avoid at all costs." If what this review says is true, then it sounds like a book to avoid. That's a shame because the Sky Girl stories are some classic Baker.

Love it. I wonder what Baker thought of Xela's jungle bondage covers? This one has a bit of Exciting #59 to it, and Seven Seas #4 is a lot like Exciting #60. Actually now that I look it up, it seems Schomburg's covers were 1948 while Baker's were 1947, so maybe Schomburg was inspired by Baker?

Are you anticipating a final pressing thread after this one?

So CGC is expanding into providing a restoration service. Will they also be expanding into speeding up the wait times of their existing business?

Hot damn those are great! I have the 1st and 3rd but yours are in vastly better condition. Nice score!

That is a beauty. Wow. It's right below your Venus 19 on the jealously scale. Yep - great colours. I imagine there aren't many better copies out there... I have a CGC 7.0 copy (2nd-highest graded last time I checked). I also have a raw 5.5 or so, to go with my run of Youthful Magazines horror titles. (Yeah I'm a hoarder.) I had no idea you were a PCH fan. Great books. Gracias (and to alanna too). I don't have much PCH but had to have this one. (Will probably never get ahold of a Venus horror comic.)

That is a beauty. Wow. It's right below your Venus 19 on the jealously scale. Yep - great colours. I imagine there aren't many better copies out there... I have a CGC 7.0 copy (2nd-highest graded last time I checked). I also have a raw 5.5 or so, to go with my run of Youthful Magazines horror titles. (Yeah I'm a hoarder.)

Is it bad etiquette to post about a comic that is still being auctioned? If so, I apologize (I have no affiliation or knowledge of the seller, FYI). I just think this comic is really cool and I've been enjoying watching the auction play out: Chilling Tales 16 on eBay 32 bids though it mostly looks like 3 bidders in a war. I love the cover.

Verrry cool! I have a double cover from that time period too. Mine is the one where Alfred is growing a potted tree, or something. I'd much rather have your double cover.

Great to hear from you. Your collection sounds like it would be a lot of fun to look at. Please post pics/scans if you have any. I hear you on the postal rates! That's a real hurdle but you have access to a lot of unusual material too.

Just curious how you can tell (from the cover) that it's the Canadian variant?