ATOMIC COMICS No. 4 * CGC 8.5 * Matt BAKER Art *

Heading:
Author:
Title: ATOMIC COMICS No. 4 * Cosmic Aeroplane Pedigree
Place Published:
Publisher:Green Publications [Indicia: Green Publishing Co.]
Date Published: July-August, 1946
Description:

CGC certified: VF+ (8.5). Off-white pages. COSMIC AEROPLANE PEDIGREE. Cover: Matt Baker? Jack Kamen? Art: Matt Baker, Bob Webb, Ed Newman? Edited by Ruth Roche. GPAnalysis: An 8.5 sold for $800 in April 2020.

According to Overstreet, this mag's cover is by Matt Baker, while Gerber's Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books credits Jack Kamen. Grand Comics Database offers a half-assed endorsement of Kamen as a likelier possibility. The rendering of the cover gal's bosom resembles Al Feldstein's inimitable style of drawing fabric folds over female curves. Compare the distinctive drapery to similar examples in Feldstein's "Good Girl" work of the era — in particular, his work for Victor Fox's "Junior" and "Sunny" — the similarities are striking. Perhaps Feldstein had a hand in inking this cover?

The artwork for this mag was provided by the Iger Studio, which employed a young Feldstein at the time of this mag's publication. As Feldstein later recalled, his duties for Iger comprised "running errands, erasing pages and doing general gofer work after school for three dollars a week... It was there that I began to learn to do comic-book art — first, by inking backgrounds, then penciling and inking backgrounds, then inking figures penciled by others, then penciling and inking figures, and finally doing whole pages from beginning to end." It's reasonable to suppose that Feldstein inked the woman's figure on the cover, although the rest of the cover's inks are open to question. Then again, Bob Webb, Feldstein's Iger Shop mentor, may have coached Feldstein in this style of delineating drapery, and the cover inks may be Webb's — yet another crediting conundrum unlikely ever to be resolved. — Feldstein quote from his 2003 interview with Jenn Dlugos, archived on Classic-horror.com.

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.