One area of focus in comic collecting that has been overlooked since other forms of media began to have such a great influence on the hobby is that of hunting down key comics by top creators. Never fear. We’re here to help you sort through the top books by individual creators, both in terms of investing and reading. This time we’re looking at the works of Alex Schomburg.
The Great Golden Age Cover Artist
Alex Schomburg is one of the most lauded comic book cover artists of the Golden Age. Ask any collector who their favorite Golden Age comic artist is, and odds are that Schomburg will be in the top five. Primarily a cover artist – he rarely did interior work other than the occasional promotional piece within the pages of a comic book – Schomburg was responsible for the covers of more than 600 comic books. However, he didn’t get his start in comics.
Early Magazine Work
Alex Schomburg was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico in 1905. At the age of 12, he moved to New York and attended public school. Upon graduation in 1923, he began working with his three older brothers as a commercial artist. In 1929, he was hired by National Screen Service and would spend the next 15 years working on movie trailers. Still artwork was more of a moonlighting job for Schomburg. Earlier in the 1920s, he had the good fortune to meet Hugo Gernsback, later to become one of the great editors of pulp magazines. Gernsback was impressed by Schomburg’s work and asked him to contribute interior illustrations for science and electronics magazines. This led to his first cover work, which appeared on the December 1925 issue of The Experimenter.
Schomburg soon expanded into the world of pulp magazines, providing interior artwork throughout the 1930s for such titles as Popular Detective, Popular Western, Thrilling Adventures, and Thrilling Wonder Stories. Of particular note was his first pulp cover: Startling Stories #5 (v2 #2) published by Standard Magazines in September 1939. Standard was run by Ned Pines at the time and he would later reach out to Schomburg for work in comic books – but more on that in a bit. A 7.0 graded pedigree copy of Startling Stories #5 (v2 #2) sold in a February 20 Heritage auction for $2,040, and it is one of the most coveted issues of this series due almost solely to Schomburg’s cover work. An interesting comic book aside involving this issue is that it was edited by Mort Weisinger who would go on to become the defining presence at DC Comics during the Silver Age.
First Timely Covers
Schomburg began freelancing for Timely Comics beginning in 1939. Publisher Martin Goodman was impressed by Schomburg’s magazine covers, as was editor Stan Lee. His first two timely covers appeared in the same month – January 1940.
There are 41 graded copies of Marvel Mystery Comics #3 in the CGC census. The highest price paid was $24,000 for a 2.5 graded copy in a 2023 Heritage auction. One of two 9.0 graded copies last sold in a 2010 Heritage auction for $22,705. It’s hard to imagine a copy in that condition going for less than six figures nowadays.
Schomburg’s second cover published that month was Daring Mystery Comics #1. There are 56 graded copies in the CGC census, including a lone 9.4 graded copy that has never sold. A 9.2 pedigree copy sold in an October 2, 2024 ComicConnect auction for $132,000. It’s by far the highest price ever paid, with the runner-up being a non-pedigree 9.2 that sold for $46,500 in a 2014 ComicConnect auction.
Timely Superhero Covers
In all, Schomburg would produce more than 200 covers for Timely between 1940 and 1946. The majority were superhero covers. His work is known for its intricate design and his ability to pack more into a cover than any other artist at the time. He wasn’t all that concerned with perspective in his comic work, preferring to add as much detail as possible. Here are some of his most highly regarded (links provided for you to check out values here on GoCollect):
Marvel Mystery Comics #9 – July 1940
Captain America Comics #3 – May 1941
USA Comics #7 – February 1943
All Select Comics #1 – Fall 1943
All Select Comics #2 – Winter 1943-44
Captain America Comics #37 – April 1944
The list of Schomburg’s covers is too exhaustive to spell out here. A good source is the Grand Comics Database. Their index of his covers can be found here: https://www.comics.org/cover_checklist/283/?page=1. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out a few of my own favorites:
Kid Komics #4 – Spring 1944
Amazing Comics #1 – Fall 1944
All Winners Comics #13 – Fall 1944
Schomburg’s final cover for Timely was Marvel Mystery Comics #76 published in September 1946.
Standard Covers
It wasn’t long before Ned Pines noticed Schomburg’s Timely covers and reached out to him about providing covers for his Standard Comics. The first of these covers appeared on Thrilling Comics #7, published in August 1940, just eight months after Schomburg began his work for Timely. There are only 17 graded copies in the CGC census. A 6.5 sold in an October 2024 fixed price eBay sale for $12,999, the highest price paid. A 7.5 sold in a January 12 Heritage auction for $12,000, marking it as a discounted price in comparison.
Schomburg’s work would grace the covers of Standard’s most prominent comics – America’s Best Comics, Exciting Comics, Terrific Comics, Thrilling Comics, and more. While not as highly regarded by fans as his Timely work, there’s a larger volume of work to choose from – more than 300 covers in all. One of the early standouts is Terrific Comics #5 published in September 1944.
There are 48 graded copies, and the highest price paid was $75,000 for a 9.0 graded pedigree copy in a 2021 Heritage auction. A 6.5 sold in The Collector Connection’s June 2024 auction for $23,620. Schomburg’s best work for Standard would come later in the decade, but more on that in a bit.
Covers for Other Publishers
Other publishers badly wanted Schomburg to provide covers for them. Among those was Harvey Comics. His first work for them was the cover of Green Hornet Comics #16. While it’s definitely a more affordable option for the potential Schomburg collector, it’s a much harder find with just eight graded copies in the CGC census. A 3.5 sold in a December 15, 2024 eBay auction for only $431. The highest price paid was $546 for an 8.5 in a 2002 Heritage auction. Present dollar value puts it at nearly $1,000 but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it fetch more in a modern-day auction.
Perhaps one of Schomburg’s most famous covers was published by Continental Magazines in April 1944. The classic Nazi/bondage cover for Suspense Comics #3 is known by collectors far and wide and is one of the most coveted of the Golden Age. Sales this year include a 4.0 selling in the January 12 Heritage auction for $156,000 and a 1.5 going for $66,000 in the April 6 Heritage auction. The record holder is a CBCS graded 9.2 pedigree copy that sold for $262,900 in a 2017 Heritage auction. It’s hard to imagine it going for less than $400,000 in a present-day auction.
Xela Airbrush Covers
Exciting Comics #57, published in September 1947, is a fine example of Schomburg’s airbrush work. There are 72 graded copies, and the record holder is a 9.8 graded pedigree copy that went for $9,000 in a 2021 Heritage sale. The next highest is much more affordable – an 8.5 that went for $1,759 in a 2023 ComicConnect auction.
Another excellent example is Thrilling Comics #62 published in October 1947. The lone top-of-census 9.6 graded copy just sold in the April 6 Heritage auction for $6,600.
Then, of course, there’s the famous robot cover for Startling Comics #49 published in January 1948. There are a whopping (for the time) 145 graded copies in the CGC census. An 8.0 sold in the April 6 Heritage auction for $22,200, while a 9.0 sold in the January 12 Heritage auction for $40,800. The record holder is a 9.6 Promise Collection copy that sold in a 2021 Heritage auction for $132,000.
End of One Era… Beginning of Another
Alex Schomburg is generally regarded by comic collectors as a 1940s artist. His final Golden Age comic cover was for Dear Beatrice Fairfax #9 published by Standard in September 1951. However, that was far from the end of his artistic career. Primarily as a cover artist, Schomburg would produce works for science fiction pulps:
The Winston Juvenile science fiction hardbound series:
Paperback books:
And covers and interiors for Everyday Astrology:
In fact, Schomburg produced covers and interiors for Everyday Astrology from 1938 to 1956. Schomburg was also the first design artist hired by Stanley Kubrick for production on 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Invaders
Roy Thomas managed to coax Schomburg out comic book retirement back in 1976 for work on Invaders Annual #1. The artist provided the cover and six pages of interior artwork for a Human Torch story. If his Golden Age work is out of reach, this is the issue to pursue if you’re interested in owning a Schomburg cover. There are 566 graded copies in the CGC census. Values range from roughly $450 for a 9.8 down to less than $50 for a 7.5 or 7.0, making it the most affordable of Schomburg’s comic book work.
Legacy
Alex Schomburg is widely regarded as one of the great comic book cover artists of the Golden Age. Comics historian Ron Goulart has compared his works to Dutch Master Hieronymus Bosch – due more to his attention to detail than his execution. It can be argued that no one drew Timely’s heroes – Captain America, the Human Torch, and the Sub-Mariner – better than Schomburg. Stan Lee said of Schomburg, “Alex Schomburg was to comic books what Norman Rockwell was to The Saturday Evening Post...When it came to illustrating covers, there simply was no one else in Alex's league."
Lauded during his time and after, Schomburg was a runner-up for the 1962 Hugo Award for best artist, won the Inkpot Award in 1985, won a lifetime achievement award at the 1989 Hugo Award presentation, and was posthumously inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 1999. Alex Schomburg died on April 7, 1998, and left us all with an incomparable body of work that includes some of the greatest comic covers – not just of the Golden Age, but of all time.
