The Undead Thread: Pre-Code Horror 21 21

[precodekeith]

Early Gene Colan..... very moody.....

 

Edited April 14, 2005 by precodekeith

[adamstrange]

Not that I don't trust you, but I did check your list against TTTT #3. (You passed!)

 

Would I lie to you!

 

We all make mistakes!

 

I checked because I had it in my head that there were 23 titles and your list had 28. Don't know how I got mixed up because it was a goal of mine to have a comic from each of the horror publishers. (I got the last one I needed a couple years ago.)

[precodekeith]

I checked because I had it in my head that there were 23 titles and your list had 28.

 

I can see how that happened. My 3's often look like 8's.

 

[precodekeith]

ouch....

 

Edited April 14, 2005 by precodekeith

[precodekeith]

The last issue of AiT.....

 

Edited April 14, 2005 by precodekeith

[adamstrange]

Early Gene Colan..... very moody.....

 

 

That is a fabulous cover but, pck, wasn't Colan always moody?

 

That looks like a swipe of Heath's cover to Suspense 24.

[PovertyRow]

Early Gene Colan..... very moody.....

 

Posted this in the Comics General Black Covers but for the sake of GA and especially one of my favorite artists, Gene Colan...here it is again.

 

I'd say the two humans in that cover are a bot moody, too!

 

[precodekeith]

Awesome book, Pov!

 

Did you guys know Gene Colan recently did work on Rob Zombie's Spookshow comic?

[precodekeith]

I know there's still a lot of mixed emotions about there about the spike in prices in the early 90's (and not undeseverdly so) but the horror books have been relatively "cool" for several years now. Are we due for yet another boom period?

 

I think prices are relatively stable, except for a handful of icon and heavily in demand, genuinely scarce books that rarely turn up in any kind of decent shape.

 

I think the PCH market is actually dropping down to pre-boom levels for lower and mid grade books. I've even seen unbelievable deals on some high demand books lately on eBay. Comics are unpredictable, but I'd guess it will be another five years at least before we can expect another resurgence.

 

The money & action right now in the horror comic genre is in HG BA books.

[rjpb]

Early Gene Colan..... very moody.....

 

 

Wow - great cover - this one goes on the want list!

[precodekeith]

Here's my ratty Suspense 24 Adam was talking about.

Nice comparison.

 

Edited April 14, 2005 by precodekeith

[*paull*]

Those HG BA collectors may tire of those books and move on to the classic 50's material. That's when we could see a spike in prices.

[*paull*]

There are so many Atlas covers that would have been much better had they gotten rid of that stupid 3 small frame / 1 large frame design. Covers that aren't full bleed drive me crazy...

[precodekeith]

Those HG BA collectors may tire of those books and move on to the classic 50's material. That's when we could see a spike in prices.

 

Yes, that could happen. In fact however, one reason (of many) that horror collectors started flocking to BA books was because the pre-code market became too expensive for many. So, you end up with a possible yo-yo effect. If BA starts getting too steep, they might come here if the market has become more favorable to their purchasing power. OR... they might move on to Copper Age horror, which really could be the next hot area in horror.

 

In general though, horror goes in cycles. Right now the pre-code is soft and the BA is hot. If the BA cools off, there's really no guarantee ANY horror age will heat up in it's place.

[precodekeith]

ACG generally gets no respect, but ya gotta love this one! First horror series. Beat to death, but for $25 who can complain!?

 

Edited April 14, 2005 by precodekeith

[precodekeith]

... and believe it or not I actually DO have some HG books in my collection!

There's a story similar to the "Thing" in this issue.

If I were going to slab some PCH, I would include this one. I'd be interested in hearing grade guesses based on the scan.......

 

Edited April 14, 2005 by precodekeith

[*paull*]

For $25, that's a steal! I'd love to find a low-grade copy. I saw a detached cover copy that was selling for around $300.

[*paull*]

As far as I'm concerned, there's no comparison between BA and 50's horror. I'll take the latter without exception. I'm a fan of Wrightson and a few other artists that worked for DC in the early 70s, but as far as the stories go, I'll take the 50's material every time...they were much more perverse.

[precodekeith]

This one has a special place in my heart. It was the very first pre-code horror book I ever bought. I got it on a trip to a used paperback store with my late grandfather. I had no concept of pre-code horror at the time... this book started my PCH addiction!

 

Edited April 14, 2005 by precodekeith

[precodekeith]

As far as I'm concerned, there's no comparison between BA and 50's horror. I'll take the latter without exception. I'm a fan of Wrightson and a few other artists that worked for DC in the early 70s, but as far as the stories go, I'll take the 50's material every time...they were much more perverse.

 

Personally, I'm a fan of most horror comics with the exception of some of the schlock dredged up in the post code period up until about House of Mystery 174 (roughly thereabouts). Agreed, the PCH stories are just plain wacked out compared to a lot of what happend in the BA. Surprisingly though, DC in particular was pushing the envelope in the 70's with what they could get away with. There are several extreme stories tucked away in some of those books!

 

It will be interesting to see what happens in the future with Copper Age horror. That time period features great art by the likes of Wrightson PLUS crazy no-code stories by guys like Bruce Jones.