Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Colossal Comic #18


If you're just interested in the contents you can probably crib together a facsimile of Colossal Comic #18 by ransacking later issues of the series, along with a couple of issues of All Star Adventure Comic and Tip Top Comic Monthly, an issue of All Favourites Comic and Super Adventure Comic, and one or two other pamphlet issues.

And I wouldn't blame you if you resorted to this. Issues like this one are very difficult to find. The earlier issues may have more cachet, and may fetch the highest prices, but there's also more chance of finding copies of them. The Colossals numbered in the teens are some of the most difficult issues to find.

But there's more to Colossal Comic #18 than the contents, and it's all evident on the cover. Another beautiful outer space cover by Hart Amos, this time with a satellite front and centre (Space Station No 1? Not Sputnik I guess...) And Australia even makes a cameo appearance on the green mudball in the bottom left hand corner (Earth tended to be green on Colossal Comic outer space covers for some reason - see Colossal Comic #13 - let's call it another Amos trademark!) This cover is unsigned but, unlike Colossal Comic #15 discussed yesterday, the style is typical and representative of Colossal Comic and Amos of this period.

Oh, and just in case there’s any doubt, no, I haven't seen another copy besides this one, and yes, this one is also mine, and yes, I scored them both together, and... BWAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAAAAA!!!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This space station image could have been stimulated by anything, given the dominance of SF themes in super-hero and other comics.

However... This issue came out in mid-1961. Is it a conincidence that early that year Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space (perhaps it is a Sputnik after all?) followed by some unknown US chap later in the year.

spiros xenos said...

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