Heading: Section 5: Undergrounds, Original Art, and Everything Else
Author:
Title: Amazing Dope Tales "Coming Soon" Promotional Flyer * Rare
Place Published:
Publisher:Greg Shaw
Date Published: 1966 or 1967
Description:

Black and white mimeograph measuring 8½x11". Lettered and illustrated by Geoff Evans. Excellent condition with no creases, folds, wear or puncture marks. Provenance: From the Collection of Gary Arlington, owner of the San Francisco Comic Book Company.

Promo flyer for Amazing Dope Tales #1, which was almost certainly the first comic book to extol the use of psychoactive drugs. The comic book itself is rather uncommon (the CGC Census indicates that no copies have been slabbed). This promo flyer is rarer still: this may be the only example extant.

"Amazing Dope Tales is not a particularly great comic nor especially funny, though it does have amusing passages in its quick-reading 24 pages. But it is definitely important because it pre-dates Plymell's Zap Comix #1 by about a year and is almost certainly the first comic book in history that overtly celebrates the use of hallucinogenic drugs. It's also one of the very first commerical underground comic books; a book clearly published for retail sale, not just distribution to a group of friends or on a college campus, but for the entire San Francisco area and beyond (as evidenced by the cover prices). I believe it even pre-dates the Summer of Love in '67, which would indicate that Shaw and Evans (who was actually not a bad cartoonist) were no Johnny-come-latelys to the San Francisco hippie scene. For those reasons, this comic book is probably still undervalued." — M. Steven Fox, Comicsjoint.com, 2013.

A limited edition of 150 softcover and 15 hardcover catalogues is available. 400 lots, fully illustrated. Fun reference, great keepsake. Softcover $30, deluxe hardcover with dust jacket and limitation plate $200. Ten of the 15 hardcovers are pre-ordered and the rest will go quickly, so reserve yours now. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Consignments welcome for PBA's December 2021 Comic Book sale. Top prices for Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age, Silver Age, original art and ephemera. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.