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PUBLISHER: Timely
COMMENTS:A 15% BUYER'S PREMIUM WILL BE ADDED TO THIS ITEM AT CONCLUSION OF THE AUCTION ow pages; Restored (moderate) ct, pieces added, cvr reinforced, spine splits sealed. Top edge of 1st pg trimmed. Mod amt of tape on cvr & interior. Alex Schomburg guillotine, skull cover, Joe Simon story, art; origin & 1st app of the Phantom Bullet (Allan Lewis) (2/40) Ruben Blades Copy
A 15% BUYER'S PREMIUM WILL BE ADDED TO THIS ITEM AT CONCLUSION OF THE AUCTION ow pages; Restored (moderate) ct, pieces added, cvr reinforced, spine splits sealed. Top edge of 1st pg trimmed. Mod amt of tape on cvr & interior. Alex Schomburg guillotine, skull cover, Joe Simon story, art; origin & 1st app of the Phantom Bullet (Allan Lewis) (2/40) Ruben Blades CopySo, yeah, about this cover. Again, with newsstand slots at a premium, and most readers primed for saucy and salacious imagery thanks to a decade of pulp covers and lurid dime novels, scrappy publishers like Timely had to rely on the most sensationalistic imagery possible to grab buyers' eyes and wallets, and Alex Schomburg was one of the industry's go-to guys for this sort of gonzo cover image. Timely hadn't yet hit on their winning formula of patriot heroes battling with and against undersea despots (though Sub-Mariner was already gracing his own strip, he hadn't yet hit the big time), so they were trying anything they could with action-oriented, fantasy-derived heroes such as the Phantom Bullet, who quickly faded into obscurity after his one lonely appearance in this issue. Pre-Cap Timelys are fascinating, coupling lush, illustrative art with frantic, pulpy storytelling that tried to be everything at once, and sometimes succeeded. But it's the cover that makes this a treasure, and its extreme rarity keep it at the top of Timely completionists' want lists.
Ennis script
Ennis script