ADVENTURES INTO DARKNESS #9 * 3.5 * Classic TOTH Story
Heading:
Author:
Title: ADVENTURES INTO DARKNESS No. 9
Place Published:
Publisher:Standard [Indicia: Visual Editions, Inc.]
Date Published: April, 1953
Description:
VG- (3.5). Small nick to spine crown, 1" split at bottom spine with several smaller micro-splits, top staple pulled, small chip to bottom right corner of front cover, light crease to top corner, top spine bumped at back cover, two tiny chips (2mm x 4mm) to back cover. Looks much better than it sounds. Off-white pages. Cover: Unknown. Art: Alex Toth, Rafael Astorita, Mike Sekowski, Nick Cardy. Nice Werewolf cover. GPAnalysis: No reported sales in this grade. PBA sold a 3.0 in October 2021 for $390. A 4.5 sold for $236 in April 2019.
"One of the best Alex Toth efforts to appear in Standard horror, 'The Hands of Don José' can be found in ADVENTURES INTO DARKNESS #9." — George Suarez, Tales To Terrible To Tell #7. NEC: 1992-93, p. 36.
Toth's terror tale is tip-top, as Suarez says. But the real prize in this mag is a bizarre yarn titled "Flowers on Deborah's Grave," by '60s DC stalwart Mike Sekowsky, which approaches Superior levels of psychological depravity. "In the grotesque 'Flowers on Deborah's Grave,' a witch-like old woman named Annie is in love with a sexton named Long Jeems. Each day Annie brings him a bouquet of flowers, but she's infuriated to discover that he takes these flowers and puts them on the grave of a young woman named Deborah. Annie is savagely jealous of her rival, not even caring that she's dead. She opens a hole in the grave and allows crawfish to enter it and feast on the corpse, then displays the skeleton for Long Jeems to see. Suspecting her of desecrating Deborah's tomb, the sexton has already called the authorities to take her away, but the shock of seeing the skeleton kills him as he reveals — too late and to Annie's dismay — that Deborah was not his lover but his daughter." — William Schoell, The Horror Comics: Fiends, Freaks and Fantastic Creatures, 1940s-1980s. McFarland: 2014, p. 109.
A deluxe limited edition of 12 hardcover catalogues is available, in addition to a small number of softcovers. 400 lots, fully illustrated. Fun reference, great keepsake. Softcover $40, deluxe hardcover with dust jacket and limitation plate $200. Eight of the 12 hardcovers are pre-ordered and the rest will go quickly, so reserve yours now. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com.
Consignments welcome for PBA's Spring 2022 Comic Book sale. Top prices for Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age, Silver Age, original art and ephemera. Find out why PBA is the new fan-fave of comics auctioneers. "This is some of the best commentary I've yet seen on the quality of the content of comic books... Priceless." — R. Crumb. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.
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Heading:
Author:
Title: ADVENTURES INTO DARKNESS No. 9
Place Published:
Publisher:Standard [Indicia: Visual Editions, Inc.]
Date Published: April, 1953
Description:
VG- (3.5). Small nick to spine crown, 1" split at bottom spine with several smaller micro-splits, top staple pulled, small chip to bottom right corner of front cover, light crease to top corner, top spine bumped at back cover, two tiny chips (2mm x 4mm) to back cover. Looks much better than it sounds. Off-white pages. Cover: Unknown. Art: Alex Toth, Rafael Astorita, Mike Sekowski, Nick Cardy. Nice Werewolf cover. GPAnalysis: No reported sales in this grade. PBA sold a 3.0 in October 2021 for $390. A 4.5 sold for $236 in April 2019.
"One of the best Alex Toth efforts to appear in Standard horror, 'The Hands of Don José' can be found in ADVENTURES INTO DARKNESS #9." — George Suarez, Tales To Terrible To Tell #7. NEC: 1992-93, p. 36.
Toth's terror tale is tip-top, as Suarez says. But the real prize in this mag is a bizarre yarn titled "Flowers on Deborah's Grave," by '60s DC stalwart Mike Sekowsky, which approaches Superior levels of psychological depravity. "In the grotesque 'Flowers on Deborah's Grave,' a witch-like old woman named Annie is in love with a sexton named Long Jeems. Each day Annie brings him a bouquet of flowers, but she's infuriated to discover that he takes these flowers and puts them on the grave of a young woman named Deborah. Annie is savagely jealous of her rival, not even caring that she's dead. She opens a hole in the grave and allows crawfish to enter it and feast on the corpse, then displays the skeleton for Long Jeems to see. Suspecting her of desecrating Deborah's tomb, the sexton has already called the authorities to take her away, but the shock of seeing the skeleton kills him as he reveals — too late and to Annie's dismay — that Deborah was not his lover but his daughter." — William Schoell, The Horror Comics: Fiends, Freaks and Fantastic Creatures, 1940s-1980s. McFarland: 2014, p. 109.
A deluxe limited edition of 12 hardcover catalogues is available, in addition to a small number of softcovers. 400 lots, fully illustrated. Fun reference, great keepsake. Softcover $40, deluxe hardcover with dust jacket and limitation plate $200. Eight of the 12 hardcovers are pre-ordered and the rest will go quickly, so reserve yours now. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com.
Consignments welcome for PBA's Spring 2022 Comic Book sale. Top prices for Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age, Silver Age, original art and ephemera. Find out why PBA is the new fan-fave of comics auctioneers. "This is some of the best commentary I've yet seen on the quality of the content of comic books... Priceless." — R. Crumb. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.
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