Welcome back to this week's top pics from Heritage's weekly comic book auctions! Heritage holds weekly funny book auctions that feature key issues, overlooked comics, oddball memorabilia items, and more. These auctions are a must if you want to beef up your collection! Here are my top picks for you to watch.
Web of Mystery #10 Ungraded
This pre-code beauty may have taken inspiration from The Portrait of Dorian Grey for the cover, or at least honored it in its own unique way. The publisher, Ace Magazines, produced a number of titles between 1940 and 1956. Unfortunately for them, many of their own horror comics were used in the infamous U.S. Congressional Hearings, which resulted in the formation of the Comics Code Authority. It's surprising Ace hung around for two years after the formation of the code, but like many other publishers, they eventually succumbed to the changing tide of comics. Many of their books can be found online through various sources.
This ungraded copy of Web of Mystery #10 is visually striking. The cover is still overall very clean, a hard task for a cover with so much black on it! Heritage notes this book is in Fine condition, but page quality is unknown. Graded copies don't command much money, and to date CGC has only graded 22 copies. This could be a great, inexpensive pre-code horror book to add to your collection.
Weird Tales of the Future #5 CGC Universal 5.0
This cover by Basil Wolverton is another late pre-code science fiction entry, and it is amazing. The detail on the alien is what caught my eye, but this cover is a visual feast! Wolverton is best known for his more grotesque covers for MAD Magazine, for which he did only 9 covers. Yet his art style is so distinct and memorable that those covers have defined MAD for generations. His work has become very collectible, and is still rightfully celebrated today.
This CGC universal 5.0 copy boasts off-white to white pages. To date, CGC has only graded 70 copies of this book, with 65 obtaining a universal grade. The current Fair Market Value for a 5.0 copy is $2,700, with prices trending up. If you're building a Basil Wolverton collection, this is a great book to pick up.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: The Comic Book #1 CGC Universal 9.8
It's hard to believe that Rocky Horror is turning 50 this year, but it is! While Rocky Horror was at one point one of those mostly cult-popular films, I believe it is fair to say that it has grown beyond its cult status and is just a popular film. It's fair to say we will likely see a number of merchandise tie-ins for the 50th, as well as special screenings (which happen often for RHPS anyway). It was also recently announced that the movie would be getting a "new" logo and a 4K Ultra remaster. The movie will continue to grow in popularity, and most of us can agree that that's not a bad thing.
This CGC Universal 9.8 white pages copy of RHPS #1 is great. The movie got the comic book treatment in 1990, resulting in three issues that follow the movie, and then some. The first issue also has a second printing variant, but both feature Tim Curry's Dr. Frank-N-Furter. This book tends to stay below the $250 mark, and while we may see a pique in interest, this is more a book for collectors.
