Bill Everett’s Altar Surprise on Journey into Mystery #6, at Auction

A foundational creator of the Golden Age, Bill Everett is best known for his creation of Namor the Sub-Mariner in that era and his co-creation of Daredevil in the Silver Age.  But Everett excelled at an astonishing range of material, and his work between those two ages for Marvel/Atlas during the Pre-Code era on science fiction, war and horror titles includes countless underappreciated gems.  A one-off creation from Everett during this period, the Zombie from Menace #5, would later become an enduring Marvel horror character.  But Everett would contribute to about 200 Marvel/Atlas issues 1949-1954, including nearly 100 covers.  There are numerous underappreciated Pre-Code Horror gems among those covers, including this Journey Into Mystery #6 (Atlas, 1953) CGC VG/FN 5.0 Off-white to white pages as well as several other Marvel/Atlas comics with Bill Everett covers from this era up for auction in the 2022 October 27 – 28 Halloween Pre-Code Horror and Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40207 at Heritage Auctions.

Best remembered as the title that introduced Thor to the Silver Age Marvel Universe in 1962, Journey into Mystery started out as one of the many Marvel/Atlas horror titles of the Pre-Code era.  The publisher is generally underappreciated as the driver of the horror genre during this era with around 389 comics that can be considered PCH, vs EC Comics’ PCH output of about 91 comic book issues.  As a glance at the scan will show you, this is a classic black cover scenario here, the common phenomenon where good-looking copies have become tougher to come by because the back background makes wear much more apparent.  The highest graded copy of this issue on the CGC Census is a GCC 7.5, which is part of why bidding has been spirited on this very nicely-presenting  Journey Into Mystery #6 (Atlas, 1953) CGC VG/FN 5.0 Off-white to white pages as well as several other Marvel/Atlas comics with Bill Everett covers from this era up for auction in the 2022 October 27 – 28 Halloween Pre-Code Horror and Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40207 at Heritage Auctions. If you’ve never bid at Heritage Auctions before, you can get further information, you can check out their FAQ on the bidding process and related matters.

Journey Into Mystery #6 (Atlas, 1953) CGC VG/FN 5.0 Off-white to white pages. Bill Everett skull cover. Russ Heath and Tony di Preta art. Stan Lee story. Overstreet 2022 VG 4.0 value = $490; FN 6.0 value = $735. CGC census 10/22: 6 in 5.0, 13 higher.

CGC Grader Notes:
light bends to cover
light tears to cover
moderate bindery tears to cover
moderate spine stress lines to cover

View the certification for CGC Certification ID 3713817006.

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