The CLUTCHING HAND #1 * CGC 3.5 * ACG OVERKILL

Heading:
Author:
Title: CLUTCHING HAND No. 1
Place Published:
Publisher:ACG [Indicia: Best Syndicated Features, Inc.]
Date Published: July-August, 1954
Description:

CGC certified: VG- (3.5). Off-white to white pages. Cover: Ken Bald. Stories and art: Paul Gustavson, Harry Lazarus, John Rosenberger, Sheldon Moldoff, Ed Good, Ken Landau. GPAnalysis: No reported sales in this grade. A 4.0 sold for $312 in January 2021.

Ken Bald's cover, featuring a creepy peeping Tom, illustrates Ken Landau's "Yawning Graves." Yawning readers were a bigger concern for ACG: the company's tepid horror stories couldn't keep up as EC, Gillmor, Harvey and others pushed the boundaries of shock and gore. The Clutching Hand #1 was the company's "stab" at hardcore horror — unfortunately, sales-wise, it was dead on arrival.

"This one-shot title was ACG's attempt to test the waters for more extreme horror comics. ACG's titles were quite successful but very tame. This experimental issue does not bear the ACG logo and, believe you me, it went in for horror overkill in a big way! I guess the experiment was a dud: a second issue never appeared." — George Suarez, Tales To Terrible To Tell #2. NEC: 1991, p. 23.

A limited edition of 150 softcover and 15 hardcover catalogues is available. 400 lots, fully illustrated. Fun reference, great keepsake. Softcover $30, deluxe hardcover with dust jacket and limitation plate $200. Ten of the 15 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 December 2021 Comic Book sale. Top prices for Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age, Silver Age, original art and ephemera. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.