The Zabra Collection-PRIMARY SET
Action Comics 188

COMIC DETAILS

Comic Description: Action Comics #188 Universal
Grade: 6.5
Page Quality: CREAM TO OFF-WHITE
Certification #: 0805485005
Owner: Zabra

SET DETAILS

Winning Set: The Zabra Collection-PRIMARY SET
Date Added: 7/28/2014
Research: See CGC's Census Report for this Comic

Owner's Description

ACTION COMICS #188 CGC 6.5-THE TORONTO COLLECTION

This book is from The Toronto Collection and referred to as " THE TORONTO COPY."

THE TORONTO COLLECTION

In 2008, Heritage Auction Galleries announced the discovery of an original owner collection of several thousand 1950s comics, dubbed "the Toronto Collection," which was auctioned without reserve beginning with the firm's Feb. 27-29 , 2008 Dallas auction. The average condition of the collection at a whole was about Very Fine. It was noted that the collection had a complete run of the "Atlas superhero revival" issues. The company now known as Marvel stopped publishing superheroes in the late 1940s, but from 1953-1955, they brought back Captain America and other superheroes to star in anti-Communist stories. These are highly collectable now, and the Toronto collection has some of the nicer copies. Superheroes were generally out of favor in the mid-1950s therefore some of the 1952-54 DC superhero issues are harder to find than their 1940s counterparts. The Toronto collection has plenty of Batman, Detective Comics, Wonder Woman, Superman, and the like, and here again, most are among the highest-graded copies. The collection, consigned by the heirs of an anonymous collector, consists primarily of U.S. comics, though it also includes a number of the tough-to-find Bell Features "hybrid" comics which repackaged the U.S. stories for a Canadian audience.

THE SPECTRAL SUPERMAN

This book is SCARCE and its very tough to find a copy of this issue in higher grades or even other grades. This issue of Action Comics was featured in the movie-THE IRON GIANT.


Publisher: DC
Cover Date: January 1954
Aprox. On Sale Date: November 27, 1953
Cover Price: $0.10
Page Count: 40
Editor: Mort Weisinger
Cover Credits:
Artist: J. Winslow Mortimer

4 Stories:
1.Superman:The Spectral Superman
2.Congo Bill: Sinbad the Killer.
3.Tommy Tomorrow: The Rebus of Space.
4.Vigilante:The Reformed Owlhoot Club

Cover art by Win Mortimer. Home, Sweet Home! starring Binky, script by Jack Schiff, art by Bob Oksner. The Spectral Superman, pencils by Wayne Boring, inks by Stan Kaye. Sinbad the Killer starring Congo Bill, art by Ed Smalle. The Rebus of Space starring Tommy Tomorrow, art by Jim Mooney. The Reformed Owlhoot Club starring Vigilante, script by Dick Wood, art by Howard Sherman. 44 pgs. $0.10. Cover price $0.10.

By 1951, the Man of Steel had found a new venue called television. The syndicated Adventures of Superman TV show served to introduce the Man of Steel to an entirely new generation of children. Consequently, a subtle attempt was made to mirror the tone of the program with the Superman stories and covers of the period. Of particular note are the tales from issues 188 ("The Spectral Superman."), 200 ("The Test of a Warrior.") and 201 ("The Challenge of Stoneman."), all of which were later adapted in episodes of the TV series ("Stoneman" as " Through the Time Barrier," and "Spectral Superman" as "Superman in Exile"). Like the television show, the Action covers of the early 50s emphasized standard crime exploits over science-fiction perils-another trend that, like the TV show, would eventually wind down.

 
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