ALL-AMERICAN COMICS #15 * CGC 3.0 * Last Pre-Hero Ish

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Author:
Title: ALL-AMERICAN COMICS No. 15
Place Published:
Publisher:DC [Indicia: All-American Comics Inc.]
Date Published: June, 1940
Description: CGC certified: G/VG (3.0). Grader's notes: "Detached centerfold; detached front cover; tape left bottom of spine; moderate staple rust." Off-white pages. Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.

GPAnalysis: No reported sales in this grade. A 4.5 sold for $227 in 2007.

Overstreet: "Last Tippie & Reg'lar Fellers; Ultra Man cover." CGC Census: 9 graded copies (7 Universal, 2 Restored). Gerber's Photo-Journal Guide Scarcity Index: 6 ("Uncommon: 50-200 copies").

Credits: Cover: Jon Blummer. Scripts: Jon Blummer, Al Smith, Gene Byrnes, Robert Ripley, A.W. Nugent, Edwina Dumm, Sheldon Mayer, Art Helfant, Carl Claudy, Edwin Alger, Jerry Siegel. Art: Jon Blummer, Al Smith, Gene Byrnes, Robert Ripley, A.W. Nugent, Edwina Dumm, Sheldon Mayer, Art Helfant, Stan Asch, Bill Smith.Countdown to Green Lantern: Last pre-hero ish of All-American Comics. The next ish would introduce Martin Nodell's Green Lantern, who, along with Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Hawkman, would dominate All-American's publishing lineup until the company formally merged with Harry Donenfeld's DC.

"An advertising artist named Marty Nodell, who never knew comics existed until he needed a job, took samples to [editor Sheldon] Mayer and was told to 'come back with a superhero.' Marty walked to the subway trying to think of ideas and saw a workman holding a green lantern. So he threw together a hero clad in green, red, yellow, and black — with a huge purple cape — who finds a green railroad lantern, powered by a meteorite from ancient China, that generates a magic ring. It made no sense at all, but Mayer bought it. And then the kids bought it. Green Lantern was a hit." — G. Jones, Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book. Basic Books: 2004, p. 204.****************************************
The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION comprises over 40,000 comic books, encompassing every single DC comic published for retail sale from 1934 to 2014. The collection was amassed by British music producer Ian Levine over the course of several decades, and it's been hailed as the single greatest collecting accomplishment in comic book history. This collection served as the basis for former DC Comics president Paul Levitz's monumental book 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, published by Taschen in 2017. PBA is proud to present this epic collection in a series of themed sales, including The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION Part 3: The GOLDEN AGE, coming this summer. To join the DC Universe Collection notifications list, contact pba@pbagalleries.com.

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