Heading:
Author:
Title: WEIRD CHILLS No. 1
Place Published:
Publisher:Stanley Morse [Indicia: Key Publications]
Date Published: July, 1954
Description:

CGC certified: VG- (3.5). Off-white pages. Cover: Bernard Baily. Script: John Hamilton. Art: Sal Trapani, Basil Wolverton (reprinted from Weird Mysteries #4). Overstreet: "Blood transfusion cover by Baily." GPAnalysis: A 3.0 sold for $910 in February 2021; a 3.5 sold for $1195 in November 2019; a 4.0 sold for $1425 in March 2021; a 1.8 sold for $1320 in January 2022.

"Horror leers out from every page of this wild mag. Fantastic bondage and blood drainage cover, nothing short of bizarre." — EC, MAD and Pre-Code HORROR Comics of the 1950s. Green Apple Books: 1997, p. 7.

Publisher Stanley Morse, the Ed Wood of pre-Code horror, is up to his usual tricks in this schlocky classic (published under Morse's "Key Publications" imprint, rather than Gillmor, for byzantine reasons that may or may not include dodging creditors and the IRS). Besides the crazy cover, here's what kids got for their dime: Bestiality overtones (blonde marries ape); a woman and her lover try to gaslight her cuckold hubby into madness, only to end up in the loony bin themselves; a man kills his romantic rival, accidentally destroying the universe in the process (oops).

"Another morbid fantasy is the idea of drawing blood from a girl's veins in order to overpower her completely. Outside of the forbidden pages of Sade himself, you find this fully described and depicted only in children's comic books." — Dr. Wertham, Seduction of the Innocent. Rinehart: 1954, p. 181.

Consignments welcome for PBA's Fall 2022 Comic Book sale. Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age and Silver Age comics, original art, vintage comic-related photos and ephemera sought. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.