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A 15% BUYER'S PREMIUM WILL BE ADDED TO THIS ITEM AT CONCLUSION OF THE AUCTION
crm/ow pages; apparent/extensive (P) color touch, pieces added , seals, cleaned. (e edges trimmed)
Schomburg bondage cover; origin & 1st app of Fiery Mask, Monako, John Steele and Doc Doyle (1/40)
Ruben Blades Copy


The tenuous bridge between the pulp fiction of the 1930s and the hero boom of the 1940s was famously defined with Daring Mystery Comics #1 — starting with the characteristically hyperactive bondage cover from the great Alex Schomburg. The wild sci-fi imagery may be straight out of Buck Rogers, but Timely's reliably nightmarish villains invited readers to pursue a bold new direction.

The company was still bringing in outside stories from the Chesler and Jacquet Studios, with writer/artist Joe Simon inspiring Schomburg with the debut of the Fiery Mask in "The Fantastic Thriller of the Walking Corpses" (featuring both giant birds and zombie hordes). Monako the Magician also makes his first appearance, as well as two-fisted football star (and future superhero) Flash Foster. These early issues crackle with the fearless creativity that would lead to the Marvel Age, as publishers tried pretty much anything in pursuit of a constantly growing readership.