Set Description:
Charlton Sci-Fi Anthology
I love an anthology series. Sci-Fi seems to lend itself to the short-story format (Asimov, Bradbury and so many others) and it's no different with "one shot" stories in comics. EC created iconic stories, but their publication ended before man ever set foot in space (April 1961).
I chose to collect Charton's Space Adventures because it spans the decades from before Alan Sheppard left the comforts of our Earth and then continued after Glenn made his trip around our little blue marble. Im intrigued by the shift in wonder when the unknown of space become a little more known. It did not leave once we began exploring the expanse of space, but it changed a little. It went from being fantastical to being a little more practical, but still amazing.
The first volume of the title (issues 1-59) came out in two phases.
The first publications came in 1952 and ran 21 issues until April of 1956. Of note issues 10 and 11 include some of Steve Ditkos earliest work in comics. Also issues 13 and 14 included some of the last prints of the GA Blue Beetle until his return in the 80s post DC Crisis. Issue 16 includes one Bernie Krigstein's few non-EC published stories.
The second phase of volume 2 began late in 1957 (so about 18 months off) and picked up numbering with issue #23. They had picked up the numbering of Nyoka Queen of the Jungle which ended with issue #22. As a result there is no issue #22 of Space Aventures. Steve Ditko's work is sprinkled throughout this run until he left for Marvel full time (to work on a little known comic called "Spider-Man". In issue 33 Ditko and writer Joe Gill introduced superhero Captain Atom (who I enjoyed in his 80s revival and COIE appearances). The second half of the series continued until November of 1964.
One side note about Charlton. They were (at the time) the only "one stop" publisher, housing the entire publishing process (from concept to print and distribution) under one roof in their Derby, Connecticut facility.
An interesting (to me) story about the SA#31 from the White Mountain collection. A few years ago, when I originally traded for the River City #25, the owner mentioned that he might have another SA and he'd check. He came back saying he was sure he had a #31 from what he thought was the White Mountain pedigree, but he must have traded it away at one of his local swap meets (why cant I live somewhere that has awesome comic book swap meets?). Fast forward 2 years and the same person, a member on the CGC message boards, sends me a message saying he saw my sig line on the message boards and it reminded him about our "missed connection" regarding the SA31, and that he had just recently gotten it back in trade and would I still be interested in it? I of course said yes, and two years later the White Mountain #31 was in my collection!
Notes:
Collection currently includes books from the following pedigrees:
White Mountain (#27,31)
River City (#1, #25)
Bethlehem (#9, #47, v2 #5)
Big Apple (#28)
Charlton File Copies (#46, 49, 52)
Of the 27 books in my Space Adventures registry, 16 are the highest (or share the highest) grade on census.
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