The BEYOND #27 * 2.5 * SOTI * Deep-Sea Dive of DEATH

Heading:
Author:
Title: The BEYOND No. 27
Place Published:
Publisher:Ace [Indicia: Unity Publishing Corp.]
Date Published: July, 1954
Description:

Good+ (2.5). Staples pulled, two 1" splits to spine, nicks and edgewear, light corner crease, tiny chip to top edge of back cover (3mm x 3mm), soiling to the "B" in "BEYOND," several transverse tears to spine affecting covers and pages, some rust to bottom staple, spine flat but page edges protrude a bit beyond edge of back cover. Cream to off-white pages. Professionally cleaned and pressed by Comics In A Flash. An attractive low-grade mag with potential to slab at 3.0. Cover: Uncredited. Art: Ken Rice, Sy Grudko, Lou Cameron, Jim McLauglin, Mike Sekowsky. Used in SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT. GPAnalysis: No reported sales in this grade. Only four reported sales in any grades: A 1.8 sold for an absurd $50 in 2016; a 4.0 sold for $1574 and another sold for $1648 in 2021; a 6.0 sold for $2032 in 2018.

Classic "deep-sea dive of doom" cover. There's a strange impact to images of rotting corpses wearing life-support apparatus that has failed in its appointed task; see also Wally Wood's classic "rotting corpse in space suit" cover to fellow SOTI book Weird Science #19 (May-June, 1953). Perhaps the polio epidemic of the Great Depression, with its multitude of victims confined to iron lungs, contributed to the psychological effect produced by this sort of imagery. It's interesting that Dr. Wertham selected both Weird Science #19 and Beyond #27 from the newsstands when he compiled his SOTI research: was he subconsciously drawn to the similar cover motifs? It may be that the failure of the dead men's protective gear struck the good doctor as a metaphor for society's failure to shield kids from harmful influences.

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