DARK MYSTERIES #19 * CGC 3.0 * RACK OF TERROR *
Heading:
Author:
Title: DARK MYSTERIES No. 19
Place Published:
Publisher:Story, aka Master/Merit [Indicia: Master Comics, Inc.]
Date Published: August, 1954
Description:
CGC certified: G/VG (3.0). Cream to off-white pages. Cover: Hy Fleishman. No story credits. Art: Hy Fleishman? Jon D'Agostino, A.C. Hollingsworth. Overstreet says: "Injury-to-eye panel; EC swipe; torture cover." GPAnalysis: A 3.0 sold for $1440 in October 2021.
Hy Fleishman's cover, a masterpiece of depravity, depicts "ancient corpses" (aka skeletons) giving their helpless victim a serious case of spine-roll on "THE RACK OF TERROR."
The cover story, probably also by Fleishman, is a swipe of Graham Ingels' "Creep Course" from Haunt of Fear #23 (Jan.-Feb., 1954). In both stories, a sexy college gal, wanting to improve her GPA, goes home with her creepy old history professor and ends up imprisoned in his dungeon of doom. The EC version is unsettling enough, with implied mutilation and death, but the Story version goes further: A pretty blonde co-ed is tortured on a rack, her limbs "stretched spread-eagle" as she screams her onomatopoeia of agony: "EEYAH!" Unlike the EC version, there's no punning GhouLunatic reassuring readers with cornball gags — just sinister skeletons having fun over their own private joke, with humanity itself as the punchline.
"Skeletons were rendered masterfully for the Story Comics titles Dark Mysteries and Mysterious Adventures, illustrated by Hy Fleishman.... The skeletons, with their gleaming purity, their immunity to hurt, and their righteous revenge schemes, are having the time of their deaths. No matter what they're up to — rotating a girl on a torture wheel, for instance — it's fun, fun, fun." — Jim Trombetta, The Horror! The Horror! Comic Books the Government Didn't Want You To Read! Abrams: 2010, pp. 185-186 (slightly edited).
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: DARK MYSTERIES No. 19
Place Published:
Publisher:Story, aka Master/Merit [Indicia: Master Comics, Inc.]
Date Published: August, 1954
Description:
CGC certified: G/VG (3.0). Cream to off-white pages. Cover: Hy Fleishman. No story credits. Art: Hy Fleishman? Jon D'Agostino, A.C. Hollingsworth. Overstreet says: "Injury-to-eye panel; EC swipe; torture cover." GPAnalysis: A 3.0 sold for $1440 in October 2021.
Hy Fleishman's cover, a masterpiece of depravity, depicts "ancient corpses" (aka skeletons) giving their helpless victim a serious case of spine-roll on "THE RACK OF TERROR."
The cover story, probably also by Fleishman, is a swipe of Graham Ingels' "Creep Course" from Haunt of Fear #23 (Jan.-Feb., 1954). In both stories, a sexy college gal, wanting to improve her GPA, goes home with her creepy old history professor and ends up imprisoned in his dungeon of doom. The EC version is unsettling enough, with implied mutilation and death, but the Story version goes further: A pretty blonde co-ed is tortured on a rack, her limbs "stretched spread-eagle" as she screams her onomatopoeia of agony: "EEYAH!" Unlike the EC version, there's no punning GhouLunatic reassuring readers with cornball gags — just sinister skeletons having fun over their own private joke, with humanity itself as the punchline.
"Skeletons were rendered masterfully for the Story Comics titles Dark Mysteries and Mysterious Adventures, illustrated by Hy Fleishman.... The skeletons, with their gleaming purity, their immunity to hurt, and their righteous revenge schemes, are having the time of their deaths. No matter what they're up to — rotating a girl on a torture wheel, for instance — it's fun, fun, fun." — Jim Trombetta, The Horror! The Horror! Comic Books the Government Didn't Want You To Read! Abrams: 2010, pp. 185-186 (slightly edited).
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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