The Fabuleous Fifties

Hi-Yo Golden Age

Wednesday Advertising Day.

Here are soe more of my double Timely books. I am selling these at the most reasonable price. People interested can contact me through one of the Yahoo groups I frequent or leave their e-mail adress in a comment (which I will remove after answering).

Western Gunfighters #21
Aug 1956
Cover by Carl Burgos

Artists: Reed Crandell, Herb Familton, Jay Scott Pike, Manny Stallman (?), unknown
Condition: Good minus, tape on the spine (no deterioration)
Guide price: $10
Offer price: $8 (sold)

Western Gunfighters was a great book with mixed one-off stories, which eans it has a different surprise for collectors every issue. This time it's the Reed Crandell story, a seven pager by Stan Lee about a gunfighter who has been given only a few weeks to live. Stan Lee sometimes gave himself a few more pages for his stories and it often paid out. The fourth story, though drawn by an unknown seems like the work of Bob Forgione to me.

Cowboy Action #6
May 1955
Cover by Joe Maneely

Artists: Joe Maneely, Paul Reinman, Mort Drucker, Ross Andru
Condition: Fair, some water damage on the top and top spine brittle
Guide price: $8
Offer price: $5

Great book, too bad about the condition. It has four of my favorite artists and all stories are written by Stan Lee. As with most post code books from Timely, I don't see anything rewritten or redrawn to suit the code, though.

Apache Kid #15
May 1955
Cover by Joe Maneely

Artists: Werner Roth, Wrner Roth, Mac Pakule, Werner Roth
Condition: Good, no obvious defects but a bit beat
Guide price: $10
Offer price: $8

If you look at the action in Werner Roth's Apache Kid stories, it is a wonder how inept he was at drawing action for The X-Men. Everything about these stories sparkles.

Frontier Western #2
April 1956
Cover by Joe Maneely

Artists: George Tuska, Gene Colan, Al Williamson, Norman Maurer, Don Heck
Condition: Very Good, but coverless
Guide price (Good): $15
Offer price: $8

The first two stories were written by Stan Lee. The Al Williamson story is very nice and moody and the Gene Colan story was inked very well, possibly by Colan himself.

Frontier Western #7
February 1957
Cover by Joe Maneely

Artists: Joe Sinnott, John Romita, Jay Scott Pike, Werner Roth, Joe Maneely
Condition: Fair, pretty beat, centrefold loose
Guide price: $12
Offer price: $8

All stories written by Stan Lee. The Romita story is one I have used as a sample how John Romita Jr. style in an unexplained way looks like his father's.

Gunsmoke Western #49
November 1958
Cover by Joe Maneely

Artists: Jack Keller, Joe Maneely, Joe Maneely, Joe Sinnott, unknown, Dick Ayers
Condition: Good minus, pretty beat
Guide price: $10
Offer price: $6

Two Stan Lee stories. I quite like the filler story, but the artist is unknown to me as well.

Kid Colt Outlaw #46
Britisch edition, early sixties?
Cover by unknown

Artists: Jack Keller, Jack Keller, Syd Shores, Jack Keller, Doug Wildey, Doug Wildey, Syd Shores, Doug Wildey, Doug Wildey, Doug Wildey
Condition: Good minus, a bit beat and square back breaking
Guide price not applicable
Offer price: $10

These black and white reprints from the UK are fun for collectors, because they offer a look at the art in the sharpest form. Especially an artist like Doug Wiley benifits from that. Although the cover is from the June 1952 issue of Two-Gun Western (and mentions the Owlhoot Trail story from that issue), the contents are from 1954/5. Job numbers: E-910, E-924, F-008, E-907, E-799, E-895, E-845, F-153, F-179 and one unknown.

Kid Slade Gunfighter #8
July 1957
Cover by Joe Maneely

Artists: Werner Roth, Werner Roth, Bob Forgione, Werner Roth
Condition: Fair, covers loose and front damaged at sides
Guide price: $8
Offer price: $5

The action-packed Roth art is what makes this one worth a look.

Matt Slade, Gunfighter #4
November 1954
Cover by Joe Maneely

Artists: Werner Roth, Werner Roth, Ted Galindo, Werner Roth, Werner Roth
Condition: Good plus, some weakness along the staples
Guide price: $15
Offer price: $10

For a short period Joe Maneely did these wonderful covers with a clean image and several great border vignettes. Four more Matt Slade stories by Werner Roth and an unknown writer and one filler by Stan Lee.

Texas Kid #2
March 1951
Cover by Joe Maneely

Artists: Joe Maneely, Joe Maneely, unknown, Joe Maneely
Condition: Good, insides are even great, but the cover is split and loose
Guide price: $15
Offer price: $10

Nice early issue with Joe Maneely already in good form, especially on the splashes.

Western Outlaws #6
December 1954
Cover by Sol Brodsky

Artists: Paul Reinman, Joe Sinnott, George Tuska, Werner Roth
Condition: Fair plus, some tears on the cover, no defects on the book
Guide price: $10
Offer price: $6

The Werner Roth story was probably drawn on a larger paper size than his later work, as it is more detailed than the previous stories.

Western Thrillers #2
December 1954
Cover by Joe Maneely

Artists: George Tuska, Bill Walton, unkown, Warren Broderick/Jack Abel
Condition: Fair plus, cover almost loose and a corner missing
Guide price: $10
Offer price: $8

This book is one of Timely's 1954 push into new or old but forgotten genres and is filled with reprints from Western Outlaws and Sheriffs #71 and #72 from 1952 (with a new cover). Nice moody Tuska story and Bill Walton doing his best Tuska impression.

Wild Western #21
April 1952
Cover by Joe Maneely

Artists: Pete Tumlinson, Chic Stone, To Gill, Pete Morisi
Condition: Good minus, cover a bit brown, little pieces missing from corner, but it holds
Guide price: $15
Offer price: $10

Under this great Joe Maneely cover we find a host of great stories by great artists. Pete Tumlinson is one of the forgotten Timely artists of the early fifties. He has a very detailed style, but his staging is great. The later Jack Kirby inker Chuck Stone shows only the slightest hint of his thicklined style. Pete Morisi also was a great artist with his own fans. He got to work in George Tuska's studio and they very much influenced each other. I am curious why it says 'salt porn' on the side of a barrel in the splash.

Wild Western #46
November 1955
Cover by Joe Maneely

Artists: Jack Keller, Ross Andru, Sam Kweskin, John Severin
Condition: Good plus, some small tears at spine, some creases
Guide price: $15
Offer price: $12

Annie Oakley completists alert! To advertise the Ross Andru/Mike Esposito drawn series, Stan Lee featured Annie Oakley stories in Wild Western #46 and 47. #48 had a similar teaser for Mort Drucker's Billy Buckskin and there were other series showcased here as well (including the Ringo Kid story by John Severin). So that's why Wild Western is sort of a wanted series for many collectors.

Wyatt Earp #4
May 1956
Cover by Joe Maneely

Artists: Norman Maurur, Norman Maurer, Norman Maurer, John Severin, Norman Maurer
Condition: Good, slight spline roll, loosish cover
Guide price: $15
Offer price: $12

The Wyatt Earp character was stered by Joe Maneely and succesfully contineud by Norman Maurer, who had just come off a good but commercially unsuccessful run of titles with Joe Kubert at St. John, including his work on the Three Stooges titles. I have written about those in my article on Mad imitations in Alter Ego #86. He was a very solid teller, maybe a bit tame but it has a quality not many artist these days achieve. The John severin story was written by Stan Lee.

Wyatt Earp #13
Augustus 1957
Cover by John Severin

Artists: Dick Ayers, Dick Ayers, Dick Ayers, Merv Stein, Dick Ayers
Condition: Good plus, slight split on spine, piece missing from back cover
Guide price: $15
Offer price: $10

For Wyatt Earp #9 the character was given to John Severin, but from #10 it was Dick Ayers who over. The Merv Stein story is one of those weird fillers that seem to be taken from the pile randomly.

Wyatt Earp #17
June 1958
Cover by Joe Maneely

Artists: Dick Ayers, Dick Ayers, Dick Ayers, Doug Wildey, Dick Ayers
Condition: Fair plus, lots of creases and well read
Guide price: $10
Offer price: $6

With this issue Stan Lee signs on as the writer and we enter what is in fact the post-implosion period of Timely/Atlas, when Stan Lee was slowly picking up the pieces of the comapny after it had to downsize due to distribution problems and started using his spare time to write almost all of the company's output (with increasingly more help from his brother Larry).